Mark Goulston--

It will become clearer within the next 24 hours what Michael Jackson's true cause of death will turn out to be. But what will be interesting may be how his untimely death will affect our memory of him.

The "King of Pop" has not done so well reputation wise for at least the past decade. What with the accusation of child sexual molestation, his ever changing appearance, the whitening of his skin, the tossing of one of his children outside a hotel window and many more bizarre incidents. As crazed as we once were about him, is as crazy as we came to think he was.

And now this. In all likelihood we will focus on who he once was instead of the person he ended up being.

It reminds me of than e experience that may be much closer to home for many, when you are having a hard time dealing with a relative who is becoming very burdensome after he or she has become incapacitated and exhausting to take care of. When you feel so weighed down, it's difficult to get in touch with the positive feelings you once had. But then when that person dies and the burden lifts, you can suddenly be overwhelmed by the flooding of loving feelings you once had, but were unable to feel.

And so it may be with Michael Jackson that as embarrassed as we came to feel by and for him during his recent past, is as fondly and gratefully we will forever be for how he "thrilled" us.

Dr. Mark Goulston is a former UCLA professor who helps high performing leaders, senior management and sales people reach their full potential using skills he learned training FBI and police hostage negotiators. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches and writes the weekly Tribune syndicated career advice column, "Solve Anything with Dr. Mark" and columns on leadership for FAST COMPANY and Directors Monthly and is an expert at People Jam. He is frequently called upon to share his expertise with regard to contemporary business, national and world news by television, radio and print media including: Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Newsweek, Time, Los Angeles Times, ABC/NBC/CBS/Fox/CNN/BBC News, Oprah, and Today. Mark Goulston is the author of The 6 Secrets of a Lasting Relationship, Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior, Get Out of Your Own Way at Work and PTSD for Dummies. For more information visit: www.markgoulston.com.

How Madoff's Moves Fooled "Smart" People

Feeling Stressed Out in This Economy?

Copyright © 2006-2009, Basil & Spice. All rights reserved.