A Day of Lectures

It's the first day of October ... I have lots of work to do ... and so how do I spend a portion of my day? Attending two hour-long lectures. I am lucky that this is actually considered acceptable where I work. Take some time to get inspired, motivated and go forth and all.

The first talk was by Sheryl Sandberg. Yes, the Ms. Sandberg who wrote Lean In, is COO of Facebook, and in general gives off the vibe that you'd like to hang out with her over lunch and drinks. I happened to have just read Lean In a couple weeks ago. And I ended up liking it a lot more than I was expecting. I had a few other people paint a different picture of what the book and Sheryl's philosophies were. So, I am really glad I read it on my own. I recommend it to anyone I can.

Understandably, I was a bit nervous to see Sheryl in person. What if she didn't live up to my expectations. Her talk covered some of the key themes of the book, and then she took questions from the audience. I was on the second-level and the mikes stayed on the main level, so no questions were going to come from me. In general, you left the session feeling like you could conquer the world ... if you took the accountability and initiative to do so. She also shared some thoughts on how we can help others. What can I say, I am a fan.

The second conversation I went to was with Jonathan Mildenhall, the VP of Global Advertising Strategy and Content Excellence at the Coca-Cola Company. Jonathan also happens to be working on a book ... he believes everyone is born with the same creative abilities, and as we grow ... we just tap into them differently. I immediately fell in love with that thought, as I am always trying to figure out how to tap into my creativity and as a parent, I want to encourage it in my boys. The way he talked about Coca-Cola as a company and how they push themselves to be strategic ... well, let's be frank, I sort of wanted to give him my resume (feeling all empowered from Sheryl and all that). Yes, his demeanor showed a layer of authenticity, but of someone who would challenge you in a way I don't know if I have seen every before.

I hope I can take the lessons and apply them going forward. It would be shame not to continue to cultivate the inspiration.