Key takeaways from “The Business & Life Speaking Tour”

Last night at “The Business & Life Speaking Tour” by Steven Bartlett was EPIC!

In case you don’t know who Steven Bartlett is, he’s the podcast host of The Diary Of A CEO and interviewed 300+ of the world's most successful leaders. And if that wasn’t enough, he’s been the CEO or Co-Founder of businesses collectively worth over a billion dollars – all at the age of 30!

Here's the lowdown on some of the gold nuggets on levelling up in business and in life:

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1.???? Skill Stacking ??♂?

Many people focus on perfecting one skill and expect this to be enough, but combining two good skills to be the best at something is a far greater outcome.

Example: Vasily Lomachenko, a Ukrainian boxer, was taken to dance and gymnastics classes from the age of 9 as his father recognised the importance of developing his footwork.

The result?? Lomachenko now holds multiple world championships due to this competitive advantage.

Keypoint: To be considered the best in your industry, you don't need to be the best at any one thing. You need to be good at a variety of complementary skills that your industry values and your competitors lack.

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2.???? Small gains win the race ??

Rather than focusing on your final outcome, focus on the 1% of adjustment that you make everyday that will ultimately take you to your win.

Example: Steven experimented with the oxygen levels in the room, the air freshener, and the music when the guest arrives – all to make for the best conversations.

Steven also used Will Smith’s story to demonstrate to power of focusing on layering ‘one brick at a time’, rather than focusing on building a whole wall.

Keypoint: Focus on the small, movable goals. Celebrate your wins. And you will be executing like a champion.

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3.???? "Who & Not How" – Manage a team, not a product ??

Being a HR professional, this really resonated with me.

Steve Bartlett touched greatly upon Steve Jobs and Elon Musk's' obsession that recruitment is SO essential to running a business.

I loved how Musk simply puts: “Company = A Group of People (Sharing a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared goals)”

Jobs also touched on the compounding of hiring A-players. When you hire a bunch of A-players, they LOVE working with other A-players as they don’t get to do this everywhere. This is how you create a culture.

Keypoint: If you want to run a successful business, view your people as the backbone of the business rather than a cost. Double-down on your people strategies, create the best team and the bottomline will follow.

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4.???? When you are bugged by a new trend, lean In ??♂?

The issue with new innovation is that when one comes, it always creates what is called a “cognitive dissonance” as human being are uncomfortable with the unknown.

Steven used the example of internet, Cryptocurrency, and we're seeing that now with AI.

He outlined how he has lost lots of money through investing in Crypto, yet it is because he will willing to lean in and learned it is now yielding returns. Same with the use of AI-generated Podcasts which is fast becoming the reality.

Keypoint: Rather than finding reasons why the innovation will fail, lean in and invest time in understanding it. You may be surprised at what you find.

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5.???? You have to p*ss off the 80% to turn on the 20% ??

Dermalogica Founder, Jane Wurwand, advocated on why a brand should never strive to be liked. In her own words:

“(If we try to please everyone), we will be middle of the road, mediocre, average. Palatable, not definable. That’s a product, that’s not a brand.”

Steven uses the example of a left-of-the-field beer brand who was crazy enough to burn a crate of Carlsberg beer on their ad in order to show their non-conformity. This consequently won the brand a cult-like following.

Keypoint: Be prepared to piss off people. You will gain a cult-like following rather than a lukewarm majority.

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6.???? Life is Short & Quitting isn't always a bad thing ??

Contrary to the conventional thinking “Never, ever quit,”, Steven says that quitting isn't always the wrong thing to do.

It's important to understand when a job, relationship or anything major in your life is no longer serving you in a beneficial manner.

Keypoint: Quitting is not failure. Staying in something that doesn’t work is what will ultimately lead you to one.

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7.???? The future is in AI and high-touch jobs ??

The night finished on a point that once again hit home for me.

Steven outlined that the next revolution, after the internet, will be the age of AI.

So how do we ensure that our skills remain relevant in this rapidly changing industrial landscape? The answer was to focus on the two areas:

1.???? AI

2.???? High-touch skills

If your job is already in one of the two areas, this is great news;

If your job aren't in the above two areas, apply the previous points in skills stacking, leaning in and personal branding, and to ensure you remain relevant and competitive in your marketplace.

Keypoint: In a highly volatile world that we live in, it's important to recognise the greater trends ahead and future-proof our careers.

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Steven’s talk was a no-BS guide to succeeding in life and business, backed by a lot of research and experience and masterful storytelling.

Thank you Steven for such an incredible and insightful evening! All of these skills will be very valuable not only in my work but in my personal life, too.