Death By Brainstorm

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter series, where I aggregate some of the best content from business leaders on Linkedin and beyond. I do this because I like bringing attention to people who are adding unique value to my feed.

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This week I'm featuring nine pieces of content. That's a bit more than usual, but I love 'em all, and I hope you will too. Here's what we're covering:

• How brainstorming sessions are a waste of time + what to do instead
• A reflection on leadership
• Knowing when to ask for help
• Who's really your boss?
• A pep talk for your personal branding plans
• Finding environments aligned with your true character
• Career advice from 16 sales leaders that you can apply to any industry
• 4 tips to elevate your presentation skills
• 7 Google Doc features to boost your productivity

This week's Linkedin content comes from Dave Gerhardt, Leena Nair, Derek Jankowski, Mila Komarova, and Ethan Beute. If you're not following these folks yet, check 'em out.

Now let's dive into the content!

Linkedin Content

Dave is talking about brainstorming here, but I'm hung up on something else... my biggest professional frustration of all time: poor meeting hygiene. Let's be honest folks, this is something we can all improve on. Looking at you, startups.

Although Dave's advice is directed toward marketing productivity, we'd all be wise to apply some variation of his pitch meeting recommendation to all the meetings we manage.

There's tons of content on Linkedin about leadership, mostly advice. I love Leena's reflection on her leadership journey and her gratitude for those who "tolerated" her imperfections along the way.

I actually know Leena personally from our time at Zocdoc together. She's a leader in the truest sense (as you can see here). She cares deeply about people who work for her, and she always inspires people to be their best selves and to do their best work. We need more leaders like Leena.

Man, I love this post, and I want more of this kind of content on Linkedin. Thanks for being vulnerable here, Derek...more people need to create content like this vs. the know-it-all chest-thumping I see so much of.

This advice should serve as a wake-up call to anyone facing unchartered waters and feeling alone in the journey. Raising your hand is the most strategic thing you can do. In any new situation, to be self-aware enough to look around and evaluate what resources you need and speak up? That's how the magic happens. That's when the seemingly impossible starts to become possible.

Mila's message is a great reminder that we're all truly our own bosses and we're all the authors of our own stories. At the end of the day, we answer to ourselves.

Her personal definition of a good boss is off the charts inspiring. But it certainly requires a solid sense of identity, which is something many of us struggle with. Nonetheless, I love this list, and I definitely feel some soul searching and new years resolutions coming out of this.

Being on camera is difficult for most people. I applaud everyone turning on the camera and talking into your lens like a person. I definitely still don't do it enough, because that sh*t is hard. It took me a long time to get comfortable on camera, and a lot of practicing and learning what editing can do to make the whole process easier.

I'm sharing Ethan's message here because I know that video content is preferable to a lot of content consumers. So for your personal branding efforts, it will help you a ton to step out of your comfort zone and get in front of the camera. I promise it gets easier with practice and patience. Get started, and be kind to yourself.

Other Content I Loved This Week

In last week's content rundown, we talked all about personal branding. Wherever you are in your personal branding path, here's a good reminder from Oprah and Melinda Gates that being true to YOU is the surest way to success.

Want to accelerate your career? Don't skip this article from Sales Hacker just because you're not in sales. There's a boatload of career wisdom here from seasoned veterans that you can absolutely apply to any career path or industry.

I love this article because I believe presentation skills are underrated. As the author suggests, having strong presentation skills doesn't only help you actually give presentations. It helps you navigate your career and sell your ideas along the way. I can't overemphasize how important this is.

I also think the tactical advice in this piece could be applied to video making. So, if you're inspired by the post from Ethan above, you might incorporate these four tips into your video content strategy. It's a great way to practice your presenting skills without a live audience.

And finally, I was excited to run across this gem about Google Docs add-ons. I'm a huge fan of everything in the Google Drive, and I use Google Docs for tons of personal and professional projects. Don't we all? Here are seven features I wasn't aware of.

#7 is a game-changer for anyone executing documents regularly.

That concludes this edition of my Content Rundown. If you have any feedback about this project, drop me a note at [email protected] or shoot me a DM here on LinkedIn. I always welcome feedback and suggestions.

You can also find me around the web at:

• The Official Justin Website
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Thanks for reading, and see ya next week!

Justin