The Encore Effect-Giving More of Yourself

Years ago a friend and I went to see Grammy Award winner and recording artist Maxwell perform in concert at Constitution Hall in Washington D.C.

The sold-out crowd eagerly waited for the concert to begin. Finally the lights dimmed, the spotlight went on, and the curtain opened up.

Anticipating an amazing performance, the crowd started clapping and cheering before the band started playing.

We had great seats—fifth row center, from the stage. That was our second time within six weeks seeing him perform so we knew what to expect. (The first time we saw him in concert at Pier Six Pavilion at the Baltimore Inner Harbor.)

He sang every song from his CD, and we sang right along with him. When the concerted ended, the crowd gave him a 10 minute standing ovation—clapping, cheering and screaming for more! The audience put such a demand on the recording artist that he returned to the stage to sing one more time!

We all perform everyday on a “stage” in front of an audience. Whether we are performing in the classroom as an educator, at home as a parent or spouse, with a client, on the baseball field, in the boardroom or on the Internet (ie. Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.).

We all desire to achieve remarkable results in everything we do. National Bestselling Author Mark Sanborn shows us in "The Encore Effect" how to make every performance a remarkable one that puts you head-and-shoulders above the rest.

There are some people who bring their “A-game” everywhere they go and have become household names in business (Steve Jobs), social networking (Mark Zuckerberg), media (Oprah Winfrey), sports (Ray Lewis and Cal Ripken), charity (Bill and Melinda Gates), and music (the late Michael Jackson).

All of them have invested years in honing their skills and practicing their craft. They surrounded themselves with like-minded professionals who inspired them to achieve their goals.

Iron sharpens iron, a maxim that is solid in each industry. What makes each of them command attention on and off stage? Practice! Most remarkable performers don’t practice to become perfect, they practice to become better. In doing so, they consistently raise the bar in their chosen professions.

In The Encore Effect, Sanborn shares insight on how to cultivate the traits on achieving amazing results and he focuses on five key steps:

• Passion
• Preparation
• Practice
• Performance
• Polish

After purchasing and reading the book, I took a free online assessment that showed me where I am now, the quality decisions I need to make, and the areas I need to enhance in order to gain greater results.

The key to getting the best results on the assessment is inputting honest information about you! Take the challenge. I did.

I am (still) learning that gaining a standing ovation on the “stage” of life requires lots of hard work, commitment, and persistent and consistent effort.

In his text, Sanborn instructs the reader how to take any performance from mundane to memorable, from dull to dynamic, from tiresome to terrific, from routine to remarkable.

Let’s face it, when we hear the applause, cheers or our messages gets retweeted on Twitter, “liked” on Facebook, the traditional “job well done” and other accolades, it strokes our egos. Regardless of our age or gender, all of us have an ego!

Over the years I’ve received trophies, awards, certificates and letters of commendation and I’m sure you have too. Didn’t it stroke your ego and make you want to do more? Sure it did! That was your audience’s way of saying “Bravo!” It also means they are demanding an encore performance from you—and me!

Until then … prepare for your standing ovation!

You can secure your copy of The Encore Effect at your favorite bookseller. For more information, visit www.marksanborn.com.