Motivation I
May2
Motivation.
I just spoke about it in my previous post on Jordan Belfort. I’ve even done a motivational speech to a few hundred teenagers at Middlesex Community College (for the Xtreme Entrepreneurship Tour, which is an AWESOME company). I had a great time doing it - and I believe in the program - but it got me to thinking: what is on the other side of the spectrum? What DE-motivates people? Then I remembered this story I heard last week…
A friend of mine from college, Joe, was visiting the UMass campus for graduation last week. Joe is a sharp young guy with an eye towards marketing, but is currently working as a Customer Service rep at one of the largest gas and oil companies in New England. His job is to speak to 50-100 pissed off adults per day and explain to them why they just lost the electricity in their house. I’m paraphrasing for Joe here, so bear with me:
In my line of work, it’s very, very rare that you get a happy customer. My job is to deal with the complaints of those who cannot afford to keep electricity on at home. I’ve had people yell, scream, cry and beg just to get me to do something I’m not allowed to do: turn on the electricity without payment. So, imagine my surprise when one day I had a customer call back to tell my manager that I had done a fantastic job.
So what does my manager do? He walks over with an annoyed expression on his face, sits down next to me and says, “Hey Joe, our policy is we can give you two free movie tickets to whatever movie you want. Let me know.”
And he walked away. No “Good Job”, nothing. I felt like I was working in an assembly line. I wasn’t happy about it.
Motivating people isn’t just about what you do. It’s also about what you DON’T do.
An endorsement of Jordan Belfort…
May1
Today I wrote an endorsement for Jordan Belfort. Sasha, our director of marketing at CampusLIVE, coordinated with Jordan’s camp to have him come up and speak to two-hundred students on campus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Jordan came and did a fine job. He motivated the crowd and told us about his funny, sad and lavish lifestyle before he went to jail. He told us about the money he stole and the money he’s supposed to give back ($100+ million) for the stocks he sold to unwitting investors at outrageous prices. The new Jordan Belfort, however, is squeaky clean. Having sold his script to Warner Bros (Martin Scorsese directing and Leo Di Caprio acting), he is now on tour at college campuses generating hype for his book, the movie and himself.
But Jordan is a great speaker. I know this, because I was in the room when he spoke, and he motivated me. And I’m already pretty motivated.
So, when all was said and done, Jordan’s right hand man (Mike) asked me to write an endorsement. Being in such fine company as Leonardo Di Caprio, I figured I might as well help Jordan keep speaking.
Below is what I signed and emailed to Jordan:
To Whom It May Concern,
Jordan Belfort spoke at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on April 28, 2009. He made the full effort, driving nearly half of the day to arrive on campus and motivate a group of some two hundred entrepreneurs and students at the university. The topic of discussion that day: ethics.
As a student entrepreneur operating a successful advertising business, I am faced with ethical challenges every day. Much like trading stocks, advertising can be a complicated and expensive business; inflated prices and outrageous “agency fees” present a variety of nefarious opportunities for those who would strive to grab every penny.
But let us not confuse ambition with greed. Likewise, let us not make villains out of examples.
The cause for concern is time. It is right now that the best is required of all of our upcoming students and right now that we need a positive story and a strong message. In light of the current financial crisis, Jordan Belfort’s story proves exemplary. Belfort provides real-life evidence of a man who stepped over the line, paid the price, and returned to give back what he could to the community. He is a true testament to the fact that not all hope is lost for the U.S. economy; the trajectory is not one-directional.
Jordan speaks with a passion that can inspire an entire room in minutes. All of the elements are there for an excellent take-away: success, failure, intrigue, hard work and redemption. His vast and profound behind-the-scenes knowledge of the current economic downturn is invaluable to those who will soon be forced to secure jobs and raise families.
Jordan Belfort can tell his story in stark detail and brutal honesty. He can allow thousands of students to learn from his mistakes. He can and has motivated people to win fairly and shoot high. I see no downside to that. Quite the contrary, I see opportunity.
Regards,
Boris Revsin
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
CampusLIVE, Inc
If you want to see Leonardo Di Caprio’s endorsement, click here.
Let’s hope Jordan continues to spread his positive message, and I hope to stay in the loop on all of his developments.
Hello… world?
May0
Well, you’ve made it to my first blog post. If you don’t know who I am, you can feel free to read a little more about me here. I’ve got an interesting second post to make, so I better get to it…