I had to give a talk on leadership yesterday. I had spoken on the topic before but decided to bring some new material. I work best under pressure so I put off final prep for the day of a 3pm speech. (not my best laid plan.)
The night before I went to bed at 10 to get a good rest… for whatever reason I didn’t get to sleep till 6am. Each hour that passed increased my worry for the next day… tossing and turning, I was getting concerned. I woke up at 10:30, instead of the planned 8am, in a bit of a panic. Not only did I need more prep time, I was in a place of disorientation, lack of sleep and general crazy head from some medicine I was on. I was flying around my home like a crazy person accomplishing nothing. I found myself in my closet searching for an outfit, throwing clothes on the ground and eventually sitting down in a whimper. It was 3 hours before I was supposed to be “superman” and I was a puddle on the floor in my closet. In other words, I was not myself, even my dog henry noticed. So, I did what I never do… I reached out and asked for help.
I called two best friends, Vern and Angela, and said, “I’m falling apart and I can’t do this. I need help!” They met me at my office and helped me pull myself together. They didn’t actually do a whole lot of work, but they did exactly what I needed…they showed up. They gave me the space to freak out, supported my re-construction, and were just there. They served as my “Advance Team” as they called it and got me set up so I could just show up and take the stage…
But that is not all…
As I did my pre-talk ritual of a prayer asking for the inspiration to inspire and share the right words to get the message that this group needed to hear, the wind blew up and took my talk notes with it, right into a swamp area two stories below me…
Luckily I was in a place of faith and just laughed. The event planner came out and asked me if I was ready to go. “Absolutely! Lets Rock This!” I took the stage and gave a pretty good talk. I’ll be honest and say it wasn’t my best, but the message was solid and the humor and inspiration were on. I told stories that hadn’t been told, jokes I never thought of and found passion for my topic that was previously unrevealed. I connected with the audience and as the music played me off the stage at the end, I looked up and said thank you! I called Vern and Angela and told them that I was able to turn the switch to “on” but I would have never found the switch if it wasn’t for them!
At the end of the day, I learned that everyone falls apart, even me. And, friends are the people who don’t judge it, but just show up and help you put yourself back together.
After the talk, I went to the restroom, looked in the mirror and noticed for the first time that day that in my craziness in the closet, I had chosen a t-shirt to wear under my blazer that probably fought the Kryptonite of crazy. It was my Superman Logo Tee. I spread my jacket, puffed out my chest and laughed!
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