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I want you to do a little thought experiment. Think about the best leader you have ever worked with. Take a couple of seconds. Think about that person. What did he or she do, say, and so on? Now, all of you will have experienced other people, but I would dare to say, I don't think you will have things like, well, you know, the way that person yelled at me in the morning, that was excellent, that was... that was just brilliant, the way. And I wanted "Oh... say more..." probably not. Probably that person would have done different things. And I want to explore that together with you. Now, I do think leadership is an interesting thing, and sometimes it's over-glorified. But whenever you... you become a leader, and I had the chance to lead small teams, large organizations, non-profit, profit organizations, whenever you become a leader, you have like a rendezvous with reality. Leadership is a bit like parenting, right? You have all these visions and ideas, what you will do, and then you're in the moment, and then what I would call the leadership problem formula kicks in. And probably the people you have thought about just a second ago have mastered this formula. What does that formula look like? Every leader, when any of you who has ever been in a leadership position might have faced these challenges. I think every leader faces the leadership problem formula, and that goes TLT times people times power. First one is TLT, which for me stands for too little time. There's just not enough time to do things, and you can't pass it around, oh, somebody will take care of it. No, it's you, and then you need to do something. And what many people then fall back in is what I would call the headless chicken syndrome. They run around and say, oh, no, no, you do that, you do that, you do that, you do that, and that might then not be the greatest leadership.

Let's follow Lars Sudmann...

I want you to do a little thought experiment./ Think about the best/ leader you have ever worked with. // Take a couple of seconds./Think about that person. // What did he or she/ do, / say, and so on?// Now, / all of you will have experienced other people, but I would dare to say,/ I don't think you will have things like, well,/ you know,/ the way that person yelled at me in the morning, that was excellent, that was.../that was just brilliant,/the way. And I wanted "Oh... say more..."/ probably not. // Probably that person would have done different things. // And I want to explore that together with you.// // Now,// I do think leadership is an interesting thing, and sometimes it's over-glorified./ But whenever you.../ you become a leader, and I had the chance to/ lead small teams, large organizations, non-profit, profit organizations, /whenever you/ become a leader, / you have like a rendezvous with reality. // Leadership is a bit like/ parenting,/ right?// You have all these visions and ideas, what you will do,/ and then you're in the moment,/ and then/ what I would call the leadership problem formula kicks in.// And probably the people you have thought about/ just a second ago have mastered this formula.// What does that formula look like? // Every leader,/ when any of you who has ever been/ in a leadership position might have faced these challenges.// I think every leader faces the leadership problem formula, and that goes TLT times people times power. // First one is TLT, which for me stands for too little time.// There's just not enough time to do things, and you can't pass it around, oh, somebody will take care of it./ No,/ it's you, and then you / need to do something. // And what many people then fall back in is what I would call the headless chicken syndrome.// They run around / and say, oh, no, no, you do that, you do that, you do that, you do that,/ and that might then not be the greatest leadership. //

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Then comes as well people. All leaders have to deal with people, and for me, I'm always reminded of my very first official leadership position, more than 10 years ago. So I would have my first direct report, and the first direct report was coming into the room, and I had it all lined up. I had the vision. I had the team spirit. I had the story to tell, basically, and that was a very assertive young gentleman who came to me and said, Lars, that's all nice, but I have a question for you. Actually, I studied the email policy of the company, and you know, I have a motto I live by, and I always include this, and I have this for the past five years. I always include this in my email signature. Can I do this as well in this company? And there I was with all my stories and with all my vision and so on. It was like, what? Is that what leadership is all about? So I was studying the manuals for two hours and so on. Finally, we said, okay, let's go ahead with this one. But everybody who's ever lead will see, like, it's not always about the glorious and shiny things. It's all about the little things, the little discussion that we have to do. The last element is power, and that's an interesting one. There's a very interesting study done at the University of Berkeley in 98, and they brought in random students and selected them randomly in groups of three. And from these groups of three, two of them had to do a two-hour assignment, and one of them was randomly assigned to be the supervisor. And then, as social science experiments goes, there was a special twist to it. At half an hour, the researchers then brought in cookies. And of course, it was videotaped, and then they observed what happens actually there. They had some hypothesis, and sure enough, the people who were randomly assigned to be supervisors significantly ate more of the cookies, but not only this. They actually left significantly more of the breadcrumbs as well on the table, like, I'm this. And it was very visually measurable. And that shows, after 30 minutes of random status, higher status, this power thing kicks in. It's something within us as humans, and I think that is also something that we need to take care of. Now, I do think these are the classic leadership problems that are not very often taken care of, but I think in a Utopia, we need to address those.

Let's follow Lars Sudmann...

Then comes as well people.// All leaders have to deal with people,/ and for me,/ I'm always reminded of my very first/ official / leadership position,/ more than 10 years ago. // So I would have my first direct report, and/ the first direct report was coming into the room,/ and I had it all lined up./ I had the vision. // I had the team spirit. // I had the story to tell,/ basically,// and that was a very / assertive/ young gentleman who came to me and said, / Lars, / that's all nice,/ but I have a question for you.//Actually, / I studied the email policy / of the company,/ and you know,/ I have a motto I live by,/ and I always include this, and I have this for the past five years. I always include this in my email signature. // Can I do this as well/ in this company?// And there I was with all my stories and with all my vision and so on. It was like, what? // Is that what leadership is all about? / So I was studying the manuals for two hours and so on. Finally,/ we said, okay, let's go ahead with this one. // But everybody who's ever lead will see, like, it's not always about the glorious and shiny things. / It's all about the little things,/ the little discussion that we have to do. // The last element is power,/ and that's an interesting one.//There's a very interesting study done at the University of Berkeley in 98, / and they brought in/ random students / and selected them randomly in groups of three.// And from these/ groups of three,/ two of them had to do a two-hour assignment, / and one of them was randomly assigned to be the supervisor.// And then, as social science experiments goes, there was a special twist to it. At half an hour, / the researchers then brought in/ cookies. // And of course, / it was videotaped, / and then they observed what happens actually there. / They had some hypothesis, / and sure enough, / the people who were randomly assigned / to be supervisors / significantly ate more of the cookies, but not only this.// They actually left significantly more of the breadcrumbs as well on the table, like, I'm this. And it was very visually measurable. // And that shows, after 30 minutes of random status, higher status, this power thing kicks in.// It's something within us as humans,/ and I think / that/ is also something that we need to take care of. Now, I do think these are the classic leadership problems that are not very often taken care of, but I think in a Utopia,/ we need to address those. //