During my program CarePackage: How to create raving fans and lifelong customers through caring, I work with companies and their owners and staff to identify areas where they can find more ways to care for people in their lives, specifically business related contacts.
I wanted to share with you an experience that I had, and how I was moved to act.
Let me introduce you to Bruce Turkel (www.BrucetTurkel.com). Bruce is a Hall of Fame speaker (Inducted 2017), musician, Father, Husband, Frequent TV Guest, and all around good guy.
I met Bruce when he presented a program at the New England Chapter of the National Speakers Association. He was talking about his philosophy of “All About Them” and his book that he wrote based on that. You can find the book here: http://amzn.to/2iAlsy1
Bruce has become a mentor to me. He’s someone I look up to in the speaking world, and he has great insight on where the industry is as a whole, and how to navigate the difficult and sometimes shark infested waters of the speaking world. If you take just 7 minutes and watch this video of his NSA 2017 Hall of Fame Speech, you will see that Bruce focused on “them”. The them in the industry that needed the message, not the ones that didn’t. It’s very inspiring to watch someone continuously give. That is the essence of Bruce!
Bruce lives in South Florida and has a home in the Keys, which is where he and Bob hung out. Bob is a retired Firefighter from Fort Lauderdale, and is just a guy living out his dream of retirement in the Florida Keys. Who doesn’t want to be Bob these days? Or should I say…Who wouldn’t want to be Bob BEFORE Hurricane Irma. See Bob was living his dream, then Irma hit, and destroyed his home in the keys. That’s when Bruce stepped in and created a GoFundMe for Bob.
You can read more about the GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/HelpBobEakenRebuild
I’m not asking you to donate to this cause, I simply wanted to give you context of what Bruce had done for Bob.
Which brings me to my point of giving. Bruce clearly was giving in this situation. He gave much of his time to create the gofundme, to write the content for it, to find the photos, to update it, and to post it on social media, which is how I found out about it. Bruce didn’t email me. He posted it on Facebook, and I saw it there.
I saw the post, and read it, ultimately listening to what Bruce was sharing, and as it turns out had written.
Then I thought to myself. Bruce donated his valuable time. Time he could have spent doing other things, especially for his home in the keys that was damaged as well, or for his business, or for his family. I immediately recognized that this is what Bruce does. He sees his time as valuable, but he ensures that he makes time for others during his day. He did that for me numerous times. In one case, I was in Fort Myers, and I drove 2 hours, one way, across alligator alley, to meet with Bruce at his home. He made time for me in his busy day.
Look….this is a Hall of Fame speaker. He doesn’t NEED to make time for other speakers. But he did. He cared about me and my success, and that is why I care that he posted a gofundme about Bob. I don’t know Bob. But I know Bruce. The least I could do is care about his cause, for his friend, that he cared about so much.
This is the essence of caring. This is what I am trying to share with all of my audiences. If you care, you will surround yourself with like minded people. Wouldn’t life be so much more better if we could wake up each day knowing we are working with people we truly care about on a deep level!
That’s where I come from with care. That’s my starting place. So…….
I donated. Then I posted a message. Because I wanted anyone seeing this GoFundMe to understand that Bruce is constantly a giver! He cares about others all the time!
The least I can do in my life, is care for others that have care for others, and me. Now, that doesn’t always mean donating to GoFundMe’s, and even spending money. It means caring! Bruce has consistently shared his valuable time and insight with me. I can’t imagine what it’s like for Bob to go through this experience, but I can imagine what it’s like to have someone like Bruce on your side….because I feel he’s on my side too! And frankly if you read his book (All About Them), you’ll realize he is on most people’s side!