Smarter, Faster, Better … Strategies for Effective, Enduring and Fulfilled Leadership

An Executive Forum Presentation by Karlin Sloan, Synopsis by Rod Cox
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“Traditional business thinking holds that being smarter means gathering knowledge, learning more and more and becoming a certified expert. It used to be that being a smart leader meant that you simply knew more than anyone else. But now, thanks in large part to the Internet, the idea that the leader is the authority on all things no longer holds.

We have also altered our definition of faster. In most business leadership today, stopwatch time management logic no longer works. We now rely on innovation, intelligence, and a big-picture perspective. These things all depend on stopping the tyranny of time, i.e., on allowing your brain to go to Alpha or Theta states in order to achieve great things. (This is not easily done) in a culture in which we are expected to be constantly available and constantly ‘on.’

But how can we slow down when others are moving at laser speed? To be better, we need to stop focusing on our competitive advantage, and instead focus on others and on giving back to our company, our community and our world. The argument is not with the word ‘better;’ it’s with the word ‘than.’ In other words, to be better with others rather than to being better than others.

In this Executive Forum presentation, Karlin Sloan focuses on three paradoxes:

  • To be smarter, we need to stop being the expert and start asking more questions.
  • To be faster, we need to slow down.
  • To be better, we need to stop focusing on our personal gain and start focusing on giving back.”