Today, along with thousands of others, I attended a Get Motivated seminar at the Palace of Auburn Hills. It was packed, parking was $15, the food was expensive, but the ticket was cheap ($2) and it was worth a day due to the wealth of information, ideas, and motivation that were thrown at you. There were many quality speakers at this event interspersed with sales pitches and people trying to keep the crowd motivated- let me give you a quick recap of some of my thoughts on each of the main speakers-
- General Colin Powell spoke on leadership and was surprisingly energetic- he bounded up the steps with energy and enthusiasm and came across as very humble and told a large number of jokes. He touched on a lot of great points- that we now live in a post 9/11 world where we take a proactive view on dealing with terrorism, the importance of politicians getting out of Washington and seeing that the real people in America still are optimistic about America and our system of laws and capitalism, that the real trick to being a leader is to enable the followers to do their jobs better by giving them proper purpose and equipment, and that it is important for our nation to get back in the business of creating wealth by building and selling things. On the other hand, I felt that his time in government has isolated him a bit from the 'real world'- he no longer understands what it is like to work for a living due to his own time in Washington, flying on personal jets, sipping soft drinks and tea, making lots of money using his government connections. Some people talk about 'Powell for President', but I would never after hearing him say garbage like 'I've made millions and now am retired living on a public pension so think that we should all do their part and pay more in taxes to help Obama blow money on bad ideas'. Still, he gave an okay presentation.
- James Smith spoke on financial success- I did not really know who he was, but he was a guy so passionate and energetic and authentic that he was kind of funny but also kind of different to listen to. His advice was wide-ranging and much of it was infused strongly with his Christian values- he talked about turning off the TV and actually doing things, he talked about watching less sports and making love to your wife more instead, about taking charge of your life and quit making excuses, the problems of wasting time, and not trying to control your destiny and instead just take the doors that God opens. His investment advice as about creating more revenue streams, using the tax code, finding foreclosed properties, etc- all the kind of stuff that you can really only learn after you take his class, as this was long long extended sales pitch.
- Bill Cosby spoke on success, and you can still see what an amazing entertainer he is, as he was at his best when he was just joking around and freelancing, and a bit less good when he was talking about the topic of success. I guess his message was to just do it, and not let barriers stand in the way of what you want to accomplish in life.
- John Walsh spoke on achievement, and gave a mesmerizing account of how he his path in life was horribly changed for him after the abduction and murder of his young child in 1981. The world that he spoke of in 1981 was a world less full of life than the one that he has helped create today, from his work bringing criminals to justice through his TV show America's Most Wanted, he work with charities to help find missing children, and his support for legislation that protect children from those who have chosen evil paths in life. I hung on his every word, and am glad that networks found a reason to put his show on for many years, and hope they do so again, because whether it makes money or not, it is important and great public service.
- Rudy Giuliani spoke on perseverance and I was surprised at the toll the years are taking on America's Mayor- he moved around with less zest and spoke about technology in a way that sounded a little dated. Now, I've heard him on the radio give some pretty good interviews, and several years ago I supported him for President, and I really like the guy a lot and think that he could have made a good President, but it seems as if his time has passed- maybe I just caught him on a bad day though.
- The best speech was given by Howard Putnam, who spoke on management, and although it seemed as if the amount of time he was allotted was less than some of the others, when he talked about his principles of leadership, I thought he was right on, and after thinking more about what he spoke about, I'm going to put together a separate post just on his speech.
The Get Motivated Business Seminar's are an interesting event- I still don't know how they make any money what with all the great speakers and the cheap price of admission- but it was definitely worth the time and cost for me and I imagine for many businesses too.
For those who missed it, you can always check out books by these people- Leadership
(by Giuliani), Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors
and I Didn't Ask to Be Born: (But I'm Glad I Was)
(by Cosby), My American Journey
(by Powell), The Winds of Turbulence: A CEO's Reflections on Surviving and Thriving on the Cutting Edge of Corporate Crisis
(by Putnam), or Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America
(by John Walsh).
UPDATE: Thank you all for visiting my blog- be sure to check out some other posts while you are here. In particular, I put together a post inspired by this seminar that you might be interested in-
http://blog-curhatanku.blogspot.com/2011/06/evaluating-leadership-of-obama-and.html
For those who missed it, you can always check out books by these people- Leadership
(by Giuliani), Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors and I Didn't Ask to Be Born: (But I'm Glad I Was) (by Cosby), My American Journey (by Powell), The Winds of Turbulence: A CEO's Reflections on Surviving and Thriving on the Cutting Edge of Corporate Crisis (by Putnam), or Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America (by John Walsh).UPDATE: Thank you all for visiting my blog- be sure to check out some other posts while you are here. In particular, I put together a post inspired by this seminar that you might be interested in-
http://blog-curhatanku.blogspot.com/2011/06/evaluating-leadership-of-obama-and.html
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