As I grow older, I find myself tearing up more often than ever before. The reasons are numerous and varied and, in most cases, very cathartic for me. I don’t mind at all. It might be a song, a movie, a TV show, a memory, a realization or simply something that happened during my busy day.
I firmly believe these various circumstances have always presented themselves to me. I’m just more aware of them at this point in my life.
One of those moments materialized for me recently during a very hectic week in a major city. I was involved in a frenzied week of training which ran until 9 p.m. every night. I repeated the same program several times every day in order to accommodate the hundreds of employees our client had scheduled to attend.
Leadership and front-line employees alike arrived from all over the city to attend the three-hour sessions, day after day. Due to the size of each session, the programs were held in one of the largest and most historic churches in the city.
After the last session of my last night, I was alone in the enormous auditorium packing up my materials and props. I had turned off most of the lights, and it was extremely quiet at this point. I was suddenly startled to see someone just three feet in front of me … almost as though he had instantly materialized out of nowhere.
There, standing quietly with a warm smile on his thinly bearded face, was a short, middle-aged man who, extending his hand, said in heavily broken English, “Hello, Mr. Harry. My name is Albert.”
I smiled, shook his hand, and returned the greeting. He apologized for bothering me after a long week but said he wanted to thank me for everything he had learned this week. I thought that it was odd that he had referred to a three-hour session as “all week.”
He went on, in broken English, to explain that he wasn’t an official attendee of the training. He was an employee of the church where the sessions were being held. He was walking by the auditorium on the first night of the week after getting off work. He listened at the door to see why people were laughing. After a few minutes of listening, he casually made his way to the back of the room, picked up one of our booklets, found a seat and became an “unofficial attendee.” He sat through the entire program taking notes!
As if that weren’t unusual enough, Albert returned after work every night for the rest of the week and sat through the program again and again. I thanked him for doing so but couldn’t help but to inquire why he kept coming back.
Albert explained that he was from Albania and struggles to understand and translate the English language. Each night after the class ended at 9 p.m., he took his notes home, sat around his kitchen table with his wife, two sisters, one brother, and three high school aged children, and they all discussed and translated his notes. He told me that his entire family had learned so much by the end of the week and how much they all enjoyed the lessons they had learned. He wanted to stop by and thank me for the gift I had provided for his family.
I accepted his out-stretched hand once again and told him that it was I who wanted to thank him for reminding me that there were still good people in this world who wanted to learn and grow. I told him that it was an honor for me to be a part of his family’s growth. At that point, with what appeared to be glistening eyes, he hugged me and simply said, “Thank you, Mr. Harry, and God bless you.” Albert then turned and walked away into the darkness.
What I didn’t tell Albert was that many who shared that auditorium with him all week didn’t want to be there, others felt they were being forced to attend, many didn’t listen much less take notes, and some weren’t focused on learning or personal growth. That was certainly not the fault of our client. These behaviors are evident in most all groups who attend this type of session today. It doesn’t matter where they work or what part of the country they live in. It’s simply human nature.
These reactions make it difficult for those of us addressing these audiences. It’s so easy to get frustrated as you wonder just how many will benefit from your efforts. You sometimes feel as though you want to consider throwing in the towel. You never do, of course, for the sake of the few who truly want to learn and grow—but you sometimes feel like reaching for that towel.
That night, Albert from Albania, unbeknownst to him, actually encouraged me to reach for that towel. However, it wasn’t to throw it in … it was to wipe my brow, appreciate those like Albert, and refocus my efforts to always search every audience for my next “Albert.”
I finished packing up my things for the walk back to my hotel through the quiet, dark streets of late-night city … a bit of an appreciative tear in my eyes and a glowing warmth in my heart. Thank you Albert!
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I quickly explained my name was not Sam and he might have mistaken me for someone else. He apologized and said that he was certain I was Sam Waterston, one of the stars of the long-running television series, Law & Order. He asked if he could have an autograph.
Today is November 5th—the day after the World Series ended in New York City and the day before the beloved ticker-tape parade to celebrate the Yankees 27th world championship.
No, today the city of New York is home to none of the above! Today, this colossal city is home to no one but Yankees! The city is filled with pride and allegiance to a baseball team! Even Met fans have taken the day off to salute their brother Yankees as they celebrate their 27th World Championship. Everyone in this city is in 27th Heaven!
As I casually strolled down Wall Street passing in front of the New York Stock Exchange, I was suddenly confronted with a shocking scene which actually stopped me in my tracks! Directly in my path was a police officer decked out in full swat team regalia including a helmet with plastic visor and a very threatening fully automatic firearm (machine gun to many people) complete with a large capacity magazine. To complete this military image, I couldn’t help but notice the bulky bulletproof vest, and camouflage attire including combat boots.
However, no one questioned me or made any move to approach me. I cautiously picked up my pace and quickly made my way toward my hotel in somewhat of a quick step. Ten minutes later, I could see the friendly twinkling lights of the Brooklyn Bridge reflecting off the water resembling a post card …. and I knew I was just a block from the safe haven of my hotel.
We all have fears of one sort or another. The fear matters not—it’s how you react to that fear that makes the difference! As a high school student, I would take a failing grade before I would stand in front of the class and make a verbal presentation. Just thinking about speaking in front of my fellow students caused me to sweat, shake, and get sick to my stomach. Rather than facing that fear and attempting to overcome it, I chose to take a failing grade. Today, I speak for a living in front of small groups and massive audiences at major conventions all over North America. I just wished I had addressed that fear much earlier in my career.
To this day, we laugh about that experience and how far he’s come from that initial fear and how well he faced it and overcame it. I’ve been following Stu’s career since that time as we still speak on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. He’s attained many goals and continues to raise the bar for himself. I’m proud and privileged to call him my friend! You might just soon be attending a national conference where another very shaky rookie walks out on a stage and introduces the keynote speaker as Stu Voeck!
The day started differently than most for me due to the fact that I didn’t have to head to the airport. I enjoyed a peaceful 90-minute drive to the beautiful campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I made my way to the Miller Auditorium which is certainly a sight to behold. Built 41 years ago and seating 3,500 people, this enormous auditorium is still ranked as one of the top ten facilities in the United States, and is the third largest theater in the entire state of Michigan. This week-long event was facilitated by the talented and dedicated staff of the Fall Welcome Week in an effort to create a seamless transition for freshmen students as they begin their college career as proud Broncos at WMU.
However, today they were freshmen preparing for an experience they’ll never forget and never regret! The efforts of the very dedicated Fall Welcome Week team will make certain of that. Upon completion of my 90- minute presentation, 3,000 students made their way out of the auditorium to continue their event-filled day. Many of the students were kind enough to approach me with words of thanks as well as questions and comments on the content of my program. Chatting with these students provided me with renewed faith in the future of our country. While facing great challenges in trying times, this class of 2013 will be ready and willing to make the necessary changes to maintain and enhance our leadership in the world.
It’s not our practice to repeat articles we’ve shared previously on this blog. However, I’d like to make an exception today because that tragic and fateful event which occurred eight years ago isn’t about to be forgotten and it should be revisited regularly to keep it fresh in our minds … to pay tribute to those we lost and to make certain it never happens again. Please read it again and pass it on to others in memory of an event that will live on in the history of the greatest country in the world!
In today’s whirlwind business environment, we have far too many things to focus on … current national debt, mortgage crisis, healthcare crisis, jobs, food prices, oil prices, education, immigration, the environment, and social security to name a few. The media, in a variety of formats, hammers us on these issues almost hourly.
U.S. businesses face a shortage of millions of workers in the next 10 years. The Boston College Center on Aging and Work conducted a major survey of organizations across industries and discovered that only 33% of employers said that their business had analyzed workplace demographics and made projections about the retirement rates of their workers.
This critical issue is being treated like a bad weather report—we hear the news that the storm is coming, but we ignore the warnings until it is too late.
Driving through town this past weekend, I couldn’t help but notice the obvious devastation to the local business community. Our two major local shopping malls, many shopping centers and the majority of strip malls all show evidence of the mounting economic pressure we see daily.
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