Simply Lead- Report on the 2013 Chick-fil-A Leadercast

This past Friday, May 10th, I attended the 2013 Chick-fil-A Leadercast.  This was my first time attending this event, and I hope it won't be my last.  I attended one of the local simulcast location.

This event was started over 10 years ago by John C. Maxwell, as the Maximum Impact Leadercast.  Later on, GiANT Impact started running the event, and more recently Chick-fil-A became the major sponsor, hence its current name.  I only learned about the event last year.


Never having attended this event, I went in without too many preconceptions.  I figured it would be a series of lectures/presentations from various leadership experts.  It did have that, but a lot more.  There were some great music interludes, as well as some fun video segments.  Overall, I thought the event was great.

The event lasted all day, from about 8 to 5.  It was broken up into 4 segments, with breaks in between, plus lunch (provided with the event, catered by Chick-fil-A).  Participants were also given a journal with information on the presenters, some short articles and places to take notes.  The below is based on my notes.

The overall theme of this year's event was "Simply Lead", and most of the presenters worked from that theme.

In the first segment, we had 2 presenters: Andy Stanley and David Allen.

Andy Stanley is a minister and author of leadership works.  This presentation was about "Leadership Made Simple".  He had 3 points:

1. What are we doing?
2. Why are we doing it?
3. Where do I fit in?

Here the leader (and actually any member of a team or organization) needs to be able to answer these questions.  With the idea on how you fit in, you need to know:

• What is your critical role?
• What is your unique contribution?
• What is your core responsibility?

Some other good points were that growth creates complexity which requires simplicity.  He also spoke of "Level 5" leaders (this from Built to Last), and how Level 5 leaders don't need to be the smartest person in the room.  They should be willing to be the dumbest person.



David Allen is an executive coach who focuses on getting things done.  His big points where about freeing yourself of unnecessary stuff so that you can focus on what you really need to do.

 

There is an inverse relationship between what is on your mind and getting it done.  You need to get it out of your mind- write it down, so that you can then focus on the task at hand.

This segment then wrapped up with an interview with Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross.

The second segment had Dr. Henry Cloud and John C. Maxwell.

Cloud is a psychologist who has written on the boundaries for leaders and on integrity.  A big part of what he speaks of is being "ridiculously in charge", which basically means being totally in charge.  A leader should also have "boundaries".  These are made up of two things: what you create and what you allow.  This is all about building the culture of your organization.



A point he said is that if everything is important, then nothing is important.

Another important thought is that the worse thing a leader can do is hope.  If you are heading in the wrong direction, perseverance won't help you.  Instead, you need to create "necessary endings", you need to stop doing what you are doing (or ending a relationship that is going nowhere).

John C. Maxwell also took a look into the theme of the conference: Simply Lead, and how communications makes it simple.   His points where:

• Simplistic- shallow & fast
• Complex- deep & slow
• Simple- deep & fast

We want to get to simple, not be simplistic.  There is a difference.  And Maxwell is well known for stating that leadership is influence.

He then gave a simple model for leading simply:

How to Simply Lead

1. Add value to people everyday
2. Subtract your leadership landmines
3. Multiply your strengths by developing them
4. Divide your weaknesses by delegating them

As a leader, we should be adding value to the people we lead every day.  Your landmines are the issues you face.  Maxwell has always been big on your strengths, which is what you are good at.  You should be working on those, developing them further.  You weaknesses are those things you aren't good at.  It's not worth your time to develop them, because you will never get that good at them.  It's better to surround yourself with people who are good at what you aren't good at.

A leader is like a quarterback.  He doesn't get paid to run the ball, he gets paid to put the ball into the right hands.  THAT is their task.

And his final thought was, I thought, very important:

Our Problem: Trying to find a leader to solve our problems.
The Answer: Be the leader that solves the problem.

In the third segment, we had Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Coach K spoke of creating teams, using as an example the team he put together to win the gold medal in basketball.

A big part of this is:

• Communicate
• Always tell the Truth

As a leader, we should have a commitment to standards.  We need to create a culture for success and Truth leads to Trust.  Finally, rules are externally applied, standards are internally applied.

This is because you shouldn't focus on success.  Focus on creating that culture for success, and winning will come of that.

We then had a video interview with Condoleezza Rice conducted by John Maxwell, focused on leadership and the event theme.

The final part of the segment was on Caine's Arcade.  This is a true story of a 9 year old boy in East LA who created his own arcade using cardboard, and whole movement to inspire creativity in youth and the foundation of the Imagination Foundation.

In the final segment was Jack Welch and LCDR Rorke Denver.

Jack Welch is the well known CEO of GE, who turned it around with his way of leading and managing the company.  He has since started the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University.  Sadly, I've found that most people miss understand and misapply the concepts of Jack, to the detriment of many.

Some of the things he spoke of was that not being transparent is the worse form of management.

You need to have Fairness- give people the chance, and you need to have the Generosity Gene.  Good managers have it, bad ones don't.

You need the 3 S's:

• Self-confidence
• Simplicity (leads to clarity, action, understanding)
• Speed

With this, you can win the game.

When bringing forth change, you MUST explain what's in it for them (your followers).  Else, it won't succeed.

Behaviors and Performance are important.  Those with both are what you want.  Those who lack both, you need to get them out.  Those with good behaviors but bad performance you can help improve.  Those with bad behaviors and good performance are a problem.



Things were wrapped up with LCDR Rorke Denver, who is a former Navy SEAL, who started in the movie "Act of Valor" and recently wrote a book.

His big point was that as a leader, our behavior is important.  Those we follow will mimic that behavior.  Calm is contagious.  But then so is panic.  Or stupidity.



The theme for the 2014 Chick-fil-A Leadercast will be "Beyond You", about developing the leaders around you.  The date is set for May 9th, 2014.  I hope to attend, and recommend it to others.  Your best option is probably to find a local simulcast location.