Liz Bohannon advises you to create space for reflection between your initial reaction and your response.
My Biggest Leadership Failure – Don’t Go With Your First Reaction
Month: October 2019
My Biggest Leadership Failure – Don’t Confuse Your Job with Your Purpose
Pete Ochs describes how you can mistakenly believe your career is your purpose.
12-Year-Old Summit Attendee Builds Confidence to Raise Money for Pediatric Cancer Research
At the Global Leadership Network, we believe that youth is our future. And in order to build the future for the better, we need to invest in the next generation of emerging leaders who are and will be the change makers of that future. So, for the first time at The Global Leadership Summit in 2019 we offered a reduced student rate of $49 for kids ages 12 to 17. One of those student attendees was a young 12-year-old boy named Noah Goodall who was invited by his parents, Simon and Stephanie, to join them when they heard about this new opportunity.
The invitation
“When I got the email I thought, my son Noah is 12 now. Maybe it’s the time to ask him if he wants to go,” said Simon, longtime attendee of the GLS and husband to Stephanie. “So, I asked him if he was interested. And he was so excited, he bounced up and down.”
“We’ve seen a lot of early leadership qualities emerging in Noah and I thought this would be such a great opportunity to give him some strong leadership building blocks,” said Stephanie. “Noah is finding his passion and learning to dream. He has a lot of enthusiasm and compassion, and those are good beginning leadership skills. So, the Summit was an opportunity for him to learn how to bring people along, share vision, motivate people and build his confidence.”
“I knew about the Summit already because my parents talk about it a lot, and it sounded interesting!” exclaimed Noah Goodall, Simon and Stephanie’s 12-year-old son, and oldest of their four kids.
Empowering a young emerging leader to change the lives of pediatric cancer patients
Noah is a young emerging leader with influence beyond his years. His leadership qualities shine through his driving passion to support families going through pediatric cancer. This passion hits close to home with his brother Jonah fighting pediatric brain cancer. And over the last couple years, starting at the age of 10, he’s spoken at events and in front of his school to raise money for pediatric cancer research.
I got passionate about fundraising for pediatric cancer research because my brother Jonah was diagnosed with brain cancer.
“I got passionate about fundraising for pediatric cancer research because my brother Jonah was diagnosed with brain cancer,” Noah explained. “I felt like I needed to make a difference. So, my mom came up with the idea about maybe getting involved with St. Baldrick’s cancer research. And I thought, Ok, I’ll give this fundraising a shot. I set my first goal at $550 dollars. My mom helped me with a post on Facebook, and then overnight we raised $700! And I thought, we can do something more! So, I emailed people and wrote letters, and we raised $11,000! We did the fundraiser again last year. We got more creative with Facebook advertising, and I got my siblings involved. I reached out to a bunch of businesses too. More and more people were seeing our videos and donating to the research. It was amazing—we raised $20,000 for pediatric brain cancer research!”
It all comes down to his love for his brother, and not wanting other families to experience the same struggle their family has gone through. “I love my brother Jonah,” said Noah. “I love how active he is and funny he is. And I love his energy. He’s always happy, except for when he’s sick. I don’t like his walker. My dream for Jonah is that he would no longer have a need for his walker. It’s so important to me because I really don’t want other kids going through what happened to Jonah, and I don’t want other families going through that either. It was a really tough time. It wasn’t fun at all.
“Over spring break, we went to Washington DC and went to our senators to present to them and ask them to make a difference by putting more money towards pediatric health. Our whole family said something and talked about our story. Me and Jonah did most of the talking. I told them about all our challenges, and spending weekends at my brother’s hospital bed.”
Noah’s youth is no obstacle to his level of influence.
“Noah amazes me with his level of confidence,” said Simon. “For a fundraiser this year, he ended up shaving his head! It was him and a bunch of adult fundraisers, and he turned out to be the top fundraiser! He spoke in front of the whole group of about 75-100 people. And yes, he has confidence, but there’s always that self-doubt that everybody struggles with, so the Summit can help him learn to work through that. Effort matters, and it’s also about taking a leap of faith, doing things, and giving it to God around the outcome.”
What every parent hopes to build into their kids
“At a young age, I think it’s important to learn about perseverance, and realizing you have to push,” said Stephanie. “And that’s part of why we invited him to the Summit—to build perseverance.”
Effort matters, and it’s also about taking a leap of faith, doing things, and giving it to God around the outcome.
“Being invited to the Summit felt like a once in a long while chance,” said Noah. “I thought maybe sitting for two whole days at a conference might be boring. My mom and dad said I could go to the Summit for at least one day, and if I didn’t like it, I could skip the second day. I was surprised by the people who spoke. I thought they would be boring, but they were really exciting. I could understand what they were talking about because they made it really clear and interesting. I liked meeting my parents’ friends too. I wondered what people might think about a 12-year-old being there with a bunch of adults. I was a little nervous, but it was fun. So, I begged my parents to let me go to the Summit for the second day!”
After the Summit, Noah and a friend created charts about the speakers, how well they connected, their knowledge and how to apply the concepts to their life. They ranked all of them, and Noah had a few favorites.
“Liz Bohannon was amazing!” exclaimed Noah. “Like, she flew in the sky! How much better can you get?!
“And Craig Groeschel has a lot of knowledge. His message made a good connection with me. His thing about GETMO was awesome to think about how to apply that to my life. It made me think about what I can do with less time and resources to get the most out of what I’m doing like with a school project or fundraising.
“I also liked the donut guy [Jia Jiang], and what he talked about—taking a leap of faith. It was a reminder that you’re going to get rejected at some point in your life—it’s guaranteed to happen. It gave me more confidence.
“I think God gave me information through the speakers and gave me a way to apply the knowledge in my life in many different ways—like remember to be nice to other people, don’t be afraid to take risks. Like with that new kid in your classroom—maybe you don’t know him yet, but you have to go up to the kids who are left out or alone. You have to go up to them and make friends. It made me see people for who they are, not what others just think they are.”
Noah’s vision for his future
While Noah is only 12, he has a vision for the kind of leader he wants to be when he grows up.
It made me see people for who they are, not what others just think they are.
“I don’t want to be a leader that’s mean, who tells everyone what to do,” said Noah. “I want to lead other people to success. I want to be a leader that’s caring—someone who says, Hey, you’re struggling? Let me help you. I want to teach others their own leadership skills. I want to lead people to make a positive difference in the world. It’s very easy to make a negative difference in the world, but I want to lead people to make a positive difference.
“I learned most of my leadership skills from my mom. She helps me with my events, learning how to lead stuff and write stuff. I admire leaders who are kind and hold people accountable. They have to focus on where they are now and the outcome at the end. Good leaders are also those who people can come to when they’re scared or struggling because they’re nice.”
Noah believes other kids should experience the Summit too and build their confidence in leadership.
“I would definitely encourage other kids to at least come to one day of the Summit!” said Noah. “They should just give it a shot, because it’s amazing and there are so many different people to learn from. If you’re a follower, you should still go, because everyone needs leadership skills. Eventually, you’re going to have to figure things out. I mean, you could live in your parent’s basement until you’re 40, but you can’t do that forever. Eventually you have to move out—and you need to be able to lead yourself. You need leadership skills. You could be the one blowing dandelions in the wind, or you could be the one to step up and take charge when people need you.
“Some people are really smart, but not really good leaders. But if we can get smart people to be good leaders, then the world will be a better place. Smart leaders change the world. If we’re going to go colonize on Mars, we need people that are smart leaders! If you go to the Summit, you’ll learn so much from amazing leaders who’ve learned so much in their careers and lives, and they want to share, and they’re willing to help you!”
My Biggest Leadership Failure – Don’t Be Enticed by Prestige
Dr. Krish Kandiah describes how you can be enticed to take a job based prestige over authentic output.
3 Practical Steps To Increase Your Authenticity
We have all heard that authenticity matters to our leadership.
So, how do I develop myself to be more authentic?
If there’s one thread that runs through the fabric of one’s character and the goal to be an effective, inspirational leader it is authenticity—seeking to be trustworthy, credible, reliable and your best true self for your people.
And flourishing workplace cultures are built on authentic leadership.
Here are three practical ways to increase your authenticity as a leader.
1. Start with Self-Awareness
If we’re truly going to be healthy, authentic leaders we must become deeply self-aware. This takes personal work and time that involves, silence, solitude and in many cases suffering.
I remember when I came to the realization that I was a recovering people-pleaser. In a fast-paced leadership culture, I found myself becoming what other people wanted me to be. Checking off my to-do list gave me great pleasure and constant activity reinforced what I saw as my value. It happened gradually, over time and it was easy to find myself trying to be someone I was not.
Flourishing workplace cultures are built on authentic leadership.
Self-awareness brings us back. Self-awareness frees us to return and course correct. Self-awareness brings freedom as we become our true integrated selves with our unique God-given gifts, talents and strengths.
2. Develop the Practice of Listening
Authentic leaders constantly listen with humility and learn from the feedback of others.
At the 2019 Global Leadership Summit, marketing professional Bozoma Saint John reflected on her executive leadership role at Uber. “Even though (my) job as chief brand officer was mostly external, I saw a need to change the internal culture, which meant a lot of different things—like listening to people and their challenges.”
Authentic leaders practice several kinds of listening.
Listening to Others. The path to authentic leadership requires listening to understand the current reality. Reality is truth—good or bad. How do we come to understand organizational reality? It requires the humility to listen. Understanding can come though through discussions, employee engagement surveys, financial statements, and, yes, 360-assessments of how our leadership is experienced by those closest to us. We need to listen to understand our leadership status in this present moment.
Listening to Our Own Internal Voice. Additionally, the path to authentic leadership requires times of silence and silence where we can truly hear our own internal voice. We often have a myriad of voices in our heads—direct reports, board members, donors, customers, a parent or mentor, other close family members, etc. When I take time in silence, I can let those voices settle down, even dissipate, and I can then embrace truth.
At the 2015 Global Leadership Summit, Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar and a five-time Academy Award winner, described his yearly practice to reconnect with his authentic self. At the beginning of every year, he would spend a week alone at a retreat center. No meetings, no interruptions, no emails and no phone calls. He didn’t describe it as a spiritual exercise, necessarily, but talked about how truly refreshing he felt from the inside-out. This practice of silence and solitude centered him and became the springboard he needed to lead one of the world’s most creative cultures for the coming year.
In order to become an authentic leader, we must embrace humility as a gateway to personal growth.
Listening to God. As Christians, the path to authentic leadership also means hearing the voice of our ever-present God who lives within us. His voice through Scripture, the Spirit, along with the trusted wisdom of others and the reality of my present circumstances show me who God made me to be and what next steps to take. Through a kind of holy listening, my growing self-awareness has fed a deepening awareness of God, including how he has gifted me to authentically lead others for his sake and his purposes and plans.
3. Embrace Genuine Humility
Unfortunately, leaders often deceive themselves (or are deceived) about their reality. They lack the humility to accept reality about themselves or their organizations. When we allow ourselves to become deceived, we cannot be authentic.
In my work, I see how some leaders’ perspectives about themselves and their situation can be fed by insincere or flattering feedback. To be positively perceived by the boss, feedback is often communicated the way he or she likes to hear it. Unfortunately, the more layers there are in an organization, the less truthful feedback a top leader receives.
In order to become an authentic leader, we must embrace humility as a gateway to personal growth. Greater self-awareness cultivates a new depth and desire for learning about ourselves. Leaders who seize this truth open themselves to God’s authentic transformation. Such humility is at the core of our being able to learn.
As a leader, I’ve found that seeking to be authentic is not often easy. Our culture encourages us to cover up our mistakes and weaknesses. Being vulnerable is often seen as weakness. Yet, authenticity is the path to true impact in your leadership.
In order to increase your authenticity, try integrating the following practices to anchor your leadership in reality, especially as you seek to build a flourishing workplace culture.
- Tomorrow, as you take time to read, and to pray, bring your entire being—and all you are and are becoming—in silence. Quiet the external voices and just listen.
- Schedule a day of silence. Be silent before the Lord, and listen for his voice of guidance, wisdom and courage.
- Practice being transparent about your life, your family, your work—your gratitude’s challenges and sufferings. No SPIN! See if it draws people closer to you.
Your authentic leadership is powerful evidence of your unswerving devotion to “be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care.” (1 Peter 5:2, NIV).
Your authenticity as a leader will become infectious on your team.
My Biggest Leadership Failure-Don’t Ignore Your Critics
Mayor Aja Brown coaches you to listen to your critics.
004 Harris III: For Awakening Wonder
Study from UC Berkley about wonder
Amber Rae “Choosing Wonder over Worry”
Leaders in Vietnam Reflect on the Impact of the Recent GLS in Hanoi
The Global Leadership Summit is officially under way as it is taken around the world to another 135 countries, and 900+ sites, including Hanoi, Vietnam, where more than 300 leaders gathered for this year’s event in early September 2019.
Be inspired by the impact the GLS has made on these incredible leaders this year:
I’m proud to inspire female leaders.
As the first female facilitator at The Global Leadership Summit in Vietnam, this is the most impactful and powerful event for me. I feel so proud of myself for being able to inspire and encourage female leaders in Vietnam to step up and prove to the world that females can do the same things as males could do. I’m an interpreter and a trainer at my husband’s church and other churches, and I think I should do something different to build up leadership skills in those I’ve been working with.
I’ve learned a lot from GLS. As a woman and a leader, I have the same heartbeat as Carla Harris who presented the message “Characteristics of a LEADER.” Leaders are required to have many good characteristics so that people can follow them freely, but I was deeply impressed by the character traits, one of the most important being authenticity—be yourself don’t being afraid to take risks. People will follow you because of who you are and your unique character. I accept risk taking, and thanks to Carla, I can now view that with positive thought. If you never take a risk, you never change, never grow and you will be left behind. I hope the GLS expands into many different places in Vietnam. I believe if this happens, there will be many lives transformed through this incredible event.
– Nguyen Kieu Trinh
Now I feel equipped to improve myself day by day.
I recently became a believer in Christ, and over the last six months, I’ve tried to stop my drug addiction. I used to follow Buddha, but after coming to Jesus, my mind has been brightened. Buddhism focuses on where people go after death, but Christianity shows me where human beings come from, what we were born to do and about life after we pass away. As an addict, I lost everything meaningful in life—my job, friends and family. But God has turned my life around. Someone at my church introduced me to The Global Leadership Summit. I now feel equipped with some useful lessons, including Simon Sinek’s talk on the Infinite Game, where I learned that our biggest enemy is actually ourselves.
We don’t need to fight against other people. Instead, let’s try to renew ourselves so that we can become a better person than we were yesterday. There are no winners and losers, only improving ourselves day by day. This motivates me to be consistent with my belief as I try hard to develop more in the future. And then John Maxwell helped me think about what good changes I’ve been able to make over the last few months—I’m more responsible for my life now. I hope to have more time to be with Jesus and learn more and more through the GLS.
– Tran Thanh Tuan
God touched my life.
God brought me here to the GLS. He touched my life by using the speakers. He used Erwin McManus to encourage me. I got his messages and the answer to my problems. Now I will live as if today were my last day. If I have any fear, I will feel it, face it and do it anyway. I will see difficulties or challenges as opportunities that allow me to grow and become better in the future.
– Phan Thi Tuyet Trinh
I want more leaders to experience the GLS.
I’m originally from Hanoi, but after struggles living here, my husband and I decided to move to Danang City to start a new life in a new place full of hope and opportunity. I have five children, and one of them is paralyzed. I deeply sympathized with Erwin McManus during the GLS because my life has been filled with pain, hopelessness, depression and failure, but those things have just made me stronger and more courageous. I related to Erwin when he said you have to go through pain to be free. Living in Danang is far away from Hanoi, but I decided to take a flight to come join this event because of its tremendous benefits. It is my third time attending, and after listening to all the messages, I believe I made a right and wise decision.
These messages are so valuable and influential. I’ve learned so much. Although I am a leader who trains at least 60 people at local churches in Danang, I admit my leadership needs to be improved by taking risks, being vulnerable and acting as more of a visionary. My followers will get the benefits as I improve. I think I’m a good leader, but I want to be a great leader who can build up more leaders around me. I want to bring the GLS back to Danang and discuss the messages with my people. I hope that there will be more leaders coming to the GLS and we will all get better together.
– Luu Quyen Huong
Also, check out the highlights from the Youth GLS in Hanoi!
My Biggest Leadership Failure – Don’t Ignore Culture in Hiring
Patrick Lencioni advises you to hire people for cultural fit over competency.
My Biggest Leadership Failure-Don’t Think You Have the Answer
Jason Dorsey coaches you to listen to wise advice from people who are more experienced than you.
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