159. Earn Your Audience: You Can’t Lead If No One’s Listening
Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques
Think Fast Talk Smart
4.7 • 711 Ratings
🗓️ 10 September 2024
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What it takes to develop as a leader.
Great leaders and great communicators aren't born, they're made. That's why John Hennessy and Tina Seelig, directors of Stanford University’s Knight-Hennessy Scholars, are working to create the great storytellers of tomorrow, today.
"We decided that there was a leadership void, and that was a driving motivation to do this," says Hennessy, former Stanford president and current Alphabet chairman. The program, which he co-founded in 2016 with Stanford alum and Nike co-founder Phil Knight, equips scholars with essential leadership skills through hands-on experience and collaborative problem-solving.
Seelig, executive director of the program, emphasizes that great leadership centers on effective storytelling. "No matter how compelling your invention, your idea, the thing you want to do in the world, if you can't communicate it in [an] effective way, nobody's going to listen," she says.
In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Hennessy, Seelig, and host Matt Abrahams explore what it takes to develop as a leader, discussing the role of communication, the power of empathy, and the centrality of storytelling.
Episode Reference Links:
- John L Hennessy
- Tina Seelig
- Knight-Hennessy Scholars
- Leading Matters Podcast
- Ep.155 Can We Be Candid? How to Communicate Clearly and Directly
- Ep.35 Leading From the Hot Seat: Hot to Communicate Under Pressure
Connect:
- Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
- Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
- Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
- Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
- Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
- Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn
Chapters:
- (00:00) - Introduction
- (02:09) - The Core of Knight-Hennessy Scholars
- (02:57) - Knight-Hennessy Scholars Leadership Model
- (04:36) - Empathy and Humility in Leadership
- (07:02) - Storytelling in Leadership
- (08:24) - Challenges in Storytelling
- (09:58) - Diversity in Leadership
- (12:22) - Feedback in Leadership Development
- (13:32) - Aspiring to Big Ideas in Leadership
- (14:18) - The Leading Matters Podcast
- (16:12) - The Final Three Questions
- (19:33) - Conclusion
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We know from research that success isn't just about effort. It's about strategy, accountability, and of course, communication. And yet, when it comes to job transitions, promotions and salary negotiations, most people go it alone. That's where today's sponsor, Strawberry.combeer career coaching, comes in. Kylie, on the Think Fast Talk Smart team met with a strawberry. |
| 0:21.0 | dot me coach and found it really helpful. Kylie, how is your coach helping you in terms of |
| 0:26.1 | your career growth and personal development? From the very beginning, the whole process has helped |
| 0:30.7 | me to really reflect on how I want to move forward and define my goals. And then my coach Rashmi |
| 0:35.8 | took my ideas, helped make them tangible, |
| 0:38.8 | and suddenly I'm moving forward with actionable steps that I can manage in my life. |
| 0:43.7 | Wow. Sounds like your coach was super helpful. Absolutely. |
| 0:47.4 | Everyone can take advantage of a career coach. I certainly have throughout my life. |
| 0:51.9 | Coaching has been really helpful. Go to strawberry.m.m. |
| 0:55.4 | slash smart and claim your $50 credit. That's strawberry.m.m. slash smart. |
| 1:02.1 | In a world where things are changing all the time, conflict can rise at any minute, |
| 1:08.0 | and attention is at a premium. Training and developing strong leaders is critical. |
| 1:15.3 | Today I'm excited to speak with John Hennessy and Tina Selegg. John has been on Stanford faculty |
| 1:21.4 | since 1977 and served as the university president for 16 years. He also serves as chairman for Alphabet |
| 1:29.1 | and is the co-founder and director of the Knight-Hennessee Scholars. |
| 1:34.4 | Tina is the executive director of Knight-Henisey Scholars |
| 1:37.0 | and Director Emeritus of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. |
| 1:41.5 | She also teaches courses at the Haso Platner Institute of Design, known as the |
| 1:46.8 | Stanford D-School. Some of you might remember Tina's excellent episode on creativity. It was episode |
| 1:53.0 | 111. John and Tina recently launched their own podcast called Leading Matters, and I encourage |
| 2:00.1 | everybody to put it in their playlist. |
| 2:02.9 | John, welcome to Think Fast Talk Smart. And Tina, thanks for coming back. Thank you, Matt. We're delighted |
... |
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