The Global Leadership Summit took place on August 8-9, 2019, attended by over 100,000 people at over 100 sites all across North America. In the coming months, another 250,000+ people will attend rebroadcasts of the Summit at hundreds of sites in 130+ countries around the world. 2019 is the 25th year of the Summit (and my 14th year attending). Below are some of my key take-aways from the speakers at this year’s Summit:
Rejection (Jia Jiang, author, entrepreneur)
- Learning to handle rejection enables us to take more smart risks.
- Mr. Jiang took a “100-day rejection challenge” and, from that, created a Ted talk and wrote a book. Human, hilarious, and incredibly insightful, his story is worth hearing.
Pluck (Liz Bohannon, co-founder, Sseko Designs)
- While luck plays an important role, entrepreneurs also need “pluck” (“spirited and determined courage”). She has a new book called Beginner’s Pluck.
- The role of a leader is not to be a hero to others, but to inspire others to be the hero in their own story.
- Most of us are average, but capable of doing special things.
- Dreaming small (not big) and building your passion (vs. trying to find it) takes away our excuses and pushes us to act.
Generational Differences (Jason Dorsey, Research Center for Generational Kinetics)
- If you’re leading a team/organization/business, take time to understand the important differences in people by generation (Gen Z, Millenials, Gen X, Boomers) and adapt your approach accordingly.
- Outstanding talk…entertaining and informative for people of every generation. You can find more information here and here.
Integrity (Raja Singh, chartered accountant from India)
- Most people will choose to be honest if there is a leader who will reinforce their choice.
- The cure for corruption comes from each leader living a life of integrity within their sphere of influence, willing to sacrifice in the short term.
Motives (Patrick Lencioni, author, founder of The Table Group)
- Yes, the world is always in need of more leaders, but not everyone should be a leader (!)
- If you’re focused on the rewards of leadership (attention, status, power, money), please don’t be a leader. If you’re focused on the responsibility of leadership (serving others, doing what needs to be done even when it’s unpleasant), please do be a leader.
Negotiating (Chris Voss, former FBI hostage negotiator, author)
- Getting an early, clear “no” is better than getting a hedged “yes”.
- Silence and mirroring are good tactics to learn. Silence means you talk less, the other person talks more. Mirroring (the practice of repeating the last thing the other person just said, using a similar tone, voice, speed, movements) builds connection and conveys empathy. People are much more likely to make a deal with someone they like.
Leading and Innovating (Craig Groeschel, founding pastor, Life.Church)
- Creativity is easier with clear constraints. A truly blank sheet of paper might be the toughest environment for creativity to take root and thrive.
- When we want to persuade or inspire, we often over-use facts and under-use stories. Stories stick; facts fade. Best approach: Choose both. Use a story, anchored by facts, that brings the truth from those facts to life and builds emotion that leads to action.
Being Your True Self (Bozema Saint John, CMO, Endeavor)
- Diversity is “being invited to the party.” Inclusion is “being asked to dance.”
Disrupted Environments (Ben Sherwood, former president, Disney ABC)
- When marketplace conventions and norms are followed, the stronger player wins 71% of the time. When conventions and norms are discarded, the weaker player wins 63% of the time, because weaker players more readily embrace unconventional ideas and approaches.
Accidental Creative (Todd Henry, founder, Accidental Creative)
- Trust is not a bank account; it’s more like a water balloon.
- Three elements of sustainable success: prolific (be productive), brilliant (do good work), and healthy (operate in a sustainable manner).
The Second Half 