TLP173: What’s Wrong With Leadership Development (not a question)

Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram are the Co-Founders of GiANT, a leadership development program that helps build leaders into Sherpas. Jeremie and Steve are also the co-authors of the book The 100x Leader, a #1 Best Seller on Amazon. They join the show to talk with Jim and Jan about how leaders can become someone worth following, what leadership programs today get completely wrong, and why intentionality and self-awareness are critical to a leader’s success.

Key Takeaways

[2:55] Steve lived in the United States for five years before moving back home to the UK. He enjoys recreational golf and spending time with his wife of 27 years and his children. Jeremie was living in London, but has since moved back to the United States. As a side project with his wife of 24 years, they are building modern farm houses in Oakland City.

[5:55] Most leaders are people you ‘have to follow’, which can often cause friction in an organization. It creates complacency with your employees and makes it very difficult to get engagement and buy-in.

[11:00] Leaders need to supply the rope to help their team get to the next level. If you haven’t established trust with them, then it becomes very difficult to motivate and challenge them. A good leader understands where their employees are mentally and if they need support or to be challenged.

[16:40] Jeremie uses the metaphor that leaders are gardeners. Every person on their team is like a plant that wants to be cared for differently. By catering to each personality types of your team members, you build a more engaged workforce than a complacent one.

[22:20] The biggest problem with leadership development is that it’s very individualistic. Leaders need to be looking at themselves like a sherpa. No one has climbed Mount Everest without one. They play a critical role in a mission’s success through their expertise and knowledge, and they help 3-4+ people at a time achieve their goals.

[27:25] Jeremie had an epiphany in Cancun after he watched the movie Signs with Mel Gibbons and getting hit by a drunk driver. This event completely reshaped Jeremie’s view on the world and how he runs his company today.

[37:45] A lot of leaders are accidental, but what they really need to be is intentional. The first step to becoming a better leader is to be intentional with your personal life and have it reflect in your professional life as well.

[41:55] Jeremie believes it’s important to be honest with your team and let them know you are working on your weaknesses. By being transparent, you are able to gain trust and respect.

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Quotable Quotes

“Everyone of us has the ability to be somebody worth following or someone you have to follow.”
“Every leader is like a gardener and every person on their team is like a plant and that plant has a little card that tells it how it wants to be watered.”
“Progress is a process. Most people want to [be a leader] overnight. Fix you, fix you! But you have to take them on a journey, and it’s a self-awareness journey.”
“[This traumatic accident] reshaped my view on the world and it changed my view on people; that people can be an asset, not a liability.”
“If you think you’re going to be that type of leader without working at it, you’re deluded because it will not happen.”