Two pick-ups from Ryan Seacrest. – SCN Encourager 11/25/2013
And this headline isn’t as twisted as it looks.
Maybe “two take-aways from Ryan Seacrest” is better one
But an article about Ryan Seacrest got me thinking…
… about our schools, our people, our hopes, and our challenges.
I found the article in this month’s Success magazine.
It was in my huge “Dare to Dream / No Can Do” stack of reading material, right along with Fitness Today, Moneywise, Mountaineering, Family Handyman, Understanding Daughters, Better Golf, GQ, How to Win Friends & Influence People, and Lower your Cholesterol in 8 Days.
Every now and then I’ll escape from my normal literary fare, which is my non-threatening, ever-so-comforting pile of “Can Do / Risk Nothing” publications.
This equally big stack includes AARP, the Rotarian, The Napping Journal, Sports Illustrated, The BBQ Bible, and a hefty 150 page book filled with tear-out discount coupons for oil changes, pizzas, and tarot card reading.
In toggling between my two massive piles of hard copy reading resources, I’m “thankful” that the Ryan Seacrest article popped up.
I never knew he was such a Captain Superstar — and in so many ways.
Zipping between American Idol, TV game shows, guest hosting, special in-person appearances for charity, and a 4-hour daily syndicated radio show, Seacrest is mega-busy.
He’s gone after far-reaching personal goals and created a multi-million dollar enterprise in the process.
The two “pick-ups” I’ll share don’t convey the depth of the interview with Seacrest, but hey, the “lack of depth” have never held me back before, so here goes:
#1 Seacrest had a passion for what he wanted to accomplish, and he identified and pursued mentors who were successful and shared his passion. He sought out Larry King, Merv Griffin, and Dick Clark… and because of his persistence… eventually all three took him under his wing and impacted his career.
These valuable mentors were not assigned by anyone to help Seacrest. He selected them.
I wonder if somehow we could incorporate an element of “choice” for our young students who need the benefits of a mentoring experience. I know it’s not possible in many cases… but it might be interesting to hear what answer we’d get if we asked students, “what kind of interests and skills would you like to see in your mentor?”
It may be very different from the person we’ve “assigned” to them.
#2 Seacrest’s life is nutso-crazy, and he credits his dedicated team for making business growth and sustainability achievable. In his interview, he mentioned that he’d be lost without the web-based tool 15five.
The concept behind 15five is one I heard about on John Lee Dumas’ podcast about a year ago.
In it, the founder of 15five said he created this communication platform for leaders wishing to get a better and more regular gauge of their organization’s culture and climate.
Imagine a private one-to-one Facebook template/format, where someone reporting to you takes 15 minutes MAX every week to share with you their celebrations, challenges, possible problems, and the morale and concerns of their co-workers.
And thanks to the format and the “template”… all of this information comes your way online and only requires five minutes of your time to read and respond to it.
It’s an intriguing system and I can see why it’s catching on.
When I clicked over to explore the 15five site, I enjoyed scanning their blog posts also.
The only one I read completely was the one titled, How to be less stressed, more patient, and better than perfect.
I’ve also linked it here for you to check out if you want.
It’s well done, so I actually printed out a hard copy.
You guessed it.
It’s going right of top of my “Dare to Dream / No Can Do” stack!
Tom Page, SCN
