Praise rarely rains down on the middleman. The role is frequently trivialized and unfairly characterized as adding an extra layer of cost without also adding value. Since the advent of sales inserts and commercials, consumerism has cautioned us to “cut out the middleman” and go direct to the source.

A quick reading of history, though, will expose many stories about men and women who made the world a better place through their service as middlemen. As an example, in 1979, President Jimmy Carter brought Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin together to sign the Egypt-Israeli Peace Treaty.