159. Earn Your Audience: You Can’t Lead If No One’s Listening

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

10-09-2024 • 21 mins

Become a Faster Smarter Supporter by joining TFTS Premium.


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:


Connect:


Chapters:

  • (00:00) - Introduction
  • (01:42) - The Core of Knight-Hennessy Scholars
  • (02:30) - Knight-Hennessy Scholars Leadership Model
  • (04:09) - Empathy and Humility in Leadership
  • (06:35) - Storytelling in Leadership
  • (07:57) - Challenges in Storytelling
  • (09:31) - Diversity in Leadership
  • (11:55) - Feedback in Leadership Development
  • (13:05) - Aspiring to Big Ideas in Leadership
  • (13:51) - The Leading Matters Podcast
  • (15:45) - The Final Three Questions
  • (19:06) - Conclusion

You Might Like

The Ramsey Show
The Ramsey Show
Ramsey Network
Marketplace
Marketplace
Marketplace
The Canadian Investor
The Canadian Investor
Braden Dennis & Simon Belanger
Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques
Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques
Matt Abrahams, Think Fast Talk Smart
Motley Fool Money
Motley Fool Money
The Motley Fool
CREATIVO
CREATIVO
Roberto Mtz
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Vox Media Podcast Network
TLDR
TLDR
Devin Friedman, Sarah Rieger, Matthew Karasz
The Loonie Hour
The Loonie Hour
Steve Saretsky
Jocko Podcast
Jocko Podcast
Jocko DEFCOR Network