As the Executive Director of Membership at HDI, I had the
opportunity to meet many great people both national celebrity and industry
celebrity. Industry celebrity you ask? See my article below on the HDI Ron Muns
Lifetime Achievement Award Winner; John Custy below. Now let me tell you about
my meeting with Jay Leno. It begins…
It begins in the Green Room behind the enormous stage
between an audience of about 3000 IT Service and Support attendees, and the
backstage room where I met Jay. I was with the Executive Director of Sales and
we were the last of the executive team to have the opportunity to meet Jay
before he was to hit the stage. The rest of the team had met him and by the
time we entered the Green Room Jay was about 10 minutes until go time!
If you have ever had the awesome opportunity to speak in
front of audiences, no matter what the size, one thing you can appreciate is
that many speakers including me have a pre-performance ritual. It is a ritual
that allows you to focus your mind, run through your opening, practice your
opening, paint the picture of your success on stage, take deep breaths, and
then BAM! You hit the stage pumped.
Jay Leno is an industry legend in the field of stand-up
comedy, and of course late night television. At the time I met him he was doing
the Tonight Show and from time to time he would come to Vegas and do
conferences and events “on the side.” He was paid handsomely for the conference
but he was absolutely worth every penny!
His celebrity and success might make one think that his
pre-show ritual would be unnecessary due to his vast experience in front of
audiences. What I learned when I met Jay was that that assumption would be
wrong. As we entered the Green Room he was pacing the floor talking to himself.
He stopped pacing and turned to us as if he was not expecting any more “guests”
and he could prepare for his show. I thought the first words he was going to
say to us was “I really don’t have time, please leave!” But to my surprise he
walked over to us, smiled and we introduced ourselves. He was kind and cordial.
The first thing you notice about Jay is his chin. His chin
has always been a feature used to paint a characture of the man. I will tell
you his chin is absolutely the longest chin I have ever seen! He is also much
shorter than what he projects on the TV screen as well. Think Tom Cruise.
The Executive Director of Sales was from Boston as is Jay,
and she actually knew one of Jay’s girlfriends from his past. She broke the ice
by talking about the girl and Jay was surprised and pleased to talk briefly
about a past friend. He conversed and then turned to me and asked me where I
was from and what I did. We talked for a minute or so and he signed a couple of
autographs. At this point you could see him starting to fidget when his
associate said “Jay 5 minutes.”
This is where I realized a secret that successful people use
to be successful. He turned after saying goodbye and without waiting for us to
leave began pacing as he was when we entered the room. He picked up a piece of
paper and starting speaking out loud with no awareness we had not left yet. I
was mesmerized by the intensity of his focus and just watched as long as I
could until his associate approached. I knew what was about to happen so I
turned and left.
That brief meeting with Jay showed me what dedication,
determination, pride in work, and success looks like. Jay could have been
riding a wave of fame and just coasted through his show but that is not what
happened. Even after all of the success he has had, he was determined to give
the audience of 3000 IT people the show of their lives. And he did! He had a
pre-show ritual that I was able to observe just briefly but the lesson has
lasted, and I think about it whenever I get the opportunity to speak.
Jay was cordial, humble, friendly, and kind to everyone he
met. He was a true inspiration to what living a determined life looks like. I
am so glad to have met him and I still dream of being as successful as him. If
that ever does happen I will remember and emulate what he taught me in that
brief interaction that day!
Stay Determined! It is never too late if you are always
driving forward toward your goals…
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