Am I Cool yet?

By Jim Cathcart

I dug through all my old photo albums today for snapshots a colleague could use for the upcoming National Speakers Association convention, themed "NSA Rocks!" 

It was an exercise good for the heart and the funny bone. Man, it's been a fun journey. 

I hope you enjoy these blasts from my past and remember some similar ones from your past. 

The top photos are me and Paula at the Ozark Folk Festival in Mountain View, Arkansas in 1970. The two below it are from 1968 showing me and my friend Bob Teague as "The Harper Brothers." We performed three nights a week at local bars and clubs around Little Rock. 

The next photo is Jim Jr. at about 2 years old with Paula. Obviously being programmed by us to play the guitar. 

Then I found this photo of Jim Jr.'s son Jason looking at his future. Guitars seem to run in the family because we make sure to pass along the passion as well as the skills. 

Next we fast forward to 1989 when I was the president of the National Speakers Association. At our Dallas annual convention I rode into the foundation fundraiser party on a motorcycle, dressed in an Elvis outfit! Then I got on stage and sang "Happy Birthday Sweet 16" to NSA. 

Who says business has to be boring? 

I've had a lifelong love of motorcycles. My first big bike was this BMW R69US that I bought new in 1968. Today it would be a collector's dream. Then in 1995 I had a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 and my sister photographed me in front of the Hard Rock Cafe near my La Jolla office. 

Life is sweet and I've been amazingly fortunate. Thank God for all my blessings. And thank you for indulging my ego. Am I cool yet? (Or does asking that question eliminate the possibility of being cool?) 

Now what do we do?

By Jim Cathcart

I've experienced a nice new mini-trend lately. At the end of my keynote speeches at conferences in Aspen and Orlando the client had scheduled an implementation session. 

In Aspen they took an hour working at small roundtables to allow the 300 people to discuss the ideas covered in my keynote and make note of what they will do to apply the ideas. This was facilitated by their company leaders and each table reported their best ideas. The recording and notes from this session were posted along with my keynote and slides on the company's website for everyone to download or review, even those who didn't get to attend the meeting.

 

My next client, in Orlando, assembled a panel of seven company leaders onstage after my speech. For the next hour I facilitated a discussion of the specific steps and key points that the 680 person audience needed to apply to get full value from my message. Then my speech and notes were posted online for the entire company to review. 

In both cases my topic, Relationship Intelligence (tm)- how to create & grow High-Value Relationships, was vitally important to the company and they wanted to assure that my listeners truly applied the message after the convention. All it took to orchestrate this was: 

• Scheduling a one hour follow-through program immediately after my speech
• Involving the company's leaders in an open discussion with the attendees 
• Recording the event and posting it on the website 

The follow through "back home" becomes much easier when this process is followed. Each team leader can select the ideas that apply most directly to their team and continue to focus on them until implementation is complete. If more structure is desired then a system for follow through can be designed easily. 

As for me, the role of keynote speaker becomes even more enjoyable because I know that the ideas will be applied rather than merely heard. The old complaint that "motivation doesn't last" becomes moot because the action and application focus will assure a lasting impact. 

It is natural that people would ask, "Hey, I really liked your message. We can use that. So, now what do we do?" Let's assure that we present our people with opportunities to implement the ideas we bring to them. As my friend Kevin Buck says, "Without reflection there is no true learning." So, make time at your next meeting to discuss application of the messages and then hold people accountable for taking action. 

For more ideas on how to assure that the learning sticks, give me a call or drop me a note. 

Jim Cathcart  www.cathcart.com 

P.S. the next time someone says to you "motivation doesn't last", tell them, "Neither does a bath but it's still a good idea now and then."