Dec 29, 2021
David Mead realized business school was contributing to
the poor leadership styles he’s endured throughout much of his
early career. After partnering with Simon Sinek and
co-authoring, Find Your
Why, David has
presented his ideas on how to help people be inspired to go to work
and feel safe while doing it, to over 150 organizations across five
continents. David shares his thoughts on the great resignation, the
three traits of a leader worth following, and the tools leaders
need to build better company culture.
Key Takeaways
[4:40] Leadership hasn’t really
changed in thousands of years.
[5:30] David defines the
difference between management and leadership.
[6:55] The key is to tap into
people and discover the personality quirks that they keep buried.
Good leaders help people “drop their act” and be
themselves.
[7:50] David explores the right
balance between being transparent and open and being too casual and
buddy-buddy with everyone. Ultimately, leaders have a standard to
set.
[10:10] The pandemic has made a
lot of people question their different personas and the roles they
play at work and in life.
[13:00] David shares how the
pandemic changed his motivations and also shares some of his
biggest takeaways of what he learned about himself.
[16:00] Accountability really
works best when there’s trust.
[18:50] David is against firing
people based on their performance alone. He expands on
why.
[22:45] David recently did a
poll on LinkedIn asking people what their organization was doing to
retain talent. Listen for what surprised him.
[27:25] David breaks down the
types of tools that are available to leaders who are looking to
improve company culture.
[31:00] There are three main
traits in a leader that people will follow through and through, no
matter what company he or she is leading at the time. They are
honest, humble, and human.
[34:15] Good leaders have
empathy. They can relate to someone in a way that doesn’t trigger
their fight-or-flight response.
[39:05] People put up walls when
they feel like their reputation, status, or their “core” selves are
threatened.
[40:10] Listener challenge: We
all have influence with people. Whether we want to be or not, we
have the potential to be a leader.
Quotable Quotes
- “If you’re not willing to be human and you’re
not willing to open yourself, you’re going to
struggle.”
- “High-performers often get promoted, no matter
if they have a toxic effect on the culture.”
- “We undervalue effort. If someone is giving the
best they have, it might be they’re not in a role that’s best
suited to them.”
- “We look at the problem we think we have and we
often see the symptoms to the problem, so we throw solutions at the
symptoms.”
Resources Mentioned