Front Row Seat

Center Stage

This past Saturday, I attended in my first Georgia Street Rod Association (GSRA) monthly business meeting. The meeting was held at Street Side Classic’s showroom east of Atlanta in Lithia Springs, GA. I didn’t have an agenda, just wanted to meet some guys who share my interest in, and enthusiasm for collectible hot rods. I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I got there 45 minutes early to look at the collectables that were for sale. I  was amazed by the warehouse showroom filled with cars and hot rods ranging from relatively late model Jaguars and Rolls Royces, to hot rods from the 1920’s. Of course, they all had signs that read, “Please don’t touch!” Thankfully, there were no, “Please don’t drool!” signs. I’m afraid I drooled on several and one in particular. A 1932 Buick hot rod restored to its original elegance, and beyond, with all modern running gear, including torsion bar front suspension.

At 10:00 AM when the meeting was called to order, I saw behaviors that didn’t surprise me. The first, made me laugh out loud. I’ve seen it so often at the first session of the Leadership Development Lab (LDL)™. As the meeting was being called to order, a guy came up front, grabbed one of the front row chairs, and moved it quickly to the back row. Guess he’s not a front row person!

It amazes me that people brag about getting front row seats for plays, concerts, sports, and other special events. And yet, in a smaller group like this they seem to want to get as far back as possible. Are they trying to be anonymous?

The showroom has huge exhaust fans. The fans are necessary for the fumes, but they do make a noisy environment. Still, not a lot of effort was made by the speaker to project, turn up their volume.

One of them did comment, “I wish they’d turn off the fans.” Others who were running the meeting seemed to be having a conversation with each other rather than speaking to the group. No projection, not even facing their audience. Of course, they didn’t have a microphone. That couldn’t be expected in this setting, but they could’ve projected.

Leaders are “front row people” who have developed the ability when it’s their turn. to “speak up.”

What are you going to do in ‘22? Obviously, it’s up to you. If you choose to be a leader you cannot be anonymous. You must

“Stand Up,
Speak Out,
and Be Counted.”