Right off the bat get you'r mind out of the gutter. I had to go through the painfull experance of going to a "Company" meeting that was headlined by a motivation speaker. But first lets go way back and why I make the statement that cheerleaders suck.

It started way back in middle school when we were forced to go to the school spirit rallies. Now I know times may have changed but it was either that or study hall. If me and my friends found out about these little get togethers before hand we would save up our money and play poker in the study hall. It is nice to have friends on the newspaper and year book staff to find out that information. If not it was a hour of listening to people scream and yell about things we did not really care about. In addition we would make teachers, jocks and cheerleaders mad by just asking simple questions like "Instead of spending all this money on crape paper, why isn't the money going towards the art programs or toward a computer lab?" Then get rejected to study hall to play cards.

So now that I am somewhat grown up I really thought this fad escaped me. It really was not that bad in college, But as god as my witness I think it is worse in the business world. So here we all sit in a darkened room watching a clip from Braveheart. The speaker stands up and says "You know what i really love about that sceen is it divides the troops willing to follow the leader into whatever is proposed. The ones that Question his actions are the ones left behind." Now this sceen that we are speakinf of is when Mel is getting the troops all fired up for battle. Question two from joe blow speaker "Have you all seen this movie you know how it ends? " At this point and time I am biting my bottom lip trying not to say " Ya they all follow the leader and he dies a pretty violent death And who ever is alive after the battle are pretty messed up." enter thought number two "This guy is getting payed twice as much as me and cant think of a better example?" Now if you think I am being harsh on these motivation speakers and do not know what I am talking about, my uncle is one of speakers that get shuttled around state to state in his own words " Getting people pumped up about the company and their job." This really gets to me also a company is outsourcing a person to come in stay at a nice hotel, eat great food be spoiled walk into a room and say " The company is great, Be happy." then duck out for a year to return. I dont think these people have the concept of what the employees are thinking or going through because rarely when these folks open their mouth do you ever hear " Anyone have anything to say?" and even if you did it could mean you'r job. That is some real motivation.

So to all you motivation speakers out there thank you for making me relive a childhood experance that i wanted to forget. But for also taking a hour out of my life and money from the company I work for. Wow I feel so much more important now since a perfect stranger told me I matter to a company that I got to meet once out of the year I have worked there.

I don't feel so alone on this topic any more flounder405.
I have had to endure those painful meetings for too many years.

The only one meeting like that that was intresting was one in which the evening
ended with a company sponcered Casino night. Free drinks and gambling on the company.


P.S some cheerleaders do better than others

Heh, I was wondering where you were gonna go with that title...

Seriously though, I totally agree. If I hear one more speaker tell me to "think outside of the box" or that "20% of my actions accomplish 80% of my work" I'm gonna go postal up in that ma'

Quote: Originally Posted by flounder405 Right off the bat get you'r mind out of the gutter. I had to go through the painfull experance of going to a "Company" meeting that was headlined by a motivation speaker. But first lets go way back and why I make the statement that cheerleaders suck. It started way back in middle school when we were forced to go to the school spirit rallies. Now I know times may have changed but it was either that or study hall. If me and my friends found out about these little get togethers before hand we would save up our money and play poker in the study hall. It is nice to have friends on the newspaper and year book staff to find out that information. If not it was a hour of listening to people scream and yell about things we did not really care about. In addition we would make teachers, jocks and cheerleaders mad by just asking simple questions like "Instead of spending all this money on crape paper, why isn't the money going towards the art programs or toward a computer lab?" Then get rejected to study hall to play cards. So now that I am somewhat grown up I really thought this fad escaped me. It really was not that bad in college, But as god as my witness I think it is worse in the business world. So here we all sit in a darkened room watching a clip from Braveheart. The speaker stands up and says "You know what i really love about that sceen is it divides the troops willing to follow the leader into whatever is proposed. The ones that Question his actions are the ones left behind." Now this sceen that we are speakinf of is when Mel is getting the troops all fired up for battle. Question two from joe blow speaker "Have you all seen this movie you know how it ends? " At this point and time I am biting my bottom lip trying not to say " Ya they all follow the leader and he dies a pretty violent death And who ever is alive after the battle are pretty messed up." enter thought number two "This guy is getting payed twice as much as me and cant think of a better example?" Now if you think I am being harsh on these motivation speakers and do not know what I am talking about, my uncle is one of speakers that get shuttled around state to state in his own words " Getting people pumped up about the company and their job." This really gets to me also a company is outsourcing a person to come in stay at a nice hotel, eat great food be spoiled walk into a room and say " The company is great, Be happy." then duck out for a year to return. I dont think these people have the concept of what the employees are thinking or going through because rarely when these folks open their mouth do you ever hear " Anyone have anything to say?" and even if you did it could mean you'r job. That is some real motivation. So to all you motivation speakers out there thank you for making me relive a childhood experance that i wanted to forget. But for also taking a hour out of my life and money from the company I work for. Wow I feel so much more important now since a perfect stranger told me I matter to a company that I got to meet once out of the year I have worked there.

As the owner of a very small business, I have only subjected some of my employees to something like this once. We went to a motivational "Woodstock", held in a sports arena, where they had one motivator after another come onstage. I'll never ask, let alone force, my employees to go through that ever again.
When in high school, I would always attempt to skip out of pep rallies, we had no choice of study hall, it was mandatory you attend.

What you may want to get away from that place,after awhile it may affect your mental health.

I remember I had a motivational movie for my summer job where they had some story about fish mart sellers and how they had fun with their jobs, atleast it was funny, but still felt worse than having a root canal...

i liked the motivation speaker that came in when i started work at a pet store. he was the guy who was retiring his words were short and sweet. go faster , get bitten less.

I had to check out this thread because of the title.

Motivational speakers are a waste of time and money. If I don't care before they start talking, I'm only going to care less by the time they're done.

The best compliment at work is when the boss says that you are doing a good job and takes everyone out for lunch and has the company pay for it, thats my motivation.

I almost got my school to walk out on a rally cause it was the end of the day and no one cared. I got up to leave and many people started to follow, the teachers thought we were going to trample them, twas fun

inc

The movie Office Space Comes to mind.

In high school we had to PAY to go to those rallys. Yeap, you heard right. We had to pay in order to go to a pep rally, which I thought was complete BS. They usualy happened around 7th period, (end of the day) So I would stay, and then leave to go to the bathroom at about 2:15..That way I can get on the bus early, and beat the rush of the crowd before they came out of the gym...But it never always worked out that way...Sometimes I would get caught (for some strange reason they didn want you near the door) or the Director would come out. I would just go hide in the bathroom until the bell rang

Maybe people would work more if they werent stuck in cubicles all day...

Has anyone ever watchen one of WalMarts "gimmee a w" pep rallys all their minimum wage lemmings are forced to go to at the start of every shift? What a sickening degradation of the human race those are. I was asked to leave one of their distribution centers for miming a few comments while watching. That was the best way to get banned from bringing my truck in there ever again. Sweet success.

Maybe you just need to "develop" a more "symbiotic relationship" with your employer. That way you can feel as if you are a "value added" part of the "team".

Quote: Originally Posted by godfoot Maybe you just need to "develop" a more "symbiotic relationship" with your employer."

Ya know... tape worms have the same kind of symbiotic relationship with their hosts.

Or is it parasitic?

Please remember that listening to some coked-up dork full of platitudes and getting paid for it is better than doing actual work any day.

Yeah...I'm a little burned-out.

-MF

Doesn't matter who the motivational speaker is, I just smile and think of "Matt Foley"

Quote: First off, I am 35 years old.. I am divorced.. and I live in a van down by the river! Now, you kids are probably saying to yourself, "Now, I'm gonna go out, and I'm gonna get the world by the tail, and wrap it around and put it in my pocket!!" Well, I'm here to tell you that you're probably gonna find out, as you go out there, that you're not gonna amount to Jack Squat!!" You're gonna end up eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van down by the river! Now, young man, what do you want to do with your life?

Quote: Originally Posted by Iateronmly Doesn't matter who the motivational speaker is, I just smile and think of "Matt Foley"

Matt was truly an inspiration to us all, just keep him away from the coffee table.

The British Sitcom "The Office" - second season. (NOT the US version)

When "Brent" (the boss) does his stint as a motivational speaker.

Definitely some of the funniest stuff I've seen.

this is almost like a real life version of dilbert cartoon

i just brought a book to the student rallies. they were pointless

Back when I was in middle/highschool they used to call them Pep rallies (we eventually coined the term PREP rallies), to get us "pepped" about all the athletic events. Now I was never the athletic type though I did keep myself in shape. I still didnt' particularlly care for these events so I would either slip past the cops that guarded our parking lots and go home early or skip up to the local gaming cafe (Gamefrog FTW!) It was always a pretty funny fiasco regardless. Guess all I'm saying is not to worry because I know many of us have gone through a similar situation.

Quote: Originally Posted by ManOfMandango Back when I was in middle/highschool they used to call them Pep rallies (we eventually coined the term PREP rallies), to get us "pepped" about all the athletic events. Now I was never the athletic type though I did keep myself in shape. I still didnt' particularlly care for these events so I would either slip past the cops that guarded our parking lots and go home early or skip up to the local gaming cafe (Gamefrog FTW!) It was always a pretty funny fiasco regardless. Guess all I'm saying is not to worry because I know many of us have gone through a similar situation.

Now for the PEP rally's while I was in school well, I went to each and every one. Yes I did.

There were more girls there than in any study hall and my chances of getting to know each and every one of them went up every time I steped into a rally.