The 2015 Refresh Leadership Live Simulcast is happening now! We will be here during the program live blogging the event throughout the morning. Are you attending Refresh Leadership Live? Sound off in the comments section below to tell us about your favorite moments of the event.
Emcee and Express Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Express Employment Professionals, Cory Benton is opening the event!
“We’re extremely excited to bring together business professionals of all types to this special program about leadership, dreaming big, collaboration, and achieving your goals.” – Cory Benton
Express put 460,000 people to work in 2014, and are on a long term mission to put one million people to work every year.
Now a few words from Express founder, CEO, and chairman, Bob Funk!
“Express created Refresh Leadership Live six years ago to give back to our business communities where we operate, and to help businesses be leaders and be the best they can be in their communities.” – Bob Funk
According to Bob Funk, Express wants to help as many people as possible find good jobs by helping as many companies as possible find good people. This takes action and leadership.
Liz Murray is taking the stage. Here’s some info on her background and experience.
“I never intended to be the ‘Homeless to Harvard’ person. But realized that if I felt this way, then maybe there are other people like me to who could benefit from my journey.” – Liz Murray
“I just wanted to be useful. You lead with your heart and the rest will follow.”
“I always take a step back to see what the higher message is … I’ve come to learn that difficulty and wanting to give up isn’t a homeless issue but a human issue.” Wow, what a great perspective, Liz!
“I think we drastically underestimate how powerful we are when it comes to our capacity to change the lives of those around us.”
“Imagine when you’re sitting in a room. When a person walks in, your energy will either go up or down, but it doesn’t stay the same, right? In other words, you are not invisible. You are impacting the people around you whether or not you want to. So when people say ‘I want to make a difference,’ I find it interesting. You see, it’s not ‘am I making a difference’ but ‘what difference am I making?'”
“If you allow them to, some experience will radically shape how you see the world if you’re open to them.”
“There comes a point in your life when you need to stop counting all the things you don’t have, and just be grateful for the things that you do. It’s the difference between resentment and gratitude.”
“Gratitude is nothing more than realizing that every single thing you have you could just as easily not have it. And when you can get that—not as a concept—but as a marriage between your head and your heart, your life experience will be different. It will be drastically different.”
Words of wisdom on losing everything – “You have no idea how strong you are. Your things do not define who you are. You will survive. You will get through. It’s actually liberating, when you lose everything, you realize you still are who you are.”
“You never know when you’ll meet a person who will change your life.” That’s why networking in the business world is so important!
Liz would attest to the exponential effects of mentoring. “Another way to love someone is to lift them higher. You raise the bar. You raise them up, and people rise to the occasion.”
“No one knows what’s possible until they’re already doing it. For everyone else, it’s paralysis by analysis.”
Great question from Liz that everyone should ask themselves—”What are your ‘what ifs?’ What keeps you up at night?”
Thanks Liz for sharing your story!
Next up – Dan Aykroyd. Here’s some info on his background and experience.
Dan just walked out on stage as Beldar from the planet Remulak! Good news! He says we will all be spared when his species conquers our planet!
And now he’s back to Dan. “Good morning. I just did the character I feel most aligned with … an alien.”
“First, I’m thankful to Express Employment Professionals for employing me. You know, as an actor I spend half of my life unemployed and my wife has to put up with that.” No problem, Dan – we’re glad to have you!
“I think my experiences will speak to you first hand about how collaboration is indispensable for the survival and ultimate accomplishments of any given working group.”
“Working on a film set is a lesson in accelerated collaboration because it truly is a time is money business.” Many of us in the business world can relate!
“The first thing you ever do on a movie set is walk up and introduce yourself to the director of photography.”
“Creativity involves a large number of people from different disciplines working together to solve a great many problems.”
“I’m lucky enough to be in an industry where if you blow $40 million dollars … they don’t kill you.” Must be nice!
“When leaders become superstars, the teacher outshines the teaching.”
Great presentation by Dan Aykroyd!
And finally – The Shark himself! Daymond John will close us out! Here’s some info on his background and experience.
Daymond to all the HR professionals in the audience: “You’re the ones who put the amazing people in our companies there to work. You’re the ones who vet people. You are the front line. You are the person and the individuals who find the people who run our companies and make us successful.”
“What we say on Shark Tank – the only thing that’s more important than the number is the person.”
Daymond is sharing his life story! Starting off with a pic of 4 year old Daymond John in a blue tux, “My mother dressed me as a Muppet most of my life.”
Words of wisdom told to young Daymond John from his parents: “Daymond, your day job will never make you rich, it will be your homework.”
Daymond opened his first company when he was 6 years old – selling pencils to his classmates.
On his first experience with entrepreneurs: “These people were amazing! They were the first person at the office and they were the last person to leave. They thanked everybody for their success and blamed only one person for their failure – themselves.”
Shark point #1: Set a goal – According to Daymond, if you don’t set a goal, you’re going to allow other people to set goals for you.
On the origins of FUBU: “I took inventory of myself and realized what my assets and liabilities are.”
Shark point #2: Homework – “You will never create anything new in this world; you will only create a new form of delivery. So, you have to do your homework.”
Shark point #3: Adore – “This is the absolute love for what you do.”
“On Shark Tank, we don’t invest in companies, we invest in people.”
Shark point #4: Remember, You’re the Brand – “If you can’t put yourself in 2 – 5 words, then you leave it up to us to interpret when you walk in the room.”
Shark point #5: Keep Swimming – “You must keep swimming to be successful.”
Great message from Daymond John!
That wraps up the 2015 Refresh Leadership Live Simulcast! Thank you for following along with us today! Check back on RefreshLeadership.com often for more information about next year’s event! And be sure to follow the blog for quick, fresh, practical advice for today’s business leaders, from executives to emerging leadership.
Thank you!
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