Last evening I was with my husband at his department’s International Conference on Sport and Entertainment Business Conference awards banquet. You might ask why write about this in a library blog–because there are powerful things we can learn from all walks of life. The awards last night went to a number of people, but most notably Allan Bloom, Executive Vice President of Feld Productions (the Ringling Brothers, Walt Disney World on Ice, promoting concerts of the likes of Buddy Holly, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington and Paul Anka); Wilson Howard President of Live Nation (Talent Promoter and management of seven amphitheatres in five states); and Chuck Fruit, Senior Advisor in Marketing, Strategy and Innovation for Coca-Cola.

What did I learn from these three very successful men is that they all had passion for their work and they developed very strong teams through loyalty and teamwork. Colleagues from all over America came to see these men receive their awards. So you ask, what does this have to do with libraries? In order to truly be successful in any profession you must have passion for your work and develop strong people around you to support your work goals and trust them to get the job done. Sometimes listening to best practices from another profession puts it all in perspective as to what is important.