Leadercast 2015 was one of the most thought-provoking experiences I’ve had this year. But when I stepped into that packed movie theatre in Cambridge, Ontario—to attend a remote screening of the conference—I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be so interesting.
I was not raised in business-oriented family, nor did I study business in school. Up until this year, my focus has been academics and because of this orientation, I carry a skewed perception of the “business world”. My experience working at Intrigue Media has changed this perspective. But it was Leadercast that allowed me to see farther, to see how the business world presents intellectual challenges that are just as meaningful—and perhaps more tangible—than their cousins in academia.
There were certainly elements of the conference that rubbed me the wrong way. Some of the presenters came off as fake, media-tailored personalities. But others were like open books, with real world experiences to share and valuable stories about challenges they’d faced in their industries. The conference was like a series of TED Talks—and who doesn’t love TED Talks? In this blog, I’d like to pass on some of the stories and experiences from that day.
Leadercast 2015 was divided into four sessions. The overarching theme of the event was The Brave Ones, exploring stories of courage in leadership. I found the intensity of the branding campaign to be a bit over-the-top, but it created a common thread throughout the presentations, which culminated in a really powerful talk by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani about his experiences during 9/11.
Session 1: Overcoming Fear
Leadercast’s first speaker was Andy Stanley, a southern pastor and author. I was really impressed by Stanley’s passion, stage presence, and self-effacing manner. Stanley’s talk focused on how to use fear to push forward. He began by disabusing the crowd of several myths surrounding bravery.
“All the fearless people are dead,” he told the crowd. “Brave leaders aren’t fearless.”
Stanley used the example of the middle school girl in pursuit of an iPhone as his everyday example of “bold leadership”. Bold leaders share the same characteristics as the middle school girl. They have clarity and focus, and they’re stubborn and resourceful. They refuse to be cowed by the “how” of a problem.
Stanley also shared two bread-crumb questions, that can lead us forward:
- The head question: What do I believe is impossible to do in my field…but if done, could fundamentally change it?
- The heart question: What breaks my heart? (and how can I fix it?)
Both are great questions to spend time thinking about… Stanley’s final story was about the Biblical character Nehemiah re-building the walls of Jerusalem. When interrupted, he would only say:
“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”
The second speaker for this session was a former Navy SEAL commander named Rorke Denver. Unsurprisingly, Rorke’s take on fear is to immerse yourself in it (unsurprising considering his line of work).
He had some awesome, insane stories to share, but my favourite idea from his talk was the concept of harmonic gait. Rorke defined this as the movement or rhythm for which a creature was intended… Rorke incited the audience to seek out their own harmonic gait, just as Stanely had pushed us to find a great work.
This was my takeaway from the first session: overcome fear and find your own great work/harmonic gait.
Session 2: Be a Game-Changer
The day’s second session opened with a pre-recorded talk from Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai. Malala was fifteen when she was shot in the head by the Talibani in Pakistan. You probably know her story, which is enough to make her a deeply inspiring individual. Her talk centred around the idea of speaking up, in order to change the world around us.
Malala was definitely a game-changer in her native country. She was not necessarily the best fit for Leadercast, nor did she have as much experience as some of the other speakers. But my takeaway from her the importance of doing what you feel is right.
The final speaker before lunch was none other than Peyton Manning, star NFL quarterback. Manning was a strange contrast to Malala, but he was also a surprisingly good public speaker…for someone who spent his entire career getting hit in the head.
Peyton challenged the crowd to prepare to be a game-changer, by engaging yourself in internal debate and confronting challenges. He explained that dealing with ambiguity was the most important part of leadership—you need to know when to “call an audible”. He emphasized the importance of intense preparation: putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, adjusting to shifting realities, and becoming a master observer. These habits may apply particularly well to sports, but they’re also true in the real world.
Session 3: Creativity
This afternoon session was my favourite. The first speaker was Seth Godin, marketing guru and author of books like The Dip and Purple Cow. Godin looks like Dana Carvey’s turtle character, in the undeniably terrible film, The Master of Disguise, but he has the perspicuity of a zen master.
Godin likes to speak tangentially, using a never-ending string of stories to convey his meaning. Sometimes you find yourself asking: how does this relate to what we’re talking about? But there’s always a moment of epiphany at the end. My takeaway from Godin’s talk was the idea that sometimes when we speak up, we feel like a fraud. It’s like the ancient Greek idea of hubris—we are flying too high! Godin’s counter-argument was that sometimes we need to be the person who’s a bit off, if we want to drive change. This was his interpretation of bravery.
Following Godin was Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull. Ed spoke at length about the challenges of running the Pixar team and guiding them to success. He stressed the value of allowing failures without consequences—especially in creative environments.
“New ideas are fragile,” he explained. “We have to protect the new.”
He also talked about making it safe to operate in that messy middle ground between dumb ideas and great ideas, by altering risk-aversion. My takeaway from his talk was realizing that mistakes and miscommunication are part of the creative process.
“Our job isn’t to prevent the errors, it’s to respond when things go wrong and fix them.”
Session 4: Political Leadership
The final session of the day featured mayors from two American cities: Aja Brown, the new mayor of Compton, and Rudy Giuliani, the mayor of New York. Aja Brown was younger and obviously still relatively inexperienced. Her story was encapsulated (for me) by the following quote:
“If I don’t step up, then I don’t know who will…”
Giuliani’s situation was very different and a great culmination to the day’s discussions. The story he shared was the experience of being the mayor of New York during 9/11, a really powerful tale for a number of reasons. My takeaway from his talk (and the whole day) was that life isn’t about happiness. It’s about reaching your full potential. And for a conference on leadership, that final message felt about right!
