273. Leadership and The Human Experience: A June Recap with Mick Spiers

Leadership demands constant evolution in our rapidly changing world. Are you asking the right questions as a leader? Are you creating an environment where people can adapt, belong and thrive amid uncertainty?

This solo episode distills the most powerful insights from four exceptional leaders featured on the podcast during June, blended with reflections on leadership in today's complex landscape. Kumar Parakala revealed how the pace of technological change is exponential - "the world is changing faster than ever before, but slower than it ever will again." His guidance on embracing AI to augment rather than replace human capabilities offers a powerful framework for technological leadership.

Drawing an intriguing parallel between leadership and ChatGPT, both respond best to better questions. Like a skilled prompt engineer, great leaders know that quality questions yield quality answers. Jones Loflin challenged us to stop being "busy for busy's sake," reframing productivity as energy management rather than time management. Creating intentional space between commitments allows creativity to flourish.

Dave MacDonald's wisdom on hiring for character over skills resonates deeply: "Resumes show what people have done; character shows what they'll do when no one's watching." This prompted the confronting question: If your workplace were a democracy, would you be re-elected as leader? Your team votes daily through their engagement and trust.

Michael Lopez transformed our understanding of change management, explaining that people resist change not from stubbornness but from fear of loss. His concept of letting people "hold the pen" by co-architecting change creates ownership instead of resistance. During these times of global uncertainty, creating environments of safety and belonging for multicultural teams has never been more crucial.

Subscribe to the Leadership Project on your preferred platform and follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube for weekly content designed to help you become the leader you wish you always had. Next episode features Randy Lyman exploring emotional awareness in leadership.

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Episode Transcript

Mick Spiers (00:01):
Are you evolving as fast as the world around you?
Are you asking the rightquestions as a leader, as a
human and as a thinker?
And are you creating anenvironment where people can
adapt, belong and thrive amiduncertainty?
Today's episode is going to bea solo cast, where I reflect on

(00:21):
the most powerful insights fromthe incredible guests we've
hosted during June, blended witha few of my own thoughts and
observations on what's happeningin the world and how we show up
as leaders.
This month, we welcomed fourexceptional leaders Kumar
Parakala, a global digitaltransformation leader.
Jones Laughlin, author andcoach on focus and productivity

(00:47):
leader Jones Loflin, author andcoach on focus and productivity.
Dave MacDonald, founder of theBetter Together Group.
And Michael Lopez, a changeexpert and neuroscience-informed
coach.
Welcome back to The LeadershipProject.
I'm your host, Mick Spiers, andtoday is going to be our solo
cast, reflecting on the powerfulinsights from our guests during
the month of June.
We're going to go through thehighlights from Kumar Parikala,

(01:09):
jones Laughlin, dave McDonaldand Michael Lopez.
Let's get into it.
Kumar Parikala, an expert ondigital disruption and
leadership.
Kumar reminded us that the paceof technological change is
exponential.
And here's the confrontingtruth the world is changing
faster than it ever has before,but slower than it ever will

(01:32):
again.
That puts immense pressure onleaders to adapt, but it also
opens up incredible opportunity.
Ai is one of the most profoundchanges of our time, but, as I
often say, businesses are stillpeople.
Businesses, the leaders andcompanies that embrace AI to
augment the human experience,not replace it, will flourish.

(01:56):
Using AI to solve real worldproblems, not just AI for the
sake of AI.
Kumar also called for ethics andreflection.
We must not only explore theart of the possible, but also
ask what have we just madepossible and who does it serve?

(02:22):
Making sure that theinnovations that we bring into
the table do not have unintendedconsequences or open up for
malicious intent.
So have a think about the waythat you can embrace AI to
augment the human experienceinside your business and also to
serve your customers.
Can you use AI to solveproblems that have been plaguing
your business for some time,but doing it in a way that

(02:45):
doesn't have unintendedconsequences?
That brings me to a fun butpowerful analogy that I've been
pondering about leadership andchat GPT.
They share a common trait theyboth respond best to better
questions.
So you can think of yourself asa prompt engineer in both

(03:06):
leadership and in AI, you canask better questions of your
team and you'll get betteranswers and better results.
And if you ask better questionsof ChatGPT, you get better
answers and better results.
So ask yourself the questionare you getting the most out of
AI and what might you do to leanin and use it effectively, and

(03:29):
are you asking the rightquestions of your team and when
you embrace tools like ChatGPT?
Moving on to Jones-Loughlin andthis concept of being focused as
a bee, jones challenged us tostop being busy for the sake of
being busy.
He asked are you busy beingproductive or just busy being

(03:49):
busy?
That hit home for me.
As leaders, our job isn't tofill every moment.
It's to create space for whatmatters most, and the same
applies to our teams.
What interference can we removeto free people to do their best
work?
Jones also highlighted thatproductivity is less about time

(04:10):
management, more about energymanagement.
So build margin into your days,allow creativity to breathe,
let your people focus so thatthey can create amazing things.
It's something I'm personallyworking on creating more
intentional space betweenmeetings and then ensuring, when

(04:32):
I do turn up to a meeting, thatI'm completely focused on.
What is the purpose of thismeeting, being 100% present in
the meeting that I'm currentlyin, instead of thinking about
the meeting that I just had orsome other meeting that's in the
meeting that I'm currently in.
Instead of thinking about themeeting that I just had or some
other meeting that's in thefuture.
In the day, create space inyour day, create focus, and

(04:52):
you'll be surprised how muchmore productive you can be.
Moving on to Dave McDonald andhis concept of hiring for
character Dave dropped a truthbomb.
Resumes show what people havedone.
Character shows what they'll dowhen no one's watching.
Hiring isn't just aboutcompetence.

(05:13):
It's about character, chemistryand contribution.
What impact will this personhave on your culture?
Will it be a positive impact orwill it be a negative impact?
Will they be disruptive?
Will they be disruptive in agood way or disruptive in a bad
way?

(05:33):
Now, it's also true thatsometimes there are skills that
are table stakes.
If you're going to be a surgeon, there are skills that are
table stakes.
If you're going to be a surgeon, you need to know how to be a
surgeon.
So you can't just not thinkabout skills, but you need to
put character first.
You're going to work with thisperson every day, and so is the
rest of your team.

(05:54):
So you want to pick someonethat is pleasant to work with,
is going to be professional atwhat they do, but also a delight
to work with, and someonethat's going to add to your
culture, not destroy it.
So here's a question for you toreflect on about yourself,
though.
If your workplace was ademocracy, would you get

(06:16):
re-elected as leader?
Think about that.
Your team votes every day withtheir engagement, their energy
and their trust, so leadershipis about earning that vote daily
.
Through clarity, empathy andconsistency.
You're the one that's rolemodeling, the behavior that you
want to see in others.

(06:36):
So ask yourself would you votefor yourself as leader?
And if not, what are you goingto do differently?
Moving on to Michael Lopez,michael reminded us that change
isn't something to manage.
It's something to understand.
Change triggers the nervoussystem.
People resist, not becausethey're stubborn, but because

(06:58):
they fear loss.
And here's the kicker Peoplefear loss at a far greater
degree than they appreciate gain, and you ignore that fact at
your peril.
So have a think about what theymight be fearing in terms of
loss, and how might you showthem that fear is not real, that

(07:20):
they will be whole at the endof this journey.
And remember that that lossmight not be financial.
It could be loss of identity,status or ego.
Think about the change fromtheir perspective.
Put yourself in their shoes andthink about what they might be
fearing before you try to imposechange upon them.

(07:41):
You can also ask who isbenefiting from not changing.
What are they afraid to loseand how might you show them that
they won't lose, that they'llevolve into something new?
And remember that if peopleco-author the change, they'll
own it, whereas if the change isthrust upon them, they'll

(08:03):
resist it.
So I use a concept in mybusinesses called you hold the
pen.
Instead of architecting newchanges myself, we co-architect
change.
We ask people what do you likeabout today's processes or tools
or technology?
What don't you like?
What do you think is workingwell?

(08:24):
What's not working well?
What would you like to see donedifferently?
And we encourage them to grabhold of the pen and help us
write the new process, the newtool, the new technology.
Whatever the change might be,we get them to co-architect it
with us.
And if they've got theirfingerprints all over the change
might be, we get them toco-architect it with us.
And if they've got theirfingerprints all over the change
.
They will take great ownershipand they'll lean in and they'll

(08:48):
go on the journey with you.
Michael also taught us the valueof patience and consistency and
to stop jumping from one changeinitiative to the next.
Give change the time to embed,let it stick, before you move on
to the next one.
People get very change weary.
They go what is the new changethis month?

(09:10):
And they start either resistingthe change or ignoring it,
knowing that another one is justaround the corner.
You need to give change timefor it to actually work before
you start moving on to the nextone.
Which reminds me greatly of aprevious episode we've had on
the show, patrick Tian and hisconcept of a rhythm system.

(09:34):
What is the rhythm in yourbusiness?
Is it quarterly, is itbiannually?
Is it once a year that you needto get into this rhythm of
change?
And finally, I'd like to sharesome reflections on what's
happening in the world today.
As we look around the world, wesee conflict, uncertainty and
instability.

(09:55):
I want to remind you that manyof you are leaders of
multicultural and multinationalteams and it's more important
today than ever to create asense of safety, belonging and
humanity.
Many of your colleagues areliving through war in their home
countries and it is going to beplaying on their mind.

(10:15):
It could even be domesticpolitics in your own countries
that's being divisive, and youdon't want that divisiveness
showing up in the workplace.
The workplace is somewherewhere people need to feel safe,
need to feel that they belong.
The art here is to not takesides in any of these conflicts,

(10:37):
whether it's the domesticpolitics in your country or
world conflicts that we'reseeing today.
Don't take sides, but check inwith your people.
Show them that you care, bepresent, be supportive, give
them a good listening to if theyneed to get things off their
chest and be aware and mindfulthat they might have things

(11:00):
other than work on their mindfrom time to time.
This is a moment to show greatleadership and to create that
environment where people do feelsafe and where they feel that
they belong.
And if you're leading a business, it might be a good time to
start revisiting your businesscontinuity plans.
Good time to start revisitingyour business continuity plans.

(11:23):
Are your supply chain secure?
Do you have alternatives ifglobal conflict escalates?
This is not about fear.
It's about readiness, and yourpeople will feel safer knowing
that you're thinking ahead.
It could be anything fromshipping routes through to trade
embargoes to tariffs.
Are you thinking about whatmight be the impact to your

(11:43):
businesses?
So some closing thoughts.
What have we learned this monthon the show?
That great leaders areadaptable, that focus is about
choosing what matters, thatcharacter matters more than
skill and that change requirespatience, co-authorship and
understanding.

(12:03):
And, finally, that leadershipis about asking better questions
.
Whether it's to chat, gpt oryour team, if you ask better
questions, you'll get a betterresult.
Thanks for tuning in duringthis special June solo cast.
I invite you to reflect, togrow and to continue learning
with curiosity, clarity and care.

(12:26):
If you haven't already, makesure you subscribe to the show
on your preferred podcastplatform, but also follow us on
LinkedIn and on YouTube, wherewe share weekly videos to help
you become the leader that youwish you always had.
In the next episode, we'regoing to be joined by the

(12:47):
amazing Randy Lyman, who's goingto be sharing with us the power
of emotional awareness inleadership.
Thank you for listening to TheLeadership Project mickspiers.
com.
A huge call out to Faris Sedekfor his video editing of all of
our video content and to all ofthe team at TLP Joan Gozon,

(13:10):
Gerald Calibo and my amazingwife Sei Spiers.
I could not do this showwithout you.
Don't forget to subscribe toThe Leadership Project YouTube
channel, where we bring youinteresting videos each and
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LinkedIn, facebook and Instagram.
Now, in the meantime, please dotake care, look out for each

(13:32):
other and join us on thisjourney, as we learn together
and lead together.