The Keynote that Changed Me

PS: The Day I Vowed to Make Reading a Priority as a Leader

“Woof, woof…. Grrrrrrr… Woof”.

The sound overcame the clatter of forks on plates and table chatter. 

Surprised professionals throughout the banquet hall fell silent looking around the large room for the man-made dog noises coming through the audio system.

With a loud thud and another woof, a man steps up from the chicken and rice plate with a microphone in his hand.

“Is this thing on?” not waiting on an answer, he turns and walks to the stage. 

“Mind if I go ahead and get started with my keynote today?”

Amused, many of us clap and say yes as he turns to all of us from the stage.

“I’m Bryan Dodge and today I want to talk to you about leadership and why leaders are readers”.

This one thirty-minute talk changed my life.

I was trapped and a few words he shared sprung me free.

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Happy Sunday Friends,

This is a PS. A personal story linked to GSD.

I tell these personal stories in hopes it will inspire you to overcome challenges and get stuff done!

2005 was the year YouTube launched, the Apple iPod Nano mp3 player launched, and the first season of The Office.  You might also remember this as the year that Tom Cruise enthusiastically jumped on Oprah’s coach during an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

For me, it was the year I was introduced to motivational speaker, Bryan Dodge. 

Bryan has an intense personality and blends humor, personal quirks, and clear communication with a pro speaker’s flair to deliver a strong personality driven presentation. 

High energy and captivating. 

During Bryan’s keynote he was challenging us as leaders and professionals.

“What are you reading? What are you learning?” he said.   

“What kind of information are you taking in and learning from?”

He was passionately questioning our focus and responsibility as leaders. The major emphasis was that we couldn’t expect anyone other than ourselves to develop us.  And if we didn’t educate and develop ourselves, no one else would. 

I remember thinking this was a profound point. 

At the time was thinking I was “done with learning”, I had graduated from university years before and was busy building a business. 

But leaders are readers he kept saying.

And why wouldn’t we read books and take the insights and distilled experiences from years of life to learn and apply to ourselves to level up. 

Bryan then went on to explain how cheap the book The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason was, how it was the most recommended book by professionals for its principles on personal finances.  The book was small, quick to read, with valuable and helpful content that could immediately impact your life.

But, despite all the benefits and how accessible it was, none of us attending the conference would actually read it… except for maybe one or two people.

Bryan said:

“Right now, 500 of you in the group are actually listening and maybe 300 of you have written the name of the book down in your notepad. About half of you will decide to go to the bookstore to buy it.  But out of the 150 or so that decide to go, half of those people will run other errands first and never make it to the bookstore as planned.”  Laughter throughout the room and nodding heads.

He continued, “The remaining 75 of you will get to the store, but of that group, half of you would be distracted by the coffee, bargain books and magazines.” Pausing for dramatic effect, more heads nodding in agreement.

“The remaining half of you will actually make it to the shelf where the Richest Man in Babylon sits. From there, some of you will get distracted and look at the other books next to it instead and only about 10 of you in the entire room would actually purchase the book – and sadly, 5 of the 10 owners of the book will never attempt to read the copy they purchased – opting for the osmosis approach”.  At this point, the message is sinking in and you can see the room feeling exposed, me included.

“and 3 of you will start reading it but never finish. But 1 or 2 of you in the entire group of more than 500 people will actually read the book entirely.”  He looked across the room holding a serious face for a long beat. 

“And for you three that do, you’ll set course for a new life of knowledge seeking and book reading” and with all the conviction and insistence he could muster, he closed with this final statement.

“Because leaders…” he said sternly while gesturing at all of us.  “Are readers”. 

That day changed my life.

I made a commitment to increase my information sources and professional development beyond just attending conferences, seminars and reading on the web. That day I spent $300 to get his DVD and series of CD’s and audio workshops – something I had never done before.

I vowed that I would be one of those that didn’t just write down the name or show up and buy it, I’d be one that read it and applied it. 

Then hurricane Rita hit our area two weeks later. Me and my pregnant wife evacuated and feared giving birth in a random hospital 200 hundred miles from home.

Despite all that, I purchased and read the book.

I WAS the one person who completed the challenge Bryan foretold. The Richest Man In Babylon, in late 2005, became my first book and was the first domino to fall on a life-long learning journey now rich with hundreds of books that have helped me lead and grow.

Bryan Dodge and that book are forever endeared as a turning point in my life as a truly committed professional and knowledge seeker. I don’t know that I would have picked up a book otherwise and I’m certain I would not be the person and leader I am today had I not.

For a taste of Bryan, here is one of his short videos.

Thank you Bryan, I owe a debt of gratitude and appreciation.

To all of you, I hope this inspires you to take a step into your intentional reading journey.

This is the GSD Way.

#GSD

I appreciate you.

Justin