K The Ken Bradbury Foundation

← Speeches & Workshops

October 2013

Sangamon County Jr High Schoolmasters, Leadership Conf 
8:30 - 9:00 am    Arrive 8:30 - 9:15 am    Pictures 9:15 - 9:30 am    Music Performance 9:30 - 10:30 am   Keynote 10:45 - 11:15 am  Breakout session #1 11:20 - 11:50 am  Breakout session #2 11:50 - 12:30 pm  Lunch 12:30 - 1:00 pm  Breakout session #3 1:00 - 1:30 pm   Wrap up

From Springfield: Take Rt. 29 south. At the second stoplight in Rochester, turn right onto South Walnut Street. The Rochester United Methodist Church is approximately ¼ mile on the right hand side.(or 3rd stoplight). Clowns…grouchy old man

How often do you get to hear your own obituary before you begin? Cerro Gordo…famous author’s day.. “Probably dead” Beginning a speech: Bummy Communicating: David. .basketti

Somebody picked you to come here today because they thought you were pretty good….a leader. That’s a great honor. … But there’s something they may not have told you. You’re going to have to give something back. You got a day out of school, some nice music and lunch and great kids from other schools, but it’s a trick…We want something more from you than what you’re getting today. Sorry, but you have no choice… Because of your talent, and your ability, you’re going to have to give back more than you get here today.

Okay..now’s the chance for any of you to walk out the door. I know, you can’t drive, but there’s real cool _____ out in the lobby.

You’re going to have to become a leader. This is not an option. We need you …quick. And I don’t mean you’re going to have to be a leader when you grow up some day, I mean today…I mean tomorrow when you go back to school.

Kyler is an 8th-grader at a school called Triopia. My summer camp…..counselor material….took a chance…hired one 8th-grader…all the rest, high school and college. J.D. showed up… a 7th-grader… a poop head. I think his mom sent him to camp to punish him. Kyler.. “Do you care if we kidnap him?” Uh…sure…if you don’t bring him back. The plan….. The end of the story…J.D. had a fantastic week…somebody important really cared about him. And Kyler….became a leader.

John graduated from my school two years ago. In high school he was all-state fullback in football, slam dunk champion of his conference, best pitcher on his baseball team, taught himself to play piano, accordion, banjo and mandolin. Now in college on a theatre scholarship. Four nights ago I went to see him at the Hoogland…Spamalot. In his senior year he went to the principal and asked to switch lunch hours. He wanted to eat lunch with the Middle School students. He said, “There are some kids who eat alone every day. They don’t seem to have any friends. It’s more important to me to spend my senior year being the friend of those kids than spending time with my senior class.”

Okay, you say “I’m not ready to be that kind of leader.” Too bad. We need you. Your school needs you. There is not a single law made in Congress that can change your school like YOU can. There are things you can do that your teachers cannot do. There are things you can do that your principal cannot do.

…I’ll help you.. a few tips.

I’ve taught Middle School for 40 years and I’ve met lots and lots of Kyler’s and lots of John’s…and quite a few JD’s.

Here’s what I’ve learned by watching all these student leaders.

  1. They don’t whine. Finished a play Saturday night.. Courtney: pretty, talented, actress, singer. But DO NOT ask Courtney how her day has been. She will tell you. And tell you.. and tell you. When the other kids see her coming to rehearsal they hide. Courtney never makes a mistake. It’s always someone else’s fault.

There’s an old saying: “Get it off your chest.” My advice: Don’t. It makes you a pain in the butt to the rest of us… and it brings you down.

It can happen to teachers, too. ..meet her in IGA...guess what she talks about...

Corrie Ten Boom was a young girl from the Netherlands. She and her father helped many Jews escape from the Nazis in WWII. Her whole family was arrested and her father died 10 days later. Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to a concentration camp where her sister died. “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, It empties today of its strength.” Despite everything that happened to her, she didn’t think backwards. She didn’t whine or complain. She knew that WORRY is a waste of time.

Let’s play a little game…I’ll give you two minutes to sit and worry about everything you’re nervous about. Okay, I won’t. But at the end of the two minutes will have solved anything?

The best Middle School leaders I’ve known, play their own little game: They make two stacks: 1) These are the things I can fix, so I’ll fix them and I won’t have to worry about them. 2) These are the things I can’t fix. I’ll live with them.

Stop doing morning calesthenics If someone picked you to come to Rochester today, it’s probably because you have certain talents…and people with certain talents are sometimes perfectionists. This can be dangerous.

Stop whining if things don’t go right. Air Italia….(now that’s a good case of things not going right)

  1. The best student leaders I know, don’t depend on other people to find out if they’re happy.

The best leaders don’t let other people decide how their day is going to go. Yes, somebody else put you on a bus today. Yes, somebody else chose you to come here…but the really important things about today, YOU are going to decide…Whether you pay attention…Whether you learn something…Whether you make some new friends…YOU are in charge of everything important.

As a leader, you’re going to have to put up with people who really irritate you. (Maybe that person is sitting right beside you.) Do it. You probably can’t change them. You can change how YOU REACT to them. Last year…spoke here…drove home thinking about how things went…My thinking was interrupted by the Rochester police department. Four lane…thought it was 65 mph. The young trooper who stopped me said it wasn’t. We had a nice talk. He looked at my name…his little sister had done my plays in Middle School. I asked him how he liked his job…. This could have turned out badly. I’d gone 40 years without a speeding ticket. Instead of an ugly incident, we both left feeling good. He felt good about himself and left with just a warning ticket. Wrote a letter to his chief. A leader can take almost any situation and turn it into something good. YOU decide how happy you’re going to be. Lincoln: “Most people are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

  1. The best student leaders I know are ridiculously busy…and that’s okay. Do you have a crazy schedule? Seem like your family ever eats a meal together. Does your mom say things like, “We’re just going to have to slow down!” Does your Dad say, “It seems like we’re gone every night?”

No offense to your Mom, but it won’t work. No offense to Dad, but Yes, your family will be gone about every night… sports, music, speech, dance, clubs, church groups…That’s the price you pay for being a leader.

Because if you’re a leader… The only times you’re going to be truly happy in your life are when you’re doing things to help others….If you get tired of giving, give more. You only have about 80 more years of this then you can quit

My guess: You each are one of the busiest students in your school…STILL…when somebody in your school wants something done, they come to you. 90% of the work in the world is done by people who don’t have time to do it.

Giving of yourself is good… It makes me happy. It will make YOU happy.

It’s a simple formula: Spend most of your time thinking about yourself and you’ll get depressed. Spend most of your time thinking about others, you’ll be happier. Becky...funeral... Carl Menninger JHS girl: CFS

Brian … clown day. For the first time in his life, he was forced to think about somebody else.

A. Sweitzer: “The only ones among you who will be truly happy as those who will have sought and found out how to serve.”

If you’re getting really tired of working hard for others, the only cure is to work harder for others. You’ll go to bed every night really tired, really worn out, and really, really happy.

  1. The best student leaders I know, have found a great secret: They know how to pick their friends.

My elementary school friends…all alphabetical. As you grow older you’ll be in charge of picking your own friends. My advice if you want to be a leader: pick friends who encourage you.

Who take joy in your joy. Lots of your friends will cry with you when you’re sad. But those who are truly happy when you’re successful…those are the ones to cling to. Your best friends are seldom jealous of you…they are happy for you.

Play this game in your head…there’s something you want very, very badly.. some sort of honor…a place on the team, a part in the play, an honor at school..They announce the winner and it’s your very best friend. Now STOP! Right now…at this moment, your friendship is in danger. Is it okay to be disappointed? Sure! I would be, too. But can you also convince yourself that you’re happy for them? If you can, then you have a friendship that’ll last forever.

Collect interesting and enthusiastic people. Marie...salt and pepper shakers.

Tony Compello “Five years from now you’ll be pretty much the same as you are now except for two things: The books you’ve read and the people you’ve met.

And the best way to do this is to become an encourager yourself. Let me tell you about the most valuable man in our school…His name was Ed and he taught biology…. Kept leaving notes in the teachers’ mailboxes.. “Hey, I heard the kids laughing all through your class yesterday. It made me happy just to hear them.” And taped on students’ lockers… “Fantastic volleyball game last night.” One boy got a note.. “I sat on the bench all through 8th-grade basketball, too, but you get a really great view of the game!” He was a great biology teacher but his biggest talent was simply encouraging people.

You don’t have to sing, dance, speak, play basketball or make the best grades to be your school’s greatest leader…Just encourage others.

  1. Because you are talented and smart, you are really busy. My advice: Don’t get so busy with the important things in your life that you forget the important things in your life.

James Dobson..monopoly Dad...hay ...rain....

You are going to have lots and lots of choices in the next few years. You can handle them…you can’t say yes to everything. Sit down with your parents and decide which ones are best for you…and pick the really important ones.

  1. Why do you do what you do? To please people. Some of those people are sitting with you right now. If you’re going to be a leader, choose carefully whom you try to please.

Quest...Inner-Outer Self

HINEY THE MULE

People who want the very best for you…YES, try to please them.

  1. The greatest student leaders I know are pretty funny people. They know how to laugh.

Matt…baritone

Sometimes the best solution to a problem is to laugh.

Jim Kern...MRS. BROWN

LIGHTEN UP.... ....go barefoot more often ....turn off the TV & computer some night and have a family joke time. ...eat nothing but ice cream for a whole day. ...wear underwear backwards...will break into uncontrollable giggles for no reason every time you think about it. ....walk up to biggest grouch you know and say “I just want you to know that I feel great!” It’ll throw them off all day. ...do some serious coloring ...break the dress code occasionally. Your own, not the schools. You know the definition of fashion? Whatever makes you feel GREAT. My last year’s senior class: Boys. Prom. Goodwill store. Most expensive suit: $23…and that came with a vest. .....McDonnald’s “Have a nice Day” Why? …Pick out somebody who really bothers you and simply be nice to them.

You’re a leader. Followers are nice to people who are nice to them. Leaders try to make everyone feel good about who they are. Get really interested in other people. Me: trapped in closet with Mr. Rogers.

3 things in life are real...WHEN YOU’RE BORN, WHEN YOU DIE WHEN YOU MAKE SOMEBODY’S LIFE HAPPIER in everything else...LIGHTEN UP.

  1. Don’t take yourself too seriously.. chances are, no one else does.

Church lady...music at her funeral.

Jeff W...Free Spirit..Robbed and tied.

Roger Ebert.

  1. The best leaders live in the PRESENT…not the past or the future.

Your parents say “Think ahead! Think ahead!” Your teachers say, “Look to the future! Plan! Think ahead!” The good leader does this, but he or she also says… “Whoa.. wait a minute. I’m thinking ahead so much that I forgot to enjoy where I am!” Never again in your life will you sit in a room with this group of people. Never again in your life will you hear what you’re going to hear today. Look around…some of these people you’ll never see again. Think about where you are…appreciate who you are and who you’re with.

Some of you during my speech have been thinking about how long...., tomorrow, this weekend. When you drive home from school today, enjoy the moment you’re in.

Show at New Salem one night.. turn out the lights and look at the moon.

Lives of American kids are so filled with “things” that we seldom leave time to enjoy where we are and what we’re doing. Think ahead…sure…but always thing about where you are. Get to know people… A few years ago they invented this thing where you could be anybody you want to be…You can pretend to be somebody else….You can lie about who you are and what you think and lots of people will believe it. It’s called Facebook. Oh…lots of good things about Facebook….but Truthfulness isn’t one of them. They now have photo programs where you can make yourself thinner and prettiers and more handsome on your profile picture. Nothing sinful about that, but guess what? I want to know YOU. (pick someone out) You’ve impressed me with the way you’ve been listening today.. Tell me about yourself…. I just learned more than any Facebook page could tell me.

Before I give you the last tip for begin a great leader…

Let me be really, really honest. If you’re being honored here today, then you’re probably going to live a lot longer than the people who brought you. … even me, as young as I look. It’s going to be YOU running things very quickly.

Why am I giving this speech today? I mean, the ____ was good, but…

So today I’m a snitch….I’m a tattletale… I’m here to tell you a secret that your principal may not have told you yet… We’re going to ask a lot of you because you came here today.

One final thing…if you do all this… If you want to be a leader because you care about people…If you think more about other people than you think about yourself… If a little unpopular kid sitting alone at lunch tugs at your heart… If you convince yourself to stop worrying so much and just enjoy what you’re doing at the moment….If you pick friends who encourage you, and if you learn how to just laugh when things to wrong… If you do all this….You’re gonna love it. I’m not kidding. You’re gonna love it.

You’ve all had personal heroes…older kids that you’ve looked up to. Do you realize that younger kids are looking at you right now? It’s really pretty cool.

Why does Auburn, Ball Chatham, New Berlin, Pawnee, Pleasant Plains, Riverton, Rochester, Tri-City and Williamsville go through this? It cost money. It disrupts their school schedule. It takes time… One simple reason: They NEED YOU.

John…slam dunk champ of Central Ill, star fullback…Isaac…ketchup. Down’s Syndrome cousin. Isaac always in trouble in elementary school…would do whatever the other kids told him to do. Kicked off bus. John asked to visit and sit in back. “Isaac! Ketchup!” On the night of John’s graduation last spring, they called his name to come get his diploma…and from behind the curtains came a little boy giving him a bottle of ketchup.

I hope you guys and girls have a great day… Because starting tomorrow, you’ve got to lead.

10.. Finally…to be a leader, you don’t have to be the best at anything. Little League….me: 5th grader, Greg: 8th-grade pitcher. Scared to death of him. I wasn’t going to be a great baseball player…I didn’t like getting hit. And besides, Mom wanted me to take piano lessons and they always conflicted with baseball practice. YELLOW STAR

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