What are you genuinely committed to that reflects your most deeply held values?
That's it. Not complicated.
Once you answer the first question in the narrowest way possible, you will feel a surge of energy, clarity and confidence that wasn't there before.
This isn't psycho-babble. It's the foundation for a fruitful life and an effective career. It's a decision that enables you to eliminate the "I Should" clutter that is inhibiting your progress and allows you to become who you were meant to be. The really nice part: It's about less, not more.
Feldene, Gilbert & Sullivan, and A Life-Changing Gig
Before venturing out on my own I was Manager of Management Development at Pfizer, Inc. I was also "the guy who worked with executives on big-time presentations." (The reason I started my own business is the second part of that description, where I was really committed and most effective). My entire life had prepared me for that kind of work but I hadn't been deliberate enough or mature enough to put the pieces together. At that point I had already spent nearly 20 years as a professional musician, singer, emcee, broadcaster, and voice-over artist in addition to corporate life. But I hadn't yet made the connections about how everything fit together.
My boss gave me a plum assignment. I was to go up to Groton, CT, and coach Dr. Ted Wiseman on his upcoming world tour to introduce the then-revolutionary anti-inflammatory drug Feldene to the medical community. The result: Ted taught me a lot about communicating and connecting.
It turned out that in addition to having spent his entire career seeking a cure for the pain of arthritis (along with co-discovery scientist Joe Lombardino), Ted was an accomplished actor in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. Not just accomplished: he was known internationally.
Hmm. What was I supposed to do with a guy who discovered a miracle drug and probably wouldn't be bashful singing a song about it?
We ran through the presentation, changed the sequence a bit, and headed off to the medical center at Yale for the kick-off presentation to the staff. That's where I learned the importance of the lead-in question at the top of this post.
Ted stood up and spoke from his heart about his life's singular mission to bring relief to arthritis sufferers; what it would mean to millions of people around the world; and how those in the audience would now be able able to offer hopefulness where there was none before. Oh. He flashed a few obligatory slides of molecular configurations to satisfy those who expected it, knowing that they had all seen the promotional materials and read the recent medical journal articles on the topic. Then he went back to the joy of bringing hope where before there was little.
My takeaway: Anyone who has followed through on a commitment that involves their deepest values stands a darned good chance of being a riveting speaker. No one really cares much about flashy, animated, 3-D, shadow-text graphics. In fact, I know that for sure. It was 1981; we had hand-drawn transparencies.
Chris Witt offers up another way to look at this with Why Do You Give Speeches? Again.
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