Cherish Companions Who Rejoice Together

One of our executives wrote that he decided to join after being struck by words I spoke when we met through work: "Cherish the companions who rejoice together." Truthfully, I never invented this as a management philosophy — I have simply lived my name, Tomoki, "to bring joy to friends."

But he heard it through his own pain: having lost a business, he knew firsthand that relationships of mutual rejoicing, not of profit and loss, are the true foundation of a lasting enterprise. Rejoicing together sounds easy and is not.

Consoling a companion's failure is surprisingly manageable; the hard thing is rejoicing at a companion's success as if it were your own, without the quiet muddying of comparison. How many people rejoice cleanly at your success — and for how many can you? That number, I believe, is the true measure of a rich life.

What do you work for?