My top 3 takeaways from Steven Bartlett's 'The Business & Life Speaking Tour'

I'll be honest. When I heard Steven Bartlett was coming to Melbourne, I wasn't sure seeing him live would be any different from listening to his podcast.?I was dead wrong.?I bit the bullet and purchased a ticket for The Business & Life Speaking Tour on 12 April in Melbourne.

Who is Steven Bartlett?

Most people in business know of Steven Bartlett, and if they don't know him by name, they know of the podcast?The Diary Of A CEO. For those who are still unaware, the quick rundown is that Steven is an entrepreneur, investor, host of Europe's biggest podcast (The Diary Of A CEO)?and a 'dragon' on?Dragon's Den?(like?Shark Tank, but better). Steven said the podcast generates between 40-50 million downloads monthly.?

I've been listening to?The Diary Of A CEO?for a while now, and it is easily one of my favourite podcasts. If you've never had a listen and are keen to give it a go, here are a few of my favourites (there's a huge back catalogue, and these are only some of the episodes I recall):

Louis Theroux: The Thing That Makes Me Great At Work, Makes Me Bad At Life!

Gabor Maté: The Childhood Lie That's Ruining All Of Our Lives

The Manipulation Expert: You're Being Manipulated! Use Jealousy To Manipulate People! Robert Greene

'The Business & Life Speaking Tour'

In Melbourne, Steven spoke from 8pm through to 11:30pm. That's a long time for any speaker to hold an audience's attention. While it was clear the lecture was incredibly fine-tuned, Steven riffed off the audience and wove in examples from budding entrepreneurs he'd met earlier in the day (i.e. the VIP package).

Before expanding on my top three takeaways, it's important to realise I'm only sharing my interpretation of the evening and what I can write about easily without all of the context provided throughout the session. I'm sure others came away with a different list of takeaways. I recognised several pieces of the puzzle Steven presented as someone who's followed his work for a while. That said, the lecture beautifully wove these common threads together while underscoring that our time here is not infinite. One universal truth is that we will all die one day.

My top three takeaways

Getting comfortable with failure is crucial to long-term success

Experiment, fail fast and fail as cheaply as possible.?I wrote that sentence down on my phone. This ideology stems from Amazon. Sure, they have a bunch of successes we all know of (Kindle, Prime and so on), but there are so many 'failures' the average person has never heard of. Without the failures, Kindle and Prime can't exist because people are too scared to think outside the box and be creative. Over time, the success of the hits naturally outweighs the misses.

One of my primary motivators moving forward is experimenting with my business without any attachment to outcomes. A couple of times during the evening, Steven touched on the worthlessness of ideas. Ideas are nothing without implementation. He said many people in the room who have ideas will remain crippled by their fear of failing. Failure is feedback, which becomes knowledge, and knowledge becomes power. Failure does not indicate our value as humans; it simply means an experiment didn't work, and it's time for another experiment.?

Tiny details are everything

'Don't sweat the small stuff.' How many times have you heard that line? Steven argues that the tiny details are everything because they contribute to and form the overall outcome. I didn't interpret this as relating to perfectionism, which is unobtainable. Steven talked at length about the 1% improvements that compound over time. Excellence is attained by paying attention to all the 'tiny' things your competitors ignore.

This point speaks to me because every now and again, I reflect and contemplate if my standards are unreasonable.?Does it really matter if there's a typo in my weekly newsletter??Most people probably wouldn't notice. But I do (most times after the fact, sadly), and being 1% better means finding a way to minimise 'tiny' mistakes that have the potential to snowball. Steven also points out that A players want to work with other A players. (I'm riding solo in business currently, but the recurring theme of having a quality team on hand is not lost on me.)

We have to be willing to be disliked

This is a tough one for people-pleasers. I don't like conflict, even if it means I am miserable. There are clearly healthier ways to function in the world. Steven speaks about resisting the 'and' mentality regarding sales and branding. The best example I thought of relates to sport, and if you are in Melbourne, you'll understand this:

A passionate Essendon supporter never says they barrack for the Bombers and other teams. They follow Essendon, full stop.

It's the same in business. Steven says you only need 20% of the market (5% in some cases) to have a successful business. The other 80% of people can dislike you without impacting your bottom line. This concept is particularly challenging if you are in a rut where you 'go with the flow to keep the peace' across all areas of your life. Such a stance also bleeds into business.?Disruptors don't keep the peace.

Before I finish up, it's worth noting that Steven spoke extensively about personal and professional recruitment. I feel that portion of the lecture requires all of the context provided on the evening instead of sharing bits and pieces in a short article like this. I also have many notes on my phone about other points I could have shared here.??

I'll end on this point as Steven spoke of leaning in to change throughout his presentation. Artificial intelligence (AI) isn't going away; in time, it will likely impact all of us (me included). The answer is not to pretend it doesn't exist; it's not going anywhere. Learn how to use AI to your advantage and continue working on the skills that a machine can never replace (people and leadership skills, for example).

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Has anyone else seen Steven Bartlett's lecture? I'd welcome hearing your takeaways.