Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Leadership Essentials Summaries
Michael Horst & Ryne Niner
2012
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Kris Cole
Author & Communication Specialist
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70% of workplace mistakes are due to poor communication
People are not born great communicators, we all need to learn how
“We can’t influence people if they don’t like us or respect us”
93% of what we say comes from our body language, only 7% comes from our
words
Spring 2002
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Peter Sheldrake
Director of Urban Forum, Adjunct Professor of Business Entrepreneurship at RMIT in Melbourne, Australia
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If you are only in business to make money, you most likely will not succeed
A company makes a profit to continues its business – to move forward
Complex Successful Model – companies that are invested in financial, social, and
environmental issues
Move conversation from improving Leaders within an organization to improving
Leadership within the entire organization
Spring 2003
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Roger Herman
Strategic Business Futurist
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Understanding your organization’s mission is vital to differentiating your
organization from others
Money is not the main motivator is used to be
New generations want meaningful, rewarding work
New generations want “life/work balance” – where life is more important than work
Summer 2003
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Robert Cooper
Author of The Other 90%
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Everyone is different - discover which foods & activities help you stay energized and
focused
Good posture, exposure to bright light, drinking a sip of water - all are proven to
improve concentration
Employers need to loosen job descriptions - no human being is good at every
aspect of a job description
Summer 2003
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
John McGrath
Successful Australian Real Estate Tycoon
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Businesses can control their clarity, passion, product knowledge, quality of staff &
business presentations
Success is a state of mind
The power to say “no” is often not used enough, say no to business that you know
is not good business
Look at your business goals twice a day to always keep them in mind
Summer 2003
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Dr. John Lang
Author of Re-Life, Runs a successful Health Management Clinic
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Often people will not follow through with their goals because their motivation wavers
We need to manage/rationalize our perceptions better
5 Point Plan:
1. Eat well
2. Keep fit
3. Manage stress
4. Don’t smoke
5. Get adequate sleep
Summer 2003
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
David Allen
Author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
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Time management is about management actions, not priorities
Define your focused work list so you know how to handle ad-hoc work
If you have only 5 minutes, do the most productive activity you can get done within
those 5 minutes
Winter 2003
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Richard Florida
Professor & Head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Roman School of Management, University of Toronto
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Creative Job Sector will continue to grow
Government has to get out of the city’s way & creative movement has to come from
bottom-up
Key driver of city’s economic growth = Quality of Human Capital
Need Technology, Talent, and Tolerance to have a successful city
Spring 2004
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Joan Magretta
Author, Former Senior Editor of Harvard Business Review
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All basic management principles are about getting organization to perform
Managers need to focus on creating long-term value
Always look at your organization from the customer’s perspective
Everything depends on creating value for the customer
Summer 2004
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
George Norris
Business Coach
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Failure to delegate is a failure to motivate or inspire, learn to delegate
7 most costliest words in business = “but we’ve always done it this way”
Keys to Success: education, communication, motivation, evaluation, celebration
5 levels of human need:
1. Physiology
2. Security
3. Social recognition
4. Self-esteem
5. Self-actuation
Summer 2004
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Malcolm Gladwell
Author of Blink & The Tipping Point
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2 types of Thinking: conscious (rational) & unconscious (instinctual)
Instinctual decision making is often excellent, trust it
Business tends to add more information to a situation, but can make the situation
more complex & harder to use instinctual decision making
Spring 2005
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Nancy Kazdan
Strategy & Training Consultant
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Active listeners look forward & make eye contact with whomever is speaking
“True interest means promoting understanding … means trust”
4 Types of Listeners:
1. Non-listener: focused on another task while attempting to listen
2. Marginal listener: distracted by their own thinking
3. Evaluative listener: still not completely engaged, fact-based listener
4. Active listener: patience, waiting for the talker to speak fully
Spring 2005
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Albert Ratner
Co-Chairman Emeritus of Forest City Enterprises
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Successful organizations need leaders for vision
Ask yourself if you really want to be a leader?
“Figure out who you are and live your life accordingly”
Summer 2005
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Henry Cisneros
Former Secretary for Housing & Urban Development under President Clinton
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Optimistic about American cities
We now have “city friendly economy”
“The suburbs are full,” people do not want any longer commutes
“Cities are where nations progress”
Summer 2005
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Chris Helder
Sales trainer, Author of Stop Selling: The Art of Reading the Client & Winning the Business
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“Best form of selling is to stop selling”
4 Ingredients of effective selling: connection, gain information, presentation &
realizing the sell
3 Qualities: matching body language, energy, voice tone & personality drives
4 Personality Types:
1. Power personality: results & control driven
2. Party personality: live in the moment, impulse buyers
3. Peace personality: non-confrontational
4. Perfectionist personality: processes, structure driven
Fall 2005
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Daniel Pink
Author of Free Agent Nation & A Whole New Mind
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Left brain activities used to dominate job market skill set
Now, right brain activities are becoming increasingly important
6 important right brain abilities:
1. Design: ability to create a product/service where customer has an emotional
response
2. Story: ability to create a narrative
3. Symphony: ability to connect the dots & see the bigger picture
4. Empathy: understand someone’s else perspective
5. Play: ability to use games & humor
6. Meaning: search for meaning in the world
Spring 2006
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
J. Walker Smith
Executive Chairman of the Futures Company, President of Yankelovich, Inc.
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Hiving: people returning home to reconnect with others
“Community if about living in the company of strangers,” not like minded individuals
Self-fulfillment replaced self-sacrifice in the market place with the Baby Boomers
3 Things we need to create a community:
1. Public spaces
2. Public psychology
3. Public myths
Spring 2006
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Carl Honore
Author of In Praise of Slowness
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Slow has a negative connotation in our society
Objective should be to choose the right speed to do each of our activities
Ways to improve our use of time:
1. Make a weekly priority list, eliminate those items at the bottom
2. Find times to unplug to rest & recharge
3. Find an activity everyday that requires you to slow down
Spring 2006
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Ira Koretsky
President & Chief Storyteller of Koretsky Communications Group
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Don’t ask someone what it is they do, ask them something related to the context in
which you are meeting
People are typically not comfortable giving their elevator speech
Elevator speech: explaining yourself in 80 words or less
3 Must Do’s:
1. Remove jargon from your speech
2. Put passion into it
3. Speak to your audience
Fall 2006
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Verne Harnish
Author of Mastering the Rockeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of your Fast Growth Firm
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Cash flow is the most important thing to your business, it can make or break you
Keep 10 to 30 year goals for your business
Take one customer and one employee out to lunch a week to stay in touch with your
business
Fall 2006
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Jim Collins
Author of Good to Great
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Lack of discipline & chronic inconsistency are what separates great organizations
from good organizations
Willingness to change is not what separates organizations, a common
misconception
Your core values do not change, but your practices are open to change
Hedgehog concept: penetrating understanding of 3 issues
1. Passion: understand what you are passionate about
2. Best at: if you can’t be the best in the world at it, leave it someone else
3. Economics: understand what drives your economic engine
Winter 2006
Robert C. Larson
Leadership Initiative
Dan Gilbert
Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Author of Stumbling on Happiness
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Wisdom is knowing when and when not to be swayed
Times when a lot of people think you are wrong you should reconsider your position
Navigation tools that we can use are: rationality, math, & science
2 Things to do to make better decisions:
1. If I do this what will happen? (Understand your odds)
2. And if it does happen, how am I going to feel about it? (How much do I value
the potential payoff?)
Summer 2007