A Mason's Work

The Senior Warden: Preparing for the Close


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This episode integrates the Senior Warden function through personal and practical examples that show what happens when closure is insufficient or avoided. The focus is on preparing for the close before work begins, and on how poor closure disrupts transitions in families, relationships, and life stages.


🔑 Key Takeaways

  • Closure failures create difficulty for whatever comes next.
  • Commencement without adequate preparation leaves people unready.
  • Unclear intent at the start undermines the ability to close cleanly.
  • Many interactions are experience-driven, not task-driven.
  • Avoiding closure shifts the burden to others and damages trust.

💬 Featured Quotes

  • “We’re wrapping up this week on the senior warden conversation with some real challenges that I’ve experienced personally with the idea of closure.” (0:00–0:07)
  • “That closure part of the conversation, if not done well, essentially creates a real difficulty for the next generation to start or the next phase to start.” (1:00–1:08)
  • “In situations where I have not been clear about what I want going in, the relationships don’t close the way they’re supposed to.” (1:16–1:24)
  • “How do we know that we’ve had a good experience or how do we know the work is done, you never get to it.” (1:45–1:51)
  • “On the back end of it, I just kind of felt listless and frustrated.” (1:54–2:01)
  • “If you can prepare for the close before you start, that’s the best.” (2:09–2:17)
  • “Try and come up with a definition of what it is that you were trying to accomplish.” (2:24–2:28)
  • “A lot of the way we interact is experience driven.” (2:39–2:41)
  • “Think about the experience you were trying to create and were you able to create that experience?” (2:41–2:46)
  • “A lot of guys get this wrong… in the dating context.” (3:02–3:12)
  • “They’ll just kind of fade out and ghost.” (3:18–3:25)
  • “That’s awful for everyone because you don’t get that strong sense of closure.” (3:25–3:32)
  • “Helping yourself figure out how to close could be a good next step for you moving forward.” (4:09–4:19)

Creators & Guests

  • Brian Mattocks - Host
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    • Tim Dedman
    • Jorge
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      A Mason's WorkBy Brian Mattocks


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