We wish you were here! #LinkageGILD | Day 2

We covered a lot of ground on Day 2 of Linkage’s Global Institute for Leadership Development^® (GILD). The excitement continues to build here in Palm Desert, CA and the energy among the 500 leaders joining us is palpable!

From Elise Roy’s insight into innovative, inclusive solutions to Ram Charan’s advice on the greatest measure of leadership, today’s speaker line-up was unlike anything we’ve ever experienced at GILD before.

We witnessed unforgettable moments from center stage (Ask “and what else?” It keeps you curious a little longer and makes you a better coach.” – Michael Bungay Stanier), engaged in rich dialogue with our learning teams, and have made new connections that will last a lifetime.

If you want to partake in the “live” experience from home or work, check out #LinkageGILD on Twitter @LinkageInc and Instagram @Linkage.Inc, where we’re sharing in-the-moment nuggets from our faculty on the main stage.

If you missed our coverage of Day 1, check out highlights here!

Without further ado, here is a summary of today’s keynote faculty:

Stephen Shapiro on Innovate 

Every leader got five random playing cards–the tools they would need to play “Personality Poker.” But, these weren’t just any playing cards. Each card had a personality trait, like “creative,” “analytical,” “organized,” and “empathetic,” and the goal was to build a hand that perfectly describes you as a leader.

What we learned:

• Our natural tendency is to surround ourselves with people who are similar to us. In organizations, this is great for efficiency—but it kills innovation. The people who are most unlike you are the people you need the most.
• The goal to innovation is relevance and the key to innovation is complex formulation and complex solving.
• Innovation is an end to end process that starts with an issue, problem or opportunity and ends with a creation of value.
• You need to make sure that your team is playing with a full deck—that is, a nice balance of different styles and personalities!

Learn more about Personality Poker on Stephen’s official website, and be sure to follow Stephen on Twitter. 

Elise Roy on Innovate 

As a lawyer, Elise Roy was always advocating for people with differing abilities to reach the equality bar—to be treated the same. As a designer, though, she realized that differing abilities is one of the most valuable tools in the innovation process. She asks: “What if we design for disability first?”

Elise is a passionate proponent of the notion that when we design for disability, we often develop solutions that are better and more inclusive than when we design for the norm.

What we learned: 

• Difference, whether in ability, cultural background, race, or sexual orientation, is what makes us thrive.
• We need to shift our thinking about the value of those with differing abilities. This group, which has been traditionally excluded from the innovation realm because society is so used to designing for the average, has proven to be one of the most valuable assets to the innovation process.
• Look to difference in order to stimulate new thinking and develop ground-breaking innovations.

Inspired by Elise’s ideas and looking to share her insight with colleagues? Elise’s TEDx Talk, which has been viewed 1.2 million times, is a great resource. And, be sure to follow Elise on Twitter for more.

Michael Bungay Stanier on Achieve 

Michael Bungay Stanier, founder and senior partner of Box of Crayons, knows that coaching is a foundational skill for every manager and leader. He offered us five essential questions to kick-start in-the-moment coaching.

What we learned:

• When leaders make coaching an everyday way of working, they create more focus, more courage, and more resilience.
• Coaching = Work less, more impact
• We think that the first challenge that shows up is the real challenge, and it almost never is. Ask yourself: What is the real challenge here for you?
• To be an effective coach, you need to understand how people learn. The most powerful learning mechanism is to have people reflect on what just happened.

Follow Michael on Twitter for more insights or check out his website.

Ram Charan on Achieve

The best way to avoid becoming obsolete? Actively search out new ideas. Ram Charan shares that you need to be to be driven to search out new ideas—and then select the best ideas and execute on them. In doing this, you build your mindset to be ahead of the curve.

What we learned:

• Excellent leaders understand their goals clearly, and if they are unable to meet their goals, they find the causes—not excuses. (And they don’t wait until the eleventh hour to ask for help!)
• The greatest measure of leadership is what you leave behind: people, decisiveness in the organization, speed of decisions, and innovation. You’re not only delivering numbers—you’re leaving behind what you develop in terms of the organization. One example of this? Steve Job’s legacy and Apple’s continued success.
• Get rid of your insecurity: Recruit people who are better than yourself, and nurture and grow them. People are your multiplier.

Learn more about Ram on his official website.