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54 days of doing work I love

I’m writing this Monday Morning Wake-Up on April 8th. Last night I returned home from six days on the road. It began in Fort Worth, Texas, with our second annual Recharge event. About 90 business owners and key staff gathered for two days in a minor league baseball park called La Grave Field. For all of you that know Strategies, holding a learning event in a baseball park rather than a classroom is truly a game changer. Although we had plenty of sunshine, we unexpectedly had plenty of wind. Tablecloths were anchored down with giant paper clamps. We quickly gave up on using flipcharts.

Keeping with tradition, we had a singer do an amazing rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner with the Strategies team on the field in our pinstriped baseball jerseys. I did my opening keynote standing behind home plate addressing our fans in the stands. Yeah, that was a first for me.

My keynote was entitled, “Play like a hall of fame team.” Playing like a Hall of Fame team is hard work. It means doing those things that make you stretch and overcome your fears and insecurities. It comes from making tough decisions when others hesitate. It means finding the keys to ignite your passion to win it all. It means holding yourself and every team member to a level of consistency, accountability and excellence worthy of taking it to the Hall of Fame.

To play like a Hall of Fame team, you must be prepared to take on all of the challenges. If you’re the leader, you must commit to playing like a Hall of Fame leader If you’re a team member, you must commit to bringing your best game every day. The commitment to go the distance, and the actions to back it up, is what separates Hall of Fame contenders from all others.

My keynote was inspiring and the perfect setup for the beginning of two days of Recharge. But the real inspiration came from the time I spent sitting in on the classes lead by Certified Strategies Coaches, Leslie Winterrowd, Chris Murphy, Bonnie Conte, Sarah McGee and Lisa Cochran. Like a proud parent, I watched these five intensely passionate team members deliver rock-solid business training and inspiration that could only be described as Hall of Fame performances. I am both honored and humbled to be in the company of such dedicated leaders.

The day after Recharge, I flew to Baltimore for two days of intense on-site coaching with a major client. It was the fifth straight week of on-site coaching with this client. It’s a big company with 190 employees and lots of moving parts to piece together. Yes, it’s hard work, but I’m in my element and love every second of it. The joy of seeing a team learn and progress - to see a complicated culture begin to shift in a new and exciting direction - is equal to seeing my team deliver Hall of Fame performances.

So here I am with 54 days of travel racked up so far this year, writing this MMWU at home - pretending it’s a day off. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be on a 6:00am flight to Vancouver, BC, to do a No-Compromise Leadership workshop. From there, I fly to Charlotte, NC, to deliver a keynote at Quality Magazine’s annual Quality Conference.

This is all about the work I love to do - and it never really feels like work. I thank my entire team at Strategies for allowing me to do what I love to do. I thank all of you for continuing to support and encourage me. Together, we’ll all make it into the Business Hall of Fame.

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Please share your thoughts with me about today’s Monday Morning Wake-Up. Click below to comment.

Neil Ducoff, Founder & CEO of Strategies and author of No-Compromise Leadership

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