5 Minutes Keynote - Vol 4
This episode of 5 Minutes Keynote - Vol 4 delivers powerful insights from diverse speakers. From overcoming personal challenges to philosophical reflections and musical creativity, each story offers a unique perspective on growth, resilience, and transformation. Tune in for a thought-provoking session.
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5 Minutes Keynote – Vol 4: Stories of Resilience, Reflection, and Creativity
In this volume of 5 Minutes Keynote, we explore a series of compelling stories that span personal triumph, deep reflection, and creative expression. Each speaker delivers a unique perspective, offering insights that resonate across industries, disciplines, and life experiences.
Chuck’s Inspirational Journey
Chuck’s story is one of perseverance. He shares his struggles, victories, and the mindset shifts that helped him push past obstacles. His journey serves as a testament to the power of resilience and believing in one’s vision.
Jim’s Musical Challenge
Music is more than an art form—it’s a test of discipline, passion, and creativity. Jim takes us through a unique challenge that pushed his musical limits, revealing key lessons on patience, skill-building, and embracing failure as part of the process.
Simon’s Reflective Story
At the heart of Simon’s story is the power of self-reflection. His experience challenges us to rethink how we perceive our personal journeys, reminding us that growth often comes from moments of stillness and introspection.
Franz’s Philosophical Insights
What does it mean to truly understand oneself? Franz dives into deep philosophical questions, offering insights that challenge conventional thinking. His talk is a thought-provoking look at how philosophy can shape our approach to life and decision-making.
Frank’s Prison Story
Frank shares a raw and emotional account of a prison experience that changed his perspective forever. His story highlights themes of redemption, resilience, and the unexpected lessons that can emerge from life’s toughest moments.
Closing Remarks and Future Plans
The session concludes with reflections on the key takeaways from these inspiring stories and a look ahead to what’s next. Each speaker leaves us with valuable insights that apply not just to their individual experiences but to the broader human journey.
Whether you’re looking for inspiration, motivation, or simply a fresh perspective, this episode of 5 Minutes Keynote is a must-listen. Tune in now to experience these powerful stories firsthand.
Highlights:
00:00 Introduction and Setup
01:31 Chuck's Inspirational Journey
08:13 Jim's Musical Challenge
15:40 Simon's Reflective Story
20:17 Franz's Philosophical Insights
27:29 Frank's Prison Story
36:50 Closing Remarks and Future Plans
Transcript:
[00:00:00] So five minute keynotes. Let's go. Yes. Anyone up for getting started? Nobody's always gym starting.
I don't have anything set up, but I can freestyle it for sure. Freestyle is always good and welcome. Yeah, exactly. What, what the hell? So Chuck, Chuck is, is the running order is Chuck is the starting point. Hello, Franz. Hi, good morning. Hi Franz. Hi. So, so who is next? Faustin, do you want to do a five minute keynote?
I didn't prepare for it, I came for, to learn. That's okay. I know Jim wants, Jim is always up for it. So running order, Chuck, Jim, and then Franz and Faustin, you can still decide if you want to [00:01:00] or not.
Good. I'll, I'll put the timing. 45 minutes. That's too long. So Chuck, you get it in five minutes. Cool, cool. Tell me when you're ready. Yeah. Like what clock here? I think. Good. All right. You go. Yeah. All right. Uh, dreams and goals and stuff like that. And how do you, how do you set them? How do you achieve them?
And everybody looks at me and says, oh, you're in the movie business. And you know, you made it. And they really don't understand. My background and where I came from. I wasn't born in this industry. I wasn't, you know, born with the silver spoon in my mouth. Um, everybody has a story. My story is I'm middle class American, you know, not rich, not poor.
My [00:02:00] dad was an electrician. I was born in New York and my mom was a stay at home mom until probably when I was a teenager, but, you know, growing up, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I didn't know what my goals were. I didn't think that far ahead. And it just kind of came to me, uh, later on in life when I was in New York.
I don't remember a lot because I left when I was like seven years old. Um, but I do remember the snow, the winters and, uh, climbing the light poles or the the lamp, whatever they were, the wooden telephone poles and jumping off into snow banks just at school. I went to a Catholic school and I was the goofy guy that would climb up these things with some help from friends and then jump off into snow banks and then would get in trouble with the nuns and get reported and the whole bit.
And it wasn't until really when I got to California when I got to Los Angeles about seven years old that I really started Getting [00:03:00] more into what is now, you know my life Um didn't again it didn't know what what it was. I didn't know what I was going to do Um, but I was really interested in sports whatever kind of competition.
Um, Most of it was in was in school. I jumped from sport to sport from football to baseball to Uh track and field to whatever whatever was in season that time the only thing I did outside of was baseball. I was really into baseball in the Little League. Um, I was actually an all star pitcher at probably about 13 years old.
Um, and I had probably what could have been a promising career as a professional baseball player as a pitcher, possibly a shortstop. But it wasn't, it wasn't for me. I liked the challenge of something new. And, uh, and I also was, it was hard getting on a team sometimes because you had to have a lot of people around.
In my case, uh, I [00:04:00] really thrived in BMX because it was a solo sport. That was my, my deal. And I did that until I was 14 in the, in the championships and the whole bit started raising gold cards at 14. And then it wasn't until that my, I turned 15, that my mom and dad, which we didn't know I had problems and stuff like that.
They split up. And, uh, I was kind of forced as the oldest child to earn a living, help my mom. My mom went to work. She was working nights at a bar and then she was working as a bank teller during the day. And I went to work at 15 years old, cleaning up at a bakery, you know, and give my mom my paycheck. I became the father.
I became the leader. Again, it kind of just all worked into later on in life that that I kind of became that that role. And at some point in high school, I started going through some different stuff. I was really in the sports. And I met a stuntman [00:05:00] and, you know, I was working at a go kart track. It's Malibu Grand Prix.
He, uh, came by and it's like, Oh my God, this is really, really cool. I had a whole list of these jobs, the best jobs in the world. I was going to be an astronaut. I was going to be a race car driver, blah, blah, blah. Stuntman was on that list. And so I met him. It's like, Oh my God, what's, what would it take to be a stuntman?
I have no background in this thing. I don't know anybody. And so he took me to a movie set and I was hooked from day one. And then he got divorced. He moved away, but the seed was planted. And then that's where I really started realizing what my goals were going to be, what I wanted to do with my life. And I pursued it.
It took me three and a half years to get my foot in the door for people to really take me seriously and get into the union. And it's eight years, it's progressed a little bit more. And now almost 40 years later, Here I am, uh, a stunt coordinator, a second unit director. I'm now producing and directing some of my own film projects.
And, you know, it just takes time. And sometimes it's [00:06:00] thrown in your lap. You don't really know what you want to do. Um, and when it, when it does come up to you, you realize that. And now there's, there's nothing to hold you back. That, that's the drive you need to make it happen. So. You know, if you've got, if you've really got that, that passion in your heart, you can do it and you just got to pursue it.
You just got to know what you want to do and then go for it. There you go. And look at seven seconds left. Hell yeah.
Like I said, I had nothing prepared. I didn't even know what I wanted to talk about. I just started going. It's good. Stories is always working and it's, it's, it's, it's also interesting. We always learn from each other while we do this. Yeah, I mean, of course I was knowing a couple of things because I interviewed you.
But it's, it's cool to explore even more so. Yeah. And I even thought, cause, cause as I was reading Frank's book, um, [00:07:00] I can really go back when it's his childhood and stuff like that, as I was reading through, it's like, I can relate to it. Cause so many of the things that he went through, I went through and it was just really interesting.
It really made me reflect back and that's kind of the book is sitting here in front of me. This is why I, I just think, okay, let's, let's talk about some dreams, you know? And that's just, it's just what kind of, if I didn't know, I would use a lot of what Frank set up. Yeah. Jim, for context, Frank is Frank Sonius, who is in the, in the five minute keynote called normally as well.
And he was just texting and trying to get in. Oh, okay. I hope he's able to make it. Yeah. So he was in the, in the physical version when we met in the Netherlands where he gave the book to Chuck. Yes. Yeah. Love it. Just for context. Yeah. And it's even autographed. Even better. Even better. Worth a lot in the future.
I hope [00:08:00] so. I hope for him. Good. So, Jim, you're next. All right, cool. Cool, cool. All right. Here we go. All right, so, my fellow rising stars, forgive me, forgive me, because what I'm about to say is something you've all likely heard a million times before. The only constant is change. And I know, I know, it's arguably one of the most cliche things to even say, no matter how true it is.
But, you know, when we get into the nitty gritty of it, what's important is, do we embrace change? And on that note, I want to tell you about somebody who is, has become a very good friend of mine. Her name is Marie. She is 96 years young. Marie has always loved writing, but last year she took on something totally new.
She started writing her very first children's book. At 96, Marie [00:09:00] could have said, I'm too old to try something different. But instead, Marie dives into brand new creative, into a brand new creative challenge with excitement and determination. Every month when I perform at the Senior Living Center where Marie lives, she updates me on her progress.
Talking about, uh, her characters and her publishing journey with the energy of someone at least half of her age. And Marie reminds me of something very important. As long, excuse me, as long as we're open to new experiences, growth never stops and embracing change becomes that much more important. And you know, Marie's story makes me reflect on my own journey with music.
By stepping outside my usual finger style classical guitar approach. I am trying to breathe new life into my existing performance career [00:10:00] because every once in a while I ask myself that question, am I pushing my creative boundaries? So what I want to try to do here is live this change out loud and front of, in front of all of you, I'm going to play a song with a, with a pick, or the fancy word for it is plectrum.
This isn't new to me, but It does require a completely different touch and mindset than my usual fingerstyle approach. The articulation, uh, the phrasing, the attack. That all shifts and it makes me rethink my technique, rediscover how I express dynamics, how I give my voice through the guitar. So I'm going to play a little piece for you.
It's fast, it's rhythmic, it's percussive, and it's a completely different type of challenge from the classical pieces I usually perform. As I play it, I, I [00:11:00] encourage you to think about your own version of this. What's something in your life that could, that you could approach in a new way, that you could breathe a new life into?
All right, so this is an excerpt from a piece called Midnight Express.
Excuse me.[00:12:00]
Wow. Now.
After exploring that style of playing guitar more deeply, I found that even a small shift in approach can open up new creative doors. So just like Marie with her book, stepping into something new is helping me to rediscover my own craft in an unexpected way. Again, embracing [00:13:00] The change. So we all have routines, skill, or habits that are so comfortable to us, but growth doesn't come from us feeling comfortable.
It comes from being willing to adjust, to experiment, and challenge yourself. So what's one small change you can make that could lead to something bigger? Thank you.
Well done. I didn't, I didn't think I had to speed it up at the end. No, it's good. It's good. Always setting the bar high.
That's why I wanted to go before he played because once he goes. It's hard to reach his level. Chuck, next time you just, you just need to be the, the, the living flame or something. Maybe that's what I got. Maybe that's what I got to do. I got to start my, start my things. Motivation is like, you know, hi, I'm Chuck and light myself on fire and do the fire.[00:14:00]
Something like that. And then jump out of the window or something behind you. One of the things I love about this community is, um, I find myself bragging about all of you. Uh, that like, Hey, I, I, I meet with these people on zoom every week. And last night when, while my wife and I were watching the season four premiere of righteous gemstones, I'm like, Oh, there's this, there's this guy, Chuck and the rising stars community.
And he is John Goodman stunt man. And just, I know him. It's no big deal, but I kind of know him exactly. So Chuck was done. Jim is done. We have Frank Faust in France. Simon, any one of you who is willing to jump in and do a five minute keynote? I'm in the car, so maybe in a few minutes, but, uh, can't do it right now.
No worries, [00:15:00] but good to have you. Great, great to listen in. You're doing a great job. Thank you. So, who is up for doing a five minute?
Nobody? I know all of you can talk, for sure. We can. Yeah, but then I can maybe do it while driving. Yeah, let's see but not in five minutes, but I'll try to do it in three minutes. You're welcome. All right Okay I'll start now. So have you ever lost something your phone your keys a pen? I once lost this beautiful watch that I got from my wife when I turned 30 and I was looking for days for it.
I was blaming my kids I was blaming even my wife and then finally I found it where I normally lay it every night [00:16:00] How come it's so easy to blame others and not see the fault in yourself? Why are we so self centered? You know, do you know what is the most common word across all social media platforms?
Exactly, I. I is so, uh, commonly used that even the AI algorithms classify I as a so called stop word because it doesn't carry any real meaning. So why do we pay so much attention to it? Why, and how, and you, how much time do you spend in trying to get others interested in you? And what would happen if we turn it around and try to be a bit more interested in them?
When I turned 11, my family was going through some rough times. My close friends and relatives got divorced. My father's company got bankrupt. And there was a dark, heavy cloud just hanging all over us. But then, in the midst of all of this, my parents decided to invest in a dog. His name was Jack, and he was truly something special.
[00:17:00] Maybe It was because when we met him the first time at an elderly Salvation Army couple, he was wearing a tie. Or maybe it was because he could shake his hand and bow. Or maybe it was because of all the siblings, he was the one following us to that door. But so at dark, winter night, everything changed.
The door went open, Jack ran out, down to the street. My parents weren't home, so when the wall mounted phone rang, I picked it up. I can still remember the voice on the other end. I remember the silence that followed. I remember the cheeks, the tears falling down my cheeks. Jack was gone, but not his legacy.
Jack, you never read a book on psychology. You didn't need to, but with some divine instinct, you told us not only the golden rule, but the platinum rule of how to be interested in [00:18:00] others. You demonstrated that you can get more friends in two hours by being genuinely interested in them than you can do in a whole lifetime, trying to get others interested in you.
Jack, you demonstrated it's not how many likes we stack, but how many hearts we back. Thanks, Jack.
Maybe I should unmute myself. Well done, Simon. Good one. Can relate to that. Thank you. I was practicing for the IMC, the John C. Maxwell Leadership Conference. So then we had a small three minutes competition. Uh, so I passed the first test, but then, uh, I didn't register for the conference. So I'm not sure how it, if I would go further or not.[00:19:00]
What was that? What was that? Uh, Simon, the, it's not how many likes we stack. It's how many hearts we, what was the rest of that quote? Uh, back. I love that. Yeah. That hit. I love that. Thank you.
Good. So, we still have three, nobody has to, we can close earlier and go bed or have dinners or have lunch, depending where you are, but you still have the possibility to do a five minute keynote. I know that France can talk. Interestingly about leadership or other topics, I've been having not so good, not crowded and crazy and, and, uh, uh, a little bit disturbing day.
So I was thinking, whatever would I, should I bore bore you with in five minutes? Uh, you will not bore [00:20:00] us. Um, if, if you link this day to what you can learn from the old masters and, and how, how do we turn this around and what would the old masters give you as recommendation? No, I, no, give me, give me a few minutes.
I'll tell you, let me simply talk about, not a master, but someone who is old about myself. Good. Uh, well, the, the, the, the last, the last week has been very tough, I must say. And, uh, the interesting thing, yeah, maybe that is a quote, a quote from a, from a real master. Uh, the guru, the guru, the, the Bach one, Osho, used to say, there is no other.
And that is actually a very deep idea [00:21:00] that, um, What happens to you is mostly your, uh, it's like reality is the delayed projection of your awareness. So it's the postponed, uh, uh, the postponed manifestation of your awareness. And what I, what, what's becoming more clear for me in those tough weeks is that What my day look like and what I actually do very much depend on my framing and, um, there's basically only two ways of framing things you can, I can come from fear or I can come from love.
There are no other tastes. That's it. And the moment I start to come from fear, because things take more time than I had expected, or people don't answer where I basically had [00:22:00] expected that they would. Or, uh, certain things go a little differently as I thought they might, then the, the real trick is to overcome fear and to, uh, to switch it round and say, okay, what is there?
And what is what to, to literally look at the bright side that makes it, that makes it, uh, uh, maybe a little, uh, very cliche. But on the other hand, it's very true that the moment I realized that what would it mean if I raise my frequency and if I move from fear to love, then actually life is a lot better and, um, having come to that sort of conclusion, basically I've, uh, after having done many, many, many things in my life, um, I guess it's all about raising your frequency.
[00:23:00] And, uh, it's all about. Picking friends and picking rising stars like you guys, uh. That try to work with high frequencies, uh, and that is basically the, the, the most important thing that, uh, I, I've learned over the years and I'm actually learning it all the time again, uh, every day again, and some days are tough, uh, and then I, I, I, I, I bounce back in the shadows, but I, and I, and I try to improve.
Come back to my gifts and my CDs. I don't know whether you, some of you are familiar with Richard Rudd's, uh, Gene Keys. Uh, I can really, uh, uh, recommend that. And it's basically a way of looking at your personality, uh, through. A number of [00:24:00] so called gene keys, which are sort of defining factors, uh, energy, uh, centers that you are born with and you can, and you can always use them on a, say a shadow level on a, on a talent gift level or on a true embodiment level.
So the, the, the conclusion for me is that if, and when I have tough days. Um, I should look in the mirror realizing that it's not so much that, uh, that, uh, that the world has changed. It's that I, I need to change to look at it differently that, uh, um, and maybe this is a nice, a nice way to end it. Uh, she's a young master, my youngest daughter, Charlotte, she, she, she was a year in, uh, in India.
And she said, the people are always the same. But what [00:25:00] happens is that you have your days that you are really get super irritated and the man at the store is still, he hasn't changed. And there are days that you really are completely charmed by the same man in that same store. So, um, Yeah, my keynote would be, uh, try to, uh, let, let fear alone and, uh, remember to come from your heart.
And I, so remember for me to come from my heart and, uh, from love.
Well done. Thank you, Franz.
Reactions?
There's something, I'm sorry, Fausten. Jim, I actually wanted [00:26:00] to talk to you. I mean, there is a question that I didn't ask properly. Uh, in the community, uh, to you, but I kind of get an answer today by the guitar you use, the question was, what is easier? Is it the electrical guitar? Or is it the one that you've just used now, which seems to me the, The standard manual one.
That is a very good and nuanced question that requires, that would elicit a very long witted response from me. I'll message you on the, on the community. Is that cool? Yeah, that works. Awesome. Franz, thank you so much. I really appreciated what you just, what you just shared with us. There's something so I think sincere and, um, I don't know, there's just something about, uh, you know, the way you speak [00:27:00] and how you say it, that just really, uh, it's, it's really touching.
It is. I just want to say thank you. And I appreciate that.
So Frank Faustin, in case you want to do a keynote, there's still time. Frank, you're unmuted at least. Yes, yes, yes. I talked the whole day, but, you know, it's five minutes and, uh, everybody loves the prison stories. So, uh, I did so many prison stories the last four or five days because, uh, I'm awarded, uh, nominated for, uh, uh, storytelling in London at the Speakers Awards and for the TED talk.
And the TED talk is, is too long. And, uh, I'm not sure which one of the storytelling I'm going to do. [00:28:00] But I'm gonna give you, I give you, I'm gonna give you one. You see a sign behind me, I'm gonna grab it. Sometimes there is no next time, no second chance, no time out. Sometimes it's now or never. And that moment, for me, came so many times in prison.
But after I was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in jail, I went for my appeal, and I was waiting for the truck to pick me up. And you know the drill. You have to put your hands in, get the handcuffs, the chains, and you're going into the truck. But the truck was broken. So the guard who had to bring me He was allowed to grab his own personal car and put me in his personal car and drive me to the Supreme Court.
[00:29:00] And we were only one mile in. Then he stopped the car and he took the cuffs off and a change. And he put me next to him on the front seat. He said, you're not going to run. You're 20, 000 miles away from your house. Why will you run? Where do you go? So he treated me straight away as a human being. And we went to the Supreme Court and there I was sitting in some big wooden table with all my papers because I had decided to do my own appeal.
I knew my case. I had everything highlighted, all the 850 pages. I had everything I wanted to discuss with those seven guys who barely were awake sitting there, the old English judges, and you know, they're all almost retired. And I spoke from my heart. Two and [00:30:00] a half hours. I talked and I talked and I talked.
And then the guy in the middle said Are you finished, Mr. Sunius? I said, yes, I'm finished. This is all I have. Well, Mr. Sunius, We have looked at your case and we see no grounds to overturn. But, the sentence is too severe, so we take two years off, Mr. Sunius. And I was devastated. And in my mind, I had already made up.
If I'm not going to win my appeal, this is it. I had 180 sleeping tablets already hidden. I was ready. But guess what? There's always that now or never moment. That guard who listened to me for two and a half hours brought me to his car and we drove off. [00:31:00] And straight away he stopped the car again. He took the stuff.
And he drove me to Darling Harbour, that's a beautiful harbour in Australia, in Sydney. And there was a whale, everybody was watching the whale. And he said, Mr. Sunnius, I listened to you for two and a half hours. I believe in you. Keep on fighting. And if this guy had not done what he has done, I was not here 28 years later.
This guy gave me that moment. So the universe will always Take care of you. This guy saved my life by saying, I believe in you, keep fighting. Keep fighting, don't, don't give up. And I had given up, but that five minutes later, I didn't give up anymore. I went [00:32:00] back, started to write letters, started fighting, and two years later, without going to court, I had a letter, and they let me out.
I still don't know why. But maybe the letters or whatever, the explanation, they let me out. So there are always moments. That says on the board, it's now or never. And this guy, he only had to bring me back and forth to the jail, but he did so much more. And that's why I'm doing now what I want to do, because I want to be that guard.
I want to be for everybody to say to you, come out of your prison, because your door is wide open. To be who you want to be. So yes, five minutes. Oh my God. I did it.
Well [00:33:00] done. Thank you, Frank.
Well done. Great story.
Yeah. It's, it's, it's really strange that how 28 years later I still talk about it. Like. You know, I never, ever, ever, ever, ever thought I'm going to talk about it. Till I met Nick Vujicic, the guy with no arms and legs. And he said, it's your moral obligation. You have to do it. And that's why I'm doing now what I'm doing.
And, uh, yeah, it's, it's funny to be nominated for the Speaker's Awards because I never want to be judged anymore. So the guy who's training me in London, he said to me, he said, Frank, why didn't you go in last year? Because you would have won 100%. And I said, well, I told my truth 28 years ago and I lost, I lost being [00:34:00] judged.
I was judged and I lost. So that's why I never want to be judged anymore. I don't want to be judged by nobody anymore. But this is different. They say, listen, you need those awards because the speaker agencies and the bookers are always looking for the awards. And I, I don't like awards because I think the best people.
Who don't have the awards are the people who you can rely on, just like this guard, this guard did something so beautiful. He did it out of his heart. It could have cost his job. He couldn't lose his job if, if they had seen me in that, uh, where we, he went, we went for an ice cream and I was without handcuffs with my, with my guard in a shop eating ice cream.
He could have lost his job. I could have run, tried to run and maybe do something stupid, but you know, it felt good. And it felt good that this guy said, I [00:35:00] listened to you and those guy, they don't have a clue. I believe in you. Somebody I met and spoke two and a half hours and he believed me. So that was number two who believed me.
And then probably after that, three, four, five, and then there was that letter released from jail after four years and three months from an 11 year sentence. That says something that there are people who believe in you, but you have to find them. You have to find them. And now I want to be that person for so many other people who are waiting and waiting and waiting.
Wait for a miracle. Well, you can wait for your miracle the whole year, but you can also become you can become but you need the right people so keep looking for that guard, that prison guard who I found. Thank you guys.
So, Austin, do you want to do five [00:36:00] minutes or are you happy with just listening? I'm very happy with the lesson. I've had a very troubled last 10 days and uh I didn't even know what to expect by coming in this call. So thank you so much. Thank you for sharing Sometimes it's good to talk about the tough 10 days just sometimes I knew you're gonna take me there.
Yeah Let's make it for the next time Yeah, no problem. We will do it again in two weeks Yeah, that, that it's 10 plus 14 days. I agree. , but we will meet before in person, so . Yeah. Good. Yeah. I'm seeing you at the end of this week. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Thank Yes. . Good then. We are. We are through. Great to listen to you all.
Well done everyone. Exactly. I was about to say the same. It's always a pleasure to meet all of you. Um, and [00:37:00] we, I have now programmed it to do it every two weeks. So one, one week we do another topic and then we go back to five minute keynotes, because honestly, between us, I think it's a cool format. And, and for those that have not heard about it, we are organizing the first one physically in Switzerland.
Um, that is on 22nd of March. And we try to get 200 people into the rooms that listen to five minute keynotes. And I think we can do this, we can do this kind of thing around the world. So like Ted Talks, but in a different format and real stories. Oh, yeah. So beautiful. Let's figure out how, how we, and it's called of course, rising stars on stage, , but yeah, I'm trying to figure out if that's, that's, that's working.
So I'm organizing a videographer who takes videos of, of this stage and so on as well. Love it. But I'll, I'll share more about that in the, in the [00:38:00] coming weeks. Good. Thank you very much. It was great to see all of you and looking forward to the next time and next week as well. Have a good one. A good one.
Bye. 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.