Inspirational Keynote at a National Conference

• By Dave McCreery
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I was honored to be invited to Portland, Oregon a few months ago to be a keynote speaker at Fusion Forum, a national conference held for leaders in the financial planning and pension industry. My role was to inspire these business leaders to challenge the status quo of their industry and facilitate their creative discussions to affect change.

My personal financial planner seldom picks up the phone to call me, so it didn’t take a lot to make me believe that these executives, as a group, were not on the cutting edge of customer communication. A few people told me this was an impossible challenge. I did not think of it in that way. Rather, I saw it as a tremendous opportunity to impact experienced and capable people who very much needed a vision.

Many professionals sink into comfortable habits of conducting business the same as always. They are too busy to realize that customers often feel their ways are old and out of touch. At one point in my remarks, I referenced a quote from superstar New England Patriot quarterback, Tom Brady, who talked about his passion for getting better to avoid losing his edge:

“If you watch yourself every day, you won’t see it. It is like watching a kid grow. But, at some point you are going to say, ‘How did that happen?”