Lead From the Heart

We’ve all worked for managers who sapped our talent, energy and commitment while always needing to be the smartest person in the room. And if we’ve been lucky, we’ve also worked for leaders who brought out the better angels of our nature – people who used their own intelligence to amplify the talents and capabilities of every person around them. So what’s the mindset difference between leaders who unwittingly diminish other people and those who inspire employees to stretch to deliver results that surpass expectations? That’s the focus of my discussion with Liz Wiseman – consultant to many of the world’s great technology firms, and author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, “Multipliers.” One thing we can all agree upon is that the world desperately needs leaders who can elevate others – genius makers who optimize talent and give people space to do their best work. And in this truly dynamic chat with Liz, we break down all that it means to be a “Multiplier” kind of leader – and the vital few behaviors which separate them from managers who not only diminish other people but also their own success.   The post Liz Wiseman: Leaders Who Are Multipliers Make Everyone Smarter appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 008: Kim Powell Many of us have it in our mind that very few people (including ourselves) have what it takes to become a CEO. We conjure up images of oversized personalities like Steve Jobs & Jack Welch and assume that’s what a successful CEO looks like. But in her new best-selling book (and a book Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink selected as one of their top nonfiction books of 2018),“The CEO Next Door,” Kim Powell shows us that CEOs like these are really outliers. And not only don’t you need to be a charismatic, extroverted visionary like Jobs and Welch to become a successful CEO, you don’t need an Ivy League degree or an impeccable resumé either. Leveraging state-of-the-art analytical tools, Powell and her co-author, Elena Botelho, processed the performance of 2,600 executive leaders before concluding that what truly characterizes high-performing chief executives isn’t at all related to their pedigrees or intellect. Instead, what they all had in common was a mastery of four specific leadership behaviors. Whether it’s your dream to one day run your own company – or if you just want to greatly elevate your own leadership effectiveness, this podcast introduces all four of these important behaviors, and helps you understand how to immediately apply them in your own career. The post Kim Powell: Master Just Four Leadership Behaviors And You Could Be CEO Material appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 007: Dr. James Doty Dr. James Doty: Stanford Medical School Professor Says The Heart Matters More Than The Brain In Leadership As a world-class brain surgeon and Stanford University Medical School professor, Dr. James Doty is nevertheless certain that “the best way of influencing human beings to excel in their jobs is to intentionally and positively affect their hearts.” These surprising words are found in his New York Times best selling book, “Into The Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest To Discover The Mysteries Of The Brain And The Secrets Of The Heart – and amplify recent medical discoveries that prove the heart plays a far greater role in influencing human behavior than most of us have ever known. Dr. Doty comes on the podcast to explain how the mind and heart are connected – and what this means for the future of workplace leadership. But as the Director of Stanford’s Center For Altruism And Compassion Research – and a physician to employees in the Silicon Valley, he brings surprising insight into what employees truly want and need in exchange for work. And even though companies like Google and Facebook are known as great places to work, Doty’s take isn’t quite as glowing. “What people really need and want,” Doty says, “is love.” How he landed on this conclusion is the underlying theme of his discussion with Mark. The post Dr. James Doty: Stanford Medical School Professor Says The Heart Matters More Than The Brain In Leadership appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 006: Geoff Colvin With technology poised to eliminate millions of jobs in every imaginable industry, we’re left to wonder what kind of work will remain and what skills will be most highly valued in the future workplace. To answer these serious questions, few people in the world today have a better grasp of what this future looks like than Fortune Magazine editor, Geoff Colvin. With uncommon access to the thinking of global CEOs, academics and economists, Colvin performed his own research before writing his highly acclaimed book, “Humans Are Underrated: What High Achievers Know The Brilliant Machines Never Will.” And if his title doesn’t make it entirely clear, Colvin is fully certain that human skills will hold the highest value in a world that’s rapidly being automated by artificial intelligence and robots. “Ask employers which skills they’ll need in the next 5-10 years, Colvin writes, “and answers that come back do not include business acumen, analysis or P&L management — left brain thinking skills. Instead, the top priorities will be relationship building, teaming, co-creativity, brainstorming, cultural sensitivity and the ability to manage diverse employees — right brain activities.” Whether you’re wondering what could happen to your own career, or how to help prepare your business or team for the technological tsunami heading our way, Geoff shares plenty of invaluable insights that will leave you well informed and fully prepared to start taking action. It also happens to be one truly delightful conversation you’re guaranteed to enjoy. The post Geoff Colvin: Fortune Magazine’s Editor Believes “Humans Are Underrated” appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 005: Daniel Coyle New York Times bestselling author, Daniel Coyle spent the past four years researching the cultures at eight of the world’s most successful organizations — including the U.S. Navy’s Seal Team Six, global design firm IDEO and the five-time NBA champions San Antonio Spurs.  And he came away with  the remarkable discovery that leaders of all these exceptional teams share three uncommon leadership practices. They build safety, share vulnerability and establish purpose. Yes, these are the three qualities that fully distinguish the organizations that invented the first Apple mouse, caught Osama Bin Laden, and have won a higher percentage of their games over that past 20 years than any team in professional sports. Listen in to this highly animated discussion as Daniel digs into his new book, The Culture Code (a book Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink selected as one their top nonfiction in 2018), and provides a clear understanding of what truly separates outlier workplaces from all the mediocre ones. It’s untraditional and truly inspired thinking that produces world-class performance. The post Daniel Coyle: Cracking “The Culture Code” appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 004: Garry Ridge For the past 20 years, Garry Ridge has been CEO of the WD-40 Company, and he’s built one of the most inspiring workplace cultures on the planet. INC. Magazine named him one of the Top-10 CEOs across the globe (leadership legends Jim Kouzes and Ken Blanchard both say he’s #1 in the US), & it’s largely because his company consistently achieves its growth & profit targets while concurrently sustaining an extraordinary employee experience. Garry Ridge is the full embodiment of the Lead From The Heart philosophy. He intentionally supports his tribe of workers by focusing on their well-being, satisfaction & growth — while also holding people accountable for their performance. The result is a team of people who love coming to work, have a deep sense of meaning in what they do, and have helped WD-40’s stock price soar. Already one of our most popular podcast episodes, listen in as Garry and Mark discuss the leadership practices that make the WD-40 Company such a well-oiled machine. The post Garry Ridge: The CEO Most Of Us Wish We Had appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 003: Tom Peters Legendary leadership author, Tom Peters could easily be reclining on a New England beach these days. But he’s by no means the retiring type. Instead, he just published his 17th book, “The Excellence Dividend,” and continues to challenge workplace leaders to reinvent how they lead and manage. Three decades ago, Peters wrote the classic book, “In Search Of Excellence,” which many people have called the greatest business book of all time.  His cornerstone message at the time: “Put People First.” All these years later, Peters (as you’ll soon hear) remains as passionate as ever about spreading this tradition-breaking idea. And he says he’s not quitting until workplace leaders stop talking about leadership change and take real action. Listen in to what Mark has called the single greatest discussion he’s ever had in his life. Peters brings to this podcast great energy, great articulation and a leadership vision every manager on the planet would be wise to embrace. A must! The post Tom Peters: A Leadership Legend In Rare Form appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 001: Jim Kouses Thirty-years ago, Jim Kouzes and his collaborator Barry Posner wrote “The Leadership Challenge” – a book that has sold 2.5 million copies (so far) and is taught in universities and management classes around the world. As the author of five other best-selling leadership books, a consultant and a Fellow of Leadership at Santa Clara University’s Leavey Business School, Kouzes was one of the earliest people to urge managers to purposefully engage employees’ hearts. There is simply no accident that Jim Kouzes is the first ever guest on the Lead From The Heart podcast. It simply couldn’t have been anyone but him to launch the effort. And early listeners have described this podcast as Kouzes’ “last lecture” in the sense that he does a truly magnificent job of distilling all of his proven management wisdom into a one hour discussion (where he holds court). If you’re looking to be inspired while learning the key attributes of the most effective 21st Century managers, listening in will be time very well spent. The post Jim Kouzes: A Leadership Giant! appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 002: Adam Bryant Imagine having the opportunity to interview hundreds of the world’s top CEOs and hear them describe their leadership philosophy, not to mention the successes and failures that shaped them as managers. For eight years, Adam Bryant did that exact thing as the creator and writer of the New York Times’ highly popular “Corner Office” column. As a journalist, Bryant developed and refined an exceptional ability to ask deep questions, pick up on nuance, probe for understanding — and come away with an unbiased conclusion of what makes C-Suite leaders tick. And what he discovered about all of the 525 CEOs he interviewed is that none of them were completely alike — nor do they lead and manage exactly the same way. Nevertheless, they did all share some very important commonalities (almost all were highly curious people, for example). And what makes this podcast so interesting comes from learning what these top executives collectively have to teach us that can help make us all better managers. The post Adam Bryant: Leadership Insights From Over 500 Corner Offices appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Podcast 000: Mark C. Crowley The expression “Lead From The Heart” elicits different meanings to different people, so Mark uses his first podcast to introduce himself, his vision for the show and some clarity around his leadership philosophy. Interviewed by his friend and “Blip” author, Ken Boynton, Mark talks about his best-selling book, the kinds of guests he plans to bring on the podcast and why he believes listening in will be highly worthwhile for anyone seeking to excel as a 21st Century leader.   The post Mark C. Crowley: Glad You’ve Joined Us! appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.