It’s often how things get done

In almost every significant step forward, there are the people who get the credit and then there are the people who actually did the work. Sometimes they are the same people and sometimes not.

It was Coca-Cola Chairman Robert W. Woodruff who supposedly said, “There is no limit to what a man can do or how far he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.” Bearing in mind that gender neutral observations were not uppermost in the minds of people during Woodruff’s day, it is probably true that if one is concerned more with results and less with accolades, good things will likely happen.

Our subject of this week’s Stories of Atlanta was not exactly a man who went through life unnoticed. He was educated, passionate and influential. He was one of those people who made a difference in his community and, indeed, to the entire city. But he was also a man who understood that sometimes it’s better to get the desired result, even if it means that not everyone will recognize your contribution.