Simon Says - Change or be changed by change!
Many Americans are tuned into this year’s political super bowl – the election of the next president of the United States. Can I just tell you, I am ready for it to be over! Nevertheless, this is a very exciting time as we watch master communicators hone their message, sharpen their rhetoric, and sucker punch the other candidate with words through the media. You must admit that politics is not for the weak in mind nor the faint of heart.
When you step back and analyze the presidential race here in the United States consider the following:
How do we make an intelligent decision about any of the candidates?
How do we know if they are authentic or just telling us what we want to hear?
How do we know if they have the experience to answer the 3:00 AM call or not?
All we know is what they tell us in stump speeches and in debates when they don’t have the tele-prompter aiding them in persuading the public to believe them. The only way they can convince us is by using the oldest and most influential profession in the world - Public Speaking, or what I call Presentation Brilliance.
(The following is not a political endorsement for either party - I am just making a point) Just think, prior to the democratic nomination of Senator Barack Obama for president, no one really knew who he was until he gave “the keynote speech” at the democratic convention in 2004. His entire life changed all because of a speech. Twelve months ago 900,000 people in the state of Alaska knew who Governor Sarah Palin was, but that’s about it. After one speech given at the Republican National Convention, 37 million other Americans now have etched in their brain the famous line “a pit bull with lipstick.” It doesn’t matter if someone wrote the speech; the fact is she said it. It’s like the songwriter who writes the words, but it’s the singer who belts out the notes that everyone remembers and talks about.
One speech can change your life. Yes, that may seem a bit over-the-top, but it’s true in the case of the aforementioned candidates. You are probably saying, “Simon, I am not running for office, I am just trying to put food on the table, a roof over my head, save for retirement, build a business and get along with my neighbor or cubicle mate.” Then I would say to you if ever get the opportunity, DO IT - stand up and make a presentation. Just watch - your confidence will soar and you may raise a few eyebrows.
I am a living witness that one speech can forever change your life. It is one of the best marketing tools to position you and your company. Presentation Brilliance is the one key arrow that you need to keep in your quiver.
I am curious - What scares you about public speaking?
I was reading an interview given by Richard Branson, founder and CEO of Virgin Group and he made a statement that stopped me in my tracks. He said, “one of the things I’m always trying to do at Virgin is make people reinvent themselves. I firmly believe that anything is possible.”
Well, I looked at the statement and pondered it for awhile, and then it hit me. Reinvention just doesn’t happen at the snap of a finger. Someone has to make a conscious decision to say “something has got to change.” Could you be that person? Re-invention is a process, not just one time event.
Over the last 100 years, the
Many people can sense a shift with the financial earthquake on Wall Street that continues to send shock wave tremors through the rest of the nation. Corporations are slashing headcounts in unprecedented numbers, cutting edge technology is replacing bodies and retirement savings have seemingly vanished into thin air. Needless to say, stress is all around us.
Chronic stress, predictably enough, decreases neurogenesis. According to Wikipedia, neurogenesis is the process by which neurons are created. Most active during pre-natal development, it is also responsible for populating the growing brain. Every action and thought is creating the future or diminishing it. As Christian Mirescu, a post-doctorate graduate from Princeton put it, “When a brain is worried, it’s just thinking about survival. It isn’t interested in investing in new cells for the future.”
Today is not the time for small thinking. Today is not the day to shrivel up, shrink down, or be overwhelmed by the crisis of today. In every period of history, out of adversity emerges brilliance.
I could go on and on, but you get the point. In the midst of stress, someone found a way to create the future they intended to live in instead of succumbing to the stress of the day. What once may have served you in a previous era is no longer relevant and will only serve to stress you out.
It’s time to make a bold move in the direction of your heart. That’s right… you’ve worried long enough and nothing has changed. It’s time to stand up and be the catalyst of change by reinventing yourself.
Professor Elizabeth Gould (
Please answer the following question: What personal or professional reinventions are you making and what have you learned thus far?
If you relate to a person as if they are small they will be small. These were the words that my friend Marie Dowd uttered to me two weeks prior to me speaking at her annual meeting of 350 business owners in New Orleans. I stopped in my track because I began to examine myself and how I had been thinking small, playing small, acting small and practically pitched a tent in Smallville, USA.
As I began to toss this thought over and over in mind between airports, I realized that not everyone is showing up to give a 150% everyday. Some are just attempting to get through the day, others are tip-toeing through life, and still others are keeping their head down for fear of being the next neck of to meet the guillotine of disappointment.
I submit to you that no matter where you are it’s time to show up bigger than ever before. Your best days are in front of you. No matter what is happening around you, you have the ability and potential to play really big. Go for it my friend. You can do it.
Show up Big now more than ever before. Consider the following:
Be the difference that makes the difference
Ask what can you can do drive more value than ever before
Give something extra
The greatest way to build loyalty is to give more than what people would expect.
Remember the platinum rule…do unto others as they would like for it to be done unto them.
Question of the day? Have you played small personally or professionally? If so, tell me about it.
Recently, I was invited to be the closing general session speaker for the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare at their 38th convention in Boston, MA. As I was preparing my remarks, I saw on their website that I was following Jim Collins, bestselling author of “Good to Great” whose books have sold a bazillion, and James Carville, chief political strategist in the Clinton Administration. Oh, did I mention that they also had presentations by Michael and Kitty Dukakis, and Michael Kennedy.
Was I scared? If I said no, then I would be telling a white lie. (Whatever that means.) Was I somewhat concerned? Absolutely. Why? I was walking in the footsteps of some of the most celebrated and recognized names in the United States. Now allow me to share with you the naked truth, I believe I was the youngest person to address this group of CEO’s, board members, senior executives, blah blah The client told me right before my presentation that they had looked at over 100 videotapes before they selected me.
All of these thoughts were running through my mind, but I had to shut them out and dig deep. This presentation had to be over the top and I had to look fear in the face and slap it into the next century. I know that is a bit dramatic. However, the point is my fear was rooted in feeling inadequate, and not good enough to exist in this rare air. Yes, it is true that it’s not who you are that blocks your brilliance from shining, it’s who you think you are not.
Right now, you may have a ton of opposition against you. Perhaps some of it is self-imposed. I invite you to take a long hard look and feed your belief in a better future and starve your fears to death. Do not feed into it. You are brilliant and it‘s time to shine.
I was recently flying to
Can you imagine what the answer to that question would have been just a decade ago? More than likely it would have been the other way around. Nevertheless, it was very telling to me to see that college students, who are the future workforce, want to join an organization that believes in doing its part in saving the planet and being environmentally friendly.
Perhaps the new way to recruit your future workforce is to tell them your “Green Story” and them pay them the greenbacks. More importantly, if they are to release their brilliance, ask them in what other ways the company should “Go Green!”
Simon Says…You may lose the battle over what you can pay them, but you may just win the war in enlisting them into your green movement!
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