Leaders Talk Leadership: Top Executives Speak Their Minds

In , Gary McPherson decided to study musicians—namely, what exactly contributed to a successful musician? He studied randomly selected kids as they picked and learned a musical instrument. Some went on to be professional musicians and others quit playing after they left school.

He was looking for patterns.

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Were there traits or characteristics that all of the successful musicians had? Amazingly, it was not the obvious ones. It was not IQ, aural sensitivity, math skills, natural rhythm or even their parents that dictated success. He asked each participant before they even selected their instrument one question:. The answer to this question predicted whether a student would be successful.

If they thought they would play an instrument their whole life, they did better. If they thought they would play only temporarily, they did not play as well. Their success had nothing to do with skills—it was all about their attitude! We do not need any inherent skills to be good at what we do. We only need an attitude that we are going to stick with it.

Our minds and skill set will grow with us as we stick to our goals. For more 40 years, John C. Maxwell has inspired individuals to live leadership. His valued advice to leaders is: What are the conversations you have with yourself in your head? He wanted to see if the sentence structure or the types of words our mind uses to talk to ourselves changes our plans and actions.

He decided to test this by having participants in his experiment work on a set of anagrams where they had to change the words like kale to lake. Before participants did this, Senay asked one group simply to think about whether they would work on anagrams, and he asked the other group just to think about the fact they would be doing anagrams soon. Which group do you think did better? The group with the wondering minds did many more anagrams than the gearing up group!

Participants who kept their minds open were more successful than those who were trying to will themselves. Our will should make us more successful not less, right? Freedom of choice was given to the wonderers, and this might be an intrinsic motivation to do better. Senay tried this again by having two groups of participants write out the statements: Senay also wanted to try a real-life experiment. When they were asked about their new goals, those who had been primed in wondering mode stated positive motivations for exercise such as wanting to feel healthy and having a good lifestyle.

While those who were trying to assert their will stated reasons such as guilt and shame for not working out! Over the course of six years, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras conducted a study at Stanford Graduate School of Business where they analyzed data on companies founded prior to thus existing through several eras and reached exceptional levels of success. From their study, they discovered surprising patterns that allowed visionary companies to surpass their competition.

One of the key characteristics that sets visionary companies apart from their competition is they have a core ideology in place that drives almost every decision they make.

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You just have to make the decision that most closely matches your ideals. Men and women are wired differently. Researchers Annis and Nesbitt found that these gender differences are neurological. Men and women actually think differently. This means that men and women are processing differently during meetings, breaks and tasks. Women also develop their pre-frontal cortex at a younger age, which is why they take fewer risks as teenagers than males of the same age.

Men, on the other hand, have a larger amygdala, which means they have more processing power for threats. This means that men tend to default to thinking about threats and competition, while women have more processing power for details and connecting issues. Leaders understand our natural communication differences and leverage them — as opposed to ignoring them. Every good leader must be well-versed in the main gender differences and practice using them on their teams. Watch our video to see all 6.

Women in leadership positions have special tips they should leverage. The research on happiness is clear: We have been studying happiness for more than four years at our lab, asking people inappropriately personal questions, comparing their results and looking for patterns. One of the biggest happy Aha! They understand that if they are happier, the people around them will be happier; they will be better communicators and have a bigger impact.

Not boring Quick-bonding Easy to do If you are a meeting planner, team leader, or event organizer, Once upon a time, a pair of adventurous researchers had participants undergo a unique experiment. They were told they had to train rats to quickly make it through a maze. Do you dread team bonding exercises? Do you feel like they are a waste of time? The team building exercise I am about to teach you will: Help your team be more productive Encourage deeper collaboration Assess what tasks are working and which Why company culture is such an important element Guiding every high-performing team is a coach who knows how to help them harness their excellence.

The right conference can be a game changer for your business. More importantly, the right conference, done the right way can prove to be a goldmine of opportunities. Whether you are going to a trade show, festival or business conference you have to be prepared. It's small, but packs a punch Most people think about their elevator pitch, their LinkedIn profile, their outfit, but they Your mission is to meet new people, make friends and build a network. This used to be my mission and nightmare every time I had to go to a networking event, These top tech companies each receive over a quadrillion resumes per year source needed.

Throughout her campaign and the presidential debates, no one can stop scrutinizing Hillary Clinton's face and demeanor. She's unlikeable, harsh, cold.

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Everyone is talking about it. Even Reince Priebus, the You have an interview—how do you talk about your successes without sounding immodest? You have to pitch yourself—how do you toot your own horn without blowing it? I am just as curious as you what this year's Presidential Debates will bring. I asked if you wanted me to post more about the campaign wasn't sure if y'all wanted a break and here is what you said: I'm going to try to post any interesting, Do men and women lead differently? Researchers have found that women tend to have a distinct leadership style that shapes how they run their teams.

Here is your weekly dose of Links We Love, a list of 5 cool people science tidbits that you might like! A New Facial Expression: Scientists believe they have discovered a new universal facial Can I smell you? This is the premise of a new smell dating app. Yes, you read that right. Smell Dating Can you smell your soulmate? In this new matchmaking We all have great ideas and the ability to improve the world around us.

But sometimes stepping up to be a good leader can be intimidating, or down right scary. Traditional advice says you need a title to have significant influence. However, not everyone wants to take What do you want to be when you grow up?

When you were a little tyke, how did you answer this question? The most common answers: There is magic in a team. And that's what this post is all about! We talk a lot about nonverbal techniques at Science of People, but there are some amazing verbal strategies you can use to master your people skills. Whether we realize it or not we are constantly pitching. We are pitching our ideas to colleagues, projects The phone is a powerful tool for your business, relationships and communication. But do you know how to use it? I want you to be a phone ninja.

A mobile power player. Why is the phone so important? Sure, people listen to our words but they are Do you feel like a fraud? If so, you are not alone. Internally they feel like a fraud or they worry that one day I have a confession. I could care less about reality TV stars or movie actors.

Top Executives Speak Their Minds

I heart bloggers, social media personalities and web experts. Nothing gets me going more than a killer social media profile, a hot blog or an We all have difficult people in our life who drives us nuts! And they are exhausting, frustrating and annoying—but I have some ways to help you deal with difficult people. Here are some ideas for how you can handle the difficult person in your life: Science of People can help you take your ambition for leadership to a new level.

Check out our professional training options. He was a human behavior hacker. Go for the Small Yes. Get the small yes and earn the big one. Embrace the Pygmalion Effect. Logic appeals to our heads and includes language that establishes reason, proof, and insight—citing research and statistics to support main arguments.

Intuition appeals to our gut. These appeals establish credibility through language that convinces audiences to see the speaker as an expert, including achievements, testimonials and case studies. Emotion , of course, appeals to our hearts.

Takeaway Leaders use a blend of emotion, intuition and logic to appeal to their audiences, BUT focusing on the heart is more important than focusing on the head. Choose the Right Seat at the Table. Takeaway Leaders know how to pick the right seat every time. Avoid Empty Calorie Time. Are too tired to do anything productive.

Want to stop working, but feel too guilty to take a real break. Are procrastinating to avoid a project or activity that we dread. Takeaway Leaders are extremely judicious with their mental energy. Here are some of my favorites: Tell me about your best and worst days at work. You have two teleportation devices. Where do you place them and why? Takeaway Leaders ask deep, interesting and behavioral questions. Pick your 3 favorite questions and begin to use them with your team.

Your goals should terrify you just a little bit. Takeaway Leaders never set a goal they know they can achieve. Push yourself, set big goals and get big rewards. Research has found a few ways to curb vengeful thoughts: Think of bigger problems to get your situation into perspective. Expressive writing about your anger and resentment have been shown to eliminate these feelings entirely, giving you relief without having to act on your desire for revenge.

Takeaway Leaders turn their revenge into the desire to succeed. Never act on revenge. The best revenge is massive success. Embody the Body Language of Leaders. Tying Soft Traits to Hard Results , teaches the transformational principles his team implemented at Fishbowl: Fishbowl is one of the few companies in Utah that is employee owned and has made a commitment to pursue excellence for their employees.

Like most high-profile servant leader execs, he extends the hands and feet of servant leadership outwardly through humanitarian efforts via the Courage Above Mountains CAM Foundation. CAM, named after Williams's son Cameron, who died of cancer at the age of 25, provides learning, health, and enrichment services to underserved individuals in the U. You'll see a vibrant spirit of service cultural on display by Fishbowl employees. Every year, Fishbowl dedicates a day of service to their community for a major project to help groups such as Native Americans, veterans, children, and single moms.

Melissa Reiff is the new face of the much beloved The Container Store. Many people are still unaware of the change in the leadership guard that took place last July. Reiff took over for long-time CEO Kip Tindell, who founded the company in and has since stayed on as chairman after stepping down.

One thing that has not changed, thankfully, is The Container Store's continued commitment to " conscious capitalism " and its servant leadership-driven culture. To nobody's surprise, The Container Store remains one of the best places to work and to shop in America. That includes a relentless focus on doing what's right for ALL of our stakeholders by operating our business through the lens of our Foundation Principles and a commitment to conscious leadership," Reiff told me over email.

Having witnessed my share of leadership train wrecks over the years, I was most impressed with the principle of " Communication IS Leadership ," which Reiff personally crafted in definition as "daily execution of practicing consistent, reliable, predictable, effective, thoughtful, compassionate, and yes, even courteous communication. In even simpler terminology, they strive for every single employee in the company to know absolutely everything. While this can be a daunting undertaking for any company, The Container Store firmly acknowledges the power behind this principle on its website, which states "nothing makes someone feel more a part of a team than knowing everything has been communicated to them.

We know that some information we share could fall into competitors' hands, but the advantages far outweigh the risks. TDIndustries is a leading mechanical construction and facilities service company in Dallas. MacDowell is the third CEO at TDIndustries, following in the footsteps of his predecessors--demigods in the servant leadership spectrum: As the CEO since , MacDowell continues to deepen TD's commitment to servant leadership and to the " Great Place to Work " culture that plays such a key role in sustaining an environment in which employees are valued, respected, and appreciated.

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They're also percent employee-owned, and everyone is on a first-name basis. As a result, TD has made Fortune magazine's prestigious Best Companies list for 20 straight years.

MacDowell says the focus has always been about keeping people employed, even during the worst of times. He tells Contracting Business magazine, "We've learned through every down cycle in the economy of the need to react quickly, and look far enough ahead to be sure we have the revenue we need to keep people employed. Since culture matters more than anything at TD, leaders at every level ensure that their core values are lived out daily:. Communication is a key attribute of MacDowell's servant leadership. He has set up formal and informal feedback mechanisms to get important and open feedback, a practice started by founder Jack Lowe, who used to invite groups of employees to his home for spaghetti dinners.

MacDowell makes sure that all of his senior leaders have similar sessions at least quarterly, to listen deeply and keep communication open. TDIndustries has had numerous buy-out offers. Each time, MacDowell concluded that selling out would kill their servant leadership culture. He says , "If we sold out to somebody else, they'd want to run the number up, flip it, and take it public. And I haven't seen many of those operations preserve the cultures of the great companies that were bought out. We're focused on generating the wealth through the employee stock ownership plan, without killing the culture.

In , as a junior at the University of Florida, Hadeed started Student Maid , an all-student cleaning company that has since grown into a business that has employed hundreds of Millennials. She met leadership failure right out of the gate. When 45 of her first 60 employees quit, she realized she was the reason. Leadership is a responsibility to do more. Things are much different now, and the company she founded is known for its industry-leading employee retention rate. For cleaning companies, on average, turnover happens every two months. At Student Maid, it's two and a half years mostly because students graduate and move on.

She built a culture of values, and everyone is expected to live up to them. She offered training that went beyond cleaning and dusting, teaching people to build great relationships with their customers and their fellow "maids" in order to provide the best possible experience for everyone. Hadeed attributes happy customers to happy employees. She is a firm believer in the power of giving her employees purpose, freedom, ownership, and recognition as a way to engage people to do their best work:. In it, she talks about her true passion--doing something good for other people, which explains why Student Maid cleans free for cancer patients.

Like a true servant leader, Hadeed now spends most of her time helping other organizations all over make a lasting, meaningful impact on people by creating environments where they can thrive. Underwood is a clear example of a servant leader practicing conscious capitalism to transform the lives of impoverished women and families. Through her nonprofit social business, Akola's jewelry line is the first Full-Impact Brand to be sold in the luxury space through their national launch in Neiman Marcus. Watch her story here. Akola reinvests percent of their profits to support work opportunities, training, social programs, and the construction of training centers and water wells in impoverished communities throughout the globe.

Their impact model for social business is paving the way for high impact, Millennial-run businesses that seek to have an impact on the world. Underwood continues to devote her life to creating a brand that empowers women through economic and holistic development. Chances are, you'll probably find a can of WD in your garage. Garry Ridge, who calls himself the "chief" of the WD " tribe ," is a big believer in creating lasting memories in his staff's minds every day.

He attributes this as the key to having built the company's success during his year tenure. Ridge passionately speaks about how creating a culture of trust not fear , respect, and candor has been transformative: Why waste getting old if you can't get wise? We have no mistakes here, we have learning moments," he explained to Forbes.

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Ridge believes the annual performance review process is broken. Like all servant leaders, he thinks coaching, development, and feedback should be an everyday conversation between leader and direct report, a theme often noted in his book, co-authored with Ken Blanchard, Helping People Win at Work: At WD, employee engagement numbers are in excess of 90 percent and shareholder value has grown consistently over the past 14 years. Ridge describes how a focus on the servant leadership principles of values, learning, teaching, growth, and community can lead to enhanced performance by helping people step into the best version of themselves.

Chapman became chief executive officer of family-owned Barry-Wehmiller in at age 30, after the untimely death of his father. As Chapman states in his book, Everybody Matters: That soon faded as he came to the realization that being a good steward of the business meant making sure that his employees received more than just a paycheck in return for their time and talent.

He believed, as a business owner, it was his responsibility to create an environment where his team members have the chance to develop their gifts and feel that they and their work matter. It dawned on me that I wanted to give that same opportunity to the team members who worked for me," recalls Chapman in his TrulyHumanLeadership blog.

Since the early s, Chapman has championed the transformation of Barry-Wehmiller's culture into one focused on bringing out the best in its people through communication, trust, celebration, respect, continuous improvement, and responsible freedom. Along with his partner, Paul Saginaw, Weinzweig started Zingerman's Delicatessen in with a short sandwich menu and a staff of two.

Zingerman's is truly an Ann Arbor, Michigan, institution--the source of great food and great experiences for over , visitors every year.