Reinvention Part 3: Research
Let’s wrap up this mini-series on reinvention. I first asked you to look at your resume in a new light—not so much in terms of titles and positions but in terms of skills, passions, gifts, and success. Then I told you that reinvention is a two-sided coin. The second side is the need in the market or society as a whole. Remember this famous principle: “Find a need and fill it, find a hurt and heal it.” Now, for the final step in this process, and I’m sorry to say it isn’t that exciting. It’s research. My model for the[read more]
The Two Sides of Reinvention
We have been talking about the art of reinvention. In the last Leading Thoughts, I explained how we have to look at our resumes, our work experience, from a different perspective. Now, I want to talk about the target of your reinvention. A reinvention is a two-sided thing. There is first the change in the way you see yourself—your experience, your gifts, your interests, your skills. The second part, though, is the way you see opportunities in the wider world. There was a famous television preacher of the last generation who often said this: “Find a hurt and heal it,[read more]
Reinventing: Look at Your Resume Differently
Let’s talk about what it means to reinvent ourselves. I’ve discussed this in previous Leading Thoughts. Many of you have asked for more on this. Let’s get to it! I’ve told you often that I admire those who reinvent themselves. They don’t get locked into one category of work or one definition of who they are. Instead, they draw skills and wisdom from their previous experience and form them into new ventures, new directions. I’ve described my admiration for John Madden, who transitioned from athlete to NFL championship coach to legendary broadcaster to stunningly successful video game entrepreneur. I also[read more]
Practical Leadership Tactics
I recently attended a dinner at which several fellow leaders asked me this question: “Stephen, what are the practices and principles that have helped you most. The more practical, the better.” I thought I’d bullet-point my answers for you here. First, in my business life, I try to never do anything that someone else can do better. I’m all about giving away authority and responsibility. If I’m doing a task, and someone else can do it better, then I’m slowing progress, preventing growth, and keeping myself from tasks at which I can make a unique contribution. So, if someone else[read more]
More on Leadership Credit
The idea of “leadership credit,” the topic of my last Leading Thoughts, has continued to stir for a great many of you. So here are three important truths that I want you to add to your understanding of this essential feature of your leadership. Remember that leadership credit is the trust, the confidence, the devotion that your leadership has inspired among those you lead. This credit is what will allow you to call your followers further, onward, higher, and have them respond. It will be because you’ve proven yourself. It will be because they trust you. It will be because[read more]
Leadership Credit
I used a phrase in a recent Leading Thoughts that a few of you asked me to expand upon. Happy to. Here goes. The phrase was “leadership credit.” It refers to the confidence in and sense of devotion a people have for their leader. How much do they believe in that leader? How does the leader’s record inspire them? Do they have enough confidence in the leader to take costly next steps? In short, how much can a leader ask from his or her people and they respond by rising to the moment? This is leadership credit. All leaders should[read more]
SpaceX and the Power of Failure
I was watching a documentary this past week when I came across a perfect illustration of a principle of leadership I believe in firmly. Let me break it out for you. The documentary is a Netflix special called Return to Space. It tells the story of the rise of Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. It is rather slow-moving but you get great insight into the challenges of space and how the geniuses at SpaceX worked to overcome them. Here is the leadership truth I saw so brilliantly illustrated for us. You see, after the Columbia and Challenger disasters, NASA became—somewhat understandably—severely[read more]
Moving from Impatient to Patient
I don’t give financial advice in these Leading Thoughts. If you’ve been with me for a while, you know that. Yet this past week I read a fine article on how prosperity comes to people through the stock market. I was so struck by the parallels between the advice in the article and tactics of great leadership that I want to recount some of this article here. The article referred to the "bear trap.” By this the author meant that often, when they see the stock market declining, investors dump their stock and run for the hills. They shouldn’t, apparently.[read more]
Hire Like Andrew Carnegie
He was the greatest steel magnate in American history. Before he died in 1919, he had made hundreds of millions of dollars. This would be in the billions now. Thankfully, he believed the rich had an obligation to use their wealth to serve society, so he built universities, public libraries, museums, charitable foundations, science institutes, organizations to promote world peace, and what was at the time the most famous performance hall in the world so the common man could enjoy the arts. He gave away more than $350 million before he passed from this life—nearly six billion in today’s dollars.[read more]
Foils vs Antagonists
I want to tell you about one of the most important leadership truths I know in this Leading Thoughts, but to do so I’m going to first define some terms from literature. Trust me, I’ll make this practical for you before I’m done. In literature, you often have a figure called the “foil.” This is someone who is just different enough from the lead character that they help draw out and illuminate who that lead character is. You get to know who Tom is because of his interactions with his very different buddy Bob. This device is used so much[read more]