Leadership Secrets from Santa Claus

by Gary Ryan Blair in Leadership |December 24th, 2009 |

For 26 years, a man known only as Secret Santa has roamed the streets of Kansas City every December quietly giving people money. He started with $5 and $10 bills.


Who is Santa Claus?

As his fortune grew, so did the gifts. In recent years, Secret Santa has been handing out $100 bills, sometimes two or three at a time, to people in thrift stores, diners and parking lots.
During his life he’s anonymously given out more than $1.3 million. It’s been a long-held holiday mystery: Who is Secret Santa?

Larry Stewart passed away on January 12, 2007 from esophageal cancer but not before he revealed his identify and passing on his belief in random acts of benevolence.

Mr. Stewart made his millions in cable television and in long-distance telephone services.

His holiday giving started in December 1979 when he was nursing his wounds at a drive-in restaurant after getting fired.

It was the second year in a row he had been fired the week before Christmas.

Turning Tragedy into Opportunity

Soon after getting fired, Mr. Stewart was at a drive in restaurant and came across a car hop: “It was cold and this car hop (waiter or waitress who brings food to people at drive-ins) didn’t have on a very big jacket, and I thought to myself, `I think I got it bad. She’s out there in this cold making nickels and dimes,’” he said.

He gave her $20 and told her to keep the change.

“And suddenly I saw her lips begin to tremble and tears begin to flow down her cheeks. She said, `Sir, you have no idea what this means to me.’”

Stewart was moved and went to the bank that day and took out $200. He then drove around looking for people who could use a lift.

That was his “Christmas present to himself.” He hit the streets each December since.

While Stewart has also given money to other community causes in Kansas City and his hometown of Bruce, Miss., he offers the simple gifts of cash because it’s something people don’t have to “beg for, get in line for, or apply for.”

That was a feeling he came to know in the early ’70s when he was living out of his yellow Datsun. Hungry and tired, Stewart mustered the nerve to approach a woman at a church and ask for help. The woman told him the person who could help was gone for the day, and Stewart would have to come back the next day.

“As I turned around, I knew I would never do that again,” Stewart said.

Over the years, Stewart’s giving as Secret Santa grew. He started a Web site. He allowed the news media to tag along, mostly because he wanted to hear about the people who received the money. Reporters had to agree to guard his identity and not name his company.

His entourage grew over the years, and he began traveling with special elves and training others to be Secret Santas.

The Spirit of Secret Santa is Alive and Growing

Today, Larry Dean Stewart’s loyal Elves and the Secret Santas he trained are building upon the foundation he laid.

A new group of Secret Santas and Elves are very busy this Christmas. They are going coast to coast in selected cities and towns to spread hope this Christmas, giving one hundred dollar bills to the needy.

This year in his honor each one hundred dollar bill will bear the name Larry Stewart Secret Santa.

They will also be training those who have come forward to be a Secret Santa Leader in their community.

Could you be a Secret Santa? Go the Secret Santa Society to learn how.

Also, while you may not be able to pass out $100 dollar bills, how can you make a difference in the life of just one person in your community?

I’d love to hear about it.

Happy Holidays!

Gary
http://www.everythingcounts.com/