“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NLT
About two years ago I took a two-day leadership training called The Heart of a Leader. It was one of those trainings where you were pushed out of your comfort zone and learned to express yourself with passion. I took many solid lessons from that training which I continue to carry with me. One of those lessons was the concept of “Raving Fans.”
You see, in this course we had to get up in front of the group and give presentations with passion and energy. Throughout the two days the presentations grew in length and the standards for bringing passion and energy were constantly increasing. The concept was spot on. In order to lead, you have to be passionate about whatever it is that drives you.
As the training went on the presentations got louder and more animated. At one point you had to act like someone just gave you ten million dollars. They weren’t looking for us to talk about how to invest that money and diversify your portfolio, the instructor wanted us to bring passion and excitement to the moment. The goal was not to get you to be loud in your every-day, but to push you outside of your comfort zone for the sake of personal growth.
The key to getting to the point where you’re growing and thriving in this out-of-comfort-zone experience was the others in the class. We learned to become raving fans of one another. When the class was behind you cheering and encouraging, it was so much easier to do these energetic presentations. In fact, we convinced one of the quietest, nicest, shyest guys to give his final presentation at graduation and then take his shirt off and run around the audience! The only reason he did that was because of the raving fans behind him.
What I learned from this are two things. First, I need to become a raving fan of those around me, of those whom I have influence. I have learned to become a raving fan of Erica - to celebrate the little things that she does to keep our house running smoothly, to keep Nicole progressing and to keep encouraging others. I am learning to do it at work - to call out people for doing little things and celebrating them. To cheer when Nicole does something right.
Second, I have learned to surround myself with people who are raving fans of me. Not for ego or pride, but to keep me going. Erica is one of those fans. If I’m in communication or keep in touch with you, you are one of those people. This brings be to the inverse of that - if we have people in our lives who are not raving fans, we should take a good long look at that relationship and make some choices - maybe even hard choices.
With these relationships we can choose to cut them off, or, become raving fans of them to let them experience what its like to have someone cheering for them. Hopefully it will rub off.
Are you a raving fan of those who are around you? If not, what would it take?
Do you surround yourself with raving fans? If not, do the people around you drain you and keep you back?
I love how perfect scripture is - all the time. Two people are better than one. A full stadium is better than an empty stadium. Become a fan and cheer your team on and they will be better. Iron sharpens iron.
Shawn
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