EnterpriseZone.cc Connecting Global Leaders
The reward of helping people to achieve the extraordinary is the driver for Dave Bricker’s teaching through storytelling.
What’s your story?
When I was 18, I discovered the liveaboard sailing community in Miami—a secret floating village anchored behind a group of barrier islands a 1/4-mile from Miami City Hall. By the time I graduated college, I was living aboard my own tiny sailboat and 6 months after graduating, I took off with $30 in my pocket and a locker full of food and dreams. I wanted stories to tell. My travels took me up and down the Bahamas and across the Atlantic. Today, I use my StorySailing® model to teach the art of business transformation through storytelling.
What excites you most about your industry?
When I teach people to communicate effectively, the transformation in their confidence, presence, and impact is extraordinary and fast. Helping people become bigger and more authentic versions of themselves is extraordinarily gratifying.
What drives you in business to push beyond what other people consider normal?
I have no idea what most people consider “normal,” though I see a lot of mediocre work and a lot of “good enough” results; I suppose that’s the standard—normal. All this creates a backdrop against which the extraordinary shines even brighter. For those willing to do the work, there is much joy to be found in the extraordinary.
What have been the most useful skills you have learnt and applied in your journey?
Writing, graphic design, music performance and composition, teaching, and public speaking skills are all dialects of storytelling. The ability to mix, match, and blend these media on a high level translates into people and ventures that succeed.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Be afraid if that’s how you feel, but do it—whatever it is—anyway.
Who inspires you?
Antoine de St. Exupery, Joseph Conrad, and Winston Churchill had an amazing command of English. I love Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt, and Frank Zappa for their prodigious musicality. I’ve worked with a few coaches who had an uncanny ability to listen profoundly, identify the real problems, and break them down into understandable, reparable parts.
What have you learnt recently that blew you away?
As a speaker, I’ve had to adapt my stagecraft to virtual platforms. During the past 9 months, I’ve learned a great deal about video production, and about how to engage an on-screen audience.
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
Probably not much as I’ve had a good life, but if I could advise my young self as to what to do differently, I’d find good mentors earlier and open up some of the confidence I didn’t really achieve until I was 50.
How do you unwind?
I play guitar or go sailing. The combination is nirvana.
What is a major mindset change, belief shift or ‘ah ha’ moment that you’ve experienced in relation to your business?
I’m always thinking, writing, and growing so ‘ah ha’ moments are a near-daily occurrence, but I had a lot of impostor syndrome when I first got some training to be a coach. I imagined that business owners and CEOs would be these old silverbacks glowering at me over their glasses. After all, I’ve never run a big company. But when I sat down at the table with them, I realized that I was older than most of them and they were just people who were scared and overwhelmed like everyone else.
Everyone in business should read this book:
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if your Life Depended On it by Chris Voss.
Shameless plug for your business:
Remarkable Stories, Inc. works with leaders and teams who value ideas, innovation, and collaboration. I create a safe, nurturing, and humorous environment for people to try new tools and fail forward. Discover what to say and how to say it when the stakes are high. If you want to say it, share it, or sell it, bring me your story; I’ll help you tell it.
How can people connect with you?
https://storysailing.com is my website. Call, email, or book an appointment on my coaching page.
Social Media Links?
https://linkedin.com/in/davidbricker
https://twitter.com/davebricker
https://facebook.com/davebrickerspeaker
