Leaders’ Kitbag – October 2019

Hi and welcome back to the 4iGroup monthly Leader’s Kitbag – our compilation of items to help leaders learn, lead better and thrive themselves.

October is here, and in Australia spring is in full swing, birds are singing, kids are talking about Christmas lists and everyone in business in here is pushing the revenue lines hard ahead of the summer quiet time, in the face of what seems to be a market-wide down-turn and cost compression.

Let’s not let the hopefully short-term caution get us down hey? Still lots of good stuff to focus on and talk about, and if there’s a consistent way to turn a revenue frown upside down, it’s to look at leadership, and make sure you’re getting the very best from those you can influence to maximise the capability you have to support the business. On a person note, for me this always starts with Values.  Are they aligned, is everyone aware of them and pulling in the same direction? – some swift returns can be gained from re-correcting this if not, and if so then double down and run hard because in my experience, you’re in the minority!

This was a topic of one of the inclusions in the Listen list this month, my very first podcast broadcast on the Sydney based ‘Go All In’ podcast, with former Aussie Paratrooper Rob Brus. I hope you won’t mind the self-promotion of the content here, but the feedback I’ve had has been positive from all corners and I’d like to share it with the Kitbag community here if anyone’s missed it.

As always, more of the general sweep of interest items, leadership development, general business and self-improvement recommendations here as well of course.To everyone, thanks in advance for your time and attention devoted to the Kitbag, as always I welcome your comments so do reply if you’ve got any thoughts or suggestions on this month’s recommendations.

All the best,
Tim & all at 4iGroup

To watch

I’ve just discovered this series on Bill Gates, with 3 episodes released as I write this, each of which sit at a little under 1 hour. The series will chart his early years through to the global improvement projects he focuses on now, any of which I’d recommend to any leader interested in making an impact for the good. Click here to go to the “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” series on Netflix

To read

A quick read (10mins) and an insightful article… on how Marvel has followed a very consistent pattern of innovation all around people to drive their astonishing box office successes – click here for the article on 6seconds.org

A highly enjoyable read as always from Francesca Gino (10mins), this article challenges one of the major assumptions that I’ve encountered with many leaders, that changing your mind shows weakness. Francesca’s contention is the opposite, that shifting your view demonstrates intelligence and confidence, therefore strength – Click here to view the article on hbr.org

A great post this month from one of our Associate’s, Melina Lipkiewicz, that I wanted to share, including an article (15mins) from McKinsey which again places values right at the heart of work, and in particular how to make work meaningful – Click here to review the article on mckinsey.com

This article from Attlasian cuts across several of the topics which have become themes for me of late, and for the Kitbag as a result, EQ and Values. This article (20mins) sets out the variances in types of intelligence needed to succeed as a leader today, and into the future – my favourite of these, the Decency Quotient. Click here to see the article on www.atlassian.com

To listen 

I really enjoyed this recent episode on what is fast becoming my favourite Aussie podcast- Future Tense. This show (30mins) focuses on the mentality of leadership in Tech companies and how we must be conscious of this as we consider how integral their products and influence have become to our world. A strong call out that EQ must be developed if these businesses are to become both engaged with their customers, and more ethical in their contributions to society at large. Click here for the Future Tense episode on Apple podcasts

A show I regularly listen to for start-up advice and inspiration, taking a different tack and one that I thoroughly enjoy and endorse – considering how to build a company to last 100 years. The insights from Reid Hoffman’s interviews with leaders of businesses large and small that have passed their 100 year anniversary’s (including the CEO of Fiat) includes many poignant messages which I consider much needed to counter the much maligned short-term focuses of many leaders today. Click here for this episode of Masters of Scale on apple podcasts

And here it is, my very first podcast guest appearance. This is a longer one in relation to the recommendations list this month (1hr20m total), but if you’re interested in going the whole hog, you’ll find out lots about me, my up-bringing and formational career years, as well as the recent steps to founding 4i. To skip through to the section in particular about Values-centred Leadership, head to around 45 minutes into the broadcast…Click here for the Go All In podcast episode on Apple podcasts

And just one final thing…something to enjoy for free.

I’m excited to announce the launch of the first of our digital learning products, Emotional Intelligence Learnt is now live. The first course to hit the market, EQ-L101, is a free introduction to the topic of developing your Emotional Intelligence. The next set of courses which are more detailed on each of the areas we cover in 101 are scheduled for release this month. If you’d be interested in taking any of these courses for a test run before they hit the market as purchasable courses, drop me a line and I’ll get you into the test community. You can see all the course options, both EQ101 and the overview of those under-development here – Click to go to the EQ-L course page on our website

Thanks for reading, we hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s content.

We look forward to seeing you at www.4iGroup.com.au any time you’d like to see what we’re up to.

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Until the next monthly note,
All the best from all of us at 4i.