5-Minute Keynote Vol 2
Explore lessons from the “5 Minute Keynote,” covering persistence, self-belief, volunteering, and sustainability. Dive into inspiring stories like Chuck’s stuntman journey and Nick Vujicic’s message on listening, community, and legacy. Embrace transformation and motivation for personal growth.
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Lessons in Persistence and Growth: Insights from the “5-Minute Keynote”
The “5 Minute Keynote” session brought a burst of energy, inspiration, and wisdom in a concise format. This engaging talk showcased powerful stories and actionable advice to inspire personal and professional growth. Below are the main takeaways from this session.
1. Morning Greetings and Personal Connections
The session began on a warm note with morning greetings and lighthearted conversations about travel plans and basketball memories. These personal touches set the tone for an engaging and relatable discussion.
2. The Five-Minute Keynote Challenge
The challenge demonstrated how powerful messages could be conveyed succinctly. Speakers delivered impactful lessons, proving that time constraints don’t limit meaningful communication.
3. Jim’s Inspirational Keynote
Jim’s address highlighted the importance of self-belief and resilience. His journey served as a reminder that setbacks are stepping stones to success when approached with determination and optimism.
4. Chuck’s Journey to Becoming a Stuntman
Chuck’s story illustrated how persistence and passion can overcome obstacles. His path to a career as a stuntman emphasized that dreams are achievable with hard work, focus, and a willingness to face challenges head-on.
5. Persistence and Belief: Keys to Success
Belief in one’s abilities, coupled with persistence, forms the cornerstone of success. Speakers underscored the importance of embracing failures as learning opportunities and staying committed to one’s goals.
6. Volunteering: A Transformative Experience
Volunteering was presented as a powerful avenue for personal and community growth. It fosters empathy, broadens perspectives, and offers opportunities to make a meaningful impact on others’ lives.
7. The Power of Self and Sustainability
Sustainability, both personal and environmental, was a recurring theme. Speakers urged the audience to prioritize self-care while adopting practices that contribute to a sustainable future for the planet.
8. The Power of Listening: Nick Vujicic’s Story
Nick Vujicic’s story emphasized the profound impact of active listening. By truly hearing others, we build stronger relationships and foster understanding, creating a positive ripple effect in our communities.
9. Community and Legacy: A Call to Action
The session concluded with a heartfelt call to action, encouraging participants to invest in their communities and focus on the legacy they wish to leave behind. Building strong connections and giving back were highlighted as essential elements of a fulfilling life.
10. Closing Remarks and Future Plans
The closing remarks reinforced the importance of taking these lessons into everyday life. Future plans were teased, promising more opportunities for inspiration and growth.
Key Takeaways
The “5 Minute Keynote” reminded us of the power of concise, impactful messages. From stories of resilience to the importance of sustainability, community, and listening, the session provided invaluable lessons for those seeking to grow personally and professionally.
Take these insights forward to create meaningful change in your life and the world around you.
Highlights:
00:00 Morning Greetings and Travel Plans
01:13 Basketball Memories and Injuries
03:50 New Year Wishes and Video Challenges
06:59 Five-Minute Keynote Challenge
10:22 Jim's Inspirational Keynote
16:26 Chuck's Journey to Becoming a Stuntman
19:33 Persistence and Belief: Keys to Success
22:15 Volunteering: A Transformative Experience
27:00 The Power of Self and Sustainability
33:29 The Power of Listening: Nick Vujicic's Story
43:21 Community and Legacy: A Call to Action
45:04 Closing Remarks and Future Plans
Transcript:
[00:01:00] Hello. Hello. Hello. Good morning. Morning. It's not, yeah, it's almost morning. It's not really morning anymore. It's 11. 11 for me. Yeah. Yeah. So
Frank, when are you landing on Friday? At what time? Yeah. Uh, around seven in the morning or something like that. Oh shit. Yeah. Really, really early in the morning. Because I'm landing only at 10. 50. Okay, no problem. I can't wait to do this. No problem. Yeah, what I will do, I didn't want to say it in the other call, but now it's Jim, Jim can [00:02:00] listening.
I will, I will organize a small WhatsApp group so that we can coordinate between us. Okay, great. Felix will pick us up at the airport in Zurich. At 12 ish. Yeah, that's gonna be great. I was asking to my friend, but he's living near too bad, too complex. No, everything is organized. Oh, great, man. That's great.
You know, German, German organization. Yeah. Jim, where are you? Frank, hello. I am in Chicago. Where are you at, my friend? Now I am in Berlin, in Germany. The Windy City. You know it. You know it. Man, what, what, what? Oh, sorry, go ahead. You know, I am a big fan of the Chicago Bulls. Yes. I'm really big fan. Michael Jordan.
Greatest ever, baby. Yeah. My, my hero is Mike. I just want to be like Mike. Be like Mike. His [00:03:00] airness. Jim, Jim, just, just for your info, Frank was playing in the Basketball Bundesliga in Germany, which is like the highest league in Europe, at least at that time. Oh, wow. Yeah. When I was younger, I was playing over there.
Time ago. Oh, wow. That's amazing, Frank. Oh, thank you, sir. That's amazing. I am a big basketball fan. Uh, now I don't play because I got an injury on my right knee and I only, I only waiting, gaining weight. I'm trying to play, but it's not possible after speaking with different doctors, all the same, all the same, always the same.
The operation is not possible. I'm sorry, man. It's always the knees, isn't it? Always the frigging knees. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was an amazing time, uh, from my life and joining until the last day. No regrets. No, nothing. No, I, that's so amazing. [00:04:00] That's inspiration. I'll tell you what. Um, I very much look forward to the day when I get to meet all of you in person.
And I am going to ask you ahead of time. I need to work on my dribbling. I need to work on my handles and I need to work on my mid range jump shot. So if you could help me out with that, I'll be in your debt. All right. Okay. Okay, let's go. So, when I was younger, I remember, like James does in the morning.
Four in the morning, going to the gym, trying to do free throws, three liners, race from four to six before going to the school. So, believe me, I was a really, a really, a really big fan of basketball. Oh, yeah. I love it. Jim, your, your camera is zooming in, zooming out. You're so, you're not sharp just to, Oh, I'm so sorry.
I don't know why. Let me figure this out. [00:05:00] Just guess you, you would love to know.
Hello, Andre, double Andre today,
one in Canada and, and one in Romania.
Hello. Now we can use. Yeah. Happy New Year. Best wishes. Happy New Year. Exactly. Thank you, sir. Happy New Year for you, too. So we're keeping a couple of minutes waiting. I see Chuck is coming. Jim will come back as well when he has sorted out his camera topics. Are you still there? Oh, yeah, I'm still here.
Hello, Chuck. Hello. Hello. I had the wrong link. I've been trying to log in and I had the wrong link. So I finally figured it out. Welcome. Good video today. Love it. Thank you. That was fun.[00:06:00]
It's going to be fun. I have not checked yet who else did the videos today. I didn't see a lot of them. I saw a couple of them. Yeah. Let's see. Of course Christians. I still got, I still got to translate Christians. Yeah. That's a tough one. Yeah. Frank, are you joining Daily Video Challenge again? I'm going to start today.
Yeah. Good. Frank was in the last one. Frank was kind of the winner of the last one in the paid community. There you go. It was really fun. I love to be in front of the cam, to be honest.
Even good. I got the call and I got the voice really strange and I was speaking to the cam. I'm putting all the stuff into TikTok. Keep it going, man. That's [00:07:00] good. Over time, you, you, you just are in the flow and you just do it. And of course, if you, it's, it's different if you post on TikTok than on LinkedIn, but like I don't care anymore.
I post everywhere if needed. I mean, neither Jens, at the end of the day, it, it needs to make sense to us. Exactly. That's the starting point. I got a lot of fun doing that. And even, I'm learning a lot because I need to do like a deep thinking before speaking. Okay, now, and let it flow. Yeah, especially for us, it's doing it in a different language that is your, like, mother tongue is even double difficult.
Like, Chuck, you have, you're lucky with that. I'm, I'm the lucky one. Yeah, and Jim as well. Yeah. It will be not, it will be another challenge here. Then we will speak a different language. Yeah. [00:08:00] We can do it in German. I know Chuck is doing it in German.
Even the Germans won't be able to understand what I say.
So five minute keynote is today. Everyone that wants to, you can do a five minute keynote. There is no rule except you are not getting longer time than five minutes. Who wants to do one today? You need to try that. This is a, a timer, a clock. And every time that I need to pitch. I have the stuff with me. I have one here today as well.
Yeah, great. Yeah, but I got this one from my last pitch contest in December. So the pitching was 2 minutes and I was speaking 2 minutes 39 seconds. And I was the shortest one. [00:09:00] Yeah, and you won, right? Yeah, I won. I won the stuff. For me it was a big surprise. Good. Jim is back. Now we can start. Okay. Sorry about that.
Great. No worries. No worries. I just thought I want to let you know that the zoom is not working. So who wants to do a keynote today? I am. Yeah, I'll, uh, I'll knock one out, give it a shot. Jim is on. Who else? And, uh, I'm not really prepared cause I, I wasn't even thinking about it, but, uh, Yeah,
it's good if you're not prepared, then it comes from the heart. This is true. This is true. Think about it. This is like Toastmasters. We can just riff as well. We don't need to have anything prepared. Frank, you want to do one? Of course. [00:10:00] So we have three already and both Andres, that's quite funny. You're now both in the middle for me.
Yeah. Do you want to do? I have a text. I usually, uh, do write a speech before and then I make, I flourish the speech during the, The delivery. Do you want to do one or? I can do it. Good. So now question. Who wants to start?
Ah, sure. Me. Yay. Setting the bar high again. Like last time. Oh, geez. Can you give us some, some ground rules? Like besides the five minute stuff. The keynote has to be a theme of a conference. So it has to be relevant. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. So it's not really a keynote, it's just a [00:11:00] speech, it's not a keynote.
Do you say keynote to trigger something? No, it doesn't matter. Then, then I'm prepared anything. Good. So, Jim, you start. You're, I'm not sure if their mic is working, just check. Hello? Test one. Now it's working. Yep. All right. I will time you. I hope it works. I will just show you the watch here. Good? Yeah. Good.
Then when you're good, you go. All right. What if everything you've mastered, everything you've worked so hard to achieve was already being done by everybody else? Now this was the realization I had after spending seven years earning my associate's bachelor's and master's degree in classical guitar performance.
My education, the schools were emphasizing performance [00:12:00] techniques and music repertoire that that was deemed essential to master the intricate art of classical guitar. Yet, when I stepped out of academia into the professional world, I realized something very unsettling. My repertoire was nearly identical to every guitar player around me.
It was a music scene filled with skill and ability, virtuosity, but lacking in innovation. Continuing on this path, while safe, wasn't going to help me stand out. And in the busy, Chicagoland music scene, Standing out wasn't just optional, it was essential. Essential to thrive. Here's the thing. Innovation sparks when challenge demands creative solutions.
When a problem needs to be solved. My problem was trying to stand out amidst all the other musicians. How could I differentiate myself from every other guitarist? And that's when I [00:13:00] decided to rewrite the rules. Using the techniques I learned in school, I began arranging contemporary songs in classical guitar style.
Like, imagine hearing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, but played with the elegance and the nuance of a classical guitar performance. This approach wasn't just a creative outlet, it became my competitive edge, transforming my repertoire and helping me build a standout reputation in a really crowded music scene.
Now, you're probably wondering, Jim, what does this have to do with innovation in corporate finance? In your industry, you actually face similar challenges. How do you innovate and stand out while staying within a preset framework of rules and regulations?
The music scene, it's an artistic scene of course, but there are still rules that I abide to for every particular event. [00:14:00] I have to craft music that fits the client's needs while staying true to the setting and the atmosphere of the event. So for me, innovation meant meeting these expectations, but delivering them in a way that nobody else was offering.
Again, classical guitar style arrangements of contemporary songs. Now, of course, you follow a lot of rules. Regulatory compliance. In corporate finance, you are operating within the framework of rules, safety, fairness. But innovation isn't stifled by these rules. It can be strengthened by them. Let's take Comply Advantage, for example.
This company founded in 2014, they revolutionized compliance by using AI to automate regulatory processes. Is innovation in action within the rules? So I ask you, what can you bring to the table? What problem can you solve? How can you challenge the norms and [00:15:00] within your framework? to create something truly impactful.
Let me circle back to show you what innovation looked and sounded like for me.[00:16:00]
Innovation is about rewriting the rules, not breaking them. It's about finding your unique voice within the framework you operate in. I challenge you to think about your industry, your work, and ask yourself. What's my Bohemian Rhapsody? Thank you.
Bravo. Awesome. Amazing. Congrats. Good one. Thank you. Jim, you're setting the bar freaking high, I have to say. Yeah.
Thank you. Hey Jim, we need to talk later. I bought this a handful of years ago and I noticed you pick, I can't play it to save my life. Yeah, Chuck. All right. [00:17:00] Uh, so for, for whatever it's worth, I can't play a banjo to save my life either. It's a totally, it's like a foreign world, musical world for me because the tuning is so different, but I've always wanted an excuse to familiarize myself with it.
So let's absolutely talk. That'll be great. We'll chat. We'll definitely chat. Chuck, we need to get Jim over to the Netherlands. Okay. I know it's here. I'm actually going to be in Atlanta at the end of February until the beginning of March. So that's an opportunity. There we go. Good. So who wants to go next?
I mean, since I'm already up, I might as well go. Like I said, I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but we're going to, we're going to give her a shot. I'll give you the timing. All right, by the way, Jim, were you able to see that timing or not at all? Yeah, it was perfect. Yeah, [00:18:00] it was great. It was just okay able to see it easily then when you're ready you go All right.
Here we go. Um, my question to you is what can you achieve when you really believe in yourself? I mean truly believe in yourself more than just You know, saying I'm gonna do something. Um, I don't know. Everybody's got a different story. I can always share what my story is. I come from a humble middle class America, not rich, not poor.
Um, grew up, uh, born in New York, raised in Los Angeles and was an athlete. That was my, my life forever. And I always wanted to be the best I can be. So I jumped from sport to sport so I can be diversified. Um, it wasn't until I was about 17 or 18 and I was working at a go kart track. I was racing go karts and I was also working as a shop foreman for a company out that way and, um, met a stunt man.
And it was just one of those things on my list. I had a list of things. I want to be an astronaut. I want to be, you [00:19:00] know, a race car driver. I want to be whatever. And Stuntman was on that list. So I told him, I was like, I would love to be a stuntman. What's it take? And he invited me to the set with him. He said, why don't you come to the movie set with me and, uh, and see what you think.
So I went to the set. It was Fast Times Rouge about high, and it was a football sequence. And they're doing all the football stunts. And I kind of just laughed at the end of the day, or the morning actually, it was all night shoots. Um, he said, what do you think? And I just laughed and said, this is what I do on weekends for free and you guys are getting paid for it.
Hell yes, I want to do that. So, I kind of pursued it. I lost track of, of my friend there, Mike. He got divorced, moved away, and it was all on me. Now, I come from, like I said, just middle class. I don't know anybody in the movie industry. I had no connections, nothing whatsoever. So I started at the bottom. I was an extra.
I was a production assistant. I was a, you know, I pulled cable for a golf show for the cameramen. I did everything to get my foot in the door. And that was, that was my push. That was my goal to go [00:20:00] out there and be a stuntman. And it wasn't until about three and a half years later, I got my opportunity. I was on a movie set working in the art department, um, helping stock shelves.
And they did a location scout and they came in and started asking questions to the art director and said, Hey, we want, we want the killer to run across these cash registers and stuff like that. Can we do it? And the art director kind of, she said, I don't know. I mean, we got a guy that's on our crew that might be able to help you.
He does stunts here and there. And I went up there and introduced myself and, you know, he asked me and I said, I'd like to try it and I just did it. I ran across these things and the director all of a sudden was like, what about this? And by the third little situation he turns the producer says who's doing our stunts on this and they kind of went well We're talking to somebody we haven't locked anybody down and he said don't stop.
I want you to do my stunts That was my start. That was how I got in the door, but it was persistent It was pushing it was you know Just being there all the time networking and just doing whatever it took to be in the business I had part [00:21:00] time jobs and even after I got started it took me a couple of years Beyond that before I really got established where I could make a living at it That's that put that push that most people don't have and it's the one thing That most people lack they say they want to do something and they just don't follow through or it's too difficult and they quit man, i'm living proof that if you Push yourself and you are committed completely that you can do anything.
So it's it's truly about believing in yourself Believing in what you want and and don't let any walls get in front of you Don't let anything shut you down. Just do what you're gonna do and go go go, you know That's that's the key I believe to success. It doesn't matter the business It doesn't matter where you grow up what you do if if you push to be the best you can be Or even to just achieve the certain goal you can do it you can truly, you know hit that mark You just got to believe and you got to commit and that's that's really what it takes So [00:22:00] yeah, it's if you want to do something just don't stop just don't let anything get in your way if it's money There's always ways to get money if it's just you know talent learn to do it If it's education go to school or mentor under somebody whatever the situation is Find a way to do it and just do it.
I think I got about 45 seconds.
Nice one. Thank you. Like I said, I didn't prepare anything. So I just, I was just winging it and that's, that's good. The being you, you don't need to win. I think so. And that's why I went to myself because I can talk about my past or my career or my future, even because it's in my head. So to come up with something just cold turkey is just a lot tougher.
So if I had a, if I had a subject or something like that, I can do a whole chart and everything and make it really presentable, but yeah, you got to be yourself. [00:23:00] That's good. Thank you for that. Thank you. So next Andre.
You need to unmute yourself, which you're ready. Yeah, I can go. I think good. I just want to know the time. Oh no, I don't know. No worries.
Okay. So I'm going, so what was the last thing you did, uh, without overthinking or without over engineering? When was the last time you did something and you were content even if you were certain it could not have been enough? I've always felt this challenge from childhood, from my parents. Um, as being the bigger brother, I was subject to parentification.
I was the golden child as they, [00:24:00] as psychologists put it. So look what I've discovered as a, an activity, uh, volunteering. Volunteering is a transformative experience that connects me to the problem I cannot solve on my own. Uh, what drives me is having a clear purpose and knowledge that, uh, for the beneficiaries of my volunteering, my best current version and the extra I always put in is actually enough that, uh, gives me the energy to do it, but also makes me feel less of the strains and pains of physical and mental activity or tiredness, so non business hours, planning, worrying about it, and so on.
I can give a couple of examples. Um, early last autumn, uh, we came back in animal welfare shelter. We sometimes do volunteer work for, we thought we had less to do, but plans actually get reprioritized on the spot as they often do in any field. [00:25:00] When the object of the NGO is risking animal is a never ending story, particularly in this part of Europe.
You can imagine seven abundant, uh, pups had just been found and rescued from the margin of the road close to the shelter. So we had to build an ad hoc, uh, temporary enclosure, uh, for them and, uh, they, uh, had to be also isolated, quarantined. Was it enough on the long run? No. Actually, the, uh, the enclosure is actually, is still up and running today.
We had to do call of action on social media to get more money. Um, but did we feel good enough for that day? For sure. All our, uh, all our effort was had the dopamine it needed. The lesson learned are not only a thank you received from dogs wagging their tails, posing for photos and kissing us for their noses, uh, though I did feel a quick win accomplishment, following follow the reflection, I think the best way to contribute is either [00:26:00] start doing the chores for your community, the community chores, their community needs, or start educating others in that direction.
Um, what, what company, what activity can never do enough of it is make people feel that they're enough is actually helping others. My life experience as a volunteer has begun with a former colleague. It continues with my wife and now with our daughter. So we're getting involved in support of underprivileged kids being Santa for a day, helping deliver gifts, or even doing homework with them.
Even yesterday we had this opportunity. And the lessons learned through day by day life in this domain are countless from practicing people management skills to project management, all levels to finance, to education, um, it's an endless pursuit and whatever you do is better than nothing and is always enough for the beneficiaries.
So I'll leave, um, on the keynote with this challenge to you guys, whatever you do, [00:27:00] just like yes, here, just like every one of you, like Jim would teach young children to play guitar. Like Frank would teach, uh, uh, young children to, to soul and stuff. Uh, I'm sure whatever your talents are, go to your community and, uh, do whatever.
Uh, you can do to, to the less privileged ones and for sure it will make your life worth living. That's it for me. Thank you.
Nice one.
So, who's next? Frank. Of course. We have two Franks, but you have your own timer. No, but we can use together. Oh, maybe Frank, do you want to start?[00:28:00]
No, I was late. You're first.
Okay.
Do you need the timer from me? No. Okay. Hello guys for being here. Um, today I just want to speak about the power of the self human evolution. So now I just want to start when I was younger, um, I was playing high performance basketball, playing different kind of, um, sports, um, and to have the mentality to be a wiener.
That's it. In the field of the sports. Um, when I became an adult, I forgot all this, this kind of lessons I got being inside the S the S sport. But when I know that I just wanted to be a father, all the world changed for me. [00:29:00] That, uh, is, um, Separation of the ages in my life. That means when I was younger, I didn't take care about the planet.
I didn't care about the environment. I didn't care about the persons around me, but knowing that I have to be in charge of a new person for this world, that brings me a break inside my head. For this reason, I started to do sustainability. I started to do sustainability in the time of the pandemics.
Because I was working with, uh, for a big American company. And this big company started to, to, to close companies around the world is starting here in Germany. And that was the perfect match for me because I just wanted to have a big change, change in my life. And it was the big opportunity to do a restart in [00:30:00] my life, bringing something new for the planet, for my doctor.
That is the real meaning why I took the decision to start doing sustainability. For this reason, I took all my skills from the basketball, from the engineering world, to put all together to develop new communication skills. To go ahead with a proposed, um, communicating a proposed is not so easy because every person has another perception about the problematic.
But for me, it was really clear to communicate that we wanted to take the high quality material. Um, as leftover coming from the automotive industry to do a new kind of material to be used in fashion and sneakers in box. I mean the smaller goods industry. For this reason I started to create the product clothing concept to save the planet with the style, not only saying we are doing that.
It's more [00:31:00] bigger than me is bigger to me the concept for this reason I started to give for free the material for the designers. To bring something new to create a community around the sustainability in a proper way, avoiding the greenwashing, because nowadays there's a lot of companies they say we do sustainability, but in the words, but not in the actions.
And for me are really important to show the people with the example. For this reason, I do what I do for this reason. I invite the people to be with us, but it's not only for me. It's a legacy for the future, for the people around me to show them that a Colombian guy coming from nothing living in Germany, the last 26 years can start a big movement inside a non common business like fashion is for us is really [00:32:00] complex to.
explain because the people say that they are Latinos, they don't have any, um, program, they don't have any structure, but it's false. We are really clever people and we are really good students and when we get the lesson and when we understand the path to be followed, we can develop our own path to show other Latinos people that they are able.
To do that in a proper way. No, so no only saying they, they are party people, they are drunken people. They, I'm fighting against all these kind of stereotypes in my case, as a Colombian guy, uh, the connection with Pablo Escobar and all this stuff is coming always to the table when we are together, where are you from, Frank?
Oh, Columbia, Pablo. And I'm trying to teach the people that this For this reason, I am here. My [00:33:00] name is Frank Peralta. Um, I do sustainability in a proper way, saving the planet with the style. Thank you so much.
Nice one. Thank you, Frank. With style. For what is worth, Frank, for me, Colombia is Valderrama. Yeah, we have, we have football as well. Soccer. Valderrama had style. Yeah. Pablo did not. Valderrama did have style. You know, that is always a conversation that comes to the table. Ah, Pablo. And. It's, it's the, the jo the jokes we know, but now, um, I can, I can't leave the stuff in peace.
In the past, when I was new here in Europe, for me was like, oh no, but now I can live with . [00:34:00] Yeah. The other Frank, do you want to do a five minute two?
Good.
We just need to unmute, or you need to unmute. I know, I know, I know. I've got a little, little kitten here who wants all my attention all the time. And that's good. She don't want to leave me alone. You know, she's saying, Hey, listen, I'm here. You have to cuddle me now. But now give me five minutes, please.
Okay. Let's, let's do it. I take a part of, uh, out of my keynote, but it's, it's, it's okay. I'm allowed. I'm allowed to do it. It's my keynote. So, okay, it's, um, I want to go to the, the power of listening, the power of listening. They all say, sharing your story is changing your story. Well, [00:35:00] guess what? There was a Sunday morning, five years ago, I woke up tired.
It was really hot, I don't know what to do, so I went to the couch, put the TV on, and there he was, the little guy, on the table, with no arms and legs. Somebody with no arms and legs on the table. I thought, hmm, that's gonna be interesting. So I sit there, still really, really tired, but the more he started to talk, the more I come a little bit closer to the And then he starts, he said, well, I was born with no arms and legs in the outbacks of Australia, nothing to do in life, no arms and legs when I was seven, eight years old.
I had enough. I really had enough. My parents went to work and I was eight years old. [00:36:00] I filled up the bathtub. I rolled myself into the water and I tried to drown myself. What's the use living with no arms and legs, no friends, no nothing? Living in the outbacks of Australia, where it's going to bring me? If you try to drown yourself with no arms and legs, It's hard to hate to do.
He stayed for 20 minutes in the water, but he's got a little chicken wing. That's the only thing he's got on his back. And that chicken wing went like crazy and hold them up the water. So in the end, he was so tired. So he rolled back out of the water on the ground. And I was, the only thing he saw was his mother and father at his grave.
They did already seven, eight years, everything fine. So he decided. Well, let's see where life's going to bring me. I give life another chance. [00:37:00] So I thought, Oh my God, let's listen to this guy. So I went a little bit closer and then he started. He was sitting 17 years old. He was waiting for a cab to bring him back to home from school.
And it was a cleaner watching him every time putting his finger to him. And he said to the cleaner, what are you looking at? I've got the ones, the legs here, blah, blah, blah, but you've got arms and legs and you're only cleaning. So what, what's your problem? And the guy said, one day you're going to be a very famous person.
And he said, are you stupid? That's why you're a cleaner. You are too dumb to do something else. Come on, get out of my face. But in the end, he asked the cleaner, if you think I'm going to be famous person, he said, well, start calling schools and say, Hey, I'm Nick Richards. Got no arms and legs, but guess what?
I'm 17 [00:38:00] years old. So I made it the long way. He said, Oh, you're so stupid. That's why you're cleaning to make a long story short. He start one day, start calling schools, 50 schools, nobody called back. Then he stopped calling schools. And guess what? The phone rings. Can you, are you Nick Vujicic, the man with no arms and legs?
Can you come next Wednesday to our school and speak? Long story short, he went to the school, spoke for 20 minutes, became more depressed than before he went to that school because he was telling about himself. So he went home, came home and said to his mother, bring me home. I don't want to eat. You know, I'm so depressed.
So his mother brought him home, and the next morning, quarter to eight, a phone ring, phone rings. He never had a phone call. Our unique [00:39:00] Vujicic, the man with no arms and legs, the famous speaker, the famous speaker, me, uh, yes, that's me. To make a lot of long stories short, that day, 35 telephone calls. And the last call, he said, it's going to cost you 2000.
And the school said, that's okay. Shot from being a nobody with no arms and legs. 24 hours later, the best paid speaker in the world. 75, 000. You can hire Nick nowadays, and he's fully booked till 2026. The power of listening. He listened to the cleaner. Thank you.
Thank you, Frank.[00:40:00]
It's always impressive. I always love hearing Frank talk. He's so, so elegant with his words. It's so funny that you say that, because so many people, because after this is only five minutes, but this is in my keynote, it's the part where I try to explain why I started to write my book. When I heard that story, I knew it was now my moral obligation, because he said, if you've got a story to tell the world, Like my story, you have to do it.
It's your moral obligation, because people can really change. Because so many people say, I don't have a story, Frank. And guess what? Five minutes later, I give them the chance to speak. And they have a story, because we all have a story. And somebody is waiting for that story. [00:41:00] But you have to learn to listen.
Now, I didn't listen. But I, this time, I listened to that guy on that, And then I thought, Oh, I've got a story already 25 years, but I keep my mouth shut. So it was my moral obligation and I'm doing the same, man. It's so much fun. It's, it's, it's so much fun because it's getting, it costs you so many time. You know, he has lucky.
He said, you know what he said to me? I met him now three guys, three times, Nick. And the third time he said, Frank, you've got a problem. And I said, what do you mean, Nick? Are you going to start with my mental illness? Now I was the mental patient for 13 years. He said, why are you going to do that? He said, no, no, no, no, no.
You've got another big problem. I said, what? You've got arms and legs. It's really important if you start to become a speaker, you don't have arms and legs because everybody is booking me only because I don't have [00:42:00] arms and legs. And to get to think about that, you know, when somebody says to you, you've got a problem.
If you want to become a speaker. You better have no arms and legs. You've got a better chance when you have no arms and legs. And you know, it's so beautiful that the guy would said to that, you know, I've got only no arms and legs. Only no arms and legs. That's what he told me. You know, it's, it's, it's, yeah, for me, it's so, yeah, so beautiful.
So I use always that part. To go to why I wrote my book in, in, in my keynotes. And that's, that's so much fun in that detail. Listen to somebody, you've got that book already 25 years ready to go. And then you hear somebody say with no arms and legs, Hey, it's your moral obligation, get out, do it. And that's.
You know, listening, really listening, you know, like, like we're doing now, you [00:43:00] know, to everybody, you know, you listen, you take some parts and, you know, the Columbian Frank, you know, I don't, I love that. No, I love that. The way you, you, you bring that. It's, it's, It's, it's so, yeah, because here in Columbia, we all, all think that everybody at Columbian is, is a drug leader or, you know, that's what they all talk about, you know, you hear them everywhere.
So it's so good that you do that. So it's, it's beautiful. Well done. Oh, thank you. Yes. And you both are into basketball, if I remember right from last time, right, Frank? I played in the nationals. Yeah. 17 years I played the highest level of basketball and I coached the Dutch national teams. I coached them too.
Yeah. I love basketball. Basketball is For me it's the same. So I was telling Jim before [00:44:00] that now I can play because I got an injury on my knee. And for this reason, I can play even, even I go different operations in the shoulder and anything. And I couldn't play, but now with me, it's not possible an operation.
I know. It's terrible. Yeah. Now you, you save the world with stylus also. Yes, of course. That's the other stuff. So I need to bring the energy in another kind of project. For me, saving the planet with the style has the same importance. Asked to play basketball. So we're, I think we're, we're done except a Canadian Andre.
If you want to do a keynote, let me know. Um, for those that know Canadian, Canadian Andre will skip for today. Cause I'm driving now, but, uh, I've been so inspired by you guys. Thank you so much. It's been, it's been awesome. Good. [00:45:00] Thank you. Thank you. Drive safe. So, for those If you drive, don't pitch. Exactly.
So, for those that have not seen it, and I have not really announced it, on 22nd of February, I'm planning a community meetup in the Netherlands. So 22nd of February is my goal date for those that already are like German planning everything. So I will announce more details on that, but I, I try to kind of bring us together, have a, have a coffee, have a chit chat, go the focus for me is more in getting to know each other than doing some somehow masterclass or something.
So the first run is really just, Hey, let's get to go. And meet each other, get to know each other. And maybe I will build a common topic for those that need a common topic. But the goal is getting to know each other. [00:46:00] So for those that are in the Netherlands on the call or Frank, like, I mean, the, the Colombian Frank, if you want to come, you can stay at my place.
You're welcome. Of course, man. I would not take this offer. Yeah. I, we will see each other anyhow, next weekend. Yes, of course. This weekend, this weekend. Good. That's it for today. I'm supposed to go to Atlanta. I'm in Berlin on the 13th to the 17th, and then I was supposed to go to Atlanta, but I don't have dates yet.
So I'm hoping to be here because I'd love to join you guys. You need to meet up with Frank in Berlin when you're there. He lives in Berlin. I'm living here now. Oh, okay. Yeah, I get there on the 13th. I'm going to EFM, the European Film Market and stuff, and I've got time, so. Yeah, let's, let's see if we can meet up.
Yes, of course. Of course. That'd be fun. Andre, you have a question? I have two hooks to end the discussion. [00:47:00] One, a hook for the basketball enthusiast here. I actually loved and I made a post on the community the last, the book of Phil Jackson. Okay, you won't have it here because I want to take notes. 11 rings.
Yeah. Okay. So you guys know what I'm talking about. It was incredible. I mean, I really felt it was like talking to me. Yeah. Cool. I really, I really, I mean, it, It's obvious, empiric from science level or, uh, the, the level of, uh, um, you know, spiritual level, everything he says there, but actually bringing that to the table on the basketball court and then doing consulting on, uh, on, uh, big, uh, big tech leadership and whatever else he did.
It's yours. I mean, it's, it's. It's so cool. So that was one thing. And the other thing, uh, there is hope, uh, Frank, for, [00:48:00] for our children, uh, because they're growing up with La Familia Madrigal, so they know Columbia from there, rather than from Narcos, right? So, we don't talk about Bruno, you know, that's, that's better.
You know, now, now the Colombians are, um, leveling up the level around the arts, about the filming, about, uh, singing, uh, sports with Valderrama, uh, now Colombia has like a golden generation with amazing people doing the best for the country. Yeah. That is our obligation. What, what Frank says before is your obligation to do that.
Yeah, we need to have, uh, if, if, if we can clean the name of our country, we're going to do that. That sounds like a mission, a mission bigger than yourself, yourself guys, like something that [00:49:00] drives you as a, as a huge community, wherever you are. Yeah. So now I'm thinking in legacy level or something like that, something bigger than us that when we pass through the idea is still alive.
Good. Cool.
That's it for today. Thank you very much was awesome to see all of you I will I still need to edit the other version by the way. I haven't been able to do that. Um, Because i'm editing this ones myself. I'm still i'm promising. I'm still doing it. So it's coming this one I'm editing as well that you have all of your single clips.
Thank you, sir. Thank you gents. Thank you everyone See you next week monday or in any of the other calls going forward or 22nd of february for those that are here willing to meet up. Sorry? It's fixed the date? Yeah, it's fixed. Okay, [00:50:00] I'm gonna search for the for the flights. I don't want to miss this opportunity to meet you guys.
That's good. Awesome. Good. Thank you. See you out there. Bye. Have a good one. Cheers. Thank you.
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Transcript:
Personal development masterclass. One of the topics that's dear to my heart, because of what I have seen over the last 15 years is that personal development is quite seldom in organizations. It's not really taken, uh, in a proper way, at least in my eyes. So that's why I'm really keen on sharing this today.
So we have two. main perspectives. One or two topics for today. One is personal development talk versus performance evaluation. And then we do a deep dive into how I'm doing personal development talks. And then we do questions in the end. Personal development. So we have one part, which is the personal development talk, and then we have the performance evaluation.
And a lot of organizations, focus on performance evaluation. And the difference between those two is that the performance evaluation, the main part they are focusing on, or the main source of that is the company. So the company is on the top. And from there, it goes into, the individuals and the different tasks that need to be done to accomplish what's happening in the company, what is required to do to be done in the company.
And the individual that is doing the task is the last point. And then inside of the performance evaluation, you're looking backward. So you look, how did this person perform in the past? The development talk is the opposite. So the most important part of the. Development talk is the future. Where does the person want to be in the future?
And it has nothing to do with the outcome of the company or where the company wants to be. The goal of this is, and why, why do this personal development talk? I believe that if we are developing people in organizations beyond what the organization needs, they will contribute more to the company. They will contribute better.
So the goal of what I'm doing with development talks is finding out what the people desire and going deeper into that. And we will have a look at that in the next couple of slides. And then look, what are the different tasks of the organizations that fit the person and what the person wants to be. And then you marry these two things.
And then it works as well from a performance evaluation perspective. So that's my perspective on development talk and performance evaluation. Let's go into personal development talk a couple of, I think it's almost two years ago or something. I've developed this in as, as a worksheet. So if anyone is interested in getting this worksheet as a PDF.
Happy to share that. So, the starting point of a development talk is really a setup of the atmosphere and the place. So you are going to do a development talk with another person. So you are the manager and the, the other person is like reporting to you and then you're meeting up. So what you need to make sure of is that you have, an appropriate place.
The best case is always doing this outside of the office environment in a. In a place where people feel well, the atmosphere is super important. The time of the day is important, not doing it on Friday afternoon, for example, when people want to go on the weekend, of course, you need to be aware of your relationship with the other person, depending on how deep your relationship is.
You of course have then a perspective on how deep you can go. And how much that is. And then what is important as well is that you put the note-taking responsibility to the person that is inside the room or is working with you. So me as a leader, I always give the note taking responsibility for the other person because then you see what they understand and what they get out of that.
And then I always do as well. A version in front of us so that people understand this. So printing out this worksheet as an example, if you do that in a physical space, then you print it out and then you go into the development talk. And the starting point of the development talk goes really wide.
Looking into what's the personal vision like. I always ask these as open questions without showing them the worksheet in the beginning. Who do you want to be? And that's very, very, very wide. Like, who do you want to be? What does it mean? Some people who have never had a conversation like this, struggle with this.
So they start with, yeah, I want to be a manager. I want to be something specific. So they go very, very, very specific and they don't really look into the future. So the first round of this, I just, Help them to find out who they want to be and they write down, they write down a manager. I want to be a good father.
I want to be whatever they come up with. And then I go to the next question and I show them the next question, not before. So why do you want to be that person? So then they're reflecting on the answers they have given and then they go back and refine who they want to go to be. And that's an interesting process because what.
You as the manager that is holding this development talk are doing, you're literally shutting up and just asking open questions to tell me more. How, how does that feel? What does that look like? What would that look like in the future? So you only ask open ended question when that gets the person talking and reflecting.
So if you're saying this, what does it mean? So, and then they're explaining, explaining, and they go in a loop between who am I going to be? And why do I want to be that person? So until they have clarity, and the first loop is always. The starting point where they don't know what's going to come, then who am I going to be?
They come up with high-level topics and then they go, Why do I want to be that person? Then they go back to Who am I going to be? And then they go deeper. And I always then give them a perspective. Okay, think about five years, 10 years from now, who do you want to be? And then they go more particular in all of these things.
And then we go, we don't close this, we keep it, we put it aside. And then we go to the next sheet, which is a personal development map. So I want them again to reflect on certain questions. And it doesn't matter in the order, I just take them clockwise right now. But it's really going and answering the specific questions.
What do I want to learn? So you're asking this, the person that is in front of you. So what do you want to learn to be that person? So linking it back to that person of the future. And then you're asking, what do you want to improve? And then they come up with things. So it's, it's like writing down the, all the different topics and then what do I want to leave behind?
And then they come back with topics that they want to leave behind. Another question is what excites you? Yeah. And then going deeper into this, who is important to them? And then what is important to them? And when you have done this circle, you go around it and they were deeper in this topic.
What quite often happens then if you ask them, so how, if we go back to the other one, is that still the same thing you want to be? Because they have now clarified what they want to be. and answer the question, they go back to this one and then clarify, no, no, no, I want to be this, I want to be this. What I always ask them, in this part is to paint a picture.
So when, when we have finished with this one, I go back to this one. And say, from a personal vision perspective, imagine a picture and describe the picture that you see on the wall. And then they describe to me who they want to be and who they are going to strive to be inside of a picture and explain everything that is around them.
I've had, for example, a person that told me where they are going to live, what, how it feels, um, in this picture, where the kids in this picture, where the wife or husband and, and going really into details and then linking this to. A job perspective as well, because in the end, we are at least this part is in a job environment.
So they are linking that to the job environment of who they're going to be working with as well. So these two are super powerful. And then you go into the next step, which is a goal perspective. So it starts with the staircase. So in the top right corner, we have what is the goal. And the starting point is really, um, defining that goal.
So if you want to be this person in five years, what is the goal for the next year for you to be very specific? And of course, you can do smart goal setting and all of that, but it's in the end, What does feel right for that person? What is the development goal they want to reach in one year from now?
And then they formulate that goal. And then you go to the bottom of this page where you look into where do you stand today on a scale from one to 10. So they're rating themselves on how close are they to that goal. If they're close, then they're at 10 or 9. If they're far away, then they're at 1. And what always happens is they're somewhere in between, obviously.
So when they have rated that, then you look into what are the things that get you closer to that goal, meaning moving your scale from 5 to 10. And that's what they are writing down above the stairs. So, above the stairs are the things that are getting them closer to their goal. And then they're defining this in bullet points and formulating that out.
And [you do that obviously all in a conversation. You ask the person who is doing the development talk, you are asking them questions to get them moving. You're asking them clarifying questions about the topics that are put, into the sheet. And then the next part is, what are the things that getting you further away from that goal?
So downstairs, if you think at it from a staircase perspective, and then they're writing these things down and then they have a clear picture of a goal staircase where they, they know they want, where they want to be linking that to the vision that's five years from now and the goal picture, and then they rate themselves.
And have then clear understanding of that are the things I need to do to get to my goal and that are the things I should not be doing. And then the last step of the development talk is getting specific. So now we zoom into one year and actionable goals that help them or tasks that get them towards the one-year perspective.
So what are the things they're going to do? When are they going to do this? What do they need to make happen to be able to do this? What are the things they need help with and how I'm, how they going to measure them? So it's a very, very simple setup where they write down literally the different steps that help them to get there.
And they're putting measurable goals towards the goal. And this is roughly. I would say one and a half hours, even if we go through this right now in a theoretical setting in, let's say 15 minutes in a real conversation, in a coaching style, where you ask the manager or coach the other person to find out what they are desiring and where they want to be.
It takes roughly one and a half hours if you do that well, sometimes it's faster depending on the relationship as well. The fascinating thing with this is it has zero to do with the company you work in and one hundred percent to do with who they want to be. And as well as zero to do with you as their manager, if you're their manager, like your perspective, your opinion on anything of that.
Um, just to give you a couple of examples, I've had people that told me that they want to be. building their own company in the next five years and they worked in the company and I was their manager they told me because they trusted me that they wanted to build their own company and we built a plan for how they were going to build their own company and I've had situations where people told me that they want to get married in the next five years and then we built a plan to get them towards marriage getting married and looked into how that does that work with the career perspective same with kids and all the other things so this is a development tool you That I use with everyone that is working with me over time because I believe that as further we as managers and organizations help people to develop as better it is.