Day 213 – Dumbass…

Hello!  It’s a true pleasure to take the reins for the month of August.  Following Kitty is no easy task.  But as I turned the page in Chet’s Becoming Built to Lead masterpiece, the title of today’s rant was a flashing, neon, CCD signal that my turn had arrived — “Day 213:  Dumbass…”   BTW, the blog entries you’ve been enjoying these past 212 days represent, as Kitty recently wrote, our “ands.”  They’ve been generously offered up this past half year by Chester, Gu, Andrew, DD, Rach, Jiggs and Kitty as their reactions, their interpretations, their “ands” to the daily rants found in the BBTL book.  Each Builder has shared their personal experiences, struggles, successes, creativity, passions, faith, and encouragement, as they wrote from their unique perspectives on that day’s topic.  But for all the wisdom they’ve shared, their reactions are not the best reactions.  Their interpretations of Chet’s daily rants are not the most meaningful interpretations.  With all due respect, their “ands” are not the most valuable “ands.”  Yours are.  If you’ve been reading the BBTL book and writing each day, you know what I mean.  Your writing – your reactions, your interpretations, your “ands” are the ones which will grab you most firmly, speak to you most clearly, and move you most productively.  In short, if you haven’t yet done so, get the book!

OK, back to Day 213… in which Chet challenges us to learn from Aesop’s fable of the Ass, the Cock and the Lion. 

Like the Ass, my false confidence led to my earliest solo ventures as a Builder falling flat.  I had been shadowing Chet‘s team practices for several months, taking meticulous notes and trying to capture every little nuance and detail of Chet’s lingo.  Why wouldn’t I??  Chet’s lingo is spot-on, sticky and searing.  Quite simply, Chet’s lingo works!

Fast forward another few months and I’m building a few clients one-on-one and leading a couple small team practices.   And not very well, I might add.  Time after time, I found myself merely parroting Chet’s “tremendous crow” (read the fable) with little or no effect.  When the “tremendous crow” came from Chet, teams responded — people were awakened.  People were challenged.  People were transformed!  Without him, crickets.  

When I shared this frustration with Larry, his challenge to me was CCD and identical to Chet’s challenge in today’s rant:  “Re-read.”   

By that time, Larry had become my Builder and he challenged me to (more deeply) study the BTL Playbooks and share my interpretations, using my words.  He told me I wasn’t delivering Chet’s words with any conviction because they were Chet’s words. 

Slowly, I began to find my own voice, as true confidence began to replaced false confidence.  Not easy, but not complicated, either.  Thank you, Larry.

Study, learn and apply does not mean study, learn and regurgitate.  So obvious! (except to a dumbass)