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Listen to this…
In a Men’s Fitness magazine article, actor and former pro football linebacker Terry Crews said…
…when he was in 7th grade, the head coach of his football team was constantly negative and told Crews he couldn’t do anything.
Negative energy was his way to motivate the team. Nothing but negative.
But the assistant coach — seeing talent and potential the head coach didn’t — and having a positive, inspiring leader style — became a most important man in Crews' life.
He pulled Crews aside one day and said:
“Terry, you can do it. There’s no way you should not be playing in college on a Division 1 scholarship. Period.”
Crews was shocked. Dumbfounded even. No one had ever told him that before.
All he had heard was put-downs, criticisms, attacks….
…and after he got his first taste of someone believing in him, he got crazy, gung-ho excited!
In fact, he did go on — years later — to play college ball. And pro ball too.
He later said “I took that one conversation all the way up to the NFL.”
You heard right.
One conversation. One push. One nudge. One encouraging vote of confidence from an adult he admired.
Many years later, while playing in the NFL, as a gesture of gratitude, Crews flew that assistant coach out to be on the sidelines of one of his pro games and told him…
“Dude, never underestimate one good word you give a kid, because your word is what got me here today.”
And there it is.
The inspiring words of a caring adult — who likely had no idea of their future impact at the instant he spoke them — and probably forgot even saying them hours later — a few days later — or a week later….
…and look what a dejected, beaten-down 7th grader did with those words.
Another story…
I saw actor Terrance Howard on Live with Kelly & Michael a few years ago, and they asked who inspired him as a kid.
He said, when he was 14, his uncle told him (paraphrasing):
Today you are a prince. But you will be a king. Everything you do, do it as a king. Whether you’re crying, laughing, loving, or fighting… do it as a king.
What an incredible vision of empowerment to give a young mind, to expand his thinking beyond what his teenage years might otherwise allow.
Howard ran with it… and became a movie, TV, and Broadway actor and singer. Nominated for Oscar, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards.
One more…
“My mother taught me about the power of inspiration and courage — and she did it with a strength and a passion I wish I could bottle.”
Those are the words of the mother’s young daughter, Carly Fiorina, who grew up to become president of a Lucent Technologies division — and later CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Even ran for U.S president.
The fact is…
…As adults, we never know if what we say or do will be remembered, taken to heart, or acted upon by a kid who’s struggling.
We must trust it will. And make every word count.
“No kid is unsmart. Every kid’s a genius at something,” says leadership advisor Robin Sharma. “Our job is to find it. And then encourage it.”
Child advocate Fred Rogers, best known as star of TV’s Mister Rogers Neighborhood, said “Anyone who does anything to help a child in this life is a hero to me.”
I push it a step further. I believe we all, as adults who’ve been there, have an obligation, a duty, a responsibility… to inspire kids.
It’s not a nice-to-do. It’s a must-do.
With each decision we make… with all words we say… with every action we take… we must pretend as if a kid is listening and watching.
And it doesn’t require the lifelong wisdom of an 80-year-old to influence a young mind. Remember, to a 7-year-old… a 12-year-old brother or sister is an idol.
Heck, to a high school sophomore… a senior is a superstar.
An inspirational leader at any age never misses an opportunity to pass encouragement down.
I wrote a while back about carrying plenty of $10 and $20 bills, then stopping at all kid-run neighborhood roadside lemonade stands…
…and giving my well-rehearsed ‘You are an entrepreneur, the engine that drives America’ speech that I’ve been delivering for 30+ years now. (I never drive by without stopping, buying, overpaying, and teaching.)
Same when Girls Scouts and Little Leaguers ring my door bell selling cookies or candy or whatever. I always buy — even if I just bought from a different kid an hour ago. And they all get the same ‘entrepreneur’ speech, same encouragement, same inspiration.
Actions For You:
So here’s your assignment…
If you want to do the worthiest of deeds — and don’t care if you ever get a hug, a smile, or a thank-you in return (it’s not about you!) — then your job is two-fold:
(1) Inspire a kid today. And (2), every day thereafter.
That could be as many as 365 kids inspired — just by you — every year.
You may never know which kid is energized, who is ignited, or how many do anything with it. It doesn’t matter.
You have to believe it will happen.
Trust that some kid, somewhere, one day, maybe months or decades later, will remember it, and act on it.
“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice,” says Peggy O’Mara, author, journalist, and former publisher of Mothering Magazine.
My belief is that a few of those 5- or 7- or 9-year old lemonade stand proprietors I’ve stimulated over the years — now 25 or 30 years later — are running healthy businesses, inventing useful products, leading aggressive teams, growing strong families, contributing to the world, making a positive difference, and inspiring the next generation of dynamic leaders behind them.
Can I prove it? No. I just feel it in my bones. Something had to click with a few.
Oh, one more thing…
Terry Crews said 90% of the guys on his 7th grade team went on to do nothing, because of the head coach’s negative energy.
“He really didn’t realize people were listening,” Crews bemoaned.
Bottom line: Kids in your circle are listening to you. What are you saying to them?
Inspiration is best delivered — not with scorn or shame or anger — but with positive zest and uplifting exuberance.
Be that leader — and make a profound difference in a kid’s life today.
Power Thought: "The child must know that he is a miracle — that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been — and until the end of the world there will not be — another child like him.” Pablo Casals, Spanish-born cellist and conductor.
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