Yesterday, about 15,000 of my neighbors and I piled into US Airways Center in downtown Phoenix for a “Get Motivated seminar. Traffic was a nightmare, “event parking” in the area was an even bigger ripoff than usual, but I got a decent seat and got to hear some famous people speak. I left motivated. Really. I did.
Kurt Warner’s got a kid who loves them Oreos.
First up, Governor Jan Brewer took the stage to briefly welcome everyone. She got a chuckle out of the crowd when she mentioned “Heroes on the basketball field.” Brewer was followed by former Arizona Cardinals Quarterback, Kurt Warner. Warner seemed to channel Joe Montana – if you miss perfection, you end up with greatness, and that’s okay. He talked about the importance of Being a good spouse and parent. (Even if he did relate an anecdote about a daughter they call “the chubby one” who recently fell from the top shelf of the pantry, in search of Oreos.) He seemed like a stand-up guy. Newfound respect from me (despite not following football at all).
“Plug in! Connect!”
Next up was “America’s Mayor,” Rudy Giuliani. I was impressed. He told everyone to get online and connect with each other. Buy one of those new cell phones that connects to the internet. You could tell he’s seen, firsthand, how mobile connectivity directly benefits your life. Giuliani made a point of moderation, though. Just because you should spend more time online doesn’t mean you should stop reading books and interacting with people in real conversations. He encouraged the audience to find books on subjects they care about and read them for deeper understanding, to have conversations/debates with people who disagree with them in order to challenge their minds, and to take time to think about things that are important to them or write a little to reinforce their thoughts. Solid.
“Political correctness will be the death of us all.”
A surprise was a Zig Ziglar “disciple” by the name of Krish Dhanam. This guy took the stage with equal measures business coach, spiritualist, and stand up comedian. His presentation seemed a bit on the shorter side, but perhaps that was because we all had so much fun listening. He focused on disposition – genuine leadership, restored relationships, amicable partnerships, complete ownership, and effective stewardship. Throughout his presentation, he used jokes to illustrate his points. All in all, one of the more refreshing hours of the day.
“Who wants an SL65 AMG?”
Phil Town, author of the book “Rule #1,” came on stage like those before him; past fireworks and confetti, to loud music befitting the arrival of the home team. Town energized the crowd with examples of how to use online investment tools to take the guesswork and emotion out of stock trading. He asked who wants that SL65 AMG, but was pleased when nobody really knew what it was (I did) and, instead, went nuts when he suggested they could get a new pickup truck. Town covered how to tell if a stock is a good value to buy, when to buy it, when to sell it, how to read the market and make the kind of returns everyone dreams about. Consider me sold. Consider me – and half the people in attendance – sold. We bolted out to the lobbies to hand over credit card info and get a red bag that *might* have a freebie coupon in it.
Once a librarian, always a librarian.
After Phil Town got us all fired up about taking charge of our financial destinies, former First Lady Laura Bush took the podium for an hour. What followed wasn’t so much a motivational, get out there and do something with your life charge, but the sort of telling the story of a Texas family that went to Washington and back. She did say that everyone needs to “step up” and be responsible for their future, but her speech was otherwise a family narrative.
“I used to be on every drug you could think of!”
Now we had Get Motivated Seminars Co-Founder Tamara Rowe take the stage. Wow. This one really threw me. We learned that she was a high school drop out who did every drug she could get her hands on, then we were told that God exists because she’s living proof. Then we transitioned into what I can only describe as made-up science. Seriously. People have “Motivational DNA?” DNA stands for “Drives, Needs, and Awards.” It was Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs all wrapped up in look-at-me and a little thank-you-Jesus for the far right.
As Mrs. Rowe started explaining the different types of people, she was quick to point out that we would be seeing pictures of several celebrities which also included her, but she didn’t want us to think she was name-dropping, because she felt that was pretentious. She quipped, “It’s like I was just telling my friend… Oprah.” On the slides that followed, we saw her with Colin Powell, we saw her with Jerry Lewis, we saw her with Jimmy Hoffa. Okay. I made that last one up. Kinda had to. This was as good a time as any to step outside for a cigarette.
You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
When I returned, Krish Dhanam took the stage again, this time, to remind us that “Success is not who you are in relation to the person next to you, but rather who you are in relation to who you used to be.” He suggested that the real you is made up of IQ (Intelligence Quotient) + EQ (Emotional Quotient) + SQ (Spiritual Quotient). He then went evangelical Christian on everyone and said that inviting Jesus into your life was the first step. As he was otherwise genuine and open minded, I had no issue with his sharing how his faith played a role in his beliefs. An ironic thought Mr. Dhanam shared was that, “Many people stand at the harbor of life waiting for their ships to come in, knowing full well it never set sail.”
There are over 9.5 Million words in the United States tax code.
Steve Forbes must be running for President (again). He was heavy on the evils of the current tax code. No one disagreed with him on it. A flat tax makes perfect sense and the fact that it’s not been passed only goes to show that the government doesn’t listen to the people at all. Forbes shared thoughts on why the economy is as bad as it is. The Fed pumped too much money into the economy years ago, which never stopped, leading to a bubble, which had to pop. While making jokes about Starbucks and bottled water, he drove home a point about observing the world around us to find new ways of doing things; taking something out there and doing it better than anyone else, or adding a new twist to it. Everybody knows how to make coffee and can get it anywhere, so why are we standing in line to buy a $20 latte at Starbucks?
Check this out.
Local boy (born and raised in Tucson) James Smith took the stage and blew everyone away. “It’s up to you to save yourself. Give your money a work ethic.” This guy was off the fucking chain. He told the lady up front who didn’t like his jokes to relax because they sell bigger underpants. He told people who were getting up to walk out for whatever reason that they were going to get hit by a truck in the parking lot. He said that if you can come up with multiple sources of income, you’ll be “10 feet tall and bulletproof.” He said he had an MBA – “A Massive Bank Account.” Despite all this talk about making money, he kept bringing it back to getting there by helping others. “Do something that matters.” Smith was on fire for a solid hour, peppering his talk with “Check this out” or “Now watch this.” It was thrilling to hear him speak. POW!
Leaders don’t get things done – followers do.
Perhaps the biggest commotion of the day came when General Colin Powell took the stage. Fireworks, confetti, everyone on their feet cheering, it was epic. Bono doesn’t get this kind of reaction. Powell’s presentation was moving. He spoke to leadership and the future. There were jokes about his grandchildren pressing him to join Twitter and Facebook, about how the one thing he misses most about being Secretary of State is his airplane.
What spoke to me, perhaps more than anything else yesterday, was the way Powell emphasized recognizing others in simple, yet genuine ways. If you give people a sense of purpose and work to lift them up, they will get things done and you will be recognized as a leader. Leaders don’t tell people what to do, so much as they help others do what needs to be done. It’s all about building trust. Very moving speech that tied in perfectly with ideas I’ve been working over in my head for a few months now.
It’s a Zig Ziglar Montage!
As the day was nearing an end, the big dog, Zig Ziglar took the stage. I don’t know how old he is, but I suspect something like 140. His daughter was there to explain that he’d fallen and hit his head some years ago, resulting in damage to his short term memory. He still worked the stage, driving home points about how money can buy many things, but it can’t buy the things character can. When he began to start his speech over from the beginning, his daughter cut him off and we watched a 30 minute montage on the jumbotrons. It was forty years of Ziglar sharing the same message with people. It’s a good message, but they were completing sentences with clips going back to the 70s. Wild. See you at the top, Mr. Ziglar. See you at the top.
Live! Via satellite! Steve Nash!
In addition to not following football, I also don’t follow basketball. When Nash appeared on the giant TV monitors, seated in front of a wall of books, his hair neatly brushed, and sporting a drab sweater, I was motivated to leave.
In a couple days, I’ll be back to share why all this motivation now has me feeling soundly disenfranchised and full of doubt.