Conor writes about Intentional Leadership and Building Self Belief in those around you
I share a tool that I have used to become mindful of my daily activities.
This video is from the IESE EMBA Intensive week and I share an exercise that I have been doing for the last few months – that has shown me that “feeling in a rush” is one of the big detractors of my quality of life.
I was reading about how the Washington Post has changed since it’s purchase by Jeff Bezos. One of the quotes in the article struck a chord with me:
“not to fix broken things, like IT will do at a company, but build the future”.
Jeff Bezos brought in Jarrod Dicker to run technology development at the Post – a division that is called R.E.D. (Research, Experimentation and Development) and told him that he was “not to fix broken things, like IT will do at a company, but build the future”. (Read more at The Drum)
Leadership should take this as a mantra – work on what is important for the future of the enterprise, not what is broken in today’s version of the enterprise. Accenture had a similar mantra when I was working as a consultant back in the 1990’s “Don’t pave the cow path”.
We were told that the worst IT implementation is one that just automates the processes of pre-computer work. The best is to design the processes and technology for what the customers really want to achieve with their interactions with the company.
LinkedIn is testing out a new free service for members that will match them with other professionals who can give them career advice. LinkedIn will help to make matches between mentees and mentors via its online platform.
Mentorship is a significant part of the careers of every successful person that I know. I personally have sought out and found mentors since my early 20s working in Accenture. I used to think this was normal, but I discovered over the last decade that many talented friends have never found a formal mentor relationship.
I have run the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Mentorship Program in Barcelona for the last 3 years and have learnt a lot as we have got 15 mentor-mentee pairs connected and working together to achieve specific goals. Personally I have have benefitted from some wonderful mentors throughout my life – in particular Michael (my first long-term manager at Accenture), Brian (the reason I teach at IESE Business School), Harry (helped me take a big decision last year). I personally mentor 5 people each year and it is hugely valuable for me to reflect on my own life as I listen to the challenges and opportunities of these inspiring individuals.
Hari Srinivasan, director of product management at LinkedIn, says, “As people spend less and less time at a company, it’s hard to find people you need to talk to.” LinkedIn user analysis shows that 89% of senior leaders (on LinkedIn) would be interested in giving advice.
This is how it works: There will be a section on your profile called “dashboard”. This will display the “career advice hub” where you can sign up to be a mentor or a mentee.
The first screen is a basic overview of the function and its value for both those giving and getting advice. From there, you are instructed to provide specifics on who you’d like to talk to with parameters such as region, industry, school, etc.
LinkedIn’s matching algorithm will immediately send recommendations for matches. If you select someone who is a match they will get a message immediately notifying them of your interest to connect. Once both parties agree, they can start talking. Read more about LinkedIn’s plans for mentorship on Fast Company.
Check out my blog post: “How to be a Good Mentor“
LinkedIn is working on ways to make the conversation flow more smoothly so both sides get what they need. LinkedIn say that it’s not meant to be a replacement for long-term mentorship. It’s meant to tackle those “quick question” requests such as whether you are taking the right approach in different scenarios.
Do you have a mentor? Are you searching for a mentor? Are you interested in becoming a mentor?
This video is about Sequoia Capital and their 3 rules for success in leading a business. They make leadership feel very simple.. but it works. They have 30 years of track record of successfully taking on and turning around businesses.
Their rules are:
This video is about Verne Harnish’s 5 habits of the Leaders that will succeed in the next decade.
The 5 habits are:
Verne C. Harnish founded Entrepreneurs’ Organization, and the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs, both international entrepreneurship organizations. He also serves as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gazelles, Inc., a strategic planning and “executive education” company. He chairs the “Birthing of Giants” leadership program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Here’s some of the action from last week’s ScaleUp Barcelona conference:
This is an interview that I recorded with Christoph Magnussen during the EO Global Leadership Conference recently. It is part of a series of video blogs that Christoph is producing called: WorkDay Vlog.
Christoph has some great videos on his channel Workday Vlog and Worktools – covering the new way of work, cloud tools for your company (office 365 vs Google Apps), the life of a tech entrepreneur.
In a new move for the youtube video creator community… we actually have a short facebook live “the making of” video of myself watching Christoph getting ready for the shoot:
Were you at the EO GLC? What did you learn? What lesson will you take home and put into your business and into your local chapter?
Genetically we differ 2% from chimpanzees and 3% from worms. Our big difference is the cortex, the upper layer of the brain. The cortex is the home of imagination.
Imagination gives us the choice to live intentionally. We can make a choice: lead a life that is not just response to stimuli, but building towards a vision: an imagined future.
A leader sees a future that is not yet here. This requires imagination. The clearer you can see and touch and feel this potential future the more compellingly you can communicate it to others.
Imagination is what makes us human. 2,300 years ago in the Greek city-state of Athens, Aristotle asked himself “what is the purpose of human life?” Aristotle defined the purpose of an object as being that which it can uniquely do. A human is alive – but plants are also alive – so that cannot be human purpose. A human feels – but animals also feel – so that cannot be human purpose. The unique gift of humanity is reason, the ability to solve problems in the mind, to imagine.
How can you develop your imagination? The video below shares a tool that Jim Collins uses to develop his power of Imagination.
If you are reading this via email, the video is on the blog here: Start with the End in Mind
Today is Martin Luther King Day. Martin Luther King had courage as a leader to stand up for what is right. He was willing, and did finally, pay the full price as a leader.
Update: I recorded a Facebook Live video session about this post and Bill Treasurer’s new book:
Bill Treasurer’s latest book, “A Leadership Kick in the Ass” launches today, January 16. Bill is a good friend and a trusted source of expert guidance when I have questions about leadership, life and living well. The pic to the right is from Bill’s last visit to Barcelona in 2015.
I first met Bill in 1996 at Accenture’s Global Leadership Training facility in St Charles, near Chicago USA. We were put on a team of 4 consultants for a week-long training course. I loved the experience, and I gained a leadership mentor that week. Bill has gone on to publish 5 books on Leadership and speak on the stage with Marshall Goldsmith, Ken Blanchard. I’m proud to say that Bill is turning into a Leadership guru.
About this post... I did a short interview with Bill about his life and his motivations for writing this latest book. First, here is Bill himself explaining what the new book is all about...
If you are reading this via email you can watch the video on the blog here: How to lead with Experience
Over to Bill…
I didn’t know where the book came from until after I wrote it! Though I’ve worked with lots of famous companies over the years, the bulk of my work has been with three unionized construction companies based in Chicago. They have a very low tolerance of leadership fru fru. If you don’t give them practical and useful stuff that works, they will chew you up and spit you out.
This book is low on theory and high on practicality. Even the title was influenced by my construction company clients. Believe me, “ass” is the tamest word I hear when I’m working with them!
Honestly, when other parents compliment my wife and I on our kids. I love being my kids dad.
Outside of my home-life, the achievement I’m most proud of is having developed long-term relationships with my clients. In this business, if you’re not adding value, your business will fail. I love my clients, and I love the trust that we’ve built together. I consider the fact that they’ve entrusted me with the development of their leaders to be a sacred honor.
I would have the world start each day with 5 minutes of reflective silence. With all the technological bombardment in the world, we often move too far off-center, away from our inner wisdom.
With even 5 brief minutes of silence each day, people could become reconnected with the wisdom inside them, and collectively, humanity would be a lot better off with more wisdom and less distraction.
My three children, Bina, Alex, and Ian. My wife, Shannon. And all my clients.
I sucked at leading. I know that because one of my employees had the courage to tell me. At first I got defensive. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right. I didn’t know who I was as a leader, so I had adopted the leadership style of my main leadership role model: my dad. Turns out, my dad was a controlling temperamental hothead, and I was mimicking him.
I’m a gregarious loner. People sometimes mistake me for an extraverted socialite.
In actuality, I’m a very solitary person and relish my time alone. I sometimes think of myself like a full moon that you can see during the morning. I’m at my best when I am able to be a bit of an outsider, observing the world with a certain objectivity, and then sharing what I’ve observed in my books.
I can be social, but it’s just as important to me to be unsocial so that I observe the world without becoming subsumed by it.
Wikipedia. Someday, when computers get integrated with human biology, I’m going to upload Wikipedia into my brain!
One of my all-time favorite leadership books is Obedience to Authority, by Stanley Milgram. When you learn how easily people capitulate to authority figures, with little or no coercion, it becomes less perplexing to see how a Hitler or other malevolent leaders emerge. Every leader needs to read this eye-opening book.
Bill Treasurer is the Chief Encouragement Officer (CEO) of Giant Leap Consulting, Inc. His new book, A Leadership Kick in the Ass, focuses on the crucial importance of leadership humility. He is also the author of international best-seller Courage Goes To Work, which introduced the new management practice of courage building and Leaders Open Doors, which became the #1 leadership training book on Amazon. Bill’s clients include NASA, Saks Fifth Avenue, UBS Bank, Walsh Construction, Spanx, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs, and many others. Learn more at: www.CourageBuilding.com/Kickass.
Connect with Bill through social media: facebook.com, twitter, linkedin. youtube
I was in Washington DC the last 6 days teaching on the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Leadership Academy 2016. We had 28 leaders from all around the world – China, Nepal, Mexico, India, Pakistan, Canada, Germany, Australia, USA, UK. The White House was being prepared for the inauguration of the next US President.
Christophe Magnussen is an inspiring entrepreneur from Germany. We made a short video up on the roof of our hotel, overlooking the winter evening sky of Washington DC.
If you are seeing this by email, here is the video: Interview with Christoph Magnussen
Christoph has some great tips on entrepreneurship and productivity over on his youtube channel. I like the work he puts in to making the videos engaging and fast moving.
Here, Christoph took some time with another Leadership Academy attendee, Rich Mulholland from South Africa to discuss how to become a better keynote speaker:
If you are seeing this by email, here is the video: Interview Rich Mulholland
If you are seeing this by email, here is the video: Don’t waste time in meetings
If you are seeing this by email, here is the video: If you can’t sell, you can’t lead
If you are seeing this by email, here is the video: How to effective work Remotely
