In 2013, Dilbert told his boss that all great leaders throughout history succeeded by reading a random book on leadership possessing a magic formula. That’s after he told the boss there are 10,000 books about leadership with millions of leaders in which no two are alike. Willie Pietersen’s book on leadership is far from random and steeped in wisdom and timeless truths surrounded by philosophy, astrophysics, and relationships built on forgiveness and vision for one another.
Episode Highlights
Are producers and podcast hosts allowed to have favorite shows? I’ve listened to this interview three times and still want to hear more. As I listened to Willie Pietersen talk about his newest book, Leadership–The Inside Story, three words kept popping into my mind: wisdom, wisdom, and more wisdom. Here are some of the highlights from this fascinating conversation:
- Willie’s third book
- Great but straightforward definitions of philosophy and astrophysics
- Mark’s shoutout of Strategic Learning
- How a diamond is formed and the analogy for leadership
- South America in 1948
- The reason every leader should read about Mandela’s courage, vision, and forgiveness of others
- Humility and lifelong learning: a great example of learning finance
- The question that won a war (brilliant!!)
- What happens when an elder dies?
- “Walk with me.”
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Memorable Lines in Leadership: The Inside Story
On philosophy and astrophysics:
“I have also gained valuable insights about leadership from my readings in two other favorite topics, philosophy and astrophysics. I find that studying philosophy helps us develop our personal answers to three life-guiding questions: What is true? What is important? And What is right?”
On connecting with others:
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”
Mandela’s uniqueness:
“Mandela’s interpersonal effectiveness stemmed from his extraordinary mastery of self, coupled with his profound empathy—the ability to see the world through the eyes of others.”
Regarding change, a quote from Margaret Wheatley:
“You cannot change a living thing from the outside. You can only disturb it, so it changes itself.”
A reference to Socrates:
“I don’t give birth to ideas, but I facilitate their delivery.”
Seven critical questions for leaders:
“What assumptions must be true for this to be the right decision? What will be the consequences of not taking this decision? What are we aiming to achieve, and how will we measure success? What is the strongest counter-argument to taking this decision? If we were not already in this business, would we enter it now? What is the problem to be solved in the eyes of the customer? What do we care about beyond making money?”
On learning and an Alvin Toffler reference:
“Alvin Toffler famously described the challenge we face in a rapidly changing world as the need to learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
A Robert Iger story on the critical few versus the trivial many:
“He tells this story in his book, The Ride of a Lifetime: on the lead-up to his appointment, the board asked Iger to define his priorities for the future of the company. He started to make a list, but when he got to five, he realized, “I hadn’t prioritized any of them . . . My overall vision lacked clarity and inspiration . . . I quickly landed on three clear priorities. They have guided the company since the moment I was named CEO.””
And a similar story on Steve Jobs:
“Jobs continued to run the company in this vein until his untimely death in October 2011. He took Apple’s 100 top executives on retreat each year, and on the last day he would challenge the group to come up with the 10 things the company should do next. Once the group settled on 10, he wrote them on a whiteboard, surveyed them, and systematically deleted seven, declaring, “We can only do three.””
Who is Willie Pietersen?
- Former CEO of international companies
- Columbia Business School professor
- Consultant to global organizations for creating winning strategies.
- Creator of the Strategic Learning Process.
Episode Pairings
Title Photo Attribution: Robben Island. (2024, November 12). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robben_Island
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