Rob Lowe Wants you to #WorkHuman

There was a moment in 1992 when my dad forced me to watch ten minutes of a Tony Robbins video. I know he thought it would be helpful, but it was awful.

“I am trying to teach you something, Laurie. You hate it because I like it.”

Both things were true.

He was trying to teach me something because I was a Depeche-Mode-loving teenager who looked a little rough around the edges. Although I was a decent kid who always held a series of part-time jobs and qualified to graduate from high school at the age of 16, I also got into some trouble.

When someone gave my dad a Tony Robbins video at work, he immediately showed it to me because he thought it would help.

And my father was right that I hated it because he liked it. There is no greater oppositional force in the universe than the disdain of a teenager towards her parents. But I also hated it because Tony Robbins seemed like a tool. And now that I regularly speak at industry events and conferences around the world, I see my fair share of Tony Robbins fanboys. And I think — what a bunch of tools.

So when Globoforce announced that Rob Lowe was going to keynote its #WorkHuman conference, I smiled a little on the inside. That’s a guy who can speak to me. Rob Lowe struggles with addiction; maintaining his sobriety is something he’s written about regularly. He is a businessman, a writer, and someone who has devoted his acting career to telling stories about work, too.

And he can’t stop saying bro, bro!

Rob Lowe “works human” whereas Tony Robbins — and many other speakers on the HR conference circuit — want you to literally or figurately firewalk and transcend your human condition.

No thanks. That’s not for me.

So I hope you can join me for #WorkHuman. Come to the event, see Rob Lowe speak, and join me as I host an evening social event (surprise!).

You can also wake up early and run with me.

Let’s #WorkHuman together!