Education

3 Leadership Lessons from Carlos Ghosn

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In the last issue of IESE Insight magazine, Carlos Ghosn offered three key lessons he has learned during his career. First, he said, “Every problem has a solution,” but business leaders have to be prepared to pay the personal or collective price that will come with a given solution. Second, things have to get worse … Read more

Eliminate the Unnecessary

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“Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.” Pablo Picasso I finished a wonderful 3 day seminar this week in Madrid with 30 directors ranging from industries as diverse as agriculture, to mobile handset makers, to pharmaceuticals to drinks. The course began on Tuesday morning at 9am as the participants introduced themselves, their challenges and their … Read more

TED Education: What could Joshua Bell do?

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This post is a follow up to the TED-Education post yesterday: What Aristotle and Joshua Bell teach us about Persuasion.  If you haven’t already watched the lesson, you’ll need to as background to the material in this post.  You can watch it here on TED Education. What could Joshua Bell do to get his music heard … Read more

TED Education: What Aristotle and Joshua Bell can teach us about persuasion

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I wrote “Give a TED talk” on my bucket list 4 years ago, today I feel happy to see the idea come to fruition. It is not a TED Talk per-se, i.e. it is not up there on a stage, but in my mind almost better – a lesson from my class, and a concept … Read more

The 3 Hardest Words in Management

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What are the 3 words that managers find hardest to say? They are possibly the 3 words that parents find hardest to say to children.  They are 3 words that teachers very rarely say to their students. They are not “You’re the Best”. They are not “I love you”.  What might they be? The 3 hardest … Read more

The 8 Universal Human Laws

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Mythology and The Human Experience As part of the Greek and Roman Mythology course that I have been following for the last 10 weeks, our teacher Dr. Peter Struck has been drawing out a number of “universal human laws” from the myths. We read of Odysseus, of Aeneas, of gods, of monsters.  We read material … Read more

The Future of Education. Review: Coursera “Greek and Roman Mythology”

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I finished my first expedition into the world of MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – this week. I have completed a 10 week course on Coursera run by a team led by Dr. Struck of Penn State University.  The course was titled Greek and Roman Mythology. How was the experience? In four words: Hard … Read more

The Most Important Lesson of Toastmasters

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Roald Amundsen, Polar Explorer

In 1910 two adventurers, Scott and Amundsen, were on a race to the last unexplored point on the planet, the south pole. Scott was the hero of the British Empire: older, more experienced and with lots of resources at his disposal. Amundsen was the hero of Norway.

They both arrived at the shores of the Antarctic about the same time and both began their journeys of 1600 miles on foot, carrying everything they would need.

Scott would wake each morning and open his tent door. If the sun was shining and there was no wind, he would set his team a goal of 50 miles. If it was a terrible day, windy, cold: he would stay in the tents and wait for a better moment.

Scott’s journey continued this way, day after day. Each day he checked the conditions and then decided how far to travel.

Amundsen woke up each morning and pushed his team for 20 miles. Every day, 20 miles. Some days were sunny and they would achieve 20 miles by lunchtime. Some days were harsh and it would take until the last hour of light to achieve the 20 miles. Every day, 20 miles.

Amundsen won the race to the pole, and his team could have continued their journey for months more. Scott lost the race to the pole, and his whole team died on the return journey.

Focus on the Process Goals

Stress is a result of believing I can control more than I can realistically control. Outcome goals are a driver of stress. I cannot control the weather. I can only control my own actions. If I set €1M in sales as a goal, I set an outcome goal. If I decide I want to be as good a speaker as Florian Mueck or John Zimmer, I set an outcome goal. These are great dreams, but they are not helpful goals.

This is a big challenge in Europe today. There is little education in setting healthy process goals. If I know that €1M in sales requires 3 meetings a week, and this requires 20 phone calls per day – a healthy process goal is 20 phone calls today. This is under my control. If you want to be a great speaker, the process goal is to practice speaking 3 minutes every day.

Toastmasters shows me that every member who sets a healthy process goal of regular practice gains control of their progress towards mastery. This is a message that people in Europe today need. In addition, the support of people who are there in the water with you makes the journey more enjoyable.

Originally published in the European Toastmasters newsletter.

Develop your Communication Skills: Testimonials

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What did the participants in my last 3 day Develop Your Communication Skills program think about their time on the course? Thanks to the participants in my last 3 day short focussed program for their help in making this video. Next editions in english:  May 7-9, 2013 in Barcelona Develop Your Communication Skills Information page … Read more

Closing Chapters: If you are falling, dive.

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When I was 13 years old, American Football became the passion of my group of friends at school in Dublin.  We would play our version of touch American Football up on a tarmac area behind school. I remember catching the football and running for the end zone.  A member of the other team caught my … Read more