Buford’s “Halftime” message resonates

About two years ago I received a call from Bill Simon recommending I meet a good friend of his. Bill talked about all the great work that Bob Buford had been doing and how much he thought I would enjoy meeting him.

Thomas Monaghan

Since Bob was in Dallas, I made plans to have dinner with him the next time I was in town, which turned out to be several months later. When Bob and I did get together, he shared with me the message of his best-selling book Halftime — and the related work he had been doing for nearly two decades. After our visit, I read the copy of Halftime he gave me. And, as Bill had predicted, it really resonated with me.

Bob draws on his vast life experience and provides both encouragement and practical steps to help his readers to transition from (business) success to true significance. He talks about how the second half of one’s life can be so much more fruitful and rewarding than the first half — and yet so many people have not planned or given significant thought to making this transition.

Given the common characteristics of our members, this message seems almost tailor-made for Legatus. Through Bob’s generosity, we discussed a way that we could make his book available to everyone in Legatus. Thus, if you have not already received a copy, over the next couple of months you will. (In order to save on shipping costs, we sent a copy for each member-couple to the five regional directors who will be distributing them as they visit their chapters.) In fact, the timing of our distribution corresponds with the 20th anniversary of the book’s publication.

A couple of months after my dinner with Bob, I called him to see if someone from his organization could speak at an upcoming Legatus retreat. He recommended Lloyd Reeb, the Halftime Institute’s primary spokesman (and author of From Success to Significance). Lloyd not only spoke at that retreat last year, but also at a subsequent retreat this past fall. His message was very well received and we have scheduled him to be a presenter at the 2016 Annual Summit in Orlando.

In fact, as of the writing of this column, we are working with the Halftime Institute on a small-group program called a “Halftime cohort” specifically for Legates. I am excited about how the Lord seems to be providing the opportunity for the Halftime message to be shared with Legatus.

TOM MONAGHAN is Legatus’ founder and chairman. He is a member of Legatus’ Ann Arbor Chapter.