A few years ago, Dean had an opportunity to see a senior VP at Best Buy speak. Her name was Julie Gilbert, and she was presenting to a group of women who were participating in a leadership development program that Julie had created called WOLF (WOmen's Leadership Forum).
Ever since then, Dean has used Julie as a shining example of powerful presenting in our presentations and training workshops. He's talked about her as an amazingly inspiring speaker who is able to fill a stage and maintain the attention of everyone in the room, not by being outsize and larger than life, but by being authentic, true to herself and her ideals, and absolutely passionate about her convictions.
I've been wanting to see her in action since the first time he told me about her, and every time he's mentioned her since, my curiosity has grown. Could she really be as good as he says she is? Dean has, for me, always been the closest thing to really embodying the qualities we speak about. So if he's this excited about somebody else, they've got to be good.
Dean and I were invited out to Boston the week of August 18 to speak at this year's WOLF conference, a gathering of 3,000 women (and a few men) from within and without Best Buy who are all actively participated in the WOLF program.
We were excited to have been selected as speakers. Our presentation was called "You Had Me At Hello: How to Generate Powerful Connections At Will," which was a carefully chosen topic for this group, designed to fit what we understood the heart of WOLF's mission to be.
As it turns out, the topic was indeed a great fit. And I think I learned the first evening we were out there why we were such a good fit.
It's because Julie Gilbert truly is a living demonstration of what we talk about.
Julie makes the most powerful connections with audiences I've ever seen, and she does it with absolute authenticity and deeply felt emotions that are clear expressions of her convictions. She is passionate and caring, true to herself, and utterly focused on what she wants for other people.
Julie has taken on the mission to have women be who they authentically are, to have them pursue their dreams regardless of the circumstances that surround them. She's all about authentic, full-tilt expression, and she's all about interpersonal connection based on authentic appreciation.
I was absolutely blown away by her in that opening presentation. She spoke for an hour to 3,000 excited participants from a huge stage. Despite the scope of the scenario, despite the glitziness of the setting, despite the number of people in the audience and the bright lights and all the potential distractions, she clearly made a connection with absolutely everyone in the auditorium. The emotion was palpable, not only because Julie herself clearly felt and expressed it, but because she was connected to everyone in there, and they felt it too. Julie connected us all emotionally, and she brought us where she wanted us to go. Where we needed to go for that conference to go the way it was designed to go.
Dean had to leave the opening session early to handle a hotel issue, so when I met up with him after it was over, he asked me how it went. I told him that I was ready to write Julie Gilbert in as a presidential candidate. Dean laughed, because he remembered thinking the same thing after the first time he saw her.
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