FULL TRANSCRIPT

00:00 – Show Opening

As a meeting leader, what would happen if every meeting that you led was an absolute inspiration to your entire team. And when you think about it, sometimes in meetings we get inspired, but it’s not on a regular basis. Well, if you want to start getting inspired on a regular basis in every meeting that you’re in, then stick around for today’s episode of the Meeting Leadership Podcast because it’s about, why meeting leaders should have an inspiration registry.

Are you a professional who wants to become a more effective leader? Then get ready for practical tips from the coach with the experience and inspiration to help you succeed in any leadership situation. You’re listening to the Meeting Leadership Podcast with Gordon Sheppard. (singing).

00:52 – Podcast content starts here!

Welcome to another episode of the Meeting Leadership Podcast. My name is Gordon Sheppard. I want to say thank you so much for being here. Thanks for taking time out of your valuable day to trust the Meeting Leadership Podcast as a place where you can get a tip, a strategy, something practical that you can do in your next meeting to make it better. Something that you can do to grow as a leader. I am really, really honored that you’re spending your time with us here today.

01:17 – Quantifying inspiration 

And today we’re going to talk about an issue that so many meeting leaders often overlook and that is inspiration. I mean, we get bogged down in the day-to-day details of meetings and whenever we’re in leadership moments, but why not take a moment to really spend some time to kind of quantify the inspiration that you want to bring to people, get it into one place, and actually start to make it more of a regular thing. And that is why today’s episode is called beyond your pay; why meeting leaders should have an inspiration registry.

01:48 – Identify and record inspirational stories and quotes

When I get into this area and I’m working with clients from speaking at a conference or I’m training engineers, doctors, bureaucrats, whoever it is I’m doing this with, I have to say that our pay is not getting it done, especially when it comes to running productive meetings. And after I say that, then I say, what inspires you? And how can you figure out how to dig into that area of your life to go the extra mile to get the extra thing that you’re going to need to do to make the next moment in your next meeting a little bit better.

One of the best ways to actually do this is to identify and record inspirational stories and quotes. Because I mean, so often in meetings we spend a lot of time, we’re talking out loud, but nobody actually ever bothers to write down the good stuff. I mean, you can remember some of those great stories. It’s that thing where you’re reaching back and you’re wondering where it is, but you just can’t find it and you knew it was great, but you don’t really have the details.

02:43 – Use a shared document

And to help you learn how to do this, I really recommend that you open up a shared document. Now, this can be like in a Google Doc or maybe at your workplace you’ve got SharePoint, just somewhere where everybody has access to it and then they can contribute to it whenever they would like. And maybe give it a label like inspirational stories and quotes or funny things that happen around here, whatever you want to call it. And then when somebody actually achieves a goal or someone else reads their favorite quote out loud during a meeting, you’re going to have a place to capture this important information.

And believe me when I say that this document is going to become extremely valuable because you’re going to build up a memory for the good things that have been happening and it’s something that you can refer to when things aren’t actually going well, and it’s also going to give the next meeting leader, because that turns over, that next leader is going to get a great place to start when they have to start running those meetings with that team.

03:38 – The benefits of inspiration registry

I mean, while something like an inspiration registry may seem like something extra, I think it’s actually something that really will drive your entire team to do even better because it’s a great way to acknowledge people, find out what’s really kind of making them get really excited and then do it over and over again and start to crowd out those other typical things that we’re saying all the time. Like, why is somebody late or the agenda’s not ready. And that stuff that’s really dragging us down, crowd that out with the good stuff.

And like so many of you have heard me say on the podcast before, don’t wait to do this. I can tell you in my own life, my dad died from a heart attack when I was 16 years old. My mother died from cancer when I was 24 years old. And do I wish that I’d taken more time to write down the great things to remember about them? Because now getting on north of 50, those ideas, they change a lot. But if I had had more things written down, like you can do with your team going forward, that I’d be in a better place to preserve their memories as I explain them to my kids.

04:41 – MLP 103: Inspiring Leadership Stories with Eleanor Beaton- https://meetingleadershipinc.com/103

And if you’re looking for a few great prompts about how to get inspired and things that you actually might want to put into your own inspiration registry, then check out these episodes on the Meeting Leadership Podcast because we have an inspiring leadership stories series. And in episode 103 for example, Eleanor Beaton was on there and she talked a lot about the fact that she’s really inspired by female leaders that kind of go for it and they just don’t hold back at all. You’re going to learn a ton from that episode. And it’s available at meetingleadershipinc.com/103.

05:13 – MLP 107: Inspiring Leadership Stories with Karmen Masson – https://meetingleadershipinc.com/107

And then in episode 107, Karmen Masson was on there to talk about how she learns from her kids. It’s a great episode. And again, that one’s available at meetingleadershipinc.com/107. 

05:25 – MLP 116: Inspiring Leadership Stories with Derek Pando From Zoom – https://meetingleadershipinc.com/116

And I also have to mention episode 116. And that’s where Derek Pando, who’s one of the highest level people at Zoom Video Communications, a multibillion dollar company, he’s actually getting inspired by the young people that are coming into his company and he’s taking that forward as a leader to really kind of go even further when it comes to making that company great. And you can get that episode by going to meetingleadershipinc.com/116.

05:53 – Meeting Leadership Academy – https://meetingleadershipinc.com/academy 

And I also want to let you know that this episode of the Meeting Leadership Podcast is brought to you by the Meeting Leadership Academy. Now, there you’re going to find a lot of really solid options for live training for you and your team. There’s a great half day workshop for example called the Effective Meetings Workshop. Many, many professionals have benefited from that and it includes a great workbook, and I am there and leading people through things that can really spark them to go back to their next meeting and make it absolutely great.

And there’s also some one-on-one coaching in the live area and some great online training options too. And I hope you check that out by going to meetingleadershipinc.com/Academy. And another bit of news for the Meeting Leadership Podcast is that we’re going to be changing the format, and this is based on some of the feedback that we’ve been getting from listeners and the guests. So all the way up until episode 129, we’re doing daily shows. And then after that we’re going to be releasing on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

On Tuesdays you can expect a long format episode. It’ll be 25 to 30 minutes and this is where we’re going to interview more great guests, see what inspires them, get their best sort of meeting tactic feedback, and also find out some of their best leadership insights. These interviews are rich, the guests coming up on the show are fantastic and I know you’re going to get a lot out of those episodes. And then on Thursdays you can expect to get a real practical tip kind of episode. It’ll be a shorter one. It’s going to be one of those things where you’re really on the tactical side, learning things that you can take into your next meeting to make it highly productive.

07:41 – Podcast Outro

And as always, thank you so much for your feedback and helping us make this change and really respond to the things that you are looking for to help you get better as a leader and learn how to run outstanding meetings. And with that in mind, I want to say thank you so much for listening and we’ll see you next time on the Meeting Leadership Podcast.

Thanks for listening to the Meeting Leadership Podcast. Be sure to subscribe for more strategies that help you become an outstanding leader and don’t forget to rate and review so we can bring you even more great content. We’ll see you next time, right here on the Meeting Leadership Podcast.