Friday Keynote: Greg Bell

Friday Keynote: Greg Bell
Author and Founder, Water the Bamboo Center for Leadership
http://www.waterthebamboo.com

Ok, Greg won me over from the start… he told us to applaud for each other – our industry has gone through incredible change, and we show up every day anyway. The applause was deafening!

Reflect on the question – what’s going well? What’s going well personally, professionally… Even the most negative person in your life can find something that is going well. This is a game-changer question.

[We all wrote down one thing that is going well and shared with the person next to us.] It felt great. What did you notice? People smiling, some pride expressed.

START your meetings with what is going well. You’ll see the chemistry change and the productivity increase. This question asked at the beginning of the day (before you get out of bed), sets the tone for your day. END your day with “what went well,” and you book-end your day with the positive. Why ask this question? Because you want to be happy and have the energy to do what you want to do.

Hey – have you ever noticed that the windshield is a lot bigger than the rear-view mirror? Look where you’re going. Look down the road at where you are going, but note that “lessons” are in the rear-view mirror. The things that aren’t serving you, let them go. There isn’t room in the rear-view mirror for everything, only the important things.

Watering the Bamboo

Giant timber bamboo – water for 3 three years, and see NOTHING.  In the fourth year, Giant Timber Bamboo will rocket 90 feet in 60 days.

In the three years before the bamboo breaks the surface, it is establishing roots (nearly 100 feet long). Same with us – we nurture and feed, and often don’t see any result for YEARS. Any idea you have needs to be nurtured. As the bamboo grows, it sheds leaves/shells. What are we hanging on to that we should shed so we can grow?

Water the Bamboo Oath: No matter what challenges come our way, we will continue to water the bamboo.

Challenges will come – and we have to continue to water, no matter how we’re feeling. Successful people do what they want to do, and what they don’t want to do. And they did the things they didn’t want to do by 10AM each day. Get rid of the stuff you don’t want to do early in the day, and move on.

For the firms that win, the people show up every day as if it were their FIRST day. The same enthusiasm, the same wonder, the same pleasure to be there. Everything is possible with this mindset.

What do you have to have to be a bamboo farmer? PATIENCE

But not just the “watch and see what happens”-patience. It’s the show-up-everyday and DO STUFF kind of patience. Be PERSISTENT.

SELF-DISCIPLINE – you are your own worst enemy. Stop criticizing, and start DOING. And do it every day.

COURAGE – commit. Pick a target and go.

Think about Lions. They hunt gazelles because they are hungry. They miss about 70% of what they chase. And what do they do when they miss? They pout? NO! They keep looking. Because they are still hungry, and because they know the big fat, slow one will be along soon.

BELIEF – believe that what you are doing will have the desired result. The nay-sayers are the ones who do not achieve. Don’t “phone in” your performance – believe that what you are doing will make a difference.

VALUES – the journey isn’t relevant without your values. Confucius said “Every journey begins with one step.” Greg thinks Confucius was confused—he thinks every journey should begin with a map or compass or someone to guide you. These are your values. Know where you are going.

Take a tiny action around one of your core values. [Think the flap of a butterfly wing can create gale force winds somewhere else in the world.] You can take a tiny action towards your core values, and it will make you happier.

Greg’s grandfather: Happy people are happy because they like what is happening. “Happy” and “happening” – but in the formation of English words, the “P” and “B” were often interchanged. Happy/Happening come from “habit.” What if liking what is happening becomes a habit? How will that shift in thinking change your behavior? Your interactions? Your outcomes?

DON’T FARM ALONE –  The original purpose of hand-shake: to make sure other person is not armed. The original purpose of the toast: for the host to prove that the drink wasn’t poisoned. The original purpose of the salute: raising the medieval helmet mask to see if the person was friend or foe. All of these behaviors are geared towards building trust.

Our happiness is built upon the quality and trustworthiness of our relationships.

Think about dogs – they are fabulous at unconditional love. Be like a puppy – go up to everybody. The phrase “don’t talk to strangers” is counter-productive. How would you ever have any friends?  Have some enthusiasm in every relationship you have.

On flip side – be like a cat, too. Take care of yourself. Stretch often. Breathe all the time. A little cat and a little dog combined make a happy person.

Give of yourself first (primarily your time – and the quality of your time; your listening, your presence in the present) – then it is easy to ask for the help you need, when you need it.

Some unexpected places to gather water for your bamboo:

• Talk to people 80 years or older, who have smile lines (not frown lines). Ask them what the meaning of life is.
• Talk to people who have just come back from a trip who have a smile on their face. The ones who grouse “That was a terrible trip,” can’t offer you anything helpful. The ones who enjoyed their trip/conference will offer you valuable information.

To thrive:

• Remember that you are a MIRACLE. You are intelligent, beautiful, and miraculous.
• Remember to reflect on and ask “What Is Going Well”- so we start with better days, and end with better dreams. The way to get at better answers is to ask better questions.
• Remember to Water the Bamboo
• Remember the Farmer’s Mindset – be patient in the waiting, persistence in the process. Let the balls fall, pick them up. Know who you are, know your values.
• Remember your values – they are guiding you whether you are aware of them or not, Know them, own them. How are they serving you? Are they serving you well? Are they the true YOU?
• Remember not to farm alone – you don’t have to. And why do this journey solo?

End note: I went up on stage with Greg during his presentation. He asked for someone who has never juggled before. And the audience sat there, stunned, laughing with embarrassment. I couldn’t stand it – I put my hand in the air. Interestingly, as I walked past Frank Lippert to get up to the stage, he had this look on his face like “Oh, man, please don’t embarrass me.” As if MY going up on stage would be more of an embarrassment to HIM than to ME. [LOL]

Greg was talking about COURAGE. I was invited to juggle three balls. And of course, they all fell to the ground. But the lesson is – pick them up. Nothing about me changed. My name stayed the same. My values stayed the same. Just the balls were on the ground, not me. Pick them up, move on.

I was encouraged to juggle one ball – toss from one hand to the other. I did that. Then two balls – toss from one hand to the other – amazingly, I did that, too. I juggled two balls for about three passes. And, of course, I was offered the third ball, but was spared having to try that again right at that moment. I walked away with the juggling balls (and instructions), and a wonderful Book of Wisdom of sayings Greg’s grandfather used to say. By the lunchtime session, I was known as the "courageous marketer."

I bought Greg’s book of Water the Bamboo (of course). I was among the last people in line, because it took a while to get out to him after the lunch session. I had 4 amazing minutes with him. I shared what my parents have always taught me: If you see a hole, fill it. That way, they guy’s horse behind you won’t go lame by stepping in the hole. [Don’t go LOOKING for holes, you understand. You can end up being sidetracked all day. But if you come across a hole, fill it.]

He shared the old adage: If you’re in a hole, stop digging. [LOL!]

And I shared the joke about the guy in the hole… no one helps him out of the hole, offering some lame “solution” and moving on. Until his friend comes along, and jumps in the hole.

Guy: “What the heck are you doing? Now we’re both in the hole!”

Friend: “Ah yes, but I’ve been in this hole before. And I know the way out.”

And that’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Share the journey – good and bad – and keep at it. It is about the journey, not necessarily the destination.