From the course: Leadership Stories: 5-Minute Lessons in Leading People

Introduction

From the course: Leadership Stories: 5-Minute Lessons in Leading People

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Introduction

- I think the best leadership lesson I ever learned I learned from reading a textbook in college. Yeah, nobody ever said that, right? I think we all know we learn leadership best on the job from our own successes and failures, especially those rare moments of insights where we encounter a unique challenge. And then, how we respond to it, for better or worse, gives us a new insight into what works and what doesn't. Now the problem is, of course, it can take a lifetime to learn everything we wish we knew starting out. Well, wouldn't it be great if we could learn about leadership from the experience of dozens of other leaders as they encountered their rare moments of insight? Well, that's exactly what this course will do. Welcome to Leadership Stories Weekly. I'm Paul Smith, author of the book Lead with a Story. Now, as part of my research, I've conducted over 250 in-depth, one-on-one interviews with CEOs and executives at hundreds of companies and in over 25 countries around the world. Now, in each interview, I asked questions to find their most insightful experiences that led them to learn a critical leadership lesson or gain some invaluable, and often unconventional, wisdom. Now, each week I'll share one of those stories with you and let you discover the insight behind it. So think of this as a weekly chat over coffee or tea with someone who's had the luxury of interviewing some of the most insightful executives in the world. And the topics will cover a wide array of leadership issues including setting a vision, leading change, getting more creativity out of the organization, and much more. I invite you to join me each week.

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