I recently attended the Colorado Society of Association Executives (CSAE) conference and was very impressed with the quality of the speakers. Here’s a few things I learned:
Bill Stainton compared the Beatles’ success with success in business. When John Lennon first met Paul McCartney (they were both just teenagers), John already had a band. But he saw the advantage of teaming up with Paul. As a businessperson, you can share the spotlight…and come out on top!
The Beatles played to their strengths. They had a single vision among all the band members and they kept their focus on it. You should do the same in business—don’t try to make products and services for every possible audience. Determine what you do best and focus all of your efforts on it.
Bill also had a great quote from the wonderful Kathryn Hepburn: “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”
Having fun is what Scott Friedman, CSP is all about. We should be guided by our own GPS: “Go Play Some.” According to Scott, life can make you bitter…or it can make you better. Finally, he reminded us that in the workplace, we should all work to unleash diamonds—that is, empower those around you to shine.
An expert in leadership development, Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE, provided tips for achieving the kind of “performance” at work that leaves colleagues and associates wanting more. It’s critical for us to thoroughly prepare. How many times have we gone to a meeting and decided just to “wing it” and hope things work out? He also said that we’re all either getting better…or we’re getting worse. There really isn’t a status quo, especially in business.
The final keynote speaker was the wonderful Laura Stack, CSP. Laura is The Productivity Pro® and her presentation was “Supercompetent™: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best.” No longer is “competent” good enough. According to Laura, we now have to be supercompetent! Among her tips was Availability: YOU control your schedule and your time…no one else should. For Accountability, Laura talked about the fact that we have to possess self-discipline and self-control—and not blame others when things go wrong.
I took pages of notes and learned a great deal. What is one tip you learned from the last conference you attended? More importantly—was it something that you actually put into action?
Great post, Deb! Sounds like a cool conference. Scott Friedman is wonderful! He’s been a volunteer with the JFS Group Home for more than 25 years – we love Scott!
-Alaina Green, Jewish Family Service of Colorado
I can see why you love him! He was a great speaker and I hope to have the opportunity to see him again.
Once again, a great post. I really agree with all the tips you gained from the conference. I would also share the tip to embrace the difficult times when you don’t feel comfortable with a colleague or superior. By this I mean, try to find a common ground. Although you may disagree on something, you may both have similar GPS. Only think by finding that common ground, you can be the supercompetent person we all are hoping to become.
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Happy to help! The speakers at this conference were terrific and I was glad to be able to pass on a bit of their wisdom.
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