We get asked quite frequently where we get our inspiration for each week’s Monday Morning Huddle Up. Honestly, the ideas come from numerous sources. Sometimes it’s just something that pops into my head, sometimes a news article stirs some new thoughts, and often times the theme comes straight from a project we are working on – a case study if you will.
While there are occasionally one-off subjects in the Huddle Up series, we do generate many of our thoughts from a small set of regular resources. So if you want in on the “secret sauce” of our weekly writings, here are the folks and things we follow closely.
Simon Senek – Watch any of his Ted Talks, read any of his books. You will catch on quickly to the “WHY” theme that weaves its way through everything he touches. Here is a link to his most popular video (over 53 million views), 18 minutes that will change your life – Simon Senek Video Link.
Jon Gordon – His superpower is positivity and how to share it with others. He’s rolling out a new series of 2-hour online seminars. If they are anything like his books and weekly newsletters, the seminars will be worth the time. His weekly positive tips email is solid, you can sign up for that here.
Patrick Lencioni – Any of his parable books are great (and quick) reads. Death by Meeting is our favorite, by the title I bet you can all relate. If you have more time, pick up his best-selling book The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. Nearly every client we have worked with over the years has at least one of the dysfunctions present in their organization. Identifying them and course correcting them can change the trajectory of your tribe.
Sharon Schmieder – My wife is in the real estate world and over the past year has worked to build an entirely new business model for her team. Her journey has been a great source of content for the Huddle Ups, filled with best practices for business and personal relationships. It’s been super cool to watch her walk through the steps to position her business for long-term success. I’m so proud of her and how she has tackled this transition process. The next couple of years will be fun to watch.
Joe Jacobi – His Sunday Morning Joe is a great read each week. Joe has tremendous perspective on life, and he brings other great resources to the table each week. If you don’t know Joe, he is not only a Gold Medal winning Olympian, he also led an NGB for many years. He knows our space and routinely ties sport into his messages. You can sign up for his weekly newsletter here.
Sports Tourism Index – Okay, so this one is our own product, but we use the data within the platform to help identify industry trends and to help our clients. In the four weeks that our new business development platform (called Scout) has been active, several of our clients have already booked business for 2021 through the platform. If you are a destination and have not signed up for at least the Free Access version, you should do so today. Tomorrow we launch our monthly rights holder webinar series open only to members of the platform. Go to www.sportstourismindex.com/signup to register.
I’ve been fortunate to also have a great stable of personal mentors that often times contribute to the crafting of Monday’s musings. The key to keeping your brain “fresh” is to lean on as many different types of resources as you can. Videos, newsletters, books, data driven tools, personal interaction. All of these can be great resources to help craft the next steps in your journey.