4 Choices of Leaders we CHOOSE to Follow
"What do Servant Leaders do differently?"
There are leaders we choose to follow. We allow them to have a deep and profound influence in our lives. They are rare. What sets them apart?
We've been looking into this for years now. There are 4 choices they make consistently:
About Jonathan Fanning
Internationally renowned speaker and leadership expert, Jonathan Fanning, has written several books, including:
- Â Who are you BECOMING?
- Creativity Unleashed!
- Conversations with the Monk
- I Once Was Lost.
He's been helping organizations around the world find and implement game-changers for over 20 years.
Jonathan's TEDx Talk was voted "best of the conference!"
He has also built several successful businesses including Entrepreneur Adventure, designed to help young people experience business start-up and ownership.
Jonathan brings his amazing gift of combining story-telling, humor, emotion, and tough questions to his acclaimed online coaching programs.Â
Keynotes - Workshops - Coaching Programs
Live, Virtual, or Hybrid!
- Who Are You Becoming? - A year from now, you’ll be a better leader, parent, person... or not. More courageous, caring, focused, patient, humble, passionate, effective... or not. Based on Jonathan’s best-selling book, discover the "Simplest and Most Effective Leadership Development Plan!"
- Creativity Unleashed! - Are you and your organization becoming more - or less - creative? Jonathan’s TED Talk on this topic won the best speaker of the conference. The "Innovator’s Equation" and "Einstein's Hour" are just two of many game-changers we'll explore.
- Developing Emotional Intelligence - Emotions are incredibly contagious and they affect everything! Are yours worth spreading? Discover a powerful framework to take your Emotional Intelligence to the next level.
- The Servant Leader Paradox - What separates those we choose to follow from those we follow simply because we "have" to? 4 Habits that change your world!
3 Keys to World-Class Leadership Development
"What does world-class leadership development look like?"
Bill Ford, Henry's great grandson, asked the question. We were sitting at world headquarters for one of history's most well-known companies.
How do we find and develop great leaders? What really works? It's obviously more than a simple: spend the money and you'll get a great program. What separates a world-class leadership development process from the average program?Â
My college pitching coach knew 3 requirements.
Education's Purpose?
What's the purpose of education? What's your school's mission: a) content b) uncover passion & purpose c) develop cognitive & social skills d) form character? When you ask school leaders, the answers are b, c, & d. When you ask students or look at time spent, the answer is a resounding A!
World-class innovators (aka "the crazy ones") tend to ask more questions - about more things - from more angles - and with more persistence.
If we ask a few questions, we might do what the Lawrence School did: rethink the misalignment. And then change some things.
Creativity Unleashed. In action. A challenge from Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era.
it's not out there...
What if every person who crosses your path has a powerful lesson specifically for you?
My Uber driver in Dallas was a professional skateboarder. He has his own skateboard brand.
But he never met his dad. When Josh's son was 18 months old, Josh realized that the battle between love and hate wasn't out there. He pointed to his heart. "It's right here. In my heart and in yours." Josh made a commitment to his son that night. "My father's path didn't have to be mine. I could be the dad I never had."
I share more of Josh's story in my book: Creativity Unleashed!
Visit Josh's skateboard brand here:Â https://nowskateboards.com
200 sandwiches every Thanksgiving?
After their family's Thanksgiving feast, they sit around the table and make 200 sandwiches.
They do it every year.
But the sandwiches are not for them. Not for their guests. Not for their next door neighbors.
After making the sandwiches, they jump in the car and drive to NYC to deliver 200 sandwiches for a special Thanksgiving tradition.
Will you make the Holiday Season more meaningful and memorable this year?
bad Beer / great Leadership?
I've been brewing beer for almost a decade. (No, not continuously!)
When friends, family, neighbors find out you make beer, they all want to try it.
Their feedback seems is all to often: "Wow. That's pretty good."
What exactly does that mean?
Most CEO's, managers, parents, coaches think they're doing a "pretty good" job. How do you really know?
There's such a huge difference between bad/good/great - whether it's beer or leadership. Question for you: How do you really know?
By the way, it is time to "unleash" my latest book, Creativity Unleashed!, to the world. Stay tuned.
some run TOWARDS
9/11
In times of danger - some run away, some watch from a safe distance, and some run TOWARDS.
I'll never forget this day and the brave souls who ran towards.
May God Bless Uncle Joe and all members of the FDNY!
Helen Keller & a Creativity Challenge
Was Helen Keller right? "Life is either a daring bold adventure - or nothing at all."
What MIGHT you do this year that would be a daring bold adventure? Seriously! Get a list started. 5 ideas. Make it 10. How about 20 every morning for the next week? What if you weave it into your conversations?
Great questions help unleash creativity and alas, it is time to "unleash" my latest book, Creativity Unleashed!, to the world.
Although my keynote speaking schedule has me crisscrossing the US and visiting other continents, this year I'm blocking off significant time for workshops and coaching programs to help YOU make it real. Let me know if we should have a conversation!
I dare you to try this!
How many things have to happen to you before something occurs to you?
Robert Frost asked me that a long time ago. (Not personally... and before I was born!)
It is a good question, though, and there's a conversation that seems to happen all too often. It goes like this:
"We could have a better relationship if only they would..."
I dare you to try this with me. Pick ONE relationship and let's pretend that YOU are 100% responsible for any potential positive progress made in that relationship. What might you do? What will you do? As I tell my daughters, "I love you too much to lie to you... and you have not given this (project, sport, relationship) everything you've got!"
100% changes everything.
By the way, "if only they..." is not allowed during this challenge!
redefining greatness
We have a flawed definition - or picture - of greatness. A weekend in the north of France helped me see that.
The amazing people with the Brandon Tolson Foundation (helping parents who have suffered the loss of a child) daily demonstrate a priceless reminder.
How do you define greatness?
"Art is never finished, only abandoned!"
Leonardo da Vinci was quite accurate!
Alas, it is time to "abandon" my latest book, Creativity Unleashed, to the world. I've been speaking on this topic around the world for over a decade now and the impact of these 5 practical strategies has been awe-inspiring.
I recently facilitated an "Entrepreneur Adventure" for a group of teenagers. We used several strategies from the book, including the power of leveraging limits to unleash creativity.
How have you experienced this? How can you better leverage limits for unleashing creativity?
A Twilight Zone Experience!
Seated next to me on the plane... was ME. But a younger version of me.
He asked for advice and I knew that it had to be both valuable and memorable.
Memorable because so many of these conversations are forgotten before the day is done.
Valuable because I wanted give a precious gift to this younger version of myself.
What would you share? How would you share it?
ONE word for 2023!
Just ONE word...
Damar Hamlin tweeted about it. Pope Benedict did, as well.
This is a big one.
Love to hear your thoughts on this!
an uncomfortable Question...
I drove 5 hours to attend a funeral. Her funeral was packed. The parking lot was overflowing... because of the way she answered this question.
I particularly like asking this question around the Holidays. It's uncomfortable for me, as well.
How generous are you, really?
Simple question. A few years ago, I was looking at a Christmas tree in the back of a church. Hanging on the bows were small paper angels, each representing a child or family in need...
Watch the video for the rest of the story and make this an amazing Holiday Season!
What would you ask?
He worked for Mother Teresa and Jack Welch... back to back. After almost a year with Mother Teresa, he had some questions for GE's world-famous CEO.
Mother Teresa's "Performance Review" impacted the rest of his life.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
If you could interview the only (or one of very few) person who worked for both Mother Teresa and Jack Welch, What would you ask?
I dropped my phone @ Stonehenge!
Have you ever dropped something?
Was it something important?
Something that you really didn't want to drop?
Was it the first and only time you dropped something important?
Biggest (and most common) Leadership Blunder
Yesterday, I was on a Zoom with the leadership from one of the world's largest non-profits.
Naturally, I asked a question that nobody wanted to ask.
Are you familiar with the Stockdale Paradox? Jim Collins made it famous in Good to Great.
You and I make it famous in our daily lives ;)
Elon's "10 v 6" Strategy for Unleashing Creativity
Is there a gap between your creative potential and your creative reality?
What could Elon's 10 v 6 strategy do in your world?
***Creativity Unleashed bootcamp!***
YES, we are offering a [FREE] bootcamp (available April 19-22). Register below for access.
Will vs Chris
[an Emotional Intelligence "teachable moment!"]
Aren't you glad that your life is not livestreamed?
Not that you'd ever lose your temper in front of an audience!
Are feelings the standard for judging morality or is morality the standard for judging feelings?
Do feelings make the rules or should right rules guide the feelings?
Who owns your Amygdala?
5 minutes with Walt Disney: Creativity Unleashed!
Building an amazingly creative culture demands a simple strategy that actually works. Walt issued this 5 minute challenge 65 years ago.
What could Walt's strategy do in your world?
***Creativity Unleashed Bootcamp!***
YES, we are offering a [FREE] bootcamp. Register below for access.
Most Important Meeting in History?
[or perhaps the last 239 years?]
March 15th. 239 years ago.
In a little temporary village in Upstate New York.
With ONE sentence, the speaker altered the course of government for BILLIONS of people.
Yet, he wasn't even invited to the meeting.
In fact, he was left off the guest list because they didn't want him to do exactly what he did.
Building a Leadership CULTURE
[no budget, no resources, no problem]
No budget. No resources. No approval from the C-Suite... (shhhhh!) - and it worked!
It was a turnaround in a 2,000+ employee distribution center.
Productivity, morale, quality were AWFUL. Worst in the ~20 Billion Dollar company.
We needed to change the culture, so I built a simple, free, and incredibly effective cultural transformation program.
Superbowl, Olympics, Spotlights...
[& why most leadership programs are a complete waste of time]
2,874 athletes. 327 medals. 93 nations. 2/3 of the nations and 90+% of the athletes will return home without a single medal.
So why compete?
You won't win gold every time. You may never win gold. In fact, if you do win gold every time, you're not in the Olympics... and you're not growing as a leader!
You want to become a better leader? You need more SuperBowl / Olympics spotlights. Period.
Will you seek, create, and incorporate them?
Building Character in Kids: 2 Options
Culture is character at scale.
How do we build character? ...whether in kids, organizations, or ourselves?
There are 2 options and all too often we are going with the wrong option.
Education once focused on one option. Today's metrics tell a very different story.
Leap of Courage - from Corporate to Tech Start-up!
Giselle made the leap.
Excellent grades. Law degree. Great corporate career.
Success. Not failure.
Giselle Galper launched chea seed (www.cheaseed.com) and shared a profound lesson in our approach to courage and failure.
What's the purpose of FEAR?
You have 82 seconds to figure it out... if you want to survive.
Would you jump out of an airplane if you had no feeling in your legs - and you knew the parachute would go into a death-spiral? Would you do it over and over and over? 600 times?
Dr. Kevin Payne spent his life studying people, especially why some people succeed or fail under difficult & distressing circumstances. Multiple Sclerosis gave him the chance to practice on himself, so he decided to jump out of airplanes!
Walt's Friday Routine
Every Friday, Walt Disney would spend time with the Sherman Brothers. They wrote It's a Small World (you'll thank me later!), all the songs for Mary Poppins, and were working on The Jungle Book.
Walt would discuss their latest efforts, offer assistance, and then...
Walt Disney would ask them to play The Song.
Friday after Friday. Week after week. Month after month.
Don't miss Richard Sherman talking about Walt @ 7:03!
If you haven't already, please register for the free series & invite a friend!
warning... participating in this challenge is likely to change your world!
