Published on 15th May, 2024
By Leanne Hamley
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News |
David Price OBE passed away peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Many of us are deeply struck by the loss of this inspirational man.
David was, first and foremost, a friend, a mentor, and my business partner. We met through our shared desire to help people within organizations become cultural architects, shaping their environments to improve the lives of many.
His book, The Power of Us, was the work of a genius. David, both a musician and an educator, embarked on three years of global research and transformed his learnings into lyrical prose. Each page is beautiful and poignant. As our relationship grew, I realized that David himself embodied these qualities. He possessed a skill often discussed in leadership circles, clinically termed ‘active listening,’ but his ability went far deeper. David – the intellect, the musician, the writer with an OBE – had a way of making you feel special. He drew out qualities in you that you might not have known or had the time to discover within yourself. He listened, probed, pushed, repositioned, and contextualized, making you sound and feel extraordinary. And then he would gently push… having shined a light on you he would push you to do more, be more, to take on adventures you never dreamed of (and you did) because he stood firmly behind you, telling you, you could.
You have to see before you can be. David saw potential in everyone and everything around him, because at his core, David was an artist. And this artist felt deeply. He wore his heart on his sleeve and would cry over the tragedies of Covid and Ukraine, both of which he wrote about and took action against. He and his wife, Clare, opened their home to a Ukrainian family and facilitated the rehoming of many others, embodying selflessness in everything he did. David shed tears for others, for his beautiful wife Clare, and for joy, but never for himself.
David approached his battle with cancer like a researcher, delving into communities to learn from others, challenging his consultants, and exploring every available option without ever giving up and along with the way he defied many of the odds that were against him and made us all question how indestructible he was.
David loved life and saw beauty in everything. His heart was bigger than anyone I have ever met, and for that, I will miss him deeply. Here’s what David would say:
- Measure Twice, Cut Once: Patience is everything, slow down, rush less and breathe more. This is the one I have to practice the most!
- We’re Not Curing Cancer: The irony! but words David always said. Life is for living; nothing is so important that we should sweat it.
- See Beauty in Everything: Take your time. See people not for what they say but for who they are. Leave all judgements to one side, just be curious, ask the deeper more meaningful questions and find that person’s potential.
- Is it Cocktail Hour?: Happiness is singing together when day is through, and happiness is those who sing with you – I more than loved our Australia meetings where the clients are having breakfast and David a Sauvignon.
- Let It Go: For every minute you remain angry, you give up 60 seconds of peace of mind – Ralph Waldo Emmerson
- Don’t Lose Sight: They say if you find what you love doing, you’ll never work a day in your life. Some might say David worked till the end, but he didn’t. He loved what he was doing, creating meaning and purpose, and thus lived every day of his life to the fullest. He lived through his work, the people he helped, and the beauty he captured. He lived more than anyone I know. It has been an honor and a privilege to have David in my life. I will forever be grateful for him seeing something in me that I didn’t see in myself and I know in my heart he will still be standing behind me telling me that ‘i can do it’.
David’s legacy will be left with everyone he taught, who heard him play, who read his book, who heard him speak and who he came into contact with and this legacy will be hard to beat. Rest at peace now David, you will forever be in our hearts.
**Don’t Lose Sight**: Shared by David Price with me, as it’s ‘Proper Music’. A track that reminds me of David – Energy, vigour, a little sweary 🙂 but full of connection and joy. Play it!!