“Who wants a free copy of my book?”
Motivational speaker Nigel Risner holds up two of his books in front of the crowd of 70 coach operator delegates. A few of them put up their hands. Nigel stands in silence, books held aloft, for a good 30 seconds, while the operators stare back at him, hands in the air. Finally, one brave audience member gets to her feet and walks steadily forward to take them from him. There’s applause.
There’s a lesson here – opportunities present themselves, and often we’re too shy, too polite, or too slow to take them.
It was an interesting point in a thoroughly enjoyable 90-minute speech at the annual CoachMarque conference, which also involved Nigel examining different personality traits – including the cautious, agenda-loving elephant as pictured – and concluding that to be a good manager, you have to be a ‘zookeeper’, and recognise that different kinds of people need different kinds of management.
Leaders also need to recognise what it is that makes the ‘experience’ of your business – what’s your coach operator equivalent to the iconic aquamarine packaging that Tiffany’s flogs its jewellery in?
When it comes to the CoachMarque conference – a gathering of just over 50 operators who have been certified to a very high standard – a lot of usual industry conference talk, like low emissions and legislation, is old hat. To avoid preaching to the converted, these informative, engaging conferences often look at more intimate industry details, or take lessons from other businesses in other sectors. Time well spent for everyone who was there.
