Recently I attended a conference for someone I would travel from San Diego to New York City to see speak for one-day.

What did that mean?

• It meant spending money on airfare, New York hotels and food.
• It meant being stranded in Chicago, on the way back, for the night because of a missed connecting flight.
• It meant organizing everything at home and work, so that I would give my full attention.
• It meant disrupting everything I am shipping.
• It meant being unavailable to those who are accustomed to me being there.
• And it meant, having an entire flight back from Chicago to San Diego in silence because your girlfriend was mad at you.

As I reflect on the experience, you should never meet your hero because in the end he or she is human.

• He will forget to acknowledge those who spent more than a cab ride to see him.
• He will forget to plan activities prior and post event so that connections are made.
• He will forget that he asked people to volunteer their case study for the possibility of ending up on stage with him and not say he wasn’t doing it.
• He will forget to give an event bag to carry all of the “goodies” that were made available for the day.
• He will forget to thank those that volunteer to make his communities stronger.
• He will forget to thank those who pay full price so he can give free tickets at will.
• He will forget that those who have received advanced training should be told that this might be geared to beginners.
• He will forget that there are many problem solvers in the room who can offer a different solution.
• He will forget that if he sends a PDF saying print it out, with less than 24-hours to the event, then someone will print it out for himself and others (and yes charge people for it).

And most of all, he will forget that if you name it a Tribal Day then people will expect a Tribal experience i.e. celebrating Tribe member achievements, equipping the members for future battles, getting tribe members on-stage to spar with the leader, and gifting items that make it appear to the world that we are part of a tribe (no tattoos).

All in all, he will forget. And the best way to move forward is to forgive because your hero is human.

You are forgiven! And yes, I will meet my hero again, just with different expectations.

Still creating a ruckus…