I was 18 years old, and a freshman in college when I decided to get my lifeguard certification. I will never forget the first day of class. I showed up with 15 other excited and slightly nervous kids and waited expectantly for our instructor to arrive.
About 5 minutes later he strolled casually out of the locker room door, looking rather nervous himself, and glancing all around the pool area without ever making eye contact with anyone. I stared at him in surprise.
He came to a stop in front of us and fixed his gaze on the floor in front of him. “Hello,” he said softly, his voice a complete monologue. “My name is John and I am going to teach you how to be a lifeguard.” He glanced up a brief second and then jerked his gaze back down. He cleared his throat and then continued. “I am very glad you are here and I believe we’ll have a great class.”
I exchanged disbelieving looks with everyone around me. Who was this clown? Was he really going to be our instructor? I was already planning what I was going to do with my sudden block of free time because I couldn’t imagine spending 8 weeks with this guy! I wanted to be a lifeguard, but not badly enough to endure this quiet, expressionless instructor.
His voice trailed off and we waited for what seemed an interminable time in complete silence before he suddenly spun around, walked back across the pool area and disappeared into the locker room. The silence continued because none of us had any idea how to respond. I had just opened my mouth to say something when suddenly the door to the locker room was slung open and our instructor appeared again.
Our mouths hung open in surprise as the “clown” strode across the pool area with strong purpose, catching each of our eyes with a purposeful stare. He ground to a halt in front of us. “Hello. My name is John and I’m going to teach you how to be a lifeguard.” His vibrant, enthusiastic voice rang through the pool area. “I’m very glad you’re here and I believe we’ll have a great class.” He gazed around at our astonished expressions for a long moment and then laughed. “So which me do you prefer?”
“Wow!” was all I could manage. All of us laughed but we were still a little stunned by the sudden transformation.
Instructor John motioned for all of us to sit down before he continued. “How you come across in your initial contact with people, whether as a lifeguard, or in any other situation in life is so important. I already know you were dreading have John #1 as your instructor. Why? Because you want an instructor who is strong, excited and enthusiastic about being a lifeguard. You want that and you deserve that. More importantly, you will learn most effectively from that kind of instructor.”
He waited for the words to sink in and then continued. “When you are a lifeguard, you will have to communicate in the same way to people – whether you are guarding for the day or teaching swimming. You want people to feel confident and excited about being part of what you’re doing.” He could tell by the looks on our faces that we got it. “What I really hope is that you’ll take the lesson you learned here today and apply it to every aspect of your life.”
“People will follow a strong, confident, enthusiastic leader. When you are communicating with someone, you need to be aware of how you look, how you sound, and how you are coming across.”
Instructor John made a huge impact on me that day – one that still resonates in me over 30 years later. I hope this story makes as strong an impact on you, and on how you live your life as well.
Think about how you’re communicating with people. How are you coming across? Will they view you as a strong, confident leader? Are you bubbling with enthusiasm over what you want to share with them or offer them? Will people be eager to be involved with you, or want to run the other direction? Your answers provide you with the information you need to make your dreams a reality...and that is nothing to clown around about!
By: Virginia Dye
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