Exactly 1 year ago this week, I sat down with one of the world’s most influential management thinkers (that’s according to Thinkers50), Whitney Johnson. If you didn’t catch that show, it was episode 24 and we deep dove into her terrific book. Disrupt Yourself. If you remember, I recorded that episode from Scotland, with terrible wifi and even dropped the call once mid-sentence. I was so embarrassed.
Fast forward to today, with better wifi, I have the privilege of welcoming Whitney back for a deep dive into her newest book “BUILD AN A TEAM: Play to Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve.”
Before we get too deep, I want to add that Whitney is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, has over one million followers on Linkedin, was an award-winning Wall Street analyst and co-founded the Disruptive Innovation Fund with Clayton Christensen. And on top of all that she is married with two children.
Top Takeaways: How to Build an A-Team with Disruptor Whitney Johnson
- Great to have disruption expert Whitney Johnson back
- If you let people disrupt themselves, they will lead within your company
- Disruption is part of your competitive edge
- There is a groundswell of disruption happening anyway
- How do you know if your people are bored?
- The 7 principles of the S-Curve of Learning
- 1- Identify the right kind of risk in hiring
- Time plus competence equals boredom
- You’ll only be one learning curve for, at most, four years
- 2- Play to your distinctive strengths
- 3- Willingness to impose thoughtful constraints
- 4- Embattling Entitlement
- 5- Willingness to step back in order to move forward
- 6- Give failure its due
- Failure is an event, not a person
- 7- Be discovery driven
- The scariest part of the learning S-Curve is the top
- If you are willing to develop people, you become a talent magnet
- Shame limits progress, not disruption
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Learning From Leaders:
Current Book: Oathbringer: Book Three of the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
Best Movie Ever:
Leadership Superpower:
Motivational Mantra:
Book Most Often Gifted: The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor
