“My pain is not your entertainment.” – Auburn gymnast Samantha Cerio
This past week I spent 5 nights in Hilton Hotels attending a leadership conference put on by well-known bishops and pastors of historically black churches. To say I learned a lot and had my thinking stretched would be an understatement. You can read my live blogs by reading multiple previous posts.
For anyone who travels, you know five nights in hotels means you get to eat five hotel buffets and read five copies of the USA Today. The following are 12 Things Leaders Are Currently Thinking And Talking About I gleaned from this week’s articles. These lessons will make you a better leader.
Friday, April 12th
- Leaders Have A Responsibility To Protect Those Who Are Innocent, Defenseless And Have No Voice – “The signing of this bill today is consistent with that respect for life and the imperative to protect this who cannot protect themselves.” – Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio on the state’s passage of the “Heartbeat Abortion” bill
- Leaders Must Weep With Those Who Weep And Rejoice With Those Who Rejoice – “My pain is not your entertainment.” – Auburn gymnast Samantha Cerio and her recent gruesome injury
- You Must Prioritize Important Seasons In Their Leadership And Have Peak Performance During Those Times – “The whole idea is to try and pack for four times a year so I feel like my body’s good and my game’s good. It’s sharp, so just got to go out there and execute and I got to do the proper things and if I do miss I miss in a proper spot.” – Tiger Woods
- Great Leaders Make Everyone And Everything Around Them Better – “What’s happened in the last two or three years is the Giannis (Antetokounmpo) effect is the accelerant on the fire. It’s great. It’s moved up our interest in such a big way – our value, our ability to continue to envision how to grow this brand and the team.” – Milwaukee Bucks president Peter Feigin. For more on the leadership of Giannis, read How Do You Lead A Unicorn? 17 Things Successful Leaders Know About Leading Top Talent.
Thursday, April 11th
- Leaders Communicate And Connect With Others Best Through Stories – “The difference moving forward is Jo and I are going to be able to tell more of our life stories. And so, as opposed to it being a very narrow vein in our universe, which is obviously construction and design and the things we do for a living, for us we feel like there’s a more holistic story to be told here, and that’s what we’re going to focus on.” – Chip Gaines on their new network
- Successful Leaders Are Authentic Leaders – “They (Chip and Joanna Gaines) have a unique authenticity, and there just aren’t that many of them.” – Discovery president David Zaslav
- One Of The Many Costs Of Leadership Is Having To Make Hard Decisions – “I would have to affect someone’s livelihood and their life… That’s not fun for me. That’s not who I am.” – Magic Johnson
Wednesday, April 10th
- People Matter More Than Profits, Projects Or Processes – “Just told them I love them. Our relationship is just getting started. I’ll be at these guys’ weddings one day. Hopefully when their kids are born. Do everything I can to talk them out of getting into coaching so they don’t fee like this.” – Texas Tech head basketball coach Chris Beard after the team’s overtime loss in the national championship game to Virginia
- Leaders Always Have To Overcome Doubters – “To all the doubters, I just want to say, thank you. You’re not the why, but you definitely added fuel to the fire… Everything we’ve been through. It was for a reason.” – Virginia’s Kyle Guy
- Scars Remind Us Of Previous Pain But Also Previous Healing – “You have scars, right? You have a scar, and it reminds you of that (losing in the first round in 2018), but it’s a memory. Does it go away completely? No, I wish it wouldn’t have happened in some ways. Now I say, well, it bought us a ticket here. So be it.” – Virginia head coach Tony Bennett
- Trust Is The Foundation Of All Successful Relationships – “I trusted coach (Erik Spoelstra). He said to me, ‘Trust me through this process in your last season.’ You wouldn’t want anyone else helping you through this journey and I trust him.” – Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade
November 15, 2018
- Everyone Has A Story And Every Story Matters To God – “My story does matter. I love my story. It is the American story. My struggles, my journey, my small house on the South Side of Chicago, my father with a disability – all of that makes me more valuable to the conversation, not less.” – Michelle Obama
What is one thing you learned from the list above which will make you a better leader?
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