On January 10th, 2023, I was a guest speaker at the Rotterdam, Netherlands Toastmasters club. As a professional keynote speaker, it was an honor to do professional speaking in my home city of Rotterdam. It was a night to remember.
Speaking From the Heart
No one in the audience knew me before I spoke. It was a new audience. I decided to lead with vulnerability, speaking from the heart. In my speech, I told the story of the brutal burnout I experienced in 2020. Whenever I share a story, it’s never to make it about me and always to help others – I was being open about my challenges to add value to the audience members and give them a speech they’d remember.
I took it a layer deeper, talking about the corrupt company I had the misfortune of being contracted to while going through this burnout. The misguided HR Director sent me all sorts of demands and threats through email, saying I had to come in and work even though I was in the middle of a severe health crisis that included hospital treatments. He also discriminated against me for being American. It was absurd.
This was an American company that had a Dutch & Benelux branch (the Benelux is the region of The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg). I was working for the Dutch branch of this global multi-billion-euro conglomerate, as I live in The Netherlands. Unfortunately, they had been ruining people’s lives for years. I’m not using the word “corrupt” here lightly – I’m talking about a company that consistently caused people to go on burnout because of the toxicity in the workplace, and then hurt people’s recovery process instead of supporting them. Very messed up.
I ended up involving seven Dutch lawyers, including one main lawyer. It turned out I had followed procedure perfectly and didn’t do anything wrong, and this corrupt company was way out of line. I won the legal battle and came out on top. I was the first person to ever stand up to this vicious company and I’m really proud of myself, as other people have benefited from me defeating this corrupt multi-billion-euro conglomerate. There were severe consequences for the way the HR Director treated me and others.
From the bottom of my heart, this was one of the hardest experiences I’ve ever gone through. I felt humiliated and struggled with anxiety while the legal battle was happening. But it also changed me for the better and I grew from the experience. I realized that just because someone else blames you for something doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. I also realized that the power lies with the individual, and standing up for your rights is a good thing. It’s an honor to use this story to help, support, and inspire others. Many people around the world have told me that I inspired them to stand up to corruption.
This story is part of my keynote The Power of Authentic Leadership, based on my bestselling book with the same title. With this whole situation happening while I was living in the Netherlands and working for a Dutch company, it was an especially relevant story to share while I was doing professional speaking in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
(Please note: there are deeper levels to the story of defeating this corrupt company that I share in my keynote.)
Reaction from the Audience in Rotterdam, Netherlands
I’m honored to say that the reaction from the audience was very positive. Some said they really appreciated my openness and vulnerability. Others said I had them on the edge of their seat.
I got one piece of feedback from an audience member who shared his feedback with the whole room after I was done speaking. Here’s what he said:
When I first saw Jeff get up on stage, I thought to myself, Who does this guy think he is? I felt a bit negative towards him. But as he started speaking, he captured my attention. The more he spoke, the more I got into his story. By the end of his speech, I was on the edge of my seat and couldn’t help but clap for the guy. It was an incredible speech.
His feedback was quite honest. What I liked about what he said is that he showed how my professional speaking and storytelling in Rotterdam transformed him. Ultimately, I’m a transformational speaker and I’m glad my heartfelt story of defeating the corrupt company spoke to him at a deep level. The reason I put myself out there and share stories like this is to help and support others through their struggles in life.
Enjoying the Nightcap and Reflecting on Life
After the speech, I went to the bar with a few of the audience members. I’m grateful that they were so welcoming to me. I really enjoyed speaking with them in depth. We spoke about everything from working abroad and speaking foreign languages, to entrepreneurship and achieving goals.
I really felt like I was living life. I was living my purpose by boldly putting myself out there. I also made sure to show genuine interest in the lives and stories of others, as each person is the star of their own life.
Putting yourself out there can be scary, and also rewarding. The way I look at it – and my philosophy in life – is this: uncertainty and possibility are two sides of the same coin. To open yourself up to possibilities, it means facing uncertainty. Facing uncertainty means taking positive, life-affirming risks. And risks can be challenging to take.
By definition, taking a risk may work out, or it may not work out. When I do speeches to audiences around the world, some people resonate with my message and speaking style, and others don’t. That’s OK. That’s all a part of the process of reaching your potential. While you’ll certainly face critics, setbacks, and unwanted situations, you’ll also encounter supporters, victories, and awesome people. That’s why it’s important to put yourself out there. There’s so much to gain.
When you start deeply impacting others at a soul level, many of those critics fade away and you feel completely on purpose and in the flow. It’s a powerful feeling.
Three years ago, in early 2020, my health condition was worsening with the burnout, my relationship with my girlfriend was a mess, and my career was in the gutter. Life sucked. I never would have imagined that in January of 2023, while doing professional speaking in Rotterdam, I’d get such incredible applause from a wonderful audience. I’m so glad that I prioritized my health and recovered, so that I could continue living my purpose.
Take care of yourself and prioritize your health so that you can be in the best position possible to serve others.
It was an honor to help others a guest speaker and I’m looking forward to continue sharing this story.
Jeff Davis is an award-winning author, most recently publishing The Power of Authentic Leadership: Activating the 13 Keys to Achieving Prosperity Through Authenticity. Connect with him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter. For three free books (The Power of Authentic Leadership, Reach Your Mountaintop, and Traveling Triumphs) in exchange for being added to his email list, email his Executive Assistant at meg@jeffdspeaks.com. Learn more about his story on his About page and feel free to check out his author page on Amazon. Also feel free to contact Jeff directly via jeff@jeffdspeaks.com. What Jeff does best is sharing his life experiences in a way that adds real value to others. Consider bringing him to speak as a mental health, authentic leadership, and/or resiliency expert at your next event.
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