The Case Of The Running Girl.....
The Case Of The Running Girl.....
On Saturday evening my beautiful 13 yo daughter Laura and I were getting ready for our usual run (we run every second night).
On Saturday evening my beautiful 13 yo daughter Laura and I were getting ready for our usual run (we run every second night).
Laura Sinclair - Running Star!
Now Laura's not exactly the world's greatest athlete. Although she does play hockey, it's pretty well accepted amongst my 2 sons (Jack 12 & Harry 10) that Laura is "athletically challenged". Which means she's about as athletic as a baby Giraffe.
Not that they tease her or anything, more that they're dismissive of her when it comes to athletic games.
Anyway, as we prepared to go Jack & Harry said they wanted to come with us.
"Sure," I said.
"Don't worry if you can't keep up.....Laura and I will slow down for you."
That Kept Them Mightily Amused
That kept them mightily amused. As if Laura could outrun them! Ridiculous!! I was, in their eyes, one crazy old man.
Crazy Like A Wily Old Fox!
Whilst the boys grabbed their runners Laura and I hatched our plan. And it went something like this.
- For the first 500 metres Laura and I would run as hard as we could.
- The boys wouldn't be able to keep up.
- Once we get 50 metres in front we'll pretend to look around, see them far behind and stop so they can catch up (whilst we gasp for air as it turned out!).
- From there we'll run as slowly as we can get them to run.
- At the half way mark (15 minutes) we'll say we always run the return part slowly to warm down.
They Jumped In The Car
We all jumped in the car and drove a couple of minutes down to the ocean. We parked at a place called Currumbin Alley. As we started running I reminded the boys that Laura and I would slow down so they could keep up.
"Yeh, sure Dad" their little faces said.
After 20 metres Laura and I cranked the pace up - the boys kept up. After 50 metres we cranked it up a bit more - they were just hanging on. After 100 metres Laura and I were flying and the boys very quickly dropped off.
The Boys Were 70 Metres Behind
After 500 metres at a frantic pace Laura and I were spent. We'd had it. But we'd done the job. The boys were about 70 metres behind.
Laura and I looked back as if we were wondering where the boys were. We stopped and caught our breath (we were gasping!). The boys eventually caught up and we continued on at a much slower pace.
"Yep, Laura's pretty fit now. She runs alright doesn't she boys," I said.
They were both very excited:
"Wow, I can't believe how good you are Lawsie!"
"How fast are you Laura!!"
The rest of the run was spent with me telling the boys that Laura and I were running slowly just so they could keep up. Every now and then we'd put in a spurt so we'd get ahead a bit and then we'd slow down with "Oh sorry, got ahead of you a bit. We'll slow down."
The Halfway Mark
At the halfway mark Laura was exhausted. It was probably the fastest she'd ever run.
So then came phase 2 of the plan.
"Laura and I will run the last half real slow to warm down as we've been doing some hard runs this week. You boys run ahead and see who's the fastest," I said.
With that the boys took off. After all, these are 2 boys for whom everything - and I mean everything - is a competition.
A Slow, Slow Jog
Laura and I slowed to a very, very slow jog and leisurely made our way back to the car.
By the time we got back to the car the boys were competing over whose feet were the biggest, whose eyelashes were brighter or something equally as insane. And Laura had gotten her breath back.
Back Home
As I pulled up at home the boys raced in to tell their mum how good a runner Laura is.
"She's so fast mum! We couldn't even keep up with her!"
Laura and I just kept quiet about the great 'Running Ruse of 2005'.
And Then A Funny Thing Happened
The next day we all went to the local soccer fields with some of the neighbourhood kids. About 12 kids in all and 5 adults.
The kids organised a game of soccer and Jack was elected one of the team captains. The captains pick their teams from the other kids.
Laura, who is always picked last, was picked first by Jack. The rest of the teams were picked and the game began.
Jack told his team to just kick it to Laura because "Laura's the fastest person here and they won't be able to keep up with her."
That Sinking Feeling
Oh dear. I had that sinking feeling that our great 'Running Ruse' was about to come unstuck.
But then the funny thing happened. Not funny as in Ha, Ha. But funny as in unexpected.
Suddenly there was this expectation that Laura was a good player. The kids on her team expected her to be good. The other team expected her to be good. And , so it seemed, did Laura.
Everyone had confidence in Laura. And it rubbed off on her.
After 5 minutes she'd already had the best game of her life. Then she got the first goal. Ever. For the next 20 minutes or so she ran around that field like she'd been playing all her life. With a confidence and joy she'd never shown before.
All because people assumed she was a good player. So that's what she became. Amazing what a bit of confidence can do.
What's The Lesson?
What's the lesson here? I'm not really sure.
I guess it's partly that with a little smart thinking you can change perceptions of a lifetime. After all, it took just 90 seconds of Laura and I running hard to change the boy's beliefs about Laura's athletic ability forever.
(But maybe it's just that Jack and Harry are easy to fool!)
How can you can the perception of your business?
We all jumped in the car and drove a couple of minutes down to the ocean. We parked at a place called Currumbin Alley. As we started running I reminded the boys that Laura and I would slow down so they could keep up.
"Yeh, sure Dad" their little faces said.
After 20 metres Laura and I cranked the pace up - the boys kept up. After 50 metres we cranked it up a bit more - they were just hanging on. After 100 metres Laura and I were flying and the boys very quickly dropped off.
The Boys Were 70 Metres Behind
After 500 metres at a frantic pace Laura and I were spent. We'd had it. But we'd done the job. The boys were about 70 metres behind.
Laura and I looked back as if we were wondering where the boys were. We stopped and caught our breath (we were gasping!). The boys eventually caught up and we continued on at a much slower pace.
"Yep, Laura's pretty fit now. She runs alright doesn't she boys," I said.
They were both very excited:
"Wow, I can't believe how good you are Lawsie!"
"How fast are you Laura!!"
The rest of the run was spent with me telling the boys that Laura and I were running slowly just so they could keep up. Every now and then we'd put in a spurt so we'd get ahead a bit and then we'd slow down with "Oh sorry, got ahead of you a bit. We'll slow down."
The Halfway Mark
At the halfway mark Laura was exhausted. It was probably the fastest she'd ever run.
So then came phase 2 of the plan.
"Laura and I will run the last half real slow to warm down as we've been doing some hard runs this week. You boys run ahead and see who's the fastest," I said.
With that the boys took off. After all, these are 2 boys for whom everything - and I mean everything - is a competition.
A Slow, Slow Jog
Laura and I slowed to a very, very slow jog and leisurely made our way back to the car.
By the time we got back to the car the boys were competing over whose feet were the biggest, whose eyelashes were brighter or something equally as insane. And Laura had gotten her breath back.
Back Home
As I pulled up at home the boys raced in to tell their mum how good a runner Laura is.
"She's so fast mum! We couldn't even keep up with her!"
Laura and I just kept quiet about the great 'Running Ruse of 2005'.
And Then A Funny Thing Happened
The next day we all went to the local soccer fields with some of the neighbourhood kids. About 12 kids in all and 5 adults.
The kids organised a game of soccer and Jack was elected one of the team captains. The captains pick their teams from the other kids.
Laura, who is always picked last, was picked first by Jack. The rest of the teams were picked and the game began.
Jack told his team to just kick it to Laura because "Laura's the fastest person here and they won't be able to keep up with her."
That Sinking Feeling
Oh dear. I had that sinking feeling that our great 'Running Ruse' was about to come unstuck.
But then the funny thing happened. Not funny as in Ha, Ha. But funny as in unexpected.
Suddenly there was this expectation that Laura was a good player. The kids on her team expected her to be good. The other team expected her to be good. And , so it seemed, did Laura.
Everyone had confidence in Laura. And it rubbed off on her.
After 5 minutes she'd already had the best game of her life. Then she got the first goal. Ever. For the next 20 minutes or so she ran around that field like she'd been playing all her life. With a confidence and joy she'd never shown before.
All because people assumed she was a good player. So that's what she became. Amazing what a bit of confidence can do.
What's The Lesson?
What's the lesson here? I'm not really sure.
I guess it's partly that with a little smart thinking you can change perceptions of a lifetime. After all, it took just 90 seconds of Laura and I running hard to change the boy's beliefs about Laura's athletic ability forever.
(But maybe it's just that Jack and Harry are easy to fool!)
How can you can the perception of your business?
- By acting differently
- By speaking differently
- By presenting differently
After all, they're the 3 ways we develop our impressions of others.
If nothing changes, nothing changes.
Cheers
Brendon
If nothing changes, nothing changes.
Cheers
Brendon
[ comments ]
What a great post there that goes to show how just how far people can go with a little encouragement!
Believing in and encouraging someone else is a great gift that anyone can give to a child, friend or co-worker etc...and one that can have far reaching positive consequences.
Bravo!
Steve Solem
www.ravedesigns.com
Thanks for sharing the story; it was a good read.