2015 Global Leadership Summit: 5 Ways to Reach Your Summit
The 2015 annual Global Leadership Summit was phenomenal; broadcast to 300+ US locations, then to 120 countries it will reach 240,000 participants worldwide. While this was my first year to attend, I won’t miss another! The schedule was filled with incredible renowned leaders who spoke from experience and from the heart. The lessons shared were universal in application for every type and size of organization – participants were from for profit, nonprofit, public and private, NGO’s, government, and ministry. Every generation was represented from young people aspiring to be leaders to those with accomplished records seeking the next level of achievement. The speakers were inspiring, encouraging, transparent, and humble. Each had a personal story to tell with which every leader could identify. Their messages were practical yet challenging, down-to-earth yet awe-inspiring, at times humorous yet penetrating. There were so many take aways that it is hard to select which to share. Here are just five lessons to help you reach your summit, regardless of what leadership mountain you may be facing.
Find your personal Hedgehog – Jim Collins has been inspiring leaders from Good to Great for 25 years, yet in a recent two-year appointment as Chair for the Study of Leadership with the US Military Academy at West Point, he learned some new lessons from the young cadets. In fact, he shared that real creative impact accelerates after 50! 
That is very encouraging to millions of Baby Boomers who never plan to retire, but rather prefer to reinvent themselves. Whether you are a Millennial embarking on your career path, mid-career or late-career seeking new summits to master, finding your personal Hedgehog will get you farther, faster. For a fresh analysis of the intersection of his three overlapping circles — Passion, Economic Engine, and “What you are good at” — Collins challenged leaders to reframe the latter circle to “what you were made for”. Identifying one’s God-given purpose in terms of how one can change the lives of others enables leaders at any stage in their careers and lives to reach new levels of effectiveness and impact.
Write your own story – Dr. Brene Brown shared a compelling personal family story which held the audience’s undivided attention. Her research on vulnerability and shame demonstrates that our brains are hard-wired to create stories in every situation. The problem is that our story is not always true! Without input from others involved in situations we confront, the unknown is filled with our own imaginings – sometimes with bad endings. She gave a formula to overcome our human tendency to create false narratives when in the “dark space” of uncertainty. Three steps enable us to rewrite our story to end well: Reckon with the emotional triggers of false imaginings, Rumble with our emotions to learn the truth in conflict, and Revolution in which we rise above a false narrative with clarity of thinking, courage and grace.
Care about your customers – Horst Schulze, Founder of The Ritz-Carlton Group, presented a simple yet profound success strategy, challenging every leader regardless of industry to think of their customers or clients first and demonstrate true caring. To illustrate what is at stake when customer service is not elevated to an organization’s top priority, he defined 3 levels of service: dissatisfied customers are terrorists, satisfied customers are merely neutral, and loyal customers are created only by trust, caring and excellence in service. How does a leader truly care about customers? Schulze declared that it begins with caring for employees! To achieve the new “gold standard” in customer service, select the best, orient them to the mission and the universal importance of every job, show them how they benefit personally, help them produce excellent service, and finally as a leader, never make excuses. His simple decision factor for every action is whether it is good for the customer, employee and community – if not, it should not be done!
Pivot from leader to learner – Liz Wiseman, listed among the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world, is President of The Wiseman Group, a leadership development firm. She challenges leaders to be like a “rookie.” She asserted that when leaders are at the top of their game, they may be on a plateau, or content as mentors but relying on dated-experience, or busy but bored! She challenged leaders to have “Rookie Smarts” and pivot from their comfortable leader status quo to humble learner. How can one do that? She suggested throwing away tried and true notes and use fresh thinking; inquire and ask questions; admit what you do not know; let someone else take the lead – perhaps a rookie; and disqualify yourself by taking on a new challenge to start on the bottom of a learning curve. In the new world of work in which uncertainty is an ever present reality, leaders must be “rookies” eager to learn fast, to forge new beginnings, and be courageous.
Expand your leadership capacity — Craig Groeschel, Founder and Senior Pastor of LifeChurch.tv, an innovative worldwide online church, looks like a first class athlete on stage! He challenged leaders to step out of their fear and into God’s faith calling on their lives. He shared 5 “C’s” for doing “immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine…” Ephesians 3:20 He suggested selecting just one of 5 capacity expanders to improve 5% a year. First is Confidence – when overwhelmed, change your self-talk to a can-do frame of mind. Connections – think of being just one connection away from your destiny. Competence – select a skill that needs improvement, whether communications, delegation, organization, or whatever is limiting your leadership capacity. Character – talent will get you to the top, but only character will keep you there. Consider leaders who have fallen from their pinnacles of success, and you will be convinced of the need for flawless character to succeed in the long run. Attributes like integrity, passion, perseverance, determination, and the values that shape your credibility are essential to leadership success. Commitment – what you want is what you do. Live intensely for what you are willing to die for!
These are just a few highlights from two days filled with world-class leaders challenging others to their own new summit heights. This leadership conference was unlike any I have experienced as a broad spectrum of thought-leaders provided non-stop insight and inspiration. Thought provoking comedy, stimulating interviews, powerful Hillsong music, and amazing video success stories punctuated the agenda for an exhilarating experience worthy to schedule in 2016.
To experience past resources and videos, download the free app GLSnext. Register for the 2016 Global Leadership Summit: www.willowcreek.com Become a Host Site for the 2016 Summit: www.willowcreek.com/host
