CONFERENCE SUMMARY
Chicago | June 24, 2019
CONTENTS 2
About The Art of Leadership
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Tiffani Bova – Growth and Culture
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Dr. Vince Molinaro – Engagement and Accountability
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Sir Ken Robinson – Creativity and Innovation
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Tasha Eurich – Self-Awareness and Performance
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Jocko Willink – Teamwork, Discipline and Ownership
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Executive Panel
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Bill Williams – Closing Remarks
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Sponsors
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Many companies like to use quantifiable data to measure the impact of its efforts on productivity. But while the beans are still being counted, creativity is finally finding its rightful place alongside the bean counters. These days, scoring leadership has fallen by the wayside, and words like measuring employee engagement, satisfaction and accountability have become a critical part of the lens through which leadership is evaluated. What makes a leader great? Upholding corporate values and steering a course that is clear to everyone involved? Defining and creating a great culture? Making tough decisions and owning them? Being able to admit to failure, while creating an opportunity for growth and learning from it? Leadership is all of the above and more. Working beyond the status quo, creating change without fear and fostering inclusivity amongst teams are just a few of the goals that define what great leadership is all about.
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TIFFANI BOVA Growth & Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce and Bestselling Author
If you try to speed up the process, you may miss the opportunity to learn things along the way.
GROWTH AND CULTURE Trust the Process Tiffani Bova shared that there are no shortcuts to success. Sometimes the road is crooked. Sometimes you need to move backwards before you move forward and more importantly, sometimes you need to slow down before you speed up. If you try to speed up the process, you may miss the opportunity to learn things along the way. Trusting the process is critical regardless if you are at the beginning of your career, in the middle of your career or even at the end of your career. Make sure you understand where you are trying to go and then when you see an opportunity appear, you get to make a choice if it’s the right decision for you. Culture One of the biggest challenges facing large established companies with a lot of history is that it is almost impossible for them to move out of “what was” and move into “what could be.” It might surprise you to learn that most executives actually cite internal factors. In a Bain & Company study, 85% of the ex-
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ecutives surveyed, and a full 94 percent of those running companies with more than $5 billion in revenue, said that internal, not external, obstacles keep their companies from growing profitably. What a shame; after all, it is the internal factors over which you are supposed to have control—as opposed to moves by your competitors, market shifts, and even “Black Swan” events. Personal growth of the leadership team, middle management and all the employees is critical. Without a strong culture, without complete alignment of what the company stands for, what its goals are and empowering its people to do what’s right for the customers and the company—without all those things, choosing the right growth path won’t matter.
opportunity to employees that work remotely to be and feel more engaged. Diversity and inclusion, while a very hot topic, means something different to everyone but it definitely means something. Firstly, it’s important to know what your employees think it is and what you stand for as a company. What are the things that you want to make sure is known by the public so that you can attract and retain the best talent and customers?
Diversity and Inclusion Diversity and inclusion is a big topic and its defined differently all over the world. Teams that have groupthink regardless of gender, sexual orientation, background or the language you speak can be dangerous. Diversity is broad and we have to be inclusive of people who have a different opinion or different styles of thinking, it might be introverts vs. extroverts or giving the
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DR. VINCE MOLINARO Internationally Recognized Leadership Adviser and New York Times Bestselling Author
No one ever said, surround me with a team of zombies and watch me soar.
ENGAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY 72% of Fortune 500 companies believe leadership accountability is a critical issue while 31% are satisfied with the degree of accountability currently demonstrated by their leaders.
1 Hold others accountable to high standards
As the leadership model changes, we need strong leaders at every single level. The words and expectations that we attribute to a leader don’t just apply to CEOs and top-level executives. Anyone in a leadership role or those seen as a leader have those expectations applied to them. Let’s face it, we have people in leadership roles who simply are not leading and they need to be accountable for it.
4 Express optimism about the company and its
“No one ever said, surround me with a team of zombies and watch me soar.” 5 Behaviors of Accountable Leaders Is there a correlation between leadership accountability and company performance? When you take on a leadership role, you’ve signed up for something very important, something that is not always apparent to leaders—behaviors. There are five behaviors of accountable leaders:
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2 Tackle tough issues and make difficult decisions 3 Effectively communicate the strategy
future and display clarity about external trends
5 Demonstrate clarity about what is happening in their external business environment
The Leadership Contract For truly accountable leadership and to help us become exceptional leaders, Vince encouraged us all to sign our own Leadership Contract, comprising the following:
• Leadership is hard work - If you want to
be liked, rethink being a leader. Being able to make tough decisions and getting tough with yourself is part of the struggle. Truly accountable leaders have a sense of toughness that is based on a genuine sense of caring.
• Leadership is a community – Connect.
Leadership doesn’t exist in silos, it is horizontal. Sometimes a culture is so toxic and competitive, the competition inside is greater than outside. If you don’t like it, create it. A company’s culture is more powerful than its leader.
• Leadership is a decision - Make the decision
to take on leadership correctly, don’t simply agree to it. Define yourself through your leadership role. If you don’t, you won’t succeed.
• Leadership is an obligation - Step up.
There is a lot that is going to be expected of you. Many leaders are not clear on what their obligations are. Are you leading through selfinterest or through obligation? How are you leaving your organization in better shape than you found it?
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SIR KEN ROBINSON Internationally Acclaimed Creativity and Innovation Expert and New York Times Bestselling Author
The breadth of creativity and making it operational is a key to leadership.
CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION Sir Ken emphasized that we are all born fully programmed and full of boundless potential. Each of us from childhood possesses attitudes, capacities, and talents that make us unique. What becomes of these has everything to do with the circumstances in which we create our lives. Organizations are much like people in this sense - they grow up with potential and their outcome is dependent upon what is made of the circumstance.
• Keeping up with evolving technology and the shifts in culture it creates Oversight by a leader of a company’s human advantage
How does an organization continue to flourish in these challenges? Sir Ken highlighted the unique set of powers that we possess and that companies should keep in mind:
According to Sir Ken, we don’t touch on the full potential of human intelligence and peoples’ capabilities not only within our education systems, but also within our organizations.
• Curiosity to drive achievement and push us
Companies can decline, lose their edge and die (the average Fortune 500 lifespan is less than 30 years and continues to decrease.) As companies are formed, grow, and are institutionalized how do we ensure that we don’t lose the creativity, flexibility, and adaptability that makes organizations successfully flourish into the future?
• Creativity to reframe the program and
Sir Ken presented two cultural challenges
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in organizational leadership:
forward in discovering new possibilities.
• Imagination to step outside our present circumstances and think of alternatives.
resources we have at our access to solve the problem with an original idea that adds value. The idea does not have to be artistic, but can be operational. The breadth of creativity and making it operational is a key to leadership.
• Collaboration to break from institutional
habits that have been based on competition. Humans are in essence collaborative, as are
organizations.
What do these mean for leadership? If you want innovation in your organization: Think climate control vs. command and control - A good leader doesn’t have to have all the great ideas but can create a culture of possibility where everyone can have ideas and be valued for having them.
It’s about everybody - Everyone in the organization can contribute to its creative life (not just those in ‘creative roles’.) Leaders set and reset the boundaries of possibility to help their people grow into their real potential. Have tolerance for failure - Creative work is often a collaborative effort. Ideas often don’t come fully formed and develop with different perspectives. Having tolerance for failure in the creative process is key, as is ensuring your people learn as they take on the next stage.
Examine your overall culture - Understand how it and the different areas of operation work together. What are the areas that inhibit and what are the areas that contribute to growth?
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DR. TASHA EURICH Organizational Psychologist, Researcher and New York Times Bestselling Author
On a good day, 80% of us are lying to ourselves about lying to ourselves.
SELF-AWARENESS AND PERFORMANCE Do you know or work with someone who is not self-aware? Tasha’s research has identified “74% of people work with at least three unaware co-workers.” Tasha refers to self-awareness as “the meta-skill of the 21st century” and her research has identified self-aware leaders are: • More successful at their jobs • More promotable • More respected leaders • More confident and more effective communicators
• Better friends • Likely to have happier marriages • Likely to raise less narcissistic children As Tasha says, “On a good day, 80% of us are lying to ourselves about lying to ourselves.” In addition, Tasha shared, “The least competent people tend to be the most confident about their performance.” Yikes. Tasha shared four tools we can all use to help gather feedback and introspect the right way. 1 Mindset shift - We must all stop assuming we are self-aware In her research, Tasha found that 95% of people believe they are self-aware, when
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in fact the percentage of people who were actually self aware was 10-15%. So how we do get to be more self aware? Knowing who you are internally and knowing how others see you is critical. Self-aware people:
ers see us, Tasha recommends we get some loving critics (who you know will give you honest, respectful feedback) to whom you can ask the magic feedback question:
• Know what they value • Understand their passions • Know what they aspire to and the
• In the future, what can I do to be a better
experience they want to have
• Know the environments in which they fit • Know their strengths and limitations • Know their reactions • Know the impact they have on others • Are highly self-accepting 2 Ask “What” versus “Why” Great self-aware leaders also introspect the right way. Asking ‘Why’ gets us stuck into what is wrong… it holds us back. Instead, by asking ‘What’ we are able to look at possibilities to propel us forward. For example: • Instead of asking “Why do you want to change your job?” ask “What do you like about what you’re doing?”
_______? ( leader, coach, meeting facilitator )
4 Think of a Business Process Review If you want to build a self-aware team, implement a regular process that identifies the areas and processes that are working and not working. Awareness for everyone allows for success and to identify areas for improvement. Leaders who pave the way and provide the safety and expectation to tell the truth is a key element in creating self-aware teams. The journey to self-awareness happens incrementally through daily commitment to making small insights and discoveries about ourselves. Tasha encourages us all to ask ourselves: ‘What am I going to do today so that I can transform my level of self-awareness and become a future-ready leader?’
3 Ask the magic feedback question Self-aware leaders proactively seek feedback. To get an appreciation of how oth-
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JOCKO WILLINK Decorated Retired U.S. Navy SEAL and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
As a leader, if you don’t step up, who will?
TEAMWORK, DISCIPLINE AND OWNERSHIP In Jocko’s career as a Navy Seal, he emphasized that leadership is the most important thing on the battlefield. Jocko distilled this down for us through the tactics and lessons learned to help us all become more effective leaders, and at every level of leadership. He gave us his 4 laws to combat that can be applied in our leadership journeys:
• Cover and Move - You have to build rela-
tionships with your team to accomplish your mission. Teams must work together, help, and support each other. If one person doesn’t work in this way, we all lose. All relationships up and down the chain of command are integral for communication and trust as a team.
• Keep things simple - The best plan is one
that is simple and clear. Ensure that every person on the team understands the plan and knows how to execute. Communicate in a simple, concise, and clear manner to ensure proper execution.
• Prioritize and execute - As human beings,
we can allow for emotion to impede on our ability to make clear decisions. Detach from chaos and your own emotions so you
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can logically see what is happening. Pick the biggest priority and executive on it. Trying to solve all of the problems at the same time will ultimately have you solving none.
• Decentralize Command - Create a culture of ‘Decentralized Command’ where everybody leads and everybody steps up. To ensure everyone moves in the same direction, empower your people by making sure your team is clear on the mission, goals and parameters they are working toward and also clear on ‘why’ they are doing what they are doing. When people don’t understand this, they are unable to make effective decisions and lead.
As leaders, there are some methods Jocko speaks of to incorporate into our leadership practice:
• If you want freedom, have discipline - This applies to teams. With the right balance of this, teams can execute quickly and effectively.
can prepare and not cut corners in tasks and projects. Humility also enables us to do honest self-assessment.
• Extreme ownership - This distinguishes a
good leader. Take ownership and accountability rather than playing the blame game is the ultimate way to solve problems and make improvements in the team. This attitude up and down the chain of command can make your team unstoppable.
It’s about you. It’s not about your team or your boss. Jocko encourages us to take full ownership of everything in our worlds; our teams, our missions, our lives. This is the most powerful tool to become effective leaders who lead successful and outstanding teams. And this extreme ownership attitude is the key to it. After all, as a leader, if you don’t step up, who will?
• Be aggressive - But towards your goals, solv-
ing problems and accomplishing your mission.
• Stay humble - This will allow you to listen, adapt and respect your competitor so you
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EXECUTIVE PANEL
KEVIN CONNOLLY
JOHN MORGAN
KATE KAUFMAN
Senior Vice President, North America Medium Business
Chief Operating Officer
Director, Account Management
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CLOSING REMARKS Routine eats strategy for breakfast. Good leaders should be open to making themselves better! Growth and comfort never co-exist. How can we be “best at consistent growth”? Don’t focus on being the biggest, focus on being the best! Growth and culture are intertwined. Is leadership worth dying for? What does leadership mean today? How colorful and positive is your environment? Great leadership makes everyone around them STRONGER! Accountable leaders are MISSION CRITICAL to success. Do you leave the organization in a better place? Sign the Leadership Contract! To be born at all is a miracle. What are you going to do with your life? Committees are where ideas go to die. Create a culture where everyone has good ideas. Curiosity is what drives human achievement! Curiosity, creativity, collaboration, communication. Self-awareness is the meta-skill of the 21st century. 80% of us are lying to ourselves about lying to ourselves. Are you in the “Cult of Self”? Are you an above-average driver? (Gently) stop assuming you are self-aware. Don’t ask “Why?” Ask “What?” Seize, Clear, Hold, & Build. For every victory there is a cost. And your cause, your purpose is worth fighting for! Humility Ownership Teamwork Leadership is the most important thing on the battlefield. Implement your insights, execute them and win your battle at work. Make sure people understand why they’re doing what they’re doing.
To know and not to do is really not to know. To learn and not to do something with the learning is really not to have learned.
Discipline equals freedom. If not US, who? If not YOU, who? EXTREME OWNERSHIP! See you at The Art of Leadership for Women here in Chicago!
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BILL WILLIAMS Host
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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS