I attended the Global Leadership Summit #gls18 last Thursday and Friday at our parish St. Thomas More in Centennial, Colorado. The parish hosted the event locally via live feed / telecast.
It was a great event with fourteen speakers who addressed a wide array of leadership topics. Attending The Global Leadership Summit was a good reminder to me that, although there really isn’t anything new under the sun, there’s still always something to learn…. and to apply in your life at work or home.
I’ll tell you a secret. I used to love going to our annual conferences when I worked at Nabisco. It was energizing to get outside the box of the office and listen to speakers from all over the world and to collect their unique pieces of wisdom. However, the afterglow and excitement of each conference was soon replaced with the everyday day to day activities of our work after the conference was over. Yet, it was still interesting to hear different points of view and the latest trends in leadership and its effect on improving business and in better serving customers. It was a great way to continue both personal and professional development over the years.
Of course, the one frustrating aspect of attending any leadership conference is collecting this wisdom in the form of written notes, or maybe buying a CD, DVD or book – then not doing anything with this new found information. A conference is akin to a fruit tree (tree of wisdom?) or vine. The information that is presented at a leadership conference is the fruit that grows from those branches or vines. The wisdom within the fruit remains in suspended animation and will ultimately rot if it’s not picked and eaten. Likewise, an amazing conference like the Global Leadership Summit, is like an orchard with a great harvest but the information will “rot” if not picked and consumed and applied in some way. Otherwise what is the use of going to a leadership conference or any type of conference if you’re not going to do anything with the information – other than getting a brief endorphin rush?
Here’s my challenge. If you went to this conference or any other one this year for that matter, pick a single favorite line of wisdom from one of the line up of speakers whose message really resonated with you and figure out a way to apply it at work or at home.
Never underestimate the value of one good idea!
A single idea sparked during the Global Leadership Summit could save your business, create a new line of business, help you see opportunities right in front of you, learn how to lead difficult conversations, learn what kills a high performing business, and to grow professionally all while becoming the best version of yourself that God wants you to be.
It all starts with grabbing that juicy piece of wisdom, picking it and consuming it. Do not wait!
Get ready for next year’s harvest. Go to https://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership
