In June, he hung himself

Inc. Magazine, November 2010:

But Le Monier leads off with another piece of news that he finds even more distressing. It concerns someone he met prior to embarking on his entrepreneurial career, when he was working as a regional manager for a national staffing firm. One of his branch managers introduced him to a young employee named Hugh, who he quickly recognized was destined for bigger things. “He was handsome, articulate, and incredibly bright, far smarter than me,” Le Monier recalls. “He wound up replacing me in some of my jobs. I loved it, and I loved him. He lifted the whole team. Eventually he left to start three related businesses that did extremely well. Combined sales went from nothing to $220 million in 11 years. A couple of years ago, he sold to a private equity firm for $100 million, or so I have heard.

“In June, he hung himself. My wife and I went to the memorial service in downtown Chicago. I think everyone there was in shock. It was so confusing. I mean, How could the world have lost such an incredible person at such a young age? I asked his former business partner what had happened. He said, ‘He lost his sense of purpose.’ “

Getting stuck in chase mode, only to realize that what you chased didn’t give you what you thought it would.

Better to realize it sooner.