Recently I facilitated a virtual team engagement retreat and one of the energizers was ‘What’s the Best Advice you ever received?’
I gave the example of when I was in television – after working for seven years to finally sit in ‘the big chair’ as producer of college football – the first three games didn’t go as expected. In fact, the executive producer called the truck many times during the games to yell at me about what I wasn’t doing right. He also pointed out all the mistakes I made on our post game Monday morning conference call.
Our color analyst – former NFL defensive tackle Dave Rowe – called me a few days before game four. “Kid,” he said, “you’re like a quarterback who’s afraid to throw an interception. You’ll never throw a touchdown pass until you get over that fear. Next game… let it rip.”
I took his advice, telling myself: ‘I was looking for a job when I found this one… what’s the worst thing that could happen? They fire me?’ The phone in the truck never rang that day, and in fact for the next six years I worked for him, he rarely pointed out any mistakes.
Here are some of the ‘best of’ advice ideas heard from attendees of the team retreat:
“Focus on the people, not the project.”
“There are many sides to the truth. Everyone has their own.”
“You can’t please everyone.”
“Past is past. Future hasn’t happened. Live in the present.”
“Honor the perspective of each person in a conversation.”
“Give your best effort… every day.”
