Written by: Vickie Sullivan | November 18, 2014
What Thought Leaders Give In Their Presentations
As usual, 48 hours just evaporate when I’m at Harvard. The Women’s Leadership Board meeting last week had a variety of speakers, from a brigadier general on leadership to a fellow doing a field study on gang rape during civil war. Both had findings I didn’t expect.
My new favorite speaker is Frances Frei. She came in sick, but when her adrenaline kicked in she was on fire. She was as hilarious as she was insightful. My favorite findings from her presentations:
- Excellence is a trade-off. To be best in class in something you have to be worst in class in something else.
- Most companies suffer from trying to please all complaining customers. This results in exhausted mediocrity.
- The key: be the best in what matters most for your idealized clients. Be the worst at stuff they don’t care about. Easier said then done. You have to be super smart to know the difference.
The difference between experts and thought leaders is what they give in their presentations. The former explain and expound. The latter uses the audiences to give real, live examples, then follows up with insightful sound bits that make your head explode with new ideas.
No, her speech was not recorded but to see her in action, here is a YouTube speech from two years ago.