The Joy in Business

40The White House Story (Part 2)

Q. Have things ever not worked out as planned?

A. Adjust your expectations and persevere, or take on the challenge.

When I cold called the White House (see Chapter 31) at the age of 19, I never in my wildest dreams expected to speak there. So the surprise of getting a call back from the White House and going to Washington, D.C. was quite a thrill. But things don’t always work out as we think. I never met the president. He wasn’t there that day. (Has that ever happened to you? You were excited in anticipation of something about to happen only to find that fate had other plans?)

The assignment I was given was to teach the president’s staff how to read his mail faster. Any idea how many letters the president of the United States received each week in 1978, before email? A lot! Up to 40,000. The goal was to respond back within nine days with a staff of 25 people. They exceeded the goal with the speed reading techniques and strategies that we shared. The program was conducted in the Indian Treaty room.

Fast forward to 2015. I’m at a keynote speaker boot camp in Dallas, Texas. I told the White House story on stage in front of 50 other professional speakers and authors to get feedback and perfect it. One of them took me aside at the break and said, “Your White House story is great, but you never met the president.”

“I know,” I agreed.

She said, “It would be so much better if you did.”

I answered, “Yes, but I don’t like to think like that, of the what ...