No matter one's situation in life, the journey toward self-improvement can start with one motivated step.
To help get the feet of the Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem community moving, the American Society of Military Comptrollers invited Eddie Williams, Weber Associates consultant and professional speaker, to speak at their Jan. 21 luncheon at The Commons at Fort McPherson.
Terry Grimsley, ASMC executive vice president and the U.S. Army Garrison Directorate of Resource Management lead budget analyst, said he found out about Weber Associates and Williams on the Internet and decided to book him as a featured speaker for the event.
"The ASMC board was hoping for a dynamic motivational speaker who could present quality, helpful material that our members and guests could take away and use to help them become more successful in their professional and personal lives, especially considering that we all are transitioning within 18 months," said Grimsley.
The audience was treated to a blend of humor as well as motivation based on the laughs erupting throughout Williams' presentation. The comedy, along with the interactive nature of the speech, was intentional, Williams said, in order to draw people into his message of being willing to get motivated, get up and get moving.
"Without ambition nothing gets accomplished," Williams said. "You got to get out of your comfort zone, take a step forward and move on." To illustrate this concept, Williams used a presentation entitled, "The 12 X's of Success."
The slideshow contained videos and quotes of famous people throughout history speaking about success.
The presentation included Williams' favorite quote from Dr. Maya Angelou, an American autobiographer and poet: "Hope in the future brings power to the present." That mindset, Williams said, will help people through bad days, when the unexpected happens in the workplace.
"Sometimes you just have a bad day," he said. "Success also deals with managing the situation."
Some of Williams' suggestions for dealing with situations that arise were to always pay attention to what is going on, use all the experience and help available, work on "people" skills, light other people's candles and always remember that tomorrow brings another chance.
Williams said although his audience was mainly those in the business field, he made sure his points could apply to a person's professional and personal life. "It doesn't matter what you apply it (the message) to," Williams said, adding although he gave out note sheets to fill out, people didn't need to remember everything said.
"My intent is that everyone walks away with something they can use in life," he said. Catheryne Houston, a supervisory budget analyst at U.S. Army Reserve Command, said the speech gave her a reminder of good supervisor skills and the positives in life.
She said it also serves as a good place to come and make connections.
"It's a good network opportunity," she said, noting that although she did not require her subordinates to come, she encouraged them to do so to make connections.
One of those who did take up the offer to attend was Kemi Adeniyi, a USARC budget analyst intern.
Besides getting to meet new people, Adeniyi said she was inspired by Williams.
"I liked his analogy about swinging," she said, describing a Hank Aaron quote used in the presentation about how the fear of failure should not keep someone from "swinging for the fences."
"Sometimes I'm afraid of success," she added. For those who missed out on this event, the ASMC holds guest speaker luncheons monthly.
Although mainly designed for those in the financial community (finance, accounting, budget and support), Grimsley said guests are always welcome. "We encourage members and non-members to participate in the monthly luncheon as an opportunity to network and learn something from each speaker," Grimsley said.
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