21 Takeaways from the Southeastern Leadership Conference

I was proud to be one of over 300 who attended the inaugural Southeastern Leadership Conference held at the beautiful Historic Kehoe Iron Works at Trustee’s Garden in Savannah, GA. The Feb 28-Mar1 conference was 2 days of amazing speakers, lots of learning, and networking with some amazing brilliant minds. The speakers included: Mr. Michael Thurmond, Dr. Kyle Marrero, Mr. Stedman Graham, Mr. Christopher Womack, Mrs. Kimberly Ballard-Washington, Mr. Horst Schulze, Mrs. Katherine and Mr. Jay Wolf, Mrs. Erica Dhawan, LTC Stephan R. Bolton and Ms. Ivy D. Council. You can read more about them here.

I wanted to drop 21 of the best takeaways I learned or was reminded of from the conference. You know I’m all about gaining clarity and shifting your mindset. So I look forward to these moments when I can absorb the brilliance of others. Here are some of the insights…..

1. You have to break out of your “self-interest” bubble. Your most important talent as a leader should be “active listening”.
2. Productivity is achieved when we generate ideas, promote creative thinking, and learn to leverage others’ creative ideas.
3. Innovation and creativity always come from people. Always tap into the resources of those people nearest to you.
4. Leadership is always a privilege, a place of honor, and a great responsibility.
5. We must learn to connect intelligently. 3/4 of our connection is through body language.
6. Brevity can create confusion. Lead with thoughtfulness in all of your communication modes.
7. Lack of recognition often leads to resignation.
8. When it comes to communication, try to give the benefit of the doubt before rushing to hasty conclusions.
9. Continuous improvement is keeping your focus on your vision not your excuses.
10. Have a vision and be the utmost committed to it!
11. Think about the subconscious expectations your clients have. What do they want and how can you create an exceptional process to deliver it to them?
12. Don’t just go to work. Go to create excellence for yourself and all those around you.
13. People don’t talk about it but everyone wants a sense of purpose and a sense of belonging.
14. Always think “how can I do my job better?” “How can I be better relationally?”
15. The right thing to do should in essence be the easiest thing to do.
16. Evidence and insights help you make good decisions. Quick hasty decisions in serious matters are never usually the best.
17. Leaders have to be activists for issues impacting their employees.
18. In addition to being work-focused it’s critical to have a health and well-being plan!
19. When you don’t know who you are the world will define you!
20. You can’t lead others if you can’t lead yourself!
21. Redefining your life after trials and challenges is so important. It often leads to greater lessons, new paths, etc.

And there were so many more. I greatly appreciated this opportunity and enjoyed soaking up wisdom from this event. I hope this helped you as well. What insight(s) resonated with you most? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Until next year…..