Getting Motivated: the Seminar Way

He is considered to be a "Top Sale Expert" and apparently I didn't think much of him or it was early in the day because I forgot to take a picture. Anyway, he took a California car dealership from almost bankrupt to one of the best in the state. He told some interesting stories but I felt like I was listening to a sermon in church but God had been left out. He was however very engaging and told excellent stories. One such story was how he had used crest toothpaste all his life until one day he ran out. Completely out but he had different kind the hotel had left for him. At that point he then realized that he had used crest toothpaste all his life because his mom used it and said it was the best. From that he decided that: "We often do things in a certain way because we are preconditioned to do so". It's a really good point. Do you do anything in your lift because your Mom or Dad showed told you it was the best? Did you ever challenge that assessment? Now is the time.

The former Microsoft president was deck. He was a little bit of a creepy looking fellow and he felt the need to hug the lady going on and off the stage (to be fair I later saw that most all speakers did this). He spoke about his days at Microsoft when he worked on the Xbox but mostly when he was at HP. He said several things that stuck out to me along the way. "Approach life believing change is good." This can be a difficult thing to do something. Especially when we like the things that are changing. However, I think his point is important because sometimes the change we resist will actually make things better, if we won't resist it. He also told a story about how he was promoted to a management position and his employees quickly revolted. They revolted to the point that his manager caught word. Through that experience he learned that "you need to be hard headed but soft hearted." In other words, don't deviate from the truth or what you know is right, but be willing to listen and respond to what people have to say to you.

Here is an outline of his five points:

He's showing us the inside out move that he taught a player at Kansas

I'm not the biggest Cal fan. In fact, I'm more of a as long as he wins and when he's gone our wins aren't vacated then I like him, kind of guy. So to this point, I like him. His style of basketball is fun to watch. With that said he was one of the best "motivational" speakers of the day. However, he didn't really have any main points to list out but several good quotes and stories. 

One of my favorite stories he told was happening in the picture above. Cal was talking about when he was an assistant at Kansas. He was working with a point guard they had recruited, but who wasn't a very good point guard. He taught him the inside out move, coupled with a fake pass to the corner. The practice before he had completely learned the move, Cal told him to not use it in the game. He said "if you use it in the game and mess up, they will laugh at you". Game time comes and of course he attempts and perfectly executes the move. However, the joy for Cal came after the crowd had gone crazy watching the move; As the point guard turned and pointed at him in an act of gratitude. Cal said he still gets chills to this day when he thinks about that.

Here's a list of his quotes:

"Keep things in perspective."
"Teamwork comes with adversity."
"Dreaming makes you feel good. Dreaming collectively makes the team feel good."
"Bring your team together to talk about your vision. They will raise the bar higher than you will."
"It's important that everyone buys in."
"Everyone has to work hard."
"Can you get everyone to enjoy what they do?"
"They have to be willing to work for each other."
"Under sell, over deliver. That builds trust."
"It's not will adversity hit, but when it hits how will you deal with it."
"Calipari's daughter calls the hang up button on a cell phone the 'eat poop button'."
"Successful people love to help other people."
"It is not about me but what I can do for other people."

Rudy Giuliani

"America's Mayor"

Giuliani came out talking about how he was the Republican mayor in New York in a long time. Early in office the newspaper blamed the amount of snow on him. So he said he "had to figure out how to stop not only crime but also snow". He also spoke about George W. Bush being at ground zero. About how he was supposed to be in and out to speak in a 15 minute window, shaking the hands of a few predetermined people. However, Bush went off key and walked into the crowd for over an hour and a half. He was greeting people and engaging with everyone. Finally, he went on to talk about how we are currently in an information revolution. I was surprised, a politician realizes that technology is changing the world. If only the ones in Washington knew how to deal with it. All in all, he was fun to listen to but you could tell he is a politician. 

She started out giving a debriefing on her family. That was fun, especially since so many people invest time into a former first ladies family. Her speech was wonderful and emotionally moving. As she spoke about the days of 9/11, there were ladies (and probably men) shedding some tears. For me, it really just showed how much she and George W Bush cared and how they are really genuine people.

Steve Forbes

I was really upset about this one. Not because his talk sucked or because his ideas were crap. Actually quite the opposite. See we only had an hour to find lunch in downtown Lexington were there roughly 15,000 people attending this seminar (Not to mention any people just taking their lunch hour). So we arrived a little late and didn't get to listen to everything he said. Once we finally found some seats, I really liked what I heard. He was in the middle of talking about healthcare, well food. He was saying how food is a free market enterprise. People buy what they want, like, and need. If you have bad service or a bad product then you're business will go under. Healthcare needs to be this way. Instead of everything being subsidized and controlled by the government, open up the healthcare industry. Allow people to make decisions about what they want, like, and need. He then went on to talk about how we are over taxed, despite what they say in Washington. He listed all the taxes we encounter in a day (utilities, gas, income, etc). Now, I don't know much about the amount of taxes that are taken and how much is needed. However, I do think that when a guy as business savvy as Steve Forbes says it, someone should be looking into it and giving a reason why his plan's not being implemented. He went on to say that the tax code is ridiculous. That as a document it is 10 million words and not even tax people know what it says. His solution was to revise the tax code...by throwing it all out the window. Instead, have a flat tax for all. Giving a few concessions to the poor, sick, and elderly. At the end of his talk all I could think was, "I like this Steve Forbes guy". Thus why I totally forgot to take a picture. He had me captivated.
Lou Holtz

"I'm a simple individual"






My Drawing:

Wait, hold on, there were supposed to be overviews for General Colin Powell and Mary Buffet. Well, I kinda got bored with Gen Powell. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure he was a great speaker. I think after so many speakers and going through so much it all started to sound the same. I was already getting a little burnt out around lunch time. Below you see what I created during his speech. The only reason Mary Buffet even made an appearance (on my blog) was because I stayed long enough to get a shot of her.

I did this on my Asus Transformer while Colin Powell was speaking. Don't get me wrong he was a good speaker but I think after a day of listing to so many people I was just worn out.

The only other thing I'd like that mention is that there were two guys that spoke who seemed to be some type of salesmen. They tried (and succeeded) at getting people excited about what they were offering. They then proceeded to give a break so everyone could go to signup for their products at supposed reduced prices. Now, let me preface this by saying that I've never seen or heard of either of these guys or what they were offering. The products could have been great and wonderful. You might be able to follow them and make millions of dollars like they claimed. To do so however you had to spend about $100 (down from several thousands of dollars) to learn how. When I hear that, it always seems sketchy. As my wife says "I'm just sayin".