Thursday and Friday of last week, I hosted the Las Vegas viewing of a world-wide Leadership Conference. It is broadcast annually to locations all around the world to millions of viewers, and has been for the last two decades. It’s called the Global Leadership Summit.
As the brainchild of the Willow Creek Church in Chicago, the program has decided Christian overtones, but presenters stressed the secular nature of the information they shared; much of it based on deep research.
I’m not much of a rah-rah about this stuff, and may not have attended was I not invited to be the host for the viewing in Las Vegas.
I came away inspired.
You may have heard of some of the speakers like Simon Sinek, or TD Jakes, but likely you do NOT know most of the stellar speakers who presented hour-by-hour, some of the most striking and motivating thoughts. I like that they were mostly unknowns to me; that stimulates my curiosity even more. Why HAVEN’T I heard of them? There are a variety of answers to that question, but the bottom line is they all expanded my universe.
I learned about the high-stakes world of international soccer team ownership, the latest on conflict resolution and solving difficult conversations. I found out how one man has basically brought cellular phones to whole of the continent of Africa, and how one woman is changing the scope of health care in South Africa. I was edified about my “cultural intelligene” and how to fill my vision gap.
“That’s great, Dave,” you say, “…but I’m not a leader, and don’t need to find my leadership style.”
Bull.
Do you have influence with anyone or several people in your life?
Then you’re a leader.
Most leaders could learn more from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying them. Click To Tweet
I’ll share with you two of the common themes I heard from almost all the speakers:
Failure is a natural part of being human; should be expected & anticipated, and when handled right is always a portal to opportunities and fresh starts. Leadership speaker John Maxwell even had a formula for how to make failure work for you:
1) Test
2) Fail
3) Learn
4) Improve
5) Re-enter
Best Quote: Most leaders could learn more from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying them.
____________
If you’re not changing you’re falling behind. And the pace of change is accelerating. To keep up with change, one must constantly re-evaluate, be curious, ask questions, not become comfortable with success, never stop innovating, and disrupt when things are becoming predictable.
Best Quote: Embody healthy skepticism, but lead with bold optimism. Kodak never realized it was not in the film business. It was in the memory business.
Finally, what are the characteristics of good leaders? Below is a short list from the endless notes I took on exactly that subject.
A Leader:
- Loves people
- Has a heart to care
- Is comfortable with risk
- Has courage to be real and transparent with integrity
- Makes you feel important (“I notice, you matter”)
- Has a passion to inspire
- Gives you respect (“I believe in you, you decide”)
- Can anticipate what’s next
- Knows how to reframe the landscape
- Asks questions
Whadya think? ‘Got what it takes to lead?
Of course you do!!!
CourVO