I Was in the Room
By: David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer
Some years ago, I attended a session as part of my coaching certification and heard someone ask, “How many of you are in the room?” Many who were there with excitement, raised their hand. The impact of that question hit me very hard last week. Please let me explain.
Last week I traveled to Florida to attend three days of training on leadership and growth. Two of the days were led by Rick VanDermyden. Rick is an executive coach and a corporate trainer for the John Maxwell Company. The topic for the two days was the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, a subject that I know very well. I have led masterminds on this classic Maxwell book for over three years. This was supposed to be a “review”. It was much more than a review. It was amazing. As the first day came to a close, I admitted to Rick and my colleagues around the table that it had been the most impactful day of training I have ever experienced. I gained so many new insights and learnings that I have had trouble keeping quiet. It started by sharing some learnings during a call with my wife Wednesday evening. It continued each night thereafter; it came up at Sunday dinner with my family and came up again Monday morning at our MACNY staff meeting.
Please realize that these are not minor tidbits of knowledge but profound shifts in my understandings related to the 21 Laws. It started when Rick made the point on the first day with these words “You can’t bolt these laws on. You have to live them. You have to own them.” As we discussed the Law of Addition and adding value to others, we were asked this question: “What do the people closest to us value most?” This question hit me like a ton of bricks. I struggle to answer this basic question about my colleagues. If I can’t answer that question, how can I truly add value to their lives? If I can’t add value to their lives, how can I lead them? This was just one of dozens of gold nuggets that I was able to mine from my three days ‘In the Room.’ I came home exhausted, but exhausted in a very good way. I was so thankful that I was ‘In the Room.’ Imagine what I would have missed out on if I had chosen poorly because of my busy schedule. Thankfully, I prioritized being ‘In the Room’ and it changed my life.
How about you? Are you going to get into the room? Into the room where leaders share their insights? Into the room where topics you think you know a lot about are presented in new ways, so you can grow to a level you never knew existed. If you would like to know more about my three days of mining for gold, please join me on episode # 75 of The Next Page, where I will share several more new discoveries. If you would like to be ‘In the Room’, I will be leading a discussion on The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth next Tuesday, November 27th. Hope to see you in the room.
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