#Bestof: Facilitating once in a lifetime workshop experiences with Steve Sims (Episode 165)
Today’s guest runs the coolest workshops I’ve ever heard of, no joke. And how does he embed learning at the end of these workshops? By making people practice the skills they’ve learn, when they rock up to Sir Elton John’s Oscars after-party.
Today’s guest runs the coolest workshops I’ve ever heard of, no joke. And how does he embed learning at the end of these workshops? By making people practice the skills they’ve learn, when they rock up to Sir Elton John’s Oscars after-party.
Not too many people can say that to their clients...But today’s guest, is a one of a kind guy.
His name is Steve Sims. Steve is the man who created Bluefish, a company that makes once-in-a-lifetime events happen for the rich and famous reveals to the rest of us his trade secrets for making things happen. With his help and expertise, his clients’ fantasies and wildest dreams come true.
Steve is the author of the Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen, and he has a podcast of the same name. Steve has spoken at Harvard and the Pentagon, twice. Getting married by the Pope in the Vatican, being serenaded by Elton John, and connecting with powerful business moguls like Elon Musk are just a few of the many projects he has worked on.
I really wanted Steve on the show to talk about a few key things - the assumptions we have about asking for things, how confidence; and your approach can take you far and (literally) open doors. We also talk about the perfectionism beast.
If you’d like to join the conversation when the show is over, join The Flipchart, a free community on Facebook for First Time Facilitator listeners.
About our guest: Steve Sims
Steve Sims Steve is the visionary founder of Bluefish: the world’s first luxury concierge that delivers the highest level of personalized travel, transportation, and cutting-edge entertainment services to corporate executives, celebrities, professional athletes, and other discerning individuals interested in living life to its fullest.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Steve Sims Website
Like this show?
Please leave me a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so I can thank you personally.
Click here to let Leanne know your number one takeaway from this episode!
Quotes of the show:
“I'm a great believer in keeping liability low.”
“The greatest growth comes from the greatest accidents.”
“It’s incredible to have people just be able to realize the rich people are poor people with a lot of money; things don't change, just that bank account.”
“I'm a great believer that perfection is a blue unicorn with three testicles; it doesn't exist.”
“I don't believe speakers should give speeches. I think speakers should have conversations with thousands of people or hundreds of people.”
Episode transcript
View the First Time Facilitator episode transcript with Steve Sims.
Episode 55: Facilitating once in a lifetime workshop experiences with Steve Sims
Today’s guest runs the coolest workshops I’ve ever heard of, no joke. And how does he embed learning at the end of these workshops? By making people practice the skills they’ve learn, when they rock up to Sir Elton John’s Oscars after-party.
Today’s guest runs the coolest workshops I’ve ever heard of, no joke. And how does he embed learning at the end of these workshops? By making people practice the skills they’ve learn, when they rock up to Sir Elton John’s Oscars after-party.
Not too many people can say that to their clients...But today’s guest, is a one of a kind guy.
His name is Steve Sims. Steve is the man who created Bluefish, a company that makes once-in-a-lifetime events happen for the rich and famous reveals to the rest of us his trade secrets for making things happen. With his help and expertise, his clients’ fantasies and wildest dreams come true.
Steve is the author of the Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen, and he has a podcast of the same name. Steve has spoken at Harvard and the Pentagon, twice. Getting married by the Pope in the Vatican, being serenaded by Elton John, and connecting with powerful business moguls like Elon Musk are just a few of the many projects he has worked on.
I really wanted Steve on the show to talk about a few key things - the assumptions we have about asking for things, how confidence; and your approach can take you far and (literally) open doors. We also talk about the perfectionism beast.
If you’d like to join the conversation when the show is over, join The Flipchart, a free community on Facebook for First Time Facilitator listeners.
About our guest: Steve Sims
Steve Sims Steve is the visionary founder of Bluefish: the world’s first luxury concierge that delivers the highest level of personalized travel, transportation, and cutting-edge entertainment services to corporate executives, celebrities, professional athletes, and other discerning individuals interested in living life to its fullest.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Steve Sims Website
Like this show?
Please leave me a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so I can thank you personally.
Click here to let Leanne know your number one takeaway from this episode!
Quotes of the show:
“I'm a great believer in keeping liability low.”
“The greatest growth comes from the greatest accidents.”
“It’s incredible to have people just be able to realize the rich people are poor people with a lot of money; things don't change, just that bank account.”
“I'm a great believer that perfection is a blue unicorn with three testicles; it doesn't exist.”
“I don't believe speakers should give speeches. I think speakers should have conversations with thousands of people or hundreds of people.”
Episode transcript
View the First Time Facilitator episode transcript with Steve Sims.
We’re Still Standing! Drawing leadership insights from Elton John’s concert in Cairns
I travelled to Cairns this long weekend to see Elton John play at Cazaly’s Stadium. I was fortunate and excited to have a front row seat – Seat 1A! When the music started, a few of us began to stand and dance in our seats but were quickly told by security guards to sit down. As the concert progressed, more fans were migrating closer to the stage and dancing along to the infectious tunes.
It was becoming harder and harder for security to stop us. At one point, there were about 30 people at the front dancing along to Elton’s iconic songs – how could you not? Shortly after witnessing the security guards’ feeble attempts to control the crowd, Elton barked out “For goodness’ sake, let the people stand! This is a rock concert – not a protest!”
Well, when Elton talks, people listen.
Immediately that message from the top opened the floodgates. Hundreds of people swarmed to the stage and the atmosphere in the stadium amplified, with the band feeding off of the delight of the crowd.
How does this relate to leadership in business?
In Simon Sinek’s TED Talk, 'Why good leaders make you feel safe’ (video below), he discusses leaders setting the tone and the environment (or ‘level of safety’) that employees feel within an organisation. When employees on the ground have high trust/safe environments, they feel empowered and supported to make their own decisions.
The security guards were following their direct leaders’ instructions to ensure the safety of everyone at the stadium. They were doing their absolute best to prevent fans from swarming upfront. The ‘threat’ that we felt in the crowd was that if we were to dance/stand up too many times, we may be ordered to leave the event.However, it took only one sentence from the ‘organisation’s’ principal leader, Elton, to set a new standard. By telling us we were allowed to stand, he instantly changed the environment to one where we felt safe to dance, sway and twirl without the threat of eviction hovering over us.I spoke to the security guard following the event and asked how he felt in that moment. He laughed and shook his head, saying “It was impossible to reinforce our directions after Elton’s call”.It made me think about middle managers in organisations who believe they are doing the right thing (by reinforcing a directive they have been given) and the confusion and frustration they may feel when a more senior leader talks directly to their team and changes the environment they are responsible for.It’s almost as if the managers are stripped of their credibility to continue the job they were tasked with, as they have essentially been overruled and undermined. It may cause them to throw their figurative arms in the air, thinking ‘What’s the point?’ The other interesting question this scenario raises is, why are middle managers reinforcing behaviours that are not supported by the organisation leaders? Where/when/why is the message lost in translation?
What else did I learn?
Another thing I loved hearing is that the band’s 66 year old lead guitarist, Davey Johnson, has played over 2,800 gigs with Sir Elton. He and his band-mates are still having the time of their lives on stage, playing music together like it was their first time. You feel that energy and passion coursing through your own veins. It’s truly a joy to go to these gigs and watch people publicly display the love they have for their job – it’s their life’s purpose.And if you ever get the chance to see Elton play, do it! It was the best gig ever. Oh, and thanks for the guitar pick, Davey!