Be A Good Guest

Be A Good Guest

When we’re invited into another person’s home, especially if we’re meeting others for the first time, there’s some basic protocol I think we all try to follow out of courtesy and respect. And if I’m being real here, there’s also a bit of self-consciousness in play in that I don’t want to break any rules, overstay my welcome, and/or stand out unnecessarily.

To help me avoid being “that guest”, there are a few things I need to know before we gather:

1. Who invited us to this gathering?
2. Is there a particular dress code/theme for this gathering?
3. What can we bring as a guest to add value to this gathering?

Once I’ve gathered this intel for said gathering, my wife and I try to arrive in a timely manner, respect the hosts home, thank them for the invitation, appreciate their hospitality, read the room, and throughout the entire gathering, I do my best to… be a good guest.

It wasn’t a dinner party I attended, but I was recently a guest in a very special, business-related type of gathering. I was invited to share the Game On Nation message to the University of Georgia Football team, focusing on leading with compassion and the power of positive humor. And before I go any further here (and before I went any further while I was there) I want to be clear I was not the host, this was not my house, I’m not with this team on the regular, and I have not earned the right to call them "my guys”.

I was there for one day, for one moment, invited as a guest speaker. And as a guest, in a space and place where others have been laying the foundation for years, it’s important to give credit to those who invited us in, who are grinding it out behind the scenes, doing the work on the daily.

Dr. Drew Brannon from AMPLOS is doing just that. Drew is a well-respected leadership coach and elite sports psychologist. He has invested in this powerhouse University of Georgia Football program for years, pouring into this staff and these young men - his guys - on the daily. He has helped set the table to create a culture unlike any I have seen in 27 years working with collegiate sports teams, and I’m so grateful for the invitation to be a guest, on an unforgettable day, for a moment, with his guys.

When we’re welcomed into someone else’s home, invited into a colleague’s business, asked to step into a teacher’s classroom, included in another coach’s huddle, granted the privilege to present to someone else’s audience - as leaders, teachers, coaches, presenters - let’s have the humility, the respect, and the awareness, to honor who invited us, respect the established theme, add value to their gathering, and do our best to… be a good guest.