you know it used to be if you want someone to learn you put them in a
classroom with an instructor you're serious pros and cons to that depending
on the people on the instructor and the quality of the material but right now
there are so many new exploding options for learners inside organizations you've
got podcasts and blogs and articles and videos all kinds of things the one thing
that really is exploding the most is video why because with video we can
actually make learning happen when needed for that person 24 hours a day on
nearly any device that's a very targeted way to say what do you need and when can
I give it to you and of course that makes learning stick better and that
makes people enjoy the learning process more because it's relevant
I used to really have a lot of speakers bureaus and meeting planners that were
worried when they found out that I was a world-class PhD because you know that
just sounds boring to a lot of people's ears thankfully I've overcome that the
truth is that of course being a professor has nothing to do with the art
of standing onstage and delivering a message that people care about but one
big exception that I've figured out how to work for myself that really does help
me and that's this a lot of people who are effective performers speakers as
keynote as well they really don't have deep scientific understanding of the
topics they're jovial they're fun maybe they've done some practical work which
does make them an expert but there's something unique about a legit social
scientist who knows the research who's conducted the research who's published
the research so when I stand on stage and I share an idea through a story I'm
not making anything up I'm really just summarizing a hundred plus years of
amazing organizational science into stories that are fun easily digestible
and that help people change to become a lot better that's a fun part of being a
PhD the research maybe is boring but changing into a story that helps people
that's a lot of fun
favorite I would say that my favorite probably is authenticity it's one aspect
of the big leadership pie it's one particular aspect of interpersonal
relationships that I love the most here's why most people go to work every
day and fake it they act professional which is what they think they're
supposed to do and they're right in a limited way the truth is you're supposed
to be socially intelligent and manage impressions but we do it so much that we
fail to actually get to know people as humans as opposed to professionals or
mere human resources we actually know people want more authentic connections
and we failed to do that every day and that's so sad because the benefits of
being more authentic human honest about who you are and how you feel about the
issues of the day well the benefits are clear we have stronger rapport more
trust deeper conversations and ultimately that means more productivity
more creativity all because we chose to be a little more honest and forthright
inside of our relationships that's a power of authenticity and it is so fun
to share that with audiences through funny personable stories because guess
what benefits are big and it doesn't cost you a penny
we know there are tons of executives middle managers every industry small
firms billion-dollar firms for the platform that I'm grateful to be a part
of it's a very large very diverse professional audience now what do I hope
they get from this it's not the same as a deep dive graduate course that goes
without saying so what I'm trying to do and what I know is happening from gobs
of feedback with users is just to say to myself what is the 5 and 10 and 20% of
this topic in a practical way I can give to someone to help them go and actually
behaviorally do something different and better at work that's what I do with
these courses and I think about a problem relationship a difficult boss a
difficult project all right what are the two or three things I can share with
someone that we know will help them take a step forward and perform a little
better so we have a massive audience and we give gobs of trusted tried-and-true
advice about simple things they can do to approach their teams and their work
differently