Focus on the "Justs"

Global leadership educator and trainer Drew Dudley prescribes to a practical approach to leadership development. Called one of the most dynamic speakers in the world, Drew is on a mission to help people unlearn some dangerous lessons about leadership. As the founder and chief catalyst of Day One Leadership, he has helped top organizations around the world increase their leadership capacity. His clients have included McDonald’s, American Express, JP Morgan Chase, United Way, and more than 100 colleges and universities.

Prior to starting his own business, Drew spent eight years as the lead of one of Canada’s largest leadership development programs at the university of Toronto. He is also the bestselling author of This is Day One: A Practical Guide to Leadership That Matters. It debuted at #6 on the Wall Street Journal’s bestseller list.

INSPIRATION

While some may say leaders are born and not made, Drew would tend to disagree. His views on leadership are uniquely his. The beliefs and style he uses to present these views were shaped while at university studying to be a lawyer. After the tragic death of a 24-year-old friend, Jason, he realized that he was focused too much on what his life looked like on paper. With Jason’s death, he saw how people responded to Jason and his friend’s lasting impact.

“I realized there was a fundamental difference in how we lived our lives, and his mattered more than mine. I decided I wanted to stop writing papers about the world and start engaging in it,” Drew said.

“I focused so much on how I was going to matter in the future that I hadn’t been paying attention to how I could matter now. When I say ‘matter,’ I mean how could I impact people in a way that made them smile when they thought of me, and I realized I wasn’t doing that. It wasn’t about connecting with people; it was about impressing ‘future’ people,” he said.

STYLE

His work with Students Fighting Cystic Fibrosis fueled his desire to bring teams together to work toward some mission. Within five years, he became national chair of the organization, in charge of volunteer training. “I discovered in the process of trying to empower the volunteers that I absolutely love this type of work, not only being the leader of the organization in title, but also having the opportunity to empower the next generation. I wanted to create an organization where everyone could do my job, and nobody was trying to take it,” he said.

Drew’s ability to build this type of culture got noticed by the University of Toronto where he was asked to start a leadership program based more on practicality than theory. While he never set out to be a leadership educator, he believes he fell into it a bit, discovering a skill he was good at. “I began teaching using stories, and stories are the basic unit of human understanding.”

He continued, “I accidentally discovered a talent I didn’t know I had, because somebody inspired me after they were gone. I often talk about how Jason, as the catalyst, turned me from someone who focused on who I would be in the future to who I want to impact now.”

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Most people don’t look for leadership training. “There’s this huge group of people out there who are contributing as leaders in their communities, but they don’t see themselves as leaders. So, if you don’t see yourself as a leader, you don’t seek out leadership development. We have a world where I think most of the leadership comes from those who don’t see themselves as leaders. I believe that leadership exists in individual moments of interpersonal impact. Those are moments that everyone can create no matter what their title is or their role within an organization.” He stated.

“The most powerful thing we do is impact other people. Everyone has access to that power. When I say that everyone can be a leader, I don’t mean that everyone can be CEO or everyone can, should or want to be president. What I mean is that there is a form of leadership that we can and should aspire to. Once we open up people’s eyes to what they are already doing, they begin to realize that leadership is something they have every right to embrace. I try to teach a type of leadership that is broader and more inclusive. The more people in any organization or community who see themselves as a leader, the stronger that organization or community gets.”

When it comes to leadership development, we asked Drew to share some insights for you to implement into your own organizations.

“Take a step back, look at your people, and ask, ‘Who are the ‘just’ people? When I say ‘just,’ I mean the individuals who say, ‘I’m just the secretary, I’m just middle management, I’m just the intern, I’m just starting out here,’ he illustrates.

“When you say ‘just,’ you’re giving others permission to expect less from you, including yourself. Again, take a step back and look at those people who are indispensable, absolutely wonderful contributors and the ones who bring us support, passion and energy. Who are the people that, despite being that type of contributor to your organization or community, would say ‘I’m just something.’ Then, find a way to answer the question every day, ‘What have I done today to recognize someone else’s leadership?’ If you want to know who to recognize, think about the ‘just’ people. They are not just anything. Your organization is filled with them, said Drew, who’s TED Talk, Everyday Leadership: The Lollipop Moment [https://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership?language=en], was voted one of the 15 most inspirational TED Talks of all time, and has garnered more than 6.3 million YouTube views.

“Leadership recognizes leadership created. We spend a lot of time trying to focus on generating leadership in our organizations, but I firmly believe that, if we did a better job at recognizing what already exists, we would strengthen our organizations significantly. Spend more time recognizing leadership that is not of the traditional understanding of leadership. Moments of compassion, moments of forgiveness, moments of empowerment, moments of joy—that people bring to your organization or community—those are not seen as leadership. If we recognize them as such, we reinforce people doing them. Whatever feels good, you do more often. If we can make people feel good about their biggest contributions, they are going to contribute more often. Look for the ‘just’ people. The ‘just’ people fuel our organizations.”