What This Picture Is
This photograph shows a group of children sitting in rows on the wooden steps of a small one-room schoolhouse in the Oklahoma. The photo was taken around 1915.
The boy in the front row on the left, where someone marked an X, is my grandfather, Robert Raymond Ruff. He is smiling. His hands are folded. He’s leaning in. He seems happy.
Why I Saved This Picture
My mom shared this picture with me years ago. Recently, I asked my mom more about my grandfather’s childhood. She told me that his family, including four siblings, stayed in Oklahoma until he was 13 years old.
Then the family left and moved west to Pueblo, Colorado. Pueblo had just been devastated by the Great Pueblo Flood. The rebuilding that followed created new jobs and opportunities.
After arriving in Pueblo, his father worked where he could—first as a miner, then as a butcher—before eventually finding steady work with the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company. That job at the steel mill provided the stability that carried him through to retirement.
Many families like theirs did what they needed to do—moving, rebuilding, and starting over when opportunity appeared.
Foundational Values
Rather than fret when resources are limited, see more clearly your priorities. Keep your duty and obligations to those in your personal life front and center. Focus on what matters most. I like this list: educating children, supporting families, and building stable lives.
In the workplace, when you are asked to work with less, be thoughtful about what can go and what cannot. Discuss with your leaders how priorities shift when circumstances change.
Let them know that part of leading is recognizing the essentials and committing to them, while being open to the opportunity of change.
Key Points
- Growth often begins in uncertainty. Whether moving across the country or adapting to change, confidence is built by stepping forward and figuring things out along the way.
- Great leadership, at home and at work, means recognizing what is essential—and committing to it with consistency, care, and a willingness to adapt when new opportunities appear.
