Under His Wing: A Tribute to Cliff Becker
Cliff Becker, far right, made the effort to come to my wedding in 1998.
This wasn’t the blog I had planned on writing to start the new year. But then, one never plans to say goodbye to an influential career mentor and friend. Learning on New Year’s Day that Cliff Becker is no longer with us was a crushing blow for me and everyone who knew Cliff. And everyone in Ag marketing, especially the animal health side, knew Cliff.
The year was 1992; young, ambitious, and clueless Kenda arrived at Sawyer Riley Compton (SRC) in Atlanta. Developing public relations campaigns for Elanco Animal Health’s cattle business was a dream come true, yet my knowledge of the stocker and feedlot side of the business was lean. Enter Cliff. A sales rep for Drovers Journal at the time, Cliff immediately took me under his wing as he called on the SRC team. He was jovial, encouraging and a fount of knowledge in cowboy boots.
From National Agri Marketing Association (NAMA) meetings to taking me on a tour of the Kansas plains, Cliff made sure I was learning what I needed to succeed. The funny thing is, I didn’t feel like a student. I felt like a valued colleague, a friend and yes – a rock star, that’s the vibe Cliff gave everyone he worked with. He helped me become credible.
As I look at the tributes flowing in, I realize we all had the same “Cliff” experience. He was excellent at his job, yet above all really cared about people. He made the time. Several examples I recall include him sending me flowers when I made a big leap to switch ad agencies. He made the trip to Indianapolis 25 years ago to come to my wedding. Why he always called Brian, my husband, Mr. Beautiful, I guess I’ll never know, other than I must have gushed about this great guy I’m marrying, and Cliff thought it was cute. I think he was also part of the good natured pranks at NAMA – always clever!
I tell my clients to look for the universal lesson to share – and several come to mind as we mourn Cliff.
Who are you making feel welcome in your industry/company/volunteer activity? How can you go out of your way so that person really feels a sense of belonging? What little effort of sharing what you know or making introductions can you do to propel someone forward?
Have you thanked the people who have poured into you? I wish I would have caught up with Cliff more to tell him how his investment in me and friendship helped put me on a career path I’ve enjoyed for 30+ years.
Cliff took me under his wing, and it made an enormous difference. Rest in peace, cowboy.