Hi Folks,
It's been two years since I started giving "Knockiing down Silos" talks across North America. I started these originally as seminars on how to network for the perfect job or word-of-mouth sale but I am starting to see some interesting feedback (please see below as examples). I would value your thoughts and ideas on what you got from my talk and how and where you think I should take it.
It's been two years since I started giving "Knockiing down Silos" talks across North America. I started these originally as seminars on how to network for the perfect job or word-of-mouth sale but I am starting to see some interesting feedback (please see below as examples). I would value your thoughts and ideas on what you got from my talk and how and where you think I should take it.
Cheers,
Dave
4 comments:
(The comments below came from a blog last month "Mississauga KDS continues!" - I pasted them into this blog to start this discussion stream)
Anonymous said...
I have a different perspective. Dave Howlett does a good presentation. But what is this presentation really? Looking at the replies I see a lot of comments like the following:
We're all working on changing our lifestyles...
We are applying your principles to our life...
And lots about being a Good Guy.
My perspective is this: is Dave Howlett really just another motivational speaker? Motivational speakers come in many types: religious preachers, loosing weight, getting over an addiction, make lots of money, find your true love, etc. The common theme is an entertaining speaker combined with a simple message to change your life.
Isn't this what Dave Howlett is: a motivational speaker? And what is his message? That's where I'm confused. I think he's telling us to be Good Guys. If that's the case, isn't Dave Howlett really an atheistic version of what religious preachers did hundreds of years ago?
I can see the appeal of Dave Howlett and his Good Guy message. We all yearn for someone to make us believe in them and to believe in ourselves. We yearn for someone to show us hope and to show us the way. It used to be religion, but their preachers abused the simple message of the Golden Rule. So we have grown skeptical and even hateful of religion. Here comes the same message wrapped in a modern day delivery.
Interesting!
November 04, 2007 11:33 AM
davehowlett said...
Thanks very much for your comment and feedback - I often wonder what people get out of my talks and where they will frame KDS (Knocking down Silos) in their work and personal lives. I have no pre-conceived notion whether my message is spiritual or a modern-day equivalent. I do find it interesting that when I read the comments in thank-you cards, the attributes of leading a "good guy" life seem to appeal equally to those who subscribe to organized religion as well as those who do not.
One gentleman recently mentioned that KDS reflects many of the Jewish atonement philosophies yet I have had Muslim students interpret it in their own way. Two gentlemen from Nigeria recently commented that it was the first North American talk they had heard that didn't dwell solely on a financial bottom line; that it was reflective of their African culture.
I like to think that, as part of mankind's evolution, we constructed tribal labels (for protection, pride and motivation) but these labels became self-imposed limitations. Maybe all that Knocking down Silos does is liberate us from thousands of years of tribalism.
Wouldn't it be interesting to think that we all have "the good guy code" hard-wired within us?
I'll let you in on a secret. If I ran a seminar called "Learn how to get into third gear and be a "good guy" or "amazing woman" - I might get a handful of folks attending. So I advertise KDS as "how to get the perfect job" "how to sell products with reputation and word of moouth" and "how to get along with people in your company."
It's not until the end of the talk that folks realize...it's the same thing.
November 04, 2007 12:14 PM
Jim said...
Dave - you've obviously started people thinking on a number of levels.
I think your Good Guy theme really resonates because it appeals to something that many of us are thinking. Do we really have to be different in our "work lives" and our "real lives".
If that really is true, it's a crying shame. Because we spend almost a third (or more) of our waking life at work. Do we have to spend that time pretending we are someone else, with different rules and even a different morality? That sucks.
We got taught (at least my generation) that we need to keep work and real life separate. It's okay to be a "good guy" in the community or with your friends, but back at work you'd better "play to win". Ever hear "nice guys finish last?" The ultimate in this is those who walk around with "The Art of War" as their buisness manual.
No surprise that people are wondering what you are talking about when you say we have to break down the barriers (defences?) and learn to give BEFORE we get.
We run a software business that caters to busieness owners and sales people who want to sell more and service their customers better. When people ask what makes us different, I say -- it's the service we provide. We LIKE our customers and want them to be successful. We want them to sell more and service customers better.
I don't know how many really believe us -- until they get to know us. But all we've done is taken your "Good Guy Code" and tried to make it how we do business.
That's the trick, isn't it? That's what I love about the workshops you do. It sounds so simple, all of this breaking down silos, until you challenge us to reach out to the person beside us in real time.
Yes, the "Good Guy Code" is something we've all heard before. But if takes somebody like you to help us DO IT in our day to day business lives and to reap the rewards in terms of our professional success and our personal success.
And if more businesses did this -- if we replaced the "Art of War" with the "Good Guy Code", I think we'd all find that we suddenly got a gift. An extra third (or more) of our waking life could be lived with the same gusto as our "real lives"! And I think they's find with your "first dance" rule, that you don't have to be a pushover. I don't know, it may be true that "nice guys" finish last, but "good guys" not only finish at their personal best, but they enjoy the race a whole lot more!
Jim Love
www.performanceadvantage.ca
Hi Dave,
I attended KDS last night at War Memorial Hall at the University of Guelph, and really found your talk inspirational and motivating. As a student leader on campus, I have been to dozens and dozens of conferences, seminars and events about networking all over Canada and I find that yours has stood out. Your approach was unique and impressionable and I have already sung your praises to friends and family.
Thanks again for the fantastic talk.
Regards,
Michael Holden
President
CME Students' Association
University of Guelph
Honours Bachelor of Commerce
Public Management Major
Quick story for you from today, thought you might enjoy it. Since your presentation, KDS, I have made a greater effort to talk to more people, and today I started to talk to one of the local bus drivers. It turns out that she is a Brock graduate in administration. Funny thing is that I would have never have learned this had I not talked to her. I learned some great information from her, all thanks to getting over myself and assuming everyone is intelligent.
Thanks again,
D
Being actively involved in a myriad of student organizations, I have been quite used to attending those big conferences "for the best and brightest students across Canada". But your Knocking Down Silos session was really something. I have not heard such a inspiring and motivating speech for a long time. Your talk on networking basics was so fundamental, it should be common sense, yet it is surprising that many people do not realize it.
Gabriel Chan
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