Lead the People #44: Uniquely Normal Leadership with Matt Lesser
Matt Lesser is the Founder/CEO of Uniquely Normal, LLC, which exists to equip and train leaders to build flourishing team members and organizations through empathy, empowerment, and excellence. Matt has had the honor of training leaders, teams, and boards in over 40 countries over the past 20+ years.
Prior to launching Uniquely Normal, Matt served in C-Suite roles in private equity, banking, and industrial supply and distribution. Matt spent the first 15 years of his career leading his familys business in the wholesale (later adding retail as well) petroleum industry. After starting the business over after less than a year at the helm, the business grew from 3 people to nearly 200 and revenue by 20x before being sold.
Matt earned undergraduate degrees in business from Indiana University and an MBA from Taylor University. Matt is certified in nearly 20 personality, team building, and leadership assessments. Matt is a best-selling author and his first book, unSatisfied: When Less is More, was released in October 2022; his second book, unEngaged: Building Flourishing Organizations will be released late 2023. Matt also serves as an Adjunct Professor, and he has served on several Boards of Directors in businesses and non-profits both domestically and internationally.
Top 3 Takeaways
- Don’t wait. Rather than constantly feel like success is just around the corner or “I’ll be happy when…” make a commitment to creating and experiencing success here and now.
- Soft is strong. Too many people mistake being transparent and vulnerable as weaknesses, but enlightened leaders know that these are the essential building blocks of trusting relationships.
- Give get. Employers who invest in their aspiring leaders will reap the rewards of loyalty, effort, and performance. If you want these outcomes, provide gobs of coaching and development first.
From the Source
“You have to identify, ‘Okay, what is my why? Why am I here?’ On this earth at this time in history, you know? ‘Why was I not here a thousand years ago or five thousand years ago or a hundred years ago? Why now?’ I think until we really get serious about identifying the WHY and identifying what we're passionate about what we're called to do then I think we have this in this internal sense of ‘I don't have a purpose. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just going to get on that hamster wheel and just go because that's what we're supposed to do. That's what works.’“
“One of my favorite exercises that I do with leaders is fast forward to the end of your life and look back, what do you most want to be remembered for?”
“I've worked with leaders all the time that set very, very high standards, high bars. And in their moments of transparency, they'll say, yeah, I can't meet my own standards.”
“I learned to do less, but do it more focused, more intentional and with purpose. I talk about for, with and on purpose, and it's completely changing my whole perspective of life. It's changing me and it's changing my family too.”
“Now I find it's much easier for me to say no, because if somebody asks you why, why are you saying no? Well, because it doesn't align with my core. It doesn't align with who I am. It's misaligned with my core values. There are other people out there that I'm sure they'll say yes to it, because it aligns to their core values, but this thing does not.”
“Anybody that comes in your organization, [you need to] really identify quickly, why are you here? What is your purpose here? Where do you fit in? Where do you want to go? And we're going to invest intentionally in you from the very beginning to help you get there. Those are the organizations I think that are breeding loyalty and commitment like we're not seeing right now in, in the workforce.”
“If people are our most important asset, why don't we view them as being on the balance sheet? And so I think it's a mindset.”
“In my second book coming out, I talk about being, becoming, belonging, and then doing. I think if organizations can figure that out and how to help people understand who they are, where they want to be, what they want to become, how they belong in their organization, and then focus on the doing, I think they'll have an employee that will last, be committed and loyal to them like they haven't seen.”
“The third book is all about, if you're serious about building this kind of a culture where you intentionally address the pains, the headaches when it comes to people, here's how you can do it. Not a magic formula. It's about being intentional and about a lot of hard work and getting it done. It will be released at the end of September.”
Connect with Matt
Website: http://www.uniquelynormal.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-lesser/
Email: matt@uniquelynormal.com