Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Most Important Person In The Room

I had the pleasure of attending the Hope In The City breakfast for the Salvation Army this morning. Ben Davy did a FANTASTIC job hosting, and Pinball Clemons hit a homerun with his keynote speech.

But what amazed me the most was not Pinball's inspiring talk.

It wasn't Pinball's seemingly endless amount of energy.

It wasn't they way the crowd reacted and participated.

It happened once the breakfast was over.

People lined up to talk to Pinball. To get him to sign their jersey, bobbleheads and programs. And for each person, he took his time, asked questions and seemed to be genuinely interested in their story. He made each person that came up to him feel like a star.

Incredible! This guy is the all-time leading rusher in professional football. He's one of the biggest names in the HISTORY of Toronto sports. And he treated each person in line like they were the most important person in the room.

Yes, he was a talented football player, but the way he treated people this morning put him in a totally different airspace from other elite athletes.

I left thinking, do I do that when I meet people? I'm in no way a celebrity, but when I interact with people, do they feel like they are the most important person in the room at the time?

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