Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul fella Aledo. Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast. It's episode three twenty. Let's talk about trade shows and you know, the drill giant hauls rows of booths, free pens, bad coffee, and more lanyards than a badge
printer can handle. But let me offer you a different lens to look through the next time you step onto a trade show floor or attend a conference, because in my experience, one of three things always happens at a trade show or a conference. You either learn something, have an awakening, or you understand the context of something that you've been missing. So let me just break these down real quick for you. Number one, you learn something, and
this one's the easiest to recognize. You sit through a seminar or stop at a booth and boom, new technique, new technology, or a new shortcut to something that's been a pain point for months. Maybe it's a new staffing tool that saves you hours a week, or maybe it's a better way to deliver your next training module. That's learning. And if you go into a trade show hunting for this kind of gain, you'll leave with a notebook full of information to bring back to your team. But here's
the key. You can't just absorb the info. You have to act on it. Otherwise it stays as trade show trivia, not a leadership tool. And the second thing that can happen is you have an awakened. This one's deeper. It's not about discovering a new product, it's about discovering a new perspective. Maybe you see a speaker who challenges the way you've always done things, or you overhear a conversation from someone in a different market and realize we're stuck
in the past. That's the awakening. It's that jolt in your gut when you realize something has to change. It's not always comfortable. In fact, most of the time it isn't, but it's the kind of moment that pulls your leadership out of neutral and in to drive. That awakening can shift your entire culture if you let it. And the last thing is you understand the context of something. Sometimes
the trade show doesn't give you something new. Instead, it gives you the missing peace to something you already know. You've been hearing about community paramedicine or AI in scheduling for a year, but it never fully clicked until now, the right conversation, the right speaker, the right vendor, and then it all locks into place and you leave the
show and say, now I get it. That kind of understanding gives you clarity, gives you context, and as a leader, that context turns you from someone who repeats buzzwords into someone who can drive real change. And I will tell you that I just returned from a conference a few days ago and for me, I had an awakening. I didn't really learn anything new, but I sat in on a cyber security and cyber insurance discussion and the awakening that hit me over that information was what inspired me
to write this episode. So here's my challenge to you. The next time you attend a trade show or conference, don't just go for the swag and the CEUs. Go with intention. Ask yourself, well I learned if something, have an awakening or finally understand something that's been unclear, and don't wait for it to happen to you, go after it. Ask the deeper question. Sit in on the sessions that are outside your comfort zone. Talk to the vendors you
would normally walk past. Your seven minute leadership habit for that day, Go find your one thing because trade shows aren't just events, they're proven grounds for leaders who are willing to grow. This has been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening. For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com