Who you know is important, and what they know is even more so!

It is no longer enough to be the most connected person in your field. The data deluge and information overload we all experience has increased the demand for quality. Once upon a time we networked with a volume intent. This involved getting as many business cards as you could from the room. Now it's as many friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter you can get. The aim was to get as many business cards as you could so you could flog them stuff and hassle them after. I have no idea what the future of Facebook or Twitter is, or even what's around the corner. What I do know is this… a quality network is more valuable than a large one over the long term.

The Thought Leaders Directory 2011, is this week's gift, and will give you an introduction to some of the Thought Leaders in the community.

When I created Thought Leaders in 2001, it was driven by a double need. Firstly, the need to improve the quality of my thinking and secondly, to improve the quality of my connections. Henry Ford said that you should surround yourself with people smarter than you and get out of their way. This has certainly been my experience. Indeed the quality of my network is directly proportional to my personal growth. Better thinking leads to better conversations. From there, anything is possible.

Here are some ideas for building a quality network...

• Meet with people live
• Present at gatherings
• Handwrite notes
• Care a bit about their world
• Grow and learn
• Meet and share
• Discuss ideas not people
• Be your best value in the relationship
• Stay in touch

Quality networking is about who you're talking to and more importantly, what you are talking about. Network with intent. Hang out with smart people. Add enormous value to the conversation and their world. It's not just who you know that‘s important anymore, it's also what they know. It's the convergence of networks and knowledge that matter now.

M@

Matt Church

Take No More

I have been looking at the idea of letting people help you. I feel that there are 3 levels of personal evolution when it comes to collaboration, delegation and relying on others.

1. Take

2. Push

3. Share

Take is about being dependent and taking from others, it has a needy vibe and is obviously not ideal. In take, you draw from others unconsciously.

Push is about being independent and winning from others. It has a competitive vibe and is about getting by, pushing your agenda. In push, you win, they lose.

Share is about being interdependent and working with others. It has a liberating vibe. It is about effortlessness flowing and is the key to creating sustainability. In share, you flow.

For me, the move through independence and into an interdependent state is the only way to keep growth a priority if you are also trying to minimise friction and stress.

If you have growing pains or an increased effort as you expand in life or business, it's because you are still trying to do it all your self.

M@

Flights of Fantasy

I grew up reading fantasy epic books - love them!

In these stories the hero leaves no man or woman behind, saves damsels in distress and is basically loved for their personal sacrifice...

Recently I have learned, when you have a mission:

• You can't take everyone with you...trying to will only cause you and them heartache. Sometimes the mission must go on and people who were with you at the start may not finish the journey with you.
• People don't need saving by you (or me) and to be a rescuer is actually quite 'icky'.
• You don't have to go through personal hurt to achieve amazing things. Take care of you and yours and do good for people and the planet. The two ideas are not mutually exclusive.

This is my last blog post before Christmas. You can track my thoughts on twitter and for the southern hemisphere Summer, I will be posting many thoughts to our new online television channel Thought Leaders Studio.

If you believe you are a Thought Leader, then join our social network at Thought Leaders Central. Charlie 'tremendous' Jones said, the key difference between who you are today and who you will be tomorrow are the books you read and the people you meet. If Charlie is right, and I think he is, you need to keep learning and meet the right people. I have set up the Thought Leaders Network to provide both of these elements. The mentors on Thought Leaders Central and Thought Leaders Studio provide inspiration and advice for great thinkers.

I am starting an additional newsletter in 2010 to supplement my personal one (what you are reading right now). The plan is to produce it monthly as a downloadable newspaper/magazine format. I will be asking my mates (the Thought Leaders Mentors) to contribute articles that inspire thinking and facilitate conversations that rock the planet. It is an opt in newsletter, so subscribe here if you would like to receive a copy each month.

Thanks for a great year.

M@

Who you know is important, and what they know is even more so!

It is no longer enough to be the most connected person in your field. The data deluge and information overload we all experience has increased the demand for quality. You don't network with a volume intent. This involved getting as many business cards as you could from the room. Now it's as many friends on Facebook (FB) or followers on Twitter (Tw) you can get. The aim was to get as many business cards as you could so you could flog them stuff and hassle them after. I have no idea what the future of FB or Tw is, or even what's around the corner. What I do know is this… a quality network is more valuable than a large one over the long term.

When I created Thought Leaders in 2001, it was driven by a double need. Firstly, the need to improve the quality of my thinking and secondly, to improve the quality of my connections. Henry Ford said that you should surround yourself with people smarter than you and get out of their way. This has certainly been my experience. Indeed the quality of my network is directly proportional to my personal growth. Better thinking leads to better conversations. From there, anything is possible.

Here are some ideas for building a quality network...

• Meet with people live
• Present at gatherings
• Handwrite notes
• Care a bit about their world
• Grow and learn
• Meet and share
• Discuss ideas not people
• Be your best value in the relationship
• Stay in touch

Quality networking is about who you're talking to and more importantly, what you are talking about. Network with intent. Hang out with smart people. Add enormous value to the conversation and their world. It's not just who you know that‘s important anymore, it's also what they know. It's the convergence of networks and knowledge that matter now.

M@

Matt Church

A small group of dedicated people

I spend a lot of time tracking leadership conversations through blogs, books, speakers and seminars and I notice a heavy emphasis on Personal Leadership in the ‘zeitgeist'*. The current conversation is less about dogma 6.0 or strategy 17 (made up terms) and more about the individual leader.

Just this week I came across the following ideas (none new, just current)...

• The Leaders Character
• Collaborative Leadership
• Authentic Leaders
• Care Factor Leaders
• etc etc

Each of these ‘leadership trends' are a lens. Experts are using these lenses to look at the issue of Personal or Self Leadership. These lenses ask the question ‘What difference do you make as a leader?' A friend of mine and brilliant Thought Leader, Suzanne Mercier often says, ‘the hardest person you will ever lead is yourself'. She is an expert in Authentic Leadership and talks about the impostor syndrome.

I love it all.

Leadership is personal. It's about the difference one person can make on the whole. It's about Inspired Leadership. Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist said ‘never underestimate the power of a small group of dedicated people to change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has.'

When I talk or think on this topic I see there is a need to explain the changing role of a leader around what has stayed the same and what needs to change in the 21st century. Here is an incomplete list of some ideas I think are important for the 21st century leader. These may have always been important but in my mind they are the new leadership essential skills.

1. Unlock: Nurturing talent in yourself and others
2. Open: Entertain differences of opinion
3. Elevate: Lift the game, create higher purpose
4. Adapt : Grow behavioral flexibility and change your approach
5. Share : Facilitate collaboration between clever people
6. Know : Create clarity and share perspective
7. Speak : Present and receive ideas. Yours and others
8. Spark: Energise others to move into better futures
9. Create: Deliver results and make things happen

Sitting around all of these are the 3 key roles of a leader to replace fear with confidence, confusion with clarity and to mobilise people in pursuit of a better future. In short, to be an Inspired Leader.

M@
Matt Church

P.S. *"Zeitgeist" refers to the ethos of an identified group of people, that expresses a particular world-view which is prevalent at a particular period of socio-cultural progression. My friend Anders Sorman-Nilsson delivers a fabulous presentation about this exact thing.

Choirs or Super bands?

The challenges with building SUPER teams!

From the outset let me state I like choirs, I have nothing against choirs, choirs are good! (I hope that's clear enough). BUT, choirs are not made up of superstar stand alone singers, they are not the genius musicians that come together to form ‘SUPER bands' like U2! And this is my focus in this newsletter. Few SUPER bands stay together for ever. Those that do are truly special and go onto to become iconic, symbolic custodians of the time and poets of the evolution of man..heavy stuff!

You see my real problem is the emphasis on teams. I am not convinced the techniques for building teams work when you are dealing with SUPER talents. Sure they help standardise the norm, lift the common average and ensure consistent results with inconsistent performers, but should the same rules apply to your extraordinary individuals? And as an extension, what would happen if you could build a SUPER team composed of outstanding performers? Do the same team building rules apply?

Choirs are mostly (not all and many are amazing) made up of some pretty average talents musically who simply enjoy coming together to make a sound better than they can achieve by themselves. Choir members get a social need fulfilled by being part of a team. The sum is truly greater than the parts, there is no ‘I' in team and 1 + 1 = 3. That's all true and history validates it; the Romans did it with soldiers, the industrial age did it with factories, Unions did it with industries. The Seaforth under 8‘s soccer team will do it.

We are stronger together. Indeed the togetherness is what the team building programs of the 80's worked towards but do they still count?

YES, if you are building choirs.

But what if you need something more? What if you need the rock stars of your industry or your company to work together? Is it possible to build super teams? And if so what do you need to do differently?

Hollywood have it right. They get the best actors, with the best director, with the best writers and other remarkable specialists to come together and achieve amazing projects. They build 100 million dollar businesses in under 6 months. Often you see them coming together time and time again. It's meritocracy not democracy.

Business needs to build smarter teams, dare I say Super teams, that don't pander to the lowest common denominator but rather manage the complex and unique challenges involved in keeping the true talents together.

M@