I attended the Leadercast 2011 seminar via their simulcast at the Shelton Chamber of Commerce. Overall it was another great learning experience. I was a little peeved when there were technical difficulties/connection issues with the first two speakers, John Maxwell and Seth Godin. Seth Godin is one of my personal favorites and it was going to be the first time I’d see him speak live (even if it is via a satellite.) Below are the notes I took and overall thoughts of the event.
Local Leader Panel Discussion: Steve Pelletier (Prudential Annuities), Edward Schultek (Sandler Training), Robert Scinto (RD Scinto, Inc.)
Before the real show started, they had local leaders in an interview panel. Robert Scinto was the standout of the three. He owns the business complex where the Shelton simulcast was held. It is a beautiful campus. There were at least 3 buildings, a restaurant, and a parking garage from what I saw when walking around. Many of the parking spots had covered walkways into the buildings. The building where our conference was held had a lunch deli and a gym. You could tell this guy values his tenants. The three keywords he focused on:
Service, Imagination, Time
Robert demonstrates his service in the way he takes care of his buildings. I would love to work on a campus with all those amenities. Edward Schultek also mentioned being communicators and being knowledgeable are two of the most important qualities a CEO should have. Overall, I was left with a desire to know more about Robert Scinto and how he was able to do all he has done with the area. (I understand there are things going on with him at the moment but I’m leaving that out.)
John Maxwell
The person I went with is a big fan of John Maxwell. After watching him speak, I can see why. He was very good. He has a new book coming out that discusses the 5 levels of leadership. A picture is worth 1000 words, below are the levels he talked about, with the keywords and descriptions of each level.
What I found interesting, is if you are a manager this is likely true with your employees, each person at different levels. You probably have some that are just there for the position (Level 1). They give the bare minimum acceptable effort. People in Level 2 listen well, observe, and are learners, which all leads to better service. The quote I took away from Level 3 is, “Be a tour guide not a travel agent.” A travel agent sends you to places they’ve never been. A tour guide is there with you and shows you around. At Level 4 is an increase in capacity. This is likely to occur if you recruit better people. (As an aside, this was a big point from many of the speakers. You have to hire people you get a good feeling from. If you hire people you don’t get a good feeling from, there’s more of a chance you’ll get bad results.) Put people in the right places. Recruit good people, put them in the right positions, and equip them with what they need to do their job. I forget where in the day this was mentioned, but there was a story about a varsity basketball team playing the junior varsity team. The catch, was that the varsity team had to switch up their usual playing positions, while the junior team played their usual positions. In the end the junior team won. The point of the story is put people where they’ll produce their best for the best overall results.
Seth Godin
Seth Godin was one of the main reasons I wanted to see Leadercast. I read his blog everyday and own many of his books. Unfortunately, at this point the technical difficulties were at their worst, so I was only able to catch bits and pieces. The parts I was able to get were:
Seeing what is vs. Seeing what you hope for
Irreplaceable parts vs. Interchangeable parts (What I took from this is make your employees irreplaceable rather than interchangeable. Yes, it’s risky, but it’s worth it.)
Hard work vs. Long work (Work smart and give 100%)
Lead vs. Manage
Artists vs. Accountants (In this example he also used painters. An artist creates something special, a painter paints. I can’t remember if it was Seth Godin or someone else that expanded on this, but an example they used was they asked two guys what they were doing. One guy said, “I’m putting up a fence.” The other guy said, “I’m building a house.” They were both doing the same thing, but the second person valued his work more than the first.
Mack Brown
Mack Brown is the head coach of the University of Texas football team. He is known of having at least 10 wins every season from 2001-2009. He reiterated earlier points about picking winners. If you pick the right people, you increase your odds of winning. When recruiting, he only looked at people with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. This decreases the chances the student will have a drug or alcohol problem, and obviously demonstrates that they are smart. Two key quotes I liked, “Quit complaining or quit.” and, “The company pays you, so as long as you work for them you should be loyal to them.” After his players won the national championship, he told them, “Don’t let this be the most important thing you do in life.” I appreciate that he said that…he wants more out of his players than just to win a game. He wants them to continue to succeed in life.
Sir Ken Robinson
Sir Ken Robinson was very enjoyable to watch. The first third of his presentation was comedic and talked about how he moved to L.A., visited Las Vegas, and celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary by having an Elvis impersonator re-marry them. I was thinking, “How did the Queen of England knight this man? He’s very funny but I am not seeing where this is going.” And then he neatly wove his comedy stories right in to his inspirational one. He encouraged us to use our imagination to remember the past and plan for the future. Most people endure their lives rather than enjoy them. The question “What do you do?” is different from “Who are you?”
Don’t do something you are good at if you don’t love it. Be in your element, love your element. Imagination leads to creativity. Creativity leads to innovation.
Erin Gruwell
The movie “Freedom Writers” is based off her story. She’s a schoolteacher who went above and beyond her typical duties to see that 150 of the lowest graded students in her district were given a chance. She had to find unique ways to reach out to them when initially they wanted nothing to do with her. She brought up examples of specific students that she was able to connect with. The most touching moment was when they brought out an actual student and presented her with a $20,000 scholarship.
Frans Johansson
Frans is up there with Sir Ken Robinson as surprisingly very good. The best ideas emerge from different perspectives. The people we know today who change the world are people who try more ideas. We only know them for their successes, but in addition to that there are probably more fail stories that led to their successes. The example he used was ice hotels in Sweden. Initially the person who developed it, wanted to do ice sculptures, then an ice art gallery, then an ice event hall. Each one didn’t take off the way he wanted. It was only when backpackers asked if they could sleep there that the idea of an ice hotel came to be. He was very captivating and interesting to listen to.
Suzy Welch and Alison Levine
It may be because it was towards the end of the day, but Suzy Welch didn’t grab me. She had an audience with the mothers in the crowd; there was one lady who laughed out loud for a good 30 seconds straight at one of her stories about her kids showing up to one of her live events. Her questions had to do with “When you are 70, what will you think of your life?” and “What do you think other people will have to say about you?”
Alison Levine, first of all, looks great for her age. I thought she was in her late 20’s early 30’s, and I later found out she’s 45. She’s had a lot of health setbacks in her life, but that didn’t stop her from climbing Mount Everest. She spoke well, but I think her accomplishments are what make her stand out. One thing I liked was how she said storms are temporary. Be patient and the skies will clear. Executing is more important than planning.
Dan Cathy & Muhtar Kent
Muhtar Kent is the CEO of Coca-Cola. D an Cathy is the CEO of Chick-fil-A. I’ve seen this in the past, and I saw it here today. This is no knock on Muthar Kent, and I am 100% certain he is a very smart man, and a true leader, but I don’t know if he’s the best public speaker. Dan Cathy on the other hand, is a very well public speaker. I think they make a good team speaking together. One quote I liked from this session, “When a student is ready, a teacher will appear.”
Dave Ramsey
I don’t dislike Dave Ramsey, I just don’t always agree with him. He thinks people who use credit over cash have a psychological tendency to spend more, even if they pay their bills in full at the end of the month. I think if you stick to a budget and are smart with your money, you can use credit cards. He thinks after saving $1000, you should pay all your debts before you start saving for anything else. I think you should pay off all your high interest debts first, but if you have student loans or a mortgage at low interest rates, that it is okay to save for retirement or other things. I guess where he leans strongly toward one side, I try to meet in the middle.
Okay, I’m done ranting. All in all, he gave a very good presentation. The key points he talked about:
Leadership matters – leadership = service
People matter – your employees, your vendors, even your competitors matter. They are not numbers, they are people with husbands, wives, and children.
Team matters.
Slow and steady matters – People don’t become sensations overnight, it takes time. A crock pot is better than a microwave.
Financial principles matter (He didn’t get into everything I mentioned above, which I guess was a good thing.)
A higher power matters – Whether it’s someone on your team, your boss, your country, or your God.
Final Thoughts
One last thought before I close it out. The host, Tripp Crosby, did a great job. There were little segues for certain speakers and they were absolutely hilarious. He really kept people captivated through the entire event and I’d gladly watch him again.
invest in yourself 