4 Keys to a Successful Business Leadership

Quality leadership is essential for all businesses. A leader is someone or a group that has the vision and the drive to make it a reality. The ship could sink in the sea of commerce just as fast as it set sail without a captain.

It's not even a book on business that we love the most. The book is Creativity Inc. – Overcoming the Unforeseen Factors That Block True Inspiration by Ed Catmull.

Along with Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull is President and Co-Founder of Pixar. He also serves as President of Disney Animation Studios. He was the leader of the teams that produced the first 3 Toy Storymovies , Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc., Up, and many other animated films.

Although it sounds more like a self help book, it is actually a business book. The message is all about how to inspire, manage with candor and win through creativity and how to trust your team.

MIG has always believed in candor. Consider this: If life is too short, our careers (and our business lives) are more precious.

While you don't want to offend anyone or make yourself look stupid, you must be honest and offer an opinion that could help someone else or your company to move on.

This is a great video by Ed discussing the importance of failing.

Quick Takeaways

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  Failure is often the first step in growth and learning.
  
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  Learning from your past mistakes and being honest is the best way to drive your business forward
  
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  A better culture will result in a more honest environment for your staff and council.
  

People who are open to conversation can bring a smile to the business world, which is often cold. This trait is admirable in business leaders. It requires courage. It can make you vulnerable. The impact can be devastating, but it is possible to make a difference. Particularly when trust and candor are present in the team dynamics.

Here are the key ideas from the book with some great Cliff Note overviews from Fast Company, Business Insider and Business Insider.

Create a "Brain Trust".

What is a braintrust? A brain trust is a group of motivated, passionate and focused people from your company who work together to solve a problem.

What is the brain trust? They challenge the person responsible for the problem, be it company strategy, product decisions or a marketing campaign.

How does the brain trust function? Catmull says that complete candor is the key ingredient of brain trust.

All members of the team are invited to express their opinions and be honest. Catmull states that the trick is to keep the team honest and open to sharing their opinions. If the entire brain trust is focused on moving the company forward disagreements and criticisms are beneficial to both the leader as well as the business.

Catmull also mentions authority as another important factor in a brain trust's success. A brain trust should not have any authority. They advise the problem owner. This prevents the natural defensiveness that can arise when someone feels threatened by their peers.

To create a culture of ideas, focus on team dynamics

Catmull discusses the importance of working hard to improve the dynamics within your management team structure. There are many reasons people hesitate to speak up.

Source: Pareto Labs

Catmull advises leaders to pay attention to the structure and environment of their team to ensure that ideas flow freely from all parts of the organization. " Managers should focus on the dynamics and not just the ideas produced by their team, Catmull states. A healthy dynamic will lead to better and more ideas.

More than you think, You Are Wrong

Catmull believes the 80/20 rule is false. Catmull believes that it leads to the false belief that you are always right, which is a delusion. Despite being at the forefront of your company's thought leadership, you don't have to be perfect.

He stated that it is important to recognize that you can be wrong more often than you think. Leaders must be open to this realization, and let other people's ideas and creative process inform your decisions. It is difficult to get and take advice. You have to accept that you may not know everything.