The 3 M's, Simon Say's, Travel Gadgets and more. #ThoughtsFromTerry

Hello!

Our quick trip to London this week was brilliant, I love that city but always run into the major challenge and reality of London’s not so brilliant weather. This trip was anointed with amazing weather! Thank you Lord.

One of the reasons for the London trip was the Alpha Leadership Conference. Nicki Gumbel, leader of HTB and Alpha opened the conference and was a major centerpiece. More from him below.

Leadership and Love

Nicki’s opening talk was focused on the theme of the conference, Love. A unique lens on leadership, but it worked well - and really fits the DNA and heartbeat of Nicki. Here are some random notes I highlighted from a few of his talks.

1)
Our Motivation comes from God
Our Model is Jesus
Our Motor is the Holy Spirit
This is so simple, but so powerful. Our motivation, aka Motive = needs to come from God. We must constantly check ourselves and get our motivation right. I have found our motives to be a central key where so many things just get out of whack, and they go off the rails. Our model is easy to read about, learn from and check ourselves against. Jesus. What did He do, and how does that line up with what we do? Our motor is the Holy Spirit. The core leadership Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We should be Spirit lead leaders, driven by that motor within, and fueled by Him. Again, this was nothing really new - but packaged together gave some very practical concepts and thoughts to process and do some self reflection upon.

2) Leaders, look after your health, emotional and physical!
3) Be the best version of yourself.
4) Leaders, our enemy is predictable. He attacks and uses division.

5) How we listen is oftentimes more important than what is said.
I loved this statement, it has loads of impact. Makes me think about motive. When in a conversation, what is my motive? My perspective, lens or angle? In a conversation am I listening actively with the right perspective? What others are saying is coming through a filter that we have assigned to it. What filter are we applying to what is being said...is if right, fair, appropriate or weighted with bias. I am challenged in a great way to in the moment quickly evaluate my filter and make sure it’s fresh and clean just like when I am making a fresh cup of coffee!

Simon Says

Top Tweetable moments from Simon Sinek

The biggest mistake I made as a young leader was thinking I needed to have all the answers.

Courage, Character and Integrity are the 3 most important aspects of a leader.

We don’t trust people to follow the rules, we trust people to know when to break them.

Dear Former AT&T Customer

As I mentioned in a previous email - I left AT&T wireless after 20 some odd years for T-Mobile. This week I got a former customer survey.

Seriously? 15 min survey… Just looking at this copy, and approach tells you a lot why customer are leaving AT&T and others. This not customer/user focused.

So what is the learning here, our take away? For me, it's a perfect example of a good and valid idea with poor execution. Good and great ideas need to be executed well, or they turn into bad ideas. I think AT&T needs to hear from customers why they are leaving...allowing customers a open and painless or frictionless way to offer feedback. 15 min survey is not frictionless or painless. The customer has very little motivation to offer feedback. What ideas do you have, or thinking through now - or in early execution stage that became bad ideas because of poor execution, or a poor plan. Simplify, and get back to the "Why" before the what!

Travel gadgets

I have discussed these in the past, but since I am fresh off my international trip I want to highlight 2 critical travel gadgets.

1. Charging power in the hotel room is critical (or your office). For me I always have a lot of things to charge. A watch, multiple phones, laptop and often times other people's items as well. I have found the Anker PowerPort to be fantastic. Charges my MacBook Pro and 4 other USB devices quickly. 

2. Portable charging while traveling for me is also critical. My device usage daily is very, very heavy and the days are typically very long. No matter what phone I have, the battery will NOT last the full day. It typically won’t last into a late afternoon meeting. This is so important now since Uber has become a primary transportation option...and a phone with network connection is required for Uber. I have found this PowerCore charger outstanding. It’s a little large but it does give me charging power for many phones and iPads. It’s a winner.
   
   I would love to hear if you have must have travel gadgets! 

Recommended Weekend Reading

Wisdom from Marissa Mayer: Do Something You Feel Unprepared To Do
What to do when reality smacks you in the face

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Have a great week,

Terry