Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul
Speaker 1: fella Aledo. Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute
Speaker 1: Leadership Podcast. It's episode three twenty. Let's talk about trade
Speaker 1: shows and you know, the drill giant hauls rows of booths,
Speaker 1: free pens, bad coffee, and more lanyards than a badge
Speaker 1: printer can handle. But let me offer you a different
Speaker 1: lens to look through the next time you step onto
Speaker 1: a trade show floor or attend a conference, because in
Speaker 1: my experience, one of three things always happens at a
Speaker 1: trade show or a conference. You either learn something, have
Speaker 1: an awakening, or you understand the context of something that
Speaker 1: you've been missing. So let me just break these down
Speaker 1: real quick for you. Number one, you learn something, and
Speaker 1: this one's the easiest to recognize. You sit through a
Speaker 1: seminar or stop at a booth and boom, new technique,
Speaker 1: new technology, or a new shortcut to something that's been
Speaker 1: a pain point for months. Maybe it's a new staffing
Speaker 1: tool that saves you hours a week, or maybe it's
Speaker 1: a better way to deliver your next training module. That's learning.
Speaker 1: And if you go into a trade show hunting for
Speaker 1: this kind of gain, you'll leave with a notebook full
Speaker 1: of information to bring back to your team. But here's
Speaker 1: the key. You can't just absorb the info. You have
Speaker 1: to act on it. Otherwise it stays as trade show trivia,
Speaker 1: not a leadership tool. And the second thing that can
Speaker 1: happen is you have an awakened. This one's deeper. It's
Speaker 1: not about discovering a new product, it's about discovering a
Speaker 1: new perspective. Maybe you see a speaker who challenges the
Speaker 1: way you've always done things, or you overhear a conversation
Speaker 1: from someone in a different market and realize we're stuck
Speaker 1: in the past. That's the awakening. It's that jolt in
Speaker 1: your gut when you realize something has to change. It's
Speaker 1: not always comfortable. In fact, most of the time it isn't,
Speaker 1: but it's the kind of moment that pulls your leadership
Speaker 1: out of neutral and in to drive. That awakening can
Speaker 1: shift your entire culture if you let it. And the
Speaker 1: last thing is you understand the context of something. Sometimes
Speaker 1: the trade show doesn't give you something new. Instead, it
Speaker 1: gives you the missing peace to something you already know.
Speaker 1: You've been hearing about community paramedicine or AI in scheduling
Speaker 1: for a year, but it never fully clicked until now,
Speaker 1: the right conversation, the right speaker, the right vendor, and
Speaker 1: then it all locks into place and you leave the
Speaker 1: show and say, now I get it. That kind of
Speaker 1: understanding gives you clarity, gives you context, and as a leader,
Speaker 1: that context turns you from someone who repeats buzzwords into
Speaker 1: someone who can drive real change. And I will tell
Speaker 1: you that I just returned from a conference a few
Speaker 1: days ago and for me, I had an awakening. I
Speaker 1: didn't really learn anything new, but I sat in on
Speaker 1: a cyber security and cyber insurance discussion and the awakening
Speaker 1: that hit me over that information was what inspired me
Speaker 1: to write this episode. So here's my challenge to you.
Speaker 1: The next time you attend a trade show or conference,
Speaker 1: don't just go for the swag and the CEUs. Go
Speaker 1: with intention. Ask yourself, well I learned if something, have
Speaker 1: an awakening or finally understand something that's been unclear, and
Speaker 1: don't wait for it to happen to you, go after it.
Speaker 1: Ask the deeper question. Sit in on the sessions that
Speaker 1: are outside your comfort zone. Talk to the vendors you
Speaker 1: would normally walk past. Your seven minute leadership habit for
Speaker 1: that day, Go find your one thing because trade shows
Speaker 1: aren't just events, they're proven grounds for leaders who are
Speaker 1: willing to grow. This has been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast,
Speaker 1: and I thank you for listening. For more Paul Fell
Speaker 1: of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com