Leadership Lessons from Justin Trudeau

One of the great things about TED talks is that they are no longer confined to the stage format. The infamous TED experience started off over 30 years ago as an invitation-only event held but once a year. Now it has grown to conferences held in cities all over the world, with smaller TEDx events offered for a local impact. With a focus on everything from tech to mental health, they have covered most topics several times over, and yet still manage to publish content that is engaging and informative. In a recent video sponsored by TED, Adam Grant sits down with Justin Trudeau to talk about the lessons he’s learned in his near decade as the Canadian Prime Minister.

For those who are not as familiar with Mr. Trudeau’s background, he is the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. From a young age he was in the spotlight, watching his father navigate the challenges of being a world leader. After his own experience in higher education, he taught elementary school for several years before entering the life of politics himself. Despite having been in the political world for over 25 years, even Trudeau sometimes struggles with Impostor Syndrome, a divided nation, and the rigors of public life. From his upbringing as the son of a former Prime Minister, his years in education, to his years in office, Prime Minister Trudeau goes into the lessons he learned at each step of the way, and how they help him today. Set aside a half hour and check out the interview here. It’s a must-see for anyone in leadership!

Heart to Heart Decision Making

Achieving synergy amongst team members can be a challenge in the best of times. Leadership and managers would love nothing more than cohesion with very little effort, but unfortunately that’s not often the case. Conflicts in the workplace are natural, so what can leadership do to make team building and decision making run more smoothly? In a fascinating twist, it turns out the key may be harmonizing our minds and bodies.

In a relatively new area of study, known as physiological synchronization, scientists are seeking answers in how the human body and brain respond to social interactions. After studying “firewalkers” in Spain, researchers began to see commonalities in heart rate variation among close familial relations. In a tradition where men walk across a bed of hot coals, it’s not surprising that the walkers’ heart rates rose and fell at different points. The curious evidence came when they examined the heart rates of spouses and family members who had gathered to watch; which had risen and fallen at the same intervals as their loved one’s (the heart rates of unrelated observers did not synch with the walker’s).

Researchers have since extrapolated this phenomena and applied it to larger groups, such as colleagues in an office environment. A study was conducted, and researchers found that heart rate synchronization helped lead to correct decision making 70% of the time, which accounted for information sharing and free communication amongst team members. Check out the full article here for some amazing insight into the body-mind connection, as well as broader applications of the science behind it.

Breaking the Cycle of Overwhelm

Some of us are lucky enough to love our careers. Going to work is something to look forward to, and something deeply fulfilling. For others, getting up to face another work day is difficult, with no motivations or driving forces to even try to be productive. Likely everyone has experienced this at some point in our lives. Psychologists and professional coaches alike can attest that falling into this rut happens from entry level positions all the way up to the C-suite, and everywhere in between.

There are many schools of thought on how to break this cycle of overwhelm and exhaustion. Daily meditation or mindfulness practices, vigorous exercise, or taking time off for self care are just some of the common recommendations to get a bit of a spark back in your work life. Two Harvard researchers, however, have found a step-by-step method to revive your motivation and happiness in the workplace. They affectionately call it the DEAR Method, and it was featured in one of the recent HBR Ideacast episodes.

DEAR stands for: Detach, Empathy, Action, and Reframing. To detach, one might go through the list mentioned above: meditate, get outside, or take a long weekend to step away and get your thoughts off of the drudgery. Interestingly, the authors of the research recommend talking about oneself in the third person in order to gain perspective “(Insert name here) is struggling at work and feeling bored. What should (he/she/they) do?” Empathy in this context is a very deep concept. Not only do we need to practice self-compassion and grace, but those who are exhausted and unmotivated at work also tend to lose empathy for their co-workers. Feeling burnt out at work can make people run on autopilot when at the office, and this can in turn take away some of the humanity of fellow employees.

Action, here, refers to specific tasks that can help organize your thoughts about work in a different light. Making to-do lists just for the dopamine hit every time an item gets crossed off, for instance, is a good way to feel better quickly. Developing a hobby outside of work is another way to feel motivated about the world in general. And lastly, reframing. This is done last in order to really see if a change in perspective is possible. Of course, once the previous three steps have been taken, what might come to light is that the job needs to be changed more drastically than is possible, and that’s okay. These steps are guaranteed to at least shed some light on what should be done.

Give the Inc.com article a read for a quick synopsis, and listen to the HBR podcast episode here for a bit more information on the research behind these action items.

The Power of Positive Habits

Psychologists and neuroscientists say that building habits is our brain’s way of saving energy. Turning something into a habit or a routine allows our brains to run on autopilot, making us more efficient at important things, like, perhaps, survival. Because of this efficiency, we have become more resilient over time. You don’t brush and floss your teeth because you spend time scheduling those activities into your day, you just do it because they are habit. Because of that habit, your mouth is more resilient to the threat of tooth and gum disease. It’s just one of the amazing ways our brains have helped us along our evolutionary path.

Positive habits are those that make us healthier and happier people. For example, the above-mentioned dental care, quality sleep, healthy foods, or an exercise routine are just a few examples of these positive habits. Just as these habits make us more physically resilient to stress and sickness, there is an entire group of habits that help us mentally and emotionally. These can include a daily meditation practice, volunteer work, or connecting to our loved ones and fellow community members, and these are the habits that make us more emotionally resilient to the stress and craziness around us.

High-performance coach and author Brendon Burchard has a wealth of experience in teaching his clients just how important these habits are to our overall health and resilience in life. In his Positive Habits presentation, he teaches his GrowthDay crowd how strengthening our connections and our relationships is what will build us a strong enough foundation to weather the storms that are inevitably going to happen. Check out this brief and fun video for some tips on how to cultivate more resilience in your life.

The Myth of Productivity

Over the past several years, much has been published about returning to a more natural state of existing. For instance, the slow food movement. An idea that became popularized in Italy (that everyone should have access to good, clean, and fair food), has since become a global phenomenon, getting to the root of food and our diets’ relationship to quality of life and most western diseases. To put together a cohesive map of what this slow food movement would look like, groups began to look to more traditional methods of farming, ranching, and food preparation. Just like this movement examined our ideas about how food should be prepared and where it should come from, there’s a new idea out there proposed by author Cal Newport; that of slow productivity.

In his new book Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment without Burnout, Newport examines the root beliefs behind our modern notions of productivity. As it turns out, the idea of being busy all the time maximizing productivity comes from rather old ideas prevalent in both agriculture and factory work. Most of us have jobs or careers that are a far cry from agriculture or factory work. Beyond that, the pressure to stay busy can lead to what he calls pseudo-productivity. So why are we holding onto these ideals?

Newport dives deep into how overload culture can ultimately harm both individuals and businesses. By slowing down, setting boundaries, and taking on less work, we start to see higher productivity in most cases. His three main principles for applying this lifestyle:

1. Do fewer things: just take on fewer projects, get used to saying no, and backing it up by doing things like tracking your time.

2. Work at a natural pace: this is where Newport goes back further than modern day agriculture or factory work. He highlights what our ancient ancestor’s days and even seasons looked like, and how survival depended on slowing down.

3. Obsess over quality: perhaps the most satisfactory of the three principles, this allows everyone to produce much higher quality work.

His book is now available for purchase, and you can find a great interview with Mr. Newport on one of the recent episodes of Dan Harris’s Ten Percent Happier podcast.

Gender Equality in the Workplace

March is Women’s History Month, and one of the ways in which we can celebrate this is to honor the female trailblazers in the corporate world. Women like Estee Lauder, Coco Chanel, Katharine Graham, and Oprah Winfrey, made their way to the tops of their respective industries years ago, when women made up a very small fraction of C-suite leadership. Although that percentage has now grown, we have a long way to go before we achieve true gender equality in the workplace.

Despite the long road ahead, many in the business world feel optimistic about the future of gender equality. In the newest episode of Wharton’s podcast, the issue of equality in the workplace is on the table. As part of their Women in Leadership series, podcast host Dan Loney interviews Maurice Schweitzer about the long-held assumptions of gender norms and how they are changing. Side note: the irony of this discussion being held by two men is not lost on this blogger. It is, however, a very interesting and valuable conversation to listen to. Both discuss examples of inequality they’ve seen in the business world, and how we can all do our part to address these issues in the future. Give the new episode a listen here to see what has changed since the first women in c-suite leadership opened the doors for the next generations to come.

The Two Types of Decisions

Decision making is a fundamental part of leadership and management. While business savvy and intuition can carry one a long way, it helps to be familiar with the potential consequences of said decision before jumping to any conclusions. In an insightful new article from the Farnum Street blog, the two types of decisions are broken down, using some advice from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. These are put into perspective, along with some advice on how to make the best of each situation.

Much like diabetes, the type of decision to be made can be broken down into two types: Irreversible (type 1), and Reversible (type 2). Type 1 decisions tend are the higher-stakes decisions that would be too costly to come back from, where as type 2 decisions are easily corrected with little cost and/or time involved. Once issues are viewed on this spectrum of reversibility, it’s possible to know how to approach their solution. For type 1 decisions, the consequences can be much higher, so it’s best to make these decisions slowly. Gather information, weigh risks vs. rewards, and literally calculate potential costs if the results go sideways.

Some folks have a hard time knowing when to stop this process, however, and may miss the opportunity altogether. To know when the data gathering has gone far enough, the author recommends what he calls “Stop, LOP, or Know.” First of all: Stop. if helpful information has stopped coming in, it’s likely there’s no more to gather. Due diligence is great, but once you have a well-rounded view of things, there’s little chance of some earth-shattering piece of information coming in at the last moment. Take what information has come to light, and make the best of it. Secondly, LOP, stands for Loss of Opportunity. If the decision to be made faces a deadline, the opportunity could slip away unless a timely choice is made. And lastly, Know: leadership knows what to do, but may not want to face up to it. Some decisions are awkward and difficult, despite the fact that the answer is clear.

Reversible, or type 2 decisions, on the the other hand, should be made as quickly as possible. This is not a green-light to act recklessly or choose options out of a hat. This is just an acknowledgement that imperfection is acceptable where the stakes are lower. Bezos himself has said having to quickly correct a 70% sure option is better than waiting around for a 90% sure option. For these low-cost gambles, he may just be right. Give the full article a read here for more insights on when and how to incorporate these methods.

Accelerated Learning

Edgar Mitchell once said, “Our ignorance…is based on the egos we have. It is the unwillingness to go beyond ego.” Ultimately, what Mitchell is getting at is that thinking you know everything is the greatest hurdle to knowledge. Much has been written about (and shared on this blog) about the correlation between leadership and the love of learning. Studies show the two often go hand in hand, and stiving to learn more only makes leaders better at their jobs. A recent article from the folks at the Farnum Street blog, has some very interesting insights on how to maximize the ways and speeds at which we learn, and one of the very first steps is to learning to recognize our own ignorance and being open to new ideas.

It turns out that some of us are just plain bad at learning. Just as in many areas of our lives, we tend to bring a lot of baggage with us. Holding on to assumptions keeps us locked into a certain mindset, so the author recommends letting the mind wander in order to stretch and grow mentally. In this way, we are able to learn from both our own experiences and those of others. The article then goes on to discuss two proven methods of learning: The Feynman Technique and Spaced Repetition. The former takes the view of learning something new from the standpoint of trying to teach the concept to someone else. Write down the explanation as if teaching to a child, then fill in gaps in the understanding. Spaced repetition is just what it sounds like - revisiting the same information at increasing intervals. This way, the brain avoids simple memorization and actually retains the information on a long-term basis. Give the full article a read here for further information, plus a comprehensive list of articles and books that will help accelerate your learning journey.

Leadership and the Big Game

Whether you’re a die-hard football fan, or just in it for the commercials, there’s a good chance you’ll be tuning into the Super Bowl this Sunday. In anticipation of the big game, Chief Executive Magazine has published an article featuring words of wisdom from former Super Bowl champ David Tyree on leadership, teamwork, and the infamous ‘helmet catch’.

During the leadup to Super Bowl XLII, Tyree and his NY Giants teammates had a practice session that did not bode well. With less than 24 hours left before they faced off against the New England Patriots, time was of the essence. After dropping ball after ball, Tyree dubbed it “the worst practice of my life.” What happened next changed Tyree’s entire outlook, and perhaps the outcome of the game. Tyree’s quarterback, Eli Manning, approached him after the disastrous practice and told him “I know you’ll be ready.” With these five simple words, Manning connected to Tyree on a level that allowed him to ‘reset’, and approach the game with renewed focus.

The Giants were trailing in the fourth quarter with less than 3 minutes remaining. Manning threw the ball to Tyree in a crucial play, who reached into the air, grabbed the ball, and pinned it to his helmet with one hand as he fell to the ground. The Giants went on to win the game, thanks to Tyree’s ability to make that amazing catch and keep the drive going. Between Manning’s leadership and his experiences both on and off the field, Tyree was inspired to found his own leadership development company, DT3 Enterprises. Check out the full article here for his advice on how leaders can connect with their teams in high pressure situations, so that everyone is at their best.

Connecting With Your Audience

Those in leadership can attest that on the whole, they love their jobs. Most of them, anyway. There are, however, certain tasks that fall to those at the helm that might not spark much joy. For many, public speaking and presentations are at the bottom of the list of things they enjoy. It simply doesn’t come naturally to everyone, and even seasoned professionals can have trouble really connecting with their audience. In steps a new article from Kellogg’s Insights blog to save the day. Michael Foley, Kellogg’s Clinical Assistant Professor and founder of Clarity Central, a consulting firm that specializes in communication skills, has some great tips on how presenters can do better.

Many leaders, states Foley, tend to use the same presentation over and over again, regardless of their audience. While this can lead to consistent expertise on the subject matter, it can also mean that certain audiences are bored half the time. Foley recommends asking yourself; “who is my audience?” and try to determine their motivations. For instance, entry-level recruits typically care more about workplace culture and advancement opportunities than compensation, while executive recruits’ concerns are typically the opposite. While this requires some work before hand, it’s worth it in the end. Spend some time researching how certain demographics respond to data and information in order to get the biggest return on your time.

Next, Foley recommends that presenters not rely wholly on either scripted notes or improvisation, but find a sweet spot in between. Reading directly from a script is too robotic for many audience members, making information seem cold and impersonal. On the flip side, winging it can make the presenter seem less prepared and less confident. Instead, aim to strike a balance. Here, Foley suggests using a 3x3 matrix: 3 main ideas supported by 2-3 subpoints, which are then supported by data, anecdotes, or examples.

Speaking of data, anecdotes, and examples, Foley’s next tip is to try and strike a balance between these supportive cases as well. Use a mix of both objective (data) and subjective (anecdotes) evidence to keep audiences engaged for the entire presentation. Objective evidence can help clarify context, while subjective evidence can provide connection.

Most importantly, says Foley, the goal should always be to educate the audience, not impress them. If a presenter’s goal is to impress or entertain, the focus is on them. Ultimately this can lead to nervousness on the part of the presenter, who is in danger of losing momentum. If the object is to educate, the focus remains on the audience. The presenter’s job is to teach them, therefore they are engaged with the audience throughout, with a more benevolent goal. Furthermore, Foley recommends practicing the presentation at least 4-5 times, ideally in front of a colleague. Check out the full article here for more examples on how to hit it out of the park the next time public speaking is on your calendar.