Skip to main content

Get Back Up When You're Down!

I'm happy to share this guest appearance from my good friend and fraternity brother, David Spiegel because it's a great article and well, he mentions me. 

"Life is like a roll of toilet paper.The closer you get to the end,the faster it seems to go."
-John Maxwell
I love my song choice for my Sunday Song of the Day today, Corner of the Sky from Pippin.The song transports me back in time. Pippin may very well have been the first show I saw on Broadway.I had become involved in musical theater when I went to college. Growing up a stones throw away from the Big Apple, it seems strange that I had never seen a Broadway show until then.We had just struck set on our latest stage triumph,Celebration, a musical by the same gentlemen who brought us The Fantastiks.

For a college fraternity, we did an amazing job, assembling a cast and crew that to this day still fascinates me.The show has a magical quality about it. Those of us involved in this production all have fond memories of just how magical and transformative our production was.

Opening night soon became closing night as an outbreak of spinal meningitis shut down the campus at the then Trenton State College known today as The College of New Jersey today. Little did we know, as our leader, my friend, brother and mentor Doug Smith, his shaking hand holding a cigarette near his head literally lighting it on fire, announced that after months of planning, rehearsing,set building and all of the rest of that which goes into a production of this magnitude, that what seemed tragic to those of us involved in this, would be the stepping stone to greatness for a good many of us.

I remember leaving campus that night heading to our impromptu cast party.Spinal meningitis or not...we were going to have a cast party! It was a wet, blowy rainy night and the bill board announcing our yearly Fall production had been blown over. As my frat brother Rick and I drove past it, he stopped the car. We got out, stood the 4 x 8 hand painted plywood sign back up and set it proudly back up at the main entrance to the campus. As we headed away, he turned to me and said "well, there it is...life in a nutshell. Just like that sign, it's not about getting knocked down, it's all about getting back up!"

Booyah!

Fast forward a few short weeks later. Here I was sitting and waiting for the curtain to rise on my first Broadway show adventure. In the opening ensemble number, a young Ben Vereen pulled a handkerchief through his hand placed on the floor and magically the stage gave rise to scrims and a set that just blew me away. I literally fell from my seat to my knees.

I knew in that moment that magic was possible.

Soon, I was back on campus. The decision was made to start rebuilding what we had lost in the Fall fiasco with an unprecedented Spring production. Since Mr.'s Jones and Schmidt (the writers of Celebration) had been with us when this journey began, they might as well be our muse for the second act, so we chose The Fantastiks.

The rest is just so much more Phi Mu Alpha lore and legend. The following Fall we tackled Cabaret, a moment in my personal timeline that to this day sets the standard against which I measure any and all of my successes. Successes all born from what at that time felt like the end of the world.

Little did we know just how seminal an event like this could and would be.
It set me on my course to find my Corner of the Sky!

-- David Spiegel


key words:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

High Performance Leaders Combine Courage and Compassion

What do people look for in a leader? I believe that there are four key strengths that leaders must develop: clarity, courage, creativity, and compassion. As leaders we should develop these in connection with each other. I was thinking about this as I was leading a workshop on controlling chaos yesterday. When we are leading our way (and others' way) through difficult situations it is no time to be shy. It's not the time to sit back and wait for something to happen. It's not the time to get passive. High performance leaders make their expectations clear. They raise the bar. They look for people to give their best, speak up, and be assertive. It's easy to go over the edge, though. It's easy to fall into an extreme. Leaders do it frequently and are often portrayed in the media as strong and confident even though that occurs at the expense of other people's self-esteem and well being. Centered, high performance leaders do not lead and achieve at the expense ...
2 comments
Read more

Solving Problems with the Highest Payoff

With so many problems to choose from, which do you pick to solve first? Some people like to build momentum by moving from smallest problem to biggest problem. If this works for you and you're happy with the results, keep doing it. Other people find that once they start with small problems or easy to do tasks that they get stuck there. It becomes too hard to move forward. If this is you, you're probably ready for something different. How about going right for the biggest payoff? When I worked at GE we used a tool called the Payoff / Effort matrix. With so much to work on, we used this tool to determine where to start. Should we put extra effort into something that would provide little payoff? Clearly, not when the same effort could produce more payoff in another area. Solve the problems that provide the biggest payoff first. Not only will you get your biggest problem solved, but you will likely find that you now have more resources and energy to solve other problem...
Post a Comment
Read more

Perception Frames Your Problem

How do you know for sure if something is a problem? If you see it as a problem, then it is a problem. Your perception will tell you -- not reality, but what you consider important about your reality. If you see it as a problem, shouldn't you do something about it? Centered problem solving sorts through our perceptions and checks in with the perceptions of other people who are effected by the situation. Emotions can trigger misconceptions, so centering ourselves and testing our assumptions is key. Then, if it's still a problem, it's time to do something about it. -- Douglas Brent Smith Bring our  Centered Problem Solving  workshop to your location and dramatically increase the problem solving skills of the people who attend.
Post a Comment
Read more

Talk Your Problem Over

Can we talk about it? When a problem is bothering you, can you share that trouble? Do you have people who will listen without judging to your concerns? Do you know a confidante who will hold your secret fears in trust long enough to hear them out? Problems require communication. Deep communication. Listening with curiosity. Speaking with clarity. Knowing what matters and keeping focus on the clear boundaries of a larger vision. Problems are part of the journey, why not make them part of the conversation. The bigger the problem, the greater the need for deeper conversations. Talk your problem over. Build the relationships you need to deal effectively and with respect to the problems at hand. That's how it works best. -- Douglas Brent Smith Curious? Explore our workshop  Centered Problem Solving .
Post a Comment
Read more

Money Isn't Everything

The profit motive is a poor substitute for genuine value. Money isn't everything. It's not even the most important thing. Oh, sure it's incredibly important. As a person who has many times wondered if there would be enough cash to pay the bills, I have come to respect mightily the value of money. But money is transactional. People are more than transactions. What we value most is more than money can buy, is more than a transaction, is a character of depth and peacefulness, and yes, love that is earned, not bought. Think about that for a minute.  -- doug smith  
Post a Comment
Read more

High Performance Leaders and Emotions

Are you an emotional leader? I had a boss once who put his fist thru a wall. He got lucky. If he hits a stud, it's a broken hand, at least. But he hit pure dry wall and his fist went right thru. He was making a point. I don't remember what his point was, but it was obvious that he was angry. He was also out of control. Leaders can't afford to look out of control. Scare your team and they'll lose productivity faster than you can say "update the resume." I've lost my temper, too -- but never put my fist thru a wall (at work. I did once in college in the apartment where I lived, but that's another story. Oh, yes I did fix the hole.) Sure, leaders can have emotions. But if our emotions get out of control they get in our way. Our teams panic. Our customers walk. Our families cringe. I'm not advocating any kind of flat line robotics here. Enjoy your emotions. Cry. Laugh. Cuss if you need to. Enjoy the joy that's there in lif...
Post a Comment
Read more

Feed Your Creativity

Are you filling up your creativity tank? Finding creative activities and appreciating the creative work of others influences how creative we feel and act. We need to recharge. We need to bring more creativity into our life. We need to fill up our creative tank. When you feed your life creativity, you have more to give. Not just more creativity, but more clarity, more courage, and more compassion, too. Creativity sparks development in many areas, keeps you fresh, and propels you forward. The arts are for more than artists. The arts keep us whole. The arts spark our thinking into new areas, new connections. Take in the arts this week - see a play, view some real art (not just pictures, actual paintings or sculptures), take some photos with an actual camera, dance! Experiencing art will rev you up, get you going, and feed your creative supply. From that creative supply you can get more and better ideas. You can solve problems faster. You can take your performance to the next l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Begin Again

Have you ever had one of those days when you wished you were in a video game and could simply push reset? It's not so easy in real life. But we do have a reset button. We are not always trapped in unchangeable circumstances. We have choice. We have power. We have courage. Take that courage. Show that power. Each moment presents a new chance to begin again. Begin again. -- Douglas Brent Smith You can begin your quest again to achieve your goals. Get more info here . Are problems standing in the way? Check out our Centered Problem Solving Workshop.
Post a Comment
Read more