Have you been to a great conference this year?
Last week, I attended the Global Leadership Summit in Rochester, NY hosted at Roberts Wesleyan College. There were many phenomenal speakers and I gained a ton of extremely valuable leadership knowledge. Have you attended a memorable conference recently? In the #CJJblog this week, I give you some of my main takeaways from my favorite speakers. Enjoy.
- Craig Groeschel. Excellent leaders demonstrate contrarian points. They are: 1) Confident and Humble, 2) Drive and healthy habits, and 3) Focus, but flexible. The essence of a great leader is having the ability to choose what not to do and always seek help when needed.
- Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. What is the empathy deficit? Johnny spoke about how the empathy gap came about and how we can act on it. 1) Be an extreme listener, 2) Celebrate, but not denigrate, and 3) Focus on being kind.
- Dr. Heidi Grant. Dr. Grant spoke a lot about achieving a growth mindset (vs. a fixed mindset). There are three strategies: 1) Be aware of what it takes, 2) Pay attention to the words you are telling yourself, and 3) Focus on progress, by changing your self-talk. Ex: I am not good at this… Yet.”
- Ron Howard. Ron spoke about many things, but my takeaways were: 1) Bet on your curiosity and focus on other people, 2) If you don’t know, go find the answer (don’t create a knowledge ceiling for yourself), and 3) Focus on finding the best idea, not your idea.
- Jon Acuff. My main takeaway here was this simple thought regarding feedback: Are you looking for feedback, or a compliment? Starting is fun, but the key to being a great leader is finishing. Great thoughts lead to action and action leads to results. Jon also brought up three questions in leadership: 1) Is it time? 2) Is it helpful? And 3) Is it kind? He also defined empathy as: Understanding what someone needs and then acting on it.
- Bob Iger. 1) Get to your most important priorities quickly, 2) The status quo is not a winning formula, and 3) Infuse a sense of hope with your people.
- Andy Stanley. Andy spoke about the importance of your words lining up with your actions. Actions are always speaking louder than your words. Reactions are always stronger than actions. Do what is moral, not what is modeled.
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Life Tip #25: Always lead by example
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