The One & Only
An ode to a Scotsman
This week, for reasons that were inevitable but I had yet hoped against hope would never come to pass, this newsletter will not be about a strategy, but all about a strategist.
A few days ago, Murray Calder finally lost the battle he had fought so astonishingly bravely for so long – and the world lost one of its best sons.
Photo credit: David Tett for Campaign 15/5/19.
Although Murray and I, both being what he called mountain men, often spoke about going snowboarding and hiking together, it was a luxury I never got to enjoy. Indeed, as so many others, I was one of his Twitter friends, the extent of our interactions stretching to DMs, the occasional call on WhatsApp or G&Ts over Zoom. But he still had a very real impact on my life.
To take but one example of many, a few years back I was writing a piece on effectiveness frameworks in global strategy for the IPA EffWorks. Not getting it to where I felt it needed to be, I reached out to Murray for advice. The immediate one-hour phone call that followed made the column significantly better than it ever could have been without him, which in turn led to not only something that outperformed most everything else on the EffWorks website, but also caught the attention of MarketingWeek. The rest, as they say, is history. But without Murray, none of it would have happened.
I occasionally tried to tell him just how important he had been and continued to be, but he always deflected it with some spiel about how I had always been much smarter than he. Bullshit, of course. He was just too good a man to not let others reach thereto unreachable heights by standing on his shoulders.
My experiences were not unique, even though he made me feel as if I were. From all over the world, people have been pouring out their love for Murray after his passing, telling similar stories of a man of men, a person who would always be willing to listen, reflect and help, no matter his own situation, no matter the cost to himself.
And although he now is no more, in a way, he will always be, an immortality ensured by our everlasting memories.
Of a man whose existence made us richer than we could ever be.
Of a mentor whose shared wisdom made us better than we could ever be.
Of a friend whose strength made us stronger than we could ever be.
So, today, wherever you are in the world, I hope that you will join me on social media at 6pm your time by posting a picture of a raised glass to @ScotStratGuy, accompanied by a song that fills you with joy and the hashtag #CheersCaptain.
To Murray Calder.
The captain who steered so many towards better versions of themselves.
May we all strive to be more like him.
With love,
JP