Peter D. Kaufman

And what are you going to get back?

You're going to get back mere reciprocation.

We did an episode on this where Mary Kay Ash had this amazing framing that I think about all the time now.

And she said, everyone has an invisible sign hanging from his or her neck saying, make me feel important.

Never forget this message when you're working with people.

Peter did a demonstration for his audience using an $8 crystal ball from Amazon.

He offers to do a psychic reading for anyone in the room, a complete stranger, and tell them what they've been searching for for their entire life.

And his reading goes like this.

Your entire life, you've been on a quest, an odyssey, a search for that individual you can 100% absolutely and completely trust.

But who's not just trustworthy, but principled and courageous and competent and kind and loyal and understanding and forgiving and unselfish.

And of course, he's right every time because that's what every single one of us is looking for.

So Peter adds a second prediction.

If you ever think you may have encountered this person, you're going to probe and probe and test and test to make sure they are real, that you're not being fooled.

And the paradox is that it looks like you're probing for weakness, but you're not.

You're probing for strength.

And the worst day of your life is if instead of strength, you get back weakness.

And now you feel betrayed.

You've got to start your search all over again.

This brings Peter to what he calls the 22 second course in leadership.

There's no business school required, no books, no seminars, the entire course.