“We are in an environment where everyone's opinion matters, as long as it has data or experience behind it.” - Kyle McDowell
Episode Summary:
Begin with WE!
Kyle McDowell joins SF25 to discuss a new type of leadership and team building focused on 10 principles. Understand how Kyle is making a difference in lives worldwide and how you can apply these principles today.
About Kyle McDowell:
Kyle McDowell is a USA Today and WSJ bestselling author, speaker, and leadership expert.
For nearly three decades, McDowell has amassed an impressive track record of delivering great business results while leading tens of thousands of employees at some of America’s largest corporations, including United Health Group, CVS Health, and Bank of America.
However in spite of those results, McDowell found himself unfilled and apathetic toward the environments he actually helped to create.
He knew there had to be a better way.
If he was going to make a lasting difference, McDowell knew he needed to lead differently. He wanted to be the leader he never had. He knew people shouldn’t come to work with fear in their hearts.
He turned his back on the big paycheck and golden handcuffs to launch Kyle McDowell Inc., a global leadership and cultural transformation firm committed to developing authentic and courageous leaders who have a passion for cultivating a better, WE-oriented, work life.
With this realization, he crafted his guiding principles for life and leadership, THE 10 WEs.
1. WE do the right thing. Always.
2. WE lead by example.
3. WE say what WE’re going to do. Then WE do it.
4. WE take action.
5. WE own our mistakes.
6. WE pick each other up.
7. WE measure ourselves by outcomes. Not activity.
8. WE challenge each other.
9. WE embrace challenge.
10. WE obsess over details.
These ten principles would go on to be McDowell’s code of behavior, first for himself, and then for those he led. No difference – no leadership gap. It was how strongly the principles resonated from the new intern to the tenured Sr. Executive – from tiny cubicle to corner office which compelled McDowell to think bigger.
“With my whole heart, I suddenly realized this is my purpose on this planet. To develop caring leaders who want to leave a legacy that lasts well beyond their tenure with any organization. I’m on a mission to rid corporate America of the toxic traits so many of us of witnessed and even endorsed at times.”
The mission included writing his first book, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller, Begin With WE: 10 Principles for Building and Sustaining a Culture of Excellence.
Today McDowell is regularly invited to speak at business, educational, and nonprofit institutions and events, and has been featured in major national publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Inc. Magazine.
McDowell holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He lives in Tampa, Florida.
In this episode:
- the lack of apathy in business
- having an eagerness to make a difference
- the problem with corporate leadership
- investing in your dreams
- being "we" oriented
- focusing on group success
- investing in your team
- leading by example
- creating a culture of excellence and comfort
- building a thought-rich environment
- being emotionally connected to the people you work with, not the business numbers
Key Takeaways:
- A leader must have a set of principles they follow.
- Obsess over outcomes, not activity.
- Embrace the RIGHT challenges for growth.
- Candor enables "can do".
- Help your team for THEIR benefit, not yours.
- Anything in life worth having, is hard to get.
- Leadership is a lifestyle.
- Don't let anyone pay you to forget your dreams, or forget who you are.
Connect with Kyle McDowell:
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Audio and show notes by Premier Podcast Promotions
