I’m skipping classes this week. I even missed an assignment. And its especially bad because during spring semester, everything moves twice as fast. But… I’m in London for a Charisma Sciences seminar we’re holding here, and I’m having a blast!
We’re booked at a pretty hip hotel – last night we hung out with Moby and his band, and I caught Van Morrison walking by on his way in. But you know, celebs are usually as down to earth as anyone if you treat them like real people.
So, I’m introduced to a Spanish guitarist named Rodrigo. You can check him out at www.rodgab.com. Awesome guy, and we got to talking about what is going through his head when he is onstage.
“Well,” he told me, “I feel that I have something to give to the audience – that it comes from my heart and through the strings and it is for them.”
“So the idea of celebrity to you..?” I trailed off, the assumption in my question quite obvious. I’ve met several celebrities so caught up in themselves, and its hard to hide your aversion to that attitude.
“It strikes me as odd,” said Rodrigo. “I am not up there to become a star. I am up there to give to them. There are plenty of celebrities who know how to inspire a crowd, but the crowd knows the difference between entertainment that comes from the head, and entertainment that comes from the soul.”
Lying awake in my hotel room around 5:45 AM (still haven’t adjusted to GMT!), I was thinking about what Rodrigo said, my experiences with the Sloans and with StartupNation and my own experiences at Indigo.
I believe that true entrepreneurs are givers. They want to share what they have with the world. The ones I meet who are in it for the money or the “idea” of entrepreneurship almost always fail to reach the same heights as those who are in it to give.
To me, StartupNation and the community being built here embodies this idea. Its also our attitude at Charisma Sciences, and our clients appreciate it. Said one from Austin last weekend, “I like John’s high enthusiasm, it does not come across fake but genuine, which makes sense because it is an element (I am assuming) that you guys are teaching.”
I’m so proud when we get this sort of feedback, and I know that its only because we are dedicated 100% to giving to our clients. It makes me feel a little bit more like Rodrigo must when he is onstage, and that is something to which we can all aspire.
