John Wilson at the Chick-fil-A Leadercast.

The Chick-fil-A Leadercast was a one-of-a-kind event that was broadcast live from Atlanta and simulcast into communities across the globe. More than 100,000 leaders from around the world learned how to Simply Lead. By turns challenged, inspired, and encouraged, we learned how to improve our own leadership skills and also had the opportunity to network with other leaders.

On Friday, May 10th, 22 Emory Team Members attended the Chick-fil-A Leadercast at the Gwinnett Arena in Duluth: Amir Ali (Enterprise Services), Enid Britton (Integration), Jymbellyn Carthon (Infrastructure), Jason Cook (Enterprise Services), Richard Fischer (Enterprise Services), Jay Flanagan (Infrastructure), Sharon Gregory (Enterprise Services), Dwayne Hamrick (Enterprise Services), Rose Harris (Integration), Mary Kinney (Enterprise Services), Bonita Russell (Call Center), Jason Stanaland (Infrastructure), Phil Shaw (PMO), Scott Swann (PMO), John Wilson (Enterprise Applications) all from OIT, as well as Tiffany Kady and Vanda Jackson from SPH; Nina Long from SOM; and Anisthasia Carter, Melody Johnson, Amy Kitchens and William O’Neal, from Learning Services.

The team was empowered with growth insights from world-renowned leaders including Andy Stanley, John Maxwell, Sanya Richards-Ross, Dr. Henry Cloud, David Allen, Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K), Condoleezza Rice, Jack Welch and Navy Seal Rorke Denver.

John Maxwell (center) was one of the key speakers at the conference.

• Andy Stanley challenged us to keep leadership simple and ask ourselves three important questions. What are we doing? Why are we doing it? And where do I fit in?
• David Allen stressed the importance of appropriate engagement on what we are doing by using three keys: capturing your thinking, making outcome/action decisions and using the right maps. He also said that having focused attention was vital.
• Sanya Richards-Ross described how she used a Vision Board of her goals so that she could see and visualize them every day and by doing so, could always focus on the victory.
• Dr. Henry Cloud also emphasized focused attention because if everything is important, nothing is important. He also indicated that we should attend to the relevant items, which goes back to focused attention and that we must create necessary endings.
• I thought John Maxwell had some of the most important information to share. He talked about how vital it is to add value to people every day, subtract your leadership landmines, multiply your strengths by developing them, and divide your weaknesses by delegating them. He told us that we should be the leader that solves the problem and that leadership is not a position, it is influence.
• Coach K related his experiences not only as Duke’s coach, but also as the coach of the US Olympic Team. He told how important it was to put your people in a position to succeed and to create a culture of success.
• Condoleezza Rice encouraged us to use simple things to make things better and to take a step back and think things through.
• Jack Welch was very enlightening, telling us to always give it everything you’ve got and to use what he called the 3 S’s – Self Confidence, Simplicity, Speed.
• Navy Seal Rorke Denver talked about his military experience and how that made him a better leader

L to R: Sharon Gregory, John Maxwell, and Enid Britton.

Richard Fischer, who attended last year, said: “The Chick-fil-A Leadercast is a terrific event and I recommend it to anyone who wants to be inspired and improve their leadership skills. One of my favorite sessions was with Dr. Henry Cloud, who spoke about Necessary Endings, which is also the title of one of his books I am reading now. During his session, Dr. Cloud emphasized that endings are never easy even if they are necessary. And sometimes those endings are painful. He refers to this exercise as “Pruning.” It is the same way a gardener prunes a rosebush to get beautiful flowers. A gardener prunes a bush for three reasons:

1. The bush produces more buds than it can sustain, and some good ones have to go so the best ones can have the resources of the bush
2. There are some branches and buds that are sick and not going to get well
3. There are some that are already dead and are taking up space

If all three types of pruning are done regularly and well, then the rosebush thrives. Think about how that applies to both your business and personal life. You can learn more about pruning and Dr. Cloud at http://www.drcloud.com.”

Jason Stanaland, who attended for the first time this year, said: “Great event. The stories about people and organizations like Caine’s Arcade (http://cainesarcade.com), the Imagination Foundation (http://www.imagination.is), and World Vision Micro (http://www.worldvisionmicro.org) were extremely insightful. I found these stories and organizations to be inspiring and they got people interested and also generated more donations to these programs.”

Overall the team had a great time and took a lot away to share with their own teams and colleagues.  We all are looking forward to attending the Leadercast again next year!