LEADERSHIP CORNER
For the last several years, Frauke Schorr, Ph.D., founder and Director of the Centered Leadership Institute has interviewed successful entrepreneurs and leaders on their winning strategies and mindsets. She has found that these exceptional entrepreneurs and business giants align “head and gut” when it comes to making decisions and taking actions. Centered Leadership Institute’s breakthrough programs are scientifically and philosophically built on the success and strategy patterns emerging from these brilliant minds.
Here are a few golden nuggets of the lessons learned from these extraordinary interviews:
LESSON ON “COMMUNICATION”
“Knowing when to stop talking is a major virtue, I feel… The ability to have something to say. And then say it. And then stop… People sometimes don’t know when to stop talking.” – Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist
As a leader, it is crucial to know when listening is more effective and empowering than action.
LESSON ON “HEAD GUT ALIGNMENT AND LEADERSHIP SUCCESS”
- Gautam Godhwani, Co-founder and CEO of Simply Hired
LESSON ON “A STRATEGY TO STAY IN AN INNOVATIVE, GROWER MINDSET”
“I spend 2 years [building] this educational site. I spend two years getting better at something nobody wanted…What’s not working? Be brutally honest! … Every time I don’t make progress like I want, I back off and try to identify what is preventing me from making progress. Or if it is a failure, what talent or ability would help me to perform better…. That has been my process in the last 25 years of my life. … My theory is that if I show up every day and I continuously improve, I will eventually succeed.” – Will Bunker, Co-founder of what became match.com
Accept mistakes as learning opportunities. Reassess from two perspectives: What is preventing me from making progress? What would help me perform better?
LESSON ON “DEFINING SUCCESS”
- Marshall Goldsmith, Ph.D., Best-selling author. Leadership Thought Leader, Executive Coach
LESSON ON “CONSCIOUSLY LEVERAGING POSITIVE ENERGY”
“Being in this business for 10 years, I realize so much of it is not about the success, it’s about the journey. And it’s not about where you are trying to get to, but where you are and that it’s fun. And for everyone else like my family and company, that it’s been a fun journey. And that they are not necessarily proud of what they’ve gotten to … but I want to them to be proud of the journey, too. … And so we now put conscious effort into stopping to celebrate to enjoy the ride and enjoy the moment because otherwise it just passes you by. And that’s supposed to be part of building a business, to celebrate along the way.” ” – Eric Ryan, Co-founder Method Home
A successful leader stays centered in the moment and consciously leverages the positive energy of each success moment to move forward.
LESSON ON “HOW TO IMPACT TEAMS AS A LEADER”
“As you grow in stature as an organization and as a founder or CEO, people rely very heavily on very small cues of your behavior to try and understand who you are and what your current temperament is. So what I am more clear on today than I was in the past is that if I don’t have a smile on today, people are going to actually notice that and try to make something of that… Or if I am very short with someone they will personalize it and think it’s specific to them.” – Chip Conley, Founder and CEO of Joe de Vivre Hospitality
State-management becomes an increasingly important skill as more people seek your leadership and gain a sense of direction from you.
LESSON ON “HOW TO BE TRULY INVOLVED”
“They gave me this beautiful corner office, because that is where a CEO is supposed to sit. And within 10 days I said ‘I don’t want to sit there. I want to sit in the middle of where the action is, so that I can interact with people.’ So we built an office exactly in the middle [of the office] Almost 70% of the office was actually glass. So I can watch and I can look at people. And people felt very comfortable walking into my office. Or, as they are walking I just pull them in. I said ‘Hey, come on over…’” – B.V. Jagadeesh, Serial Entrepreneur (Co-founder and CEO of Exodus, former CEO of Citrix, current CEO of Virtela)
A company culture is created by example. Are you positioning yourself were the action is? Are you accessible and have access to your team?
LESSON ON “CREATING A CULTURE AS A LEADER”
“There is a famous quote that says ‘One doesn’t make friends, one recognizes them’ and I think that values are the same. You don’t create values. You just recognize them within yourself. And what happens within the organization as it grows is that you see your own values coming to life. Because every time something makes you uncomfortable or it really violates your values, you correct that. And you see that projection of yourself … onto the company.”- Gautam Godhwani, Co-founder and CEO of Simply Hired
Self-awareness is fundamental to making actions as a leader intentional.