Hmmm – a Pep Rally seems to be a rather benign concept. One that sounds mostly like a big tailgate party for students getting ready for a homecoming football game. Well today, we (at Penn Foster) took the idea of a Pep Rally to the next level with our first ever Fourth Quarter drive to success Pep Rally. There was a ton of emotion in the room of 80 or so PF Admissions counselors. Driven by strategy, targets, contests, pride, stories from each other and student testimonials the Pep Rally took on new meaning. It felt like a content-based revival. A “happening” of sorts. The Flow was present and a new foundation was formed for how this team was going to work with each other and engage with our students.
And so it is that on days like this that the full force of THPL comes out. It does so because we know that THPL is about building the next level of performance and when you engage people in a Pep Rally and they drive the agenda, content and overall feel of the even that performance just gets better. At every turn the team rose to the moment and pushed it higher. If it were a race – the pace just got faster.
With an event like this, the ones that succeed have an authenticity to them. And simply put, an event is either authentic or not – and the attendees tell you instantly one way or another. The simplest measurement of authenticity is to observe the involvement of the attendees. The more they are involved and the more that they shed the feelings of awkwardness and jump in to clap, cheer and comment the more authentic the event. Today the fun, raucous and engaged behavior of the team gave the “all clear” on the measure of authenticity.
At so many levels the Pep Rally became an event to draw in the team. From the planning to the lead up to the execution it was a collective effort to prove to each other that we are indeed in control of our destiny. And that the event was the way to socialize the direction, the commitment and the passion for 4th quarter, the journey and the mission. There was no doubt today that the Penn Foster team knows what its purpose is – to engage with students to build their dreams. And so it will be that THPL will partner hand in hand with the Dreammakers – what else would they do?
Loving life and making dreams come true
Ciao
Joe