Ep 152: Nils Leonard of Uncommon - "The Difference Maker"

Nils Leonard is the Co-Founder of Uncommon, the London-based Creative Studio. They were just named Agency of the Year by Campaign UK.

He believes that, "Good things happen to people who do stuff." He’s got enviable energy. And he’s in a hurry.

He’s not alone in that. Most leaders are in a hurry. Sometimes constructively. Sometimes not.

People are really going to be in a hurry this year. They already are. To go back. To move forward. To not get left out.

Those instincts can take over. Progress becomes everything and the quality of that progress becomes secondary. Sometimes, it even becomes a nuisance.

Nils told me that he slowed down earlier this year. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 and ended up in hospital. Suddenly what was important became clearer. Some things became even more so. Some things dramatically less.

It’s human nature to be in a hurry. We want to make progress. It’s how we’ve survived as a species.

And making progress is critical to leadership. It’s how we keep our people interested.

But progress is relevant. It requires context. From where to where? And why?

Take away that context and you have no way to judge what is important and what isn’t.

In that sense, context is the leadership equivalent of a hospital bed. Only less frightening.

What are you doing today and why? How are you making progress?