Week 21.07 You’re That Guy
One of my favorite thinkers is Harry Kraemer Jr who talks passionately about values-led leadership. He tells the story that at the beginning of his class at Kellogg Business School, he asks his students if they have ever heard of “those guys” who do amazing things, who lead their company with values first, who make the lives of employees better, and who start pro-social businesses that change the world. And then he reminds them, the privileged few who are attending the top 10 MBA program, that if anyone is one of those guys, they are. Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with one of “those guys” Jeff Kirschner, founder of Litterati who has built an app that uses the distributed model (think Uber) to democratize trash collection and data capture.
One day, on a walk with his 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son, his kids saw a bag of cat litter and in the way that children do, commented that the litter didn’t belong there. Jeff was not an environmentalist, but that innocent comment struck a chord. He asked himself, “if not me then who?” will leave the world a little better place. His first post was on Instagram, just a picture of litter, and others followed his lead. That has become a full technology stack, computer vision models with AI with a goal to identify the world’s waste and empower people to become part of the solution and get to the root cause of the issue of waste which impacts everyone. It weighs on the economy, it degrades the environment, kills wildlife, and poisons the food system.
Litterati enables individuals to be part of the solution and recognizes their contribution to collective global impact. And it is building a platform to make the data surrounding litter more tangible to governments because what gets measured gets managed. To date, almost 9 million pieces of litter have been picked up by literati followers. To find out more about Litterati you can go to their website here, listen to Jeff’s TED talk here, or the audio of our podcast here. And you can become a part of the solution by downloading Litterati.
In ways big and small, we are all that guy. Being that guy is a source of empowerment that frees us to recognize that all the change that we want to see comes from some person who takes on the responsibility to make that change. Think of all of our friends and leaders like Frances Hesselbein who didn’t accept segregation as a given when she led the girl scouts. She understood, and as importantly set the example and helps others understand, that we are not limited by our situation, but rather we are limited by what we can imagine in our situation. In every moment, we have the opportunity to be that guy, to say that things can be better and we can be a part of making them better.
Jeff, Harry, and Frances inspire me to keep my eyes open to be that guy, and there are more opportunities than I can possibly take on. Thanks to Jeff, there is one simple way I can make a difference and that is by becoming a Litterati and commit to photographing and picking up at least one piece of litter every day. Together we can make a difference. Every day, we can be that guy.
GOODY- Building a Hot Early Stage Company Virtually by @Jim Citrin
An awesome and quick read about a company that is thriving in the virtual world from one of our great leadership thinkers, Jim Citrin of Spencer Stuart’s CEO practice. I love how Jim who spends most of his days finding the right person for the biggest roles in the biggest companies has his eyes on leadership in the virtual world. Key Leadership elements of Trust, Relationships, Accountability, Storytelling and, of course, Hiring are even more important in our virtual world. WARNING: Goody is highly addictive so do not download and use the app unless you are ready to start acknowledging people you love with gifts on a regular basis. You’ve been warned… GOODY- Building a Hot Early Stage Company Virtuallyhttps://www.ongoody.com
2020: Look Back In Gratitude by Garry Ridge* WD-40 Company CEO & Chairman - Leadership and corporate culture architect
Too much good in this article to summarize - it should be considered a must-read! Here are some pieces I am grateful for.
As we learn more and more about the psychological benefits of gratitude in the way they help us expand possibilities in our own lives and careers, in our employees’ lives and careers, to our companies’ performance in the global market, we become more and more motivated to notice, appreciate and give grace for the mess wherever we can. So let’s get started expanding our gratitude practice.
Includes quotes from Whitney Johnson “Going into 2021, we have to give ourselves a lot of grace, make room for experimentation, and disorderliness and distraction. Two years ago we might have been mortified if a small child was disrupting our Zoom call. Now, well, it’s just the way it is.”
And from the forward to Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick’s book Leading with Gratitude, Marshall Goldsmith “Gratitude is a mental state that a) you can most easily decide to feel, b) has the most immediate effect on improving your well-being, and c) is going to have a remarkable impact on your ability to lead other people. The challenge is to remember to do it!” [2020: Look Back In Gratitude]
The Fortune of Failure from Molly Tschang’s interview with Zaza Pachulia
Say It Skillfully® is a show that helps you to benefit from Molly Tschang’s expert guidance on the best possible ways to speak your mind at work in a positive and productive manner. In Episode 65, Zaza Pachulia, whose 20-year career included 6 NBA teams and 2 Championships with the Warriors, opens up about starting in the former Soviet Union in tough times—no jobs, no electricity, standing in bread lines. He recalls his Mom’s role in picking basketball. His joy became his passion, then an obsession. He shares poignantly the exuberance in his breakthrough at age 14—invited to play in Istanbul—then the devastating passing of his Dad. Discipline, work ethic, and embracing challenges laid the foundation to be lucky so that his sport could be his life. Zaza’s groundedness and appreciation for his roots are only rivaled by his zeal to fulfill new dreams—raising 4 kids, building businesses—to inspire and help others. Tune in and learn how to navigate work while being invaluable and true to yourself. https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/128337/say-it-skillfully-zaza-pachulia-on-the-fortune-of-failure
And, as always, thank you, Marshall, for making all of this possible
With love and gratitude
Scott