From my Journal -  A Short Piece Written for Impact Magazine Dec 2022

“Every Client Becomes An Ambassador”

       "Every person you coach becomes an ambassador for your business — often in ways you do not expect. I teach people to crack bullwhips safely, and one client in particular stands out in my memory.

       "It was approaching Christmas. The orchestra’s annual concert orchestra featured a song called “Sleigh Ride,” a jaunty piece of music that includes the sound of a whip crack. Most orchestras have their drummers slap together two blocks of wood to make the cracking sound, but I was asked by one percussionist to teach him how to crack an actual bullwhip during a live concert onstage.

      " The drawbacks were many: he had to anticipate the start of the stroke correctly so the whip cracked at exactly the correct moment, while standing very close to the other musicians without hitting them, and handling the whip along a very narrow and predictable channel between the horns and the kettle drums without knocking everything over.

      "It took a lot of patience and practice (and encouragement!), because what looks like a simple action is actually a complicated series of connected physics events (ie Angular Momentum, speed of sound, etc).

I have seen that the easiest people to teach are children, because they do not have any preconceived notions of how to do something – they simply do it, and are surprised by the rich POW the whip creates. Adults, on the other hand, tend to overthink everything, and try to impose on the whip how they “already know” it “should” crack.

       "My percussionist first had to overcome his adult mind, to become a child again. In short, to become teachable. To his credit, he dropped his own adult ego long enough to actually learn the lesson of the power within a bullwhip.

       "On the day of the concert, he filled the entire concert hall with a powerful, safe and perfectly timed crack – again and again. When the piece ended and the orchestra members took their bows, the conductor invited the whip cracker up to the podium for an encore, at which the audience roared its boisterous approval. It was broadcast on local television news stations, and this resulted in my getting new teaching gigs, from Wild West performers to Cub Scout packs.

      " You never know when your “ambassador” will introduce you to a new opportunity, so always give it your best, because THAT is what will bring you rich rewards down the road."

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