Tom Peters On Leadership, Empathy, And Making A Difference

When I started my leadership podcast almost 10 years ago, I had a very simple goal - I wanted to create a platform where I could get the chance to talk with some very smart and really cool people. That’s why the first guest I had on the “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast was Guy Kawasaki.

But I have to admit all these years later, I never thought that the journey I started with this podcast would open the door for me to have a one-on-one conversation with Tom Peters.

Without question, Tom is one of the world’s most pre-eminent leadership thinkers, if not also a leadership rebel in his decades-long pursuit to educate and persuade leaders everywhere that at its heart, leadership is all about people under your care and doing right by them.

This is a must-listen episode if you want to better understand not only what it takes to lead right now, but in response to the inevitable changes that will completely transform the way we work going forward. And as an extra bonus, you’ll even hear Tom talk about something he hasn’t spoken of before my conversation with him for this podcast (I bet that’s piqued your curiosity!)

And to give you a taste of what you’ll find in this episode, here’s some of my favourite Tom Peters gems he shared over the course of our conversation:

• “You don’t know more than two percent of the person you’re talking about to. And besides they are different on Tuesday than they were on Monday. And it’ll be different again on Wednesday.”
• “The goal during the pandemic is family and community first, productivity third. And of course, which is true of all the things we’re talking about, if that’s the way I treat you, I’m going to have more productivity coming from you than I would under any other circumstances.”
• “There are no tombstones with net worth on them. That is not the measure.”
• “Be kind. Be caring. Be patient. Be forgiving. Be positive. Be present. Walk in the other person’s shoes.”
• “They are a million strokes of luck along the way, and you do your best and try to be helpful.”

When Tom’s assistant reached out to me saying that Tom was interested in appearing on my podcast, I couldn’t believe it. As you listen to this episode, you will no doubt clearly hear the excitement and joy I had of being able to talk about leadership with Tom.

So I hope you’ll take the time to check out this episode and please do share me with me your favourite insights you learned from my conversation with Tom.

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