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Hi, I'm Georgie Dickens, host of Stratosperic Leaders, the podcast where I get to have inspired conversations with extraordinary leaders from across capital markets.
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Join me to hear their game-changing strategies, the personal stories and powerful standbites behind the Stratospheric success.
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Every episode packed with wisdom, insight, and real-world lessons, the stuff they simply don't teach you in business school.
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If you want to elevate your game and most importantly those around you, this podcast is for you.
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Enjoy.
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In this episode of Stratospheric Leaders, I am delighted to welcome back Lance Buglin.
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Lance founded market and later led IHS Market through major growth and its eventual acquisition by SP Global for$44 billion.
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And I want to use the words of rich handler Steve O of Jeffries to describe Lance.
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As he puts it, Lance is a visionary trend anticipator, an entrepreneur extraordinaire, a masterful business builder, a consistent culture carrier, a maniacal client pleaser, a successful and intuitive deal-doer, and the ultimate shareholder value maximizer.
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And most importantly, he said, along the way, Lance has never lost track of his number one priority, his family.
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And he also defines what it means to be a truly loyal friend.
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Now, Lance, as somebody who is deeply humble, and I think humility is such an important leadership characteristic, I do have to ask, how does it land hearing the words of Rich?
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Well, uh, those are humbling uh words to hear.
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And uh, you know, over the years, uh, Rich has been an active supporter of me through my, you know, business uh growth and ultimate sale of IHS Market Tes and P Global.
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He's become a personal friend.
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Our families are friends.
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And so hearing him say that in you know, the foreword of this book uh is very humbling and uh, of course, very appreciative as well.
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You and I learned to work together for a number of years.
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Uh, you were one of the founder CEOs that I profiled in Stratospheric Leaders.
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And what really came up for me in our conversations were the lessons, the sound bites you shared.
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And I truly believe that um one line or a lesson can change the way a person sees the world and it has the ability to shift everything.
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Which is why last year I called you at the beginning of 2025 and I said, Look, I would love for us to compile your top 250 lessons and put it into a collection, which we did.
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And we have our book called Raise the Bar.
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And so today I wanted to take us through a series of the lessons that you shared and really unpack what does that lesson mean to you and expand?
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What does that look like, lived and breathed?
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And we have to start with the title because anyone I've spoken to within IHS Market, I remember saying to them, what is a mantra that Lance uses or used to use?
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Raise the bar was the one that persisted.
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So can you speak to me about raise the bar?
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What does that mean?
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That's one of my favorites.
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And I do love a tagline uh attached to any uh great strategy.
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But to me, raise the bar always meant never accepting today's standards are good enough.
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And that you have to have continuous improvement, and it's non-negotiable.
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And I I thought about it uh when we did this book, and it really, you know, how do you raise the bar?
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You know, you're constantly setting clear objectives, uh, clear standards, and then you deliberately increase those as the capability grows together.
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And I think it's about excellence becoming a habit.
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It shouldn't be episodic.
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Leaders must model, you know, and and model themselves by that uh uh standard first, and then the organization.
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And if you can achieve the constant raising of the bar for yourself, it's gonna be much easier to lead and raise the bar of the company.
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I feel we may have another book coming after this because there are some more one-liners that are coming out, but excellence being a habit, not episodic.
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I I love that.
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And I know when you and I um spoke when we were putting together the book, it it was raise the bar and then widen the gap, which I really love because it's raising the bar, and then when you're getting out ahead, it's it's widening the gap with your competition.
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No, exactly.
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And uh I probably got a little bit of widen the gap from uh being a regular user up the tube in London.
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And uh I love that phrase.
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And and I I felt that when you are out in the lead with a product, uh telling people to raise the bar sometimes is difficult.
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But when you say let's widen the gap, let's make our lead even better, uh, it was something that became very um uh available and something that I I could lead uh
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from as a platform.
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And it was always around um incremental progress, uh, but continuous.
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And don't be don't be always uh driven just by big transformations.
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That small incremental improvement, fantastic.
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Build momentum through all your daily improvements, your processes, your product gains, um, your decision-making uh cadence, small consistent gains, and then those compound over time and uh the advantage grows.
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I I think people often don't recognize, to your point, that compounding, the small, consistent, the momentum.
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Like that, that that extrapolates.
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And I think people sometimes look for transformation, but it's like be consistent, like that pays dividends in the long run.
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100%.
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100%.
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And I I think we've seen that actually with the British uh cycling team when they went on to win so many medals, uh, gold medals, Olympics, uh, you know, Tour de France, uh, all the various events.
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And I I think the leadership there was all about incremental improvements to gain, you know, the ultimate win.
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Okay, so I want to take us to our second quote, and I'll I'll read it out loud.
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And then again, what does it mean?
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And and I'd love for you to expand on that.
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To build a great product, bring key market players in as design, equity, and industry partners, when they are co-creators and not just stakeholders, the relationship deepens.
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It aligns the product with real market needs to create lasting impact.
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Yeah, well, this was really one of the premises of uh market, and it became even more important uh through IHS Market, working with automotive companies, uh uh industry leaders in energy uh uh and the financial markets.
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You know, the best products that we ever uh were able to build were co-created with the ecosystem that we existed within.
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So don't build anything in isolation.
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And I found when customers, partners, and industry leaders helped us design the products and have real economic or strategic alignments with us, um, you end up reducing all your blind spots and you accelerate the adoption, you ensure you're relevant, and then that co-creation deepens commitment and uh overall lowers your execution risk, which uh ends up being a more successful product.
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It's interesting because that to me is like common sense, but often not common practice.
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You know, that importance or that that focus on strategic alignments,
um, you know, you said they're um to ensure you stay relevant.
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And it's interesting how many people don't do that.
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Yeah, well, we've seen that with many great products that uh wane over time as markets change around them, customers' demand changes, um, speed of processing, technological improvements.
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You know, you need to be thinking of all of those um uh eventualities that happen around a product.
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And uh, you know, through that, those continuous um looks at yourself from the outside in order to be better uh play an important role.
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And uh I I think it it should be obvious, but to execute the obvious is hard work.
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And uh, you know, a lot of people say all the right things, but then they're not willing to measure themselves against that execution.
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And I think that uh you'll probably ask me a question about measuring, but for me, measurement is everything.
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Well, look, you mentioned the word execution, and many people have great ideas, um, and execution is everything.
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And you when you and I were in conversation, you talked about the bold vision, and I think you know, let's underscore the word bold, like dream big, but a bold vision requires relentless execution.
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I mean, again, common sense, not common practice.
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Um, speak more to that.
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When I think about um that statement, a bold vision requires relentless uh execution, it really means to me that vision by itself is meaningless.
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You need discipline follow-through.
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And that's critical.
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So, how do you how do how do you take those bold ideas and then translate them into priorities, translate them into milestones, translate them into accountability?
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And execution then becomes you know the credibility where you earn your strikes, you actually achieve something.
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And and you need to be consistent, you need to have speed, you need to have ownership.
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All those things are are measurable.
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And putting measurements, whether it's 10, 100, or 1,000, and then following through and you know, looking at those results on a very, you know, regular cadence, whether it's daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, to make sure you're executing, uh I think critical.
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And uh for us in creating IHS market, measurement was, you know, a you know, it was just a normal course of business.
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Everybody did it.
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And if if people listening were saying, okay, what are the three key things that are non-negotiable when it comes to measuring, what would you say are the top three things that for your business certainly were the key, the key items?
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It would be the inputs to revenue.
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Okay.
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And the inputs to revenue are visiting customers, making calls, attending conferences, building relationships.
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When you do all those things, the revenue comes.
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What is measuring revenue this quarter versus next?
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Right?
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Those are outputs.
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I always look at the inputs and measure those.
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It's the same, secondly, on the cost side.
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So how do you measure the inputs costs?
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It's how how often are you doing things, how often are you failing failing, what are you spending your money on?
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Measuring that productivity of uh individuals um, you know, ultimately save you money.
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And then they drive the final measurement, which of course is earnings.
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You might put all those in the buckets of financial uh metrics.
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So measuring financial inputs to me are is really important.
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Secondly, I'd say measuring the pulse on your customers, and then also measuring the pulse on your people.
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Yeah.
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Happy people, happy customers, and you know, strong financial performance.
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When you put those together, you have a really, you know, successful firm.
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And and it was really interesting what you said there about inputs versus outputs.
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It's knowing what inputs make your output true.
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You know, what the if you know the output you're looking to achieve, you know, what are the inputs?
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When you talk about the pulse of the customers and the pulse of the people, how do you do that?
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Is that customer surveys?
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Like again, how do you take the pulse?
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Yeah, well, definitely surveying is one of the best ways to, you know, get a good feeling of how things are going in the company.
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But, you know, if you're asked to survey something, you don't send out the 10 toughest questions that, you know, are going to depress you when you get the results.
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You send out a handful of questions that uh demonstrate your greatness, and then you send out another handful that you're curious about.
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Um but ultimately for me, surveying a great view of your trends and your improvements
quarter over quarter.
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So if you survey twice a year, then twice a year, you're on two or three questions, you're seeing if you're improving.
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And I think that's really relevant.
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Same on the people side.
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So people and customers.
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Um, but ultimately, at least once a year or once every two years, I'd like to hire an independent third party that would actually do a hundred customer visits, meet 200 people in the company, and in an anonymous, thoughtful way, really make sure you have the pulse on what's happening.
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Because I think we love hearing the good news.
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We like explaining away the bad news.
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And uh that's not a great uh leadership uh style.
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No, I suppose ultimately we don't know what we don't know, which is where those surveys blind spot, so they shine a light on the things that we need to pay attention to.
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Yeah.
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And and you know, what whatever you measure is gonna get managed and improved.
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So ultimately, you know, you've got to make that happen.
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And getting the right metrics, focusing attention on the outcomes, uh, very important.
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Aligning the teams around uh the information, find problems early, um, you know, allowing yourself to drive better decisions.
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Poor metrics create false confidence.
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That's what I would say.
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And good metrics create clarity.
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Yeah, and and to your point, the more you're measuring things, that finding problems early, things become discoverable.
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100%.
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Very, very important.
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There are many more one-liners just saying that are coming out of this.
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So which is you can use you can use uh you can use those in uh in the building of your company, George.
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But they're they are and and I think to your point, this measurement is so critical.
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And you know, what we measure, what we put our attention on expands.
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And you said that what we measure gets managed.
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And it again, it it's all these things, common sense, not common practice.
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People know they need to measure things, but it's not always done.
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And look, you your businesses have had extraordinary success.
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So I think it's it's really uncovering here.
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What are the secret sources?
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You know, what have made those outcomes true?
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And yeah, as an as an innovator, uh, as Rich said, um, an entrepreneur, extraordinaire, and an extraordinary uh business builder, it takes me to a question on innovation.
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And, you know, one of the quotes that you you you talked about is innovation.
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You will make mistakes.
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Um, that's part of the journey, and things are not always gonna go your way.
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And what you shared is like when these things happen, as they will, like focus forward.
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Like what matters then is how you recover, how you learn, how you move on.
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Can you speak more to that?
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Yeah, well, well, first off, when I think about innovation means you'll make mistakes.
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I actually think failures inherent to great progress, right?
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You've got to have failures to be able to innovate at the most important uh, you know, or optimal level.
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And innovation always requires us to experiment, and experimenting involves uncertainty in everything.
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So the goal to me was never to avoid mistakes, it was just to make them smaller, learn quickly, and then apply that forward.
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And so, you know, when I think about the comment of focus forward, it was how do you, you know, be resilient, don't focus on perfection.
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Resilience is what you want.
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And strong innovators, they don't dwell on setbacks.
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Like if you get setback when you're innovating, drive through it, get the insight from that, adapt, make change fast, redirect your energy, and uh start focusing on the next solution.
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And so recovery speed actually can become a competitive advantage, you know, for an innovative company.
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Um, a lot of companies don't recover from failure.
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Uh they have a failure, they get depressed, uh, a lot of long faces.
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You need to come in that next day, and you got to recover.
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And the faster you recover, the better.
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And if it takes three aspirins, take the three aspirins and uh, you know, get back to work.
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Yeah, and and I suppose there can be emotion, but you can't be too emotional because depression, you know, emotions are contagious.
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As a leader, it's it's that focus forward, learn and move on.
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Yeah, no, exactly.
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You use the word resilience, and I and when we were discussing the quotes, this is just as a side, but as
you said that it just came up for me.
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I was asked in a TV interview the other day, and curious to get your thoughts before I I share mine.
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Are leaders successful leaders, are they more resilient than those who are not as successful?
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And I'm curious what your thoughts are hearing that question.
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I think it depends on the type of you know, operation, product, uh, set of products, you know, it depends on the company you're running.
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But for me, resiliency was critical in terms of the success of IHS market.
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Um because in every aspect, when you're when you run a winning product, everybody's trying to take market share from you, right?
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Hence widen the gap.
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When you're in a a number two or number three product, uh you have a tendency to use price to win market share and therefore, you know, damage the TAM that you're operating in.
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Uh, you know, instead of creating a better product and offering it at the same price, you create a better product and offer at a cheaper price.
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And then you try to recover that and both both lose.
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And so to me, I think it it really resiliency is uh a key leadership quality for the businesses that I operated in.
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And it it required constant attention to maintain the highest level of resiliency.
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Yeah.
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I look at leaders in today's world and the pace of change, you know, we're inundated with new entrants, AI, automation, tokenization, private versus public markets.
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This there's so much.
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And I look at leaders, their travel schedules, their their schedules, the expectations that come with the role.
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And I think there's a there's a baseline of resilience that's higher than others.
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Uh, because I think physiologically, not everyone, and that's okay, not everyone can operate at that level.
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No, there is uh, you know, the management of the stress that surrounds the operating environment.
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I think, you know, if you can handle the stress and manage the stress through other outlets, I think that uh you ultimately will be a better leader.
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And you know, a calmer leader giving clear instructions is always better than you know, the loud, noisy leader giving unclear instructions.
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And so to me, it you know, it's important.
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When you think of change, the change technology, you know, I started in 1986 in a trading room that didn't have Excel Word, um, the internet, cell phones.
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So you just take those.
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Like we talk about AI today.
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All of a sudden people have cell phones, they have emails, um, they have word processing.
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They don't need to use a calculator and learn how to use an HP 12C, um, which many won't know what an HP 12C even is.
00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:35.359
But you know, learning how to operate a calculator, a scientific calculator was part of, you know, the training of the late 80s.
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Um, as we moved to 90s, that disappeared.
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And then uh object-oriented programming came in.
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So things were being calculated at a fast, much faster pace.
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So instead of having to have 20 salespeople, you could actually answer as many queries with 10.
00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:01.519
So you had efficiencies coming because people could do things faster and be more productive.
00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:26.720
Uh, you then had moves uh, you know, to um large cloud-based services that allowed you to um reduce costs of you know, costly big um hosted solutions that had all sorts of inherent inherent issues with speed as people wanted things faster around the world, you could move towards the cloud and improve that.
00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:34.720
And I remember the first cloud decision I made, there were two finalists in the room, Amazon and Michael Dell.
00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:41.279
And of course, everyone said, you know, Dell's a technology company, Amazon's a shopping platform.
00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:45.440
You know, who are you supposed to do your first big cloud expense with?
00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:47.200
And we went with Michael Dell.
00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:50.240
He sold the business to NTT Data.
00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:56.079
Um, and along came Amazon investing billions of dollars.
00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:59.759
And within five years, we made the move to.
00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:06.480
You know, transform ourselves uh to uh to Amazon Web Services.
00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:12.240
And um, you know, those types of decisions require a lot of resiliency.
00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:12.559
Yeah.
00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:22.880
Because you're spending money, you're making big transformative decisions, and then you're having to change and stay keep everyone motivated uh through another transformation project.
00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.440
So, yes, all important.
00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:28.960
Resiliency is definitely a great word and an important one.
00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:29.359
Yeah.
00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:37.440
And as you said, stress management, knowing your outlets beforehand, you know, you've talked about your on switches, you know, make sure you know you're on switches and you're activating those.
00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:42.160
When we talked about innovation, we've talked about, you know, failure is inevitable.
00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:44.640
Um, and also people may make mistakes.
00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:52.640
And um, you know, you've said when we in one of our conversations, you know, don't waste time blaming people when something goes wrong.
00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:54.960
And yet often it that's easy to do.
00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:59.680
So can you speak to me more about how you don't do that, how you don't blame people?
00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:03.839
And what do you think the outcome is of not, you know, pointing fingers?
00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:08.640
Yeah, I think it's easy to point fingers and it's hard to take responsibility.
00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:12.160
And for me, blame kills all learning and trust.
00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:17.680
How are you gonna learn if you think you're gonna make a mistake and then get blamed for it?
00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:23.839
So I think blame is a really poor leadership style.
00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:31.599
Even if you know what happens, don't kill the learning environment in a firm through a blame culture.
00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:38.960
And I I think when failure occurs, you know, leaders should focus on systems, decisions, and assumptions.
00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:40.880
Don't look for a scapegoat.
00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:47.839
And accountability still exists, but the goal has to be improvement and never punishment.
00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:48.880
I love that.
00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:51.359
The goal has to be improvement, never punishment.
00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:53.279
It's so important.
00:23:53.359 --> 00:24:00.640
I think people can get caught up in that emotional reactivity, and yet that can have a such a negative ripple in an organization.
00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:08.480
Another quote I want to take you to, which um is different, but there's a there's a I suppose a thread that links it to is i individual performance.
00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:14.640
And you know, when you talked about having a growth learning environment, you can work with people on underperformance is what you stated.
00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:21.759
However, if a person's values and characteristics are misaligned with a company culture, it will be toxic for an organization.
00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:23.279
They have to be removed.
00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:30.640
And yet so often another, you know, I've seen organizations they allow that behavior to persist because they're they're that they're big P ⁇ L providers.
00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:35.519
So how do you how do you how do you manage those um those those toxic individuals?
00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:39.759
Okay, toxic individuals to me means you have to let them go.
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:47.119
Um if they're individuals that um you know are underperforming.
00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:54.960
You know, when I think of uh values and character misalignment as being toxic, I always said you have to remove it.
00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:01.759
So culture matters more than talent at any moment in time in a firm.
00:25:02.000 -->
00:25:08.240
Um and I think that plays well within a uh sports club, a racing team.
00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:10.400
You know, culture, culture matters.
00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:11.200
What do you do?
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:18.559
You have to, you know, develop the right skills and you know, make sure that you have the values that will define behavior.
00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:29.440
You know, if somebody's undermining trust or integrity or respect of the organization, um, you know, then the organization wins over the individual.
00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:32.079
You said that about culture matters more than talent.
00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:33.920
I I remember reading the all blacks.
00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:38.400
You know, they said that they have like a no dickhead policy is is their words, not mine.
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:48.720
Uh, but they said, however talented you are, if you're not the right cultural fit, if you're not a team player, it doesn't matter how skilled you are at passing the ball or tackling, like there is no place for you in the team.
00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:50.880
No, I I agree with that 100%.
00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:55.920
One of where I want to take us to is about the people within an organization.
00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:59.519
And and you said, look, the best ideas can come from anywhere in the organization.
00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:01.519
Innovation has no hierarchy.
00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:05.440
Um, so it's about creating a culture where every voice is valued.
00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:11.440
Because if you focus solely on the voices at the top, there's maybe some really interesting ideas that you could be overlooking.
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:13.440
How do you do that in principle?
00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:19.680
Well, first off, I don't think you know, innovation's definitely not hierarchical, right?
00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:24.720
Innovation doesn't just come from CEO and the executive team meeting in a private room.
00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:32.400
Innovation comes from your salespeople, your tech leaders, your product development teams.
00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:37.759
It come from everywhere, come from your finance department, uh, uh your legal department.
00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:44.000
So my view is innovation has to be part of the culture and it should never be hierarchical.
00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:50.240
And, you know, great leaders have to create environments where people feel safe to contribute.
00:26:50.400 --> 00:27:03.279
You know, some people in some firms maybe feel like contributing a new idea, they're gonna be shot down, or you know, somebody's gonna feel jealous or you know, concerned about what they have to say.
00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:09.839
Um, but my view is people need to feel safe to contribute regardless of the role or their title.
00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:16.559
And ignoring the voices outside of uh leadership often means that you're gonna miss the best insights.
00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:17.680
I love that.
00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:20.400
Uh innovation has to be part of the culture.
00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:21.920
Uh so it's lived and breathed.
00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:25.440
It's not just a nice word that's emblazoned on a wall or on a website.
00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:28.319
Like it's it's it's it's an entity, it's a living entity.
00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:29.119
Agree.
00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:33.759
So great leaders are defined during the toughest situations.
00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:36.960
When everything is going right, it's easy.
00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:38.240
So talk to me about that.
00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:40.640
Great leaders are defined during the toughest situations.
00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:45.839
I actually think that leadership is earned when you're under pressure.
00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:47.039
That's when you're tested.
00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:51.519
When conditions are easy, anyone can lead, you know, and show up.
00:27:51.680 --> 00:28:01.440
If the market's growing at 15% around you and you're growing at 17%, you've really only added a couple points of you know, added value.
00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:06.799
If markets are growing at 3% and you're growing at 15%, you're taking market share.
00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:09.200
You are the definer in the marketplace.
00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:13.920
I look at it and I think when conditions are easy, anyone can lead.
00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:18.000
But in adversity, the real leaders have to show up.
00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:22.799
They got to be calm, they got to use judgment, they have to have moral clarity.
00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:26.400
And, you know, in tough times, you've got to earn trust.
00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:28.319
This is what it matters the most.
00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:29.839
Yeah, it's so true.
00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:35.839
It's so and I think it's in tough times where if you are a trusted leader, people will go above and beyond for you.
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:38.079
I think it then it really starts to pay dividends.
00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:39.440
No, I agree with that.
00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:42.880
I always say to my children, hard work is a minimum.
00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:50.559
Um, and you said in one of our conversations, to be a successful entrepreneur, you're gonna have to work harder than 99% of people you know.
00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:52.319
Um, can you speak more to that?
00:28:52.799 --> 00:29:01.119
If anybody has the thought of creating a new company and bringing it to success, um, is gonna be easy.
00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:03.039
They're starting their own career.
00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:11.599
So an entrepreneur um, I think has to work, you know, two times harder than anybody else around them.
00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:21.200
And that success of a good entrepreneur requires extreme, and I say extreme in the uh quotes, extreme commitment.
00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:23.039
Uh, you have to show up.
00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:28.480
Um, you got to have sustained intensity, you got to have resilience, which we already spoke
about.
00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:35.359
You got to have personal sacrifice, which is hard to do, and you'll have a lot of pressure uh for personal sacrifice.
00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:40.079
And it's not just about long hours, it's about relentless focus.
00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:41.119
Constantly.
00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:48.079
You're constantly, I remember just constantly thinking about market and IHS market was in every conversation.
00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:52.559
Every business article I read, I could relate it to IHS Market.
00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:56.079
Any learnings I had, I could relate to IHS Market.
00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:01.440
Um, any leadership book I read, I could relate back to IHS Market.
00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:09.440
So it's a relentless focus, lots of energy and you know, real ownership, you know, over long periods of time.
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:12.079
How do you relate to the word obsessive?
00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:13.440
I think it's a good word.
00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:19.119
I I think it's okay to be obsessive as an entrepreneur, because if you're not, you're probably gonna fail.
00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:24.079
Um but don't be obsessive over the wrong things in life.
00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:35.039
You know, take that obsessive, if you have an obsessive nature towards success and achievement, um, then use it as a uh benefit and win with it.
00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:41.039
Yeah, I listened to Tote Wolf um in Devos recently speak, and he talked about his obsessiveness.
00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:43.359
And you know, you've talked about attention to detail.
00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:53.279
I was I was listening to him for big, I feel like I'm listening to Lance because like the attempt, the things he measures like are extraordinary, the things he cares about.
00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:58.720
So it's an obsessiveness, but in a such a passionate and such a positive way.
00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:00.240
Yeah, and I I love it.
00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:09.680
And you know, one you know, quote in the book that I I loved uh that you referred to me a couple of times was, you know, how involved in the detail?
00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:12.960
You know, do you overmanage or undermanage?
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:22.559
And my view is is when I thought about that, effective leadership, it requires you to adjust to the right altitude, right?
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:25.599
What's the right altitude for the problem you're dealing with?
00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:31.599
And you you've got to understand the detail well enough to make informed decisions.
00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:38.240
You're you're you're the leader, know the detail well enough so you can make the right decisions.
00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:42.319
If you can't make the right decisions, then ask the right questions.
00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:44.400
At least spot the risk.
00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:48.079
Be close enough, but don't suffocate the teams.
00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:50.480
That's that then you're doing the opposite.
00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:54.960
You try to solve the problem, you overmanage, you suffocate.
00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:59.599
So my view is oversight's never micromanagement.
00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:00.559
It's just not.
00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:02.079
It's not micromanagement.
00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:09.599
It's adjusting yourself to the right altitude to assist the team to make even better decisions.
00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:19.039
And and with that being at the right altitude, do you think that's something inherently like you, you, your, your intuition tells you what the right altitude is?
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:22.960
Or is that something you really have to spend time thinking, you know, what is the right altitude?
00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:25.279
Like I'm curious where you sit on that.
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:30.319
I think you have to know what the wrong altitude is before you can figure out what the right one is.
00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:34.160
So the wrong one is you're suffocating me.
00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:35.039
Right?
00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:41.599
Like imagine the people coming to work every day going, oh God, yeah, great leader suffocates me every day, right?
00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:44.319
So that's not a good outcome.
00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:49.759
Or great leader, we're doing well, but he doesn't know any of the detail.
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:53.599
Asks all the wrong questions, or she asks all the wrong questions.
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:54.960
That's not good.
00:32:55.359 --> 00:33:02.559
So you need to be able to adjust to the right level for the problem in front of you.
00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:07.279
And that is never too light or too hard.
00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:08.559
It just isn't.
00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:15.200
It's always between the wings of the possibility to either under or overmanage.
00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:17.440
And for me, it's about that agility, isn't it?
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:21.519
It's that that calibration or that recalibration and not a one-size-fits-all.
00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:29.039
One of the last quotes that I want, and one of our very, very first conversations, you shared this quote, which I'm gonna speak to in a second.
00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:33.519
And I share it all the time because I think it's so simple yet so valuable.
00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:47.039
You talked earlier on today about curiosity, and you're clearly like relationships people, whether it's clients, customers, uh, um any stakeholder, it's it's it's about you know building relationships and that curiosity.
00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:52.240
And you said to build great relationships, be interested and be interesting.
00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:54.559
Um, can you speak more to that?
00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:55.920
Because it's a simple statement.
00:33:56.000 --> 00:34:01.279
Yeah, if you do that well, that has a very big amplification impact.
00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:07.279
Yeah, I think um, especially with dynamics around people.
00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:11.440
So if you
take that and apply it to customers, right?
00:34:12.079 --> 00:34:15.679
Customers you need to be interested in them.
00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:17.519
You're serving them.
00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:32.079
They're paying you for the products you deliver to them, they want you to be interested in them, understand their business, understand their growth pains, understand their uh challenges financially, you know, be engaged.
00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:39.760
Then the customer has to be interested in you being in their ecosystem.
00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:42.639
So that means you need to be interesting.
00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:50.079
And interesting means that you can show up and relate to the person that you're talking to.
00:34:50.639 --> 00:35:10.079
And so if you know, I played, you know, you know, World Cup rugby for 10 years, and all I knew was rugby, and I showed up at every customer, and my interesting points were only about rugby, I can tell you you'd probably leave 90% of the world aside.
00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:15.119
And so to be interesting, you know, you're a great athlete.
00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:19.360
What does it mean to be a great athlete in 20 other sports?
00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:26.400
What does it mean to be a great uh musician or dancer or a great writer?
00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:37.519
And, you know, the way you can develop that point of the ability to be more interesting is to read and study more.
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:54.719
And so I think finding time as a leader to make sure they're aware of what's going on in the world, what changes are going on in the world around you, what are the interesting stories, where is their suffering, uh, where is their uh charity required?
00:35:54.880 --> 00:35:56.079
This is really important.
00:35:56.320 --> 00:36:17.039
And when you develop those skills uh around the people aspects of your business, either inside or outside the firm, uh, it it will shine through and um allow people to become more connected to you, and therefore uh uh it gives you an ability to create a competitive edge.
00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:19.280
Yeah, I just I just think it's so powerful.
00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:29.920
And to your point, I think sometimes we think we're interesting because we know a lot about what we know, but it's again understanding more about the world and uh so that word you use, you know, be relatable.
00:36:30.639 --> 00:36:39.760
And last question, just as we as we kind of come to a close, and it isn't a quote from the book, but I wonder what's one thing most people come to advice for you on?
00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:41.199
You know, what are the themes?
00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:58.480
Well, one thing is different than the themes, uh, but I'll tell you, I'd say that on a weekly basis, I would say people like to pressure test their ideas against something that they consider was successful.
00:36:59.599 --> 00:37:21.440
So I would say that through the history, you know, if you think the um, you know, there was, you know, just say 20,000 people in IHS market, maybe average 10,000 over the course of the 20 years, um, or five, you say 5,000, and the turnover is, you know, 10% a year.
00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:33.840
Well, you know, there was probably, you know, close to 100,000 people that went through the corridors of IHS market uh in the time that uh I was leading it.
00:37:34.159 --> 00:37:53.920
And many of those um individuals grasped the entrepreneurism that market represented at a time in the financial markets or IHS uh market uh represented in this kind of golden information age.
00:37:54.079 --> 00:37:57.440
Uh and they went on to do interesting things.
00:37:57.760 --> 00:38:21.679
And so the most common thing that I find I'm asked to do is to, you know, have a discussion like this where you know somebody starting something new uh is looking for, you know, somebody to be a sounding board against an idea that they're interested uh to take forward.
00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:29.920
And I think when that happens, I feel very privileged that people would consider me to have that conversation with them.
00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:32.800
And so most of the time I say yes.
00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:38.320
I can't do that all my time, but I at least weekly I say yes.
00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:47.760
I think today I said yes twice uh um uh from individuals that pass through IHS market corridors in different parts of the world.
00:38:47.920 --> 00:38:50.159
And I look forward to those conversations.
00:38:50.400 --> 00:39:02.800
And uh at least probably 10 times, I've invested alongside those individuals and been mentors and advisors as they grew those new um opportunities.
00:39:03.039 --> 00:39:05.840
And uh, so it's a privilege to be asked.
00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:22.960
Sindhu, one of the individuals who he put something on LinkedIn about the book and he credited you as he started two very successful businesses and he said, you know, all his the entrepreneurial spirit and all the uh I suppose the strategies that underpin entrepreneurial success, he he he credits you with.
00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:32.559
So it doesn't surprise me that people come to you for that, for that, um, to be the sounding board, uh, to be the challenger and to hold the mirror up to them.
00:39:32.880 --> 00:39:33.840
No, I like doing it.
00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:35.760
And I I usually have two questions.
00:39:35.920 --> 00:39:39.199
You know, I want to understand is what's your moat?
00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:46.719
To me, the moat, the wider and deeper the moat is, the better opportunity for success, right?
00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:53.199
And I don't want the moat to be just first mover or um price.
00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:57.199
Those are things that uh to me can be beaten.
00:39:57.280 --> 00:40:06.719
It's got to be an idea, and then you've got to, you know, be able to demonstrate how you can make that moat even wider or even deeper.
00:40:06.960 --> 00:40:14.639
And then I want the numbers, the science to work before I get described all the art.
00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:18.719
So to me, um, science is math.
00:40:19.280 --> 00:40:20.320
Does the math work?
00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:25.280
The TAM, the pricing, the cost structure, what you're trying to do.
00:40:25.440 --> 00:40:27.280
I just want to pressure test the math.
00:40:27.360 --> 00:40:31.440
That takes me like 15 minutes, and I can know if the math works.
00:40:31.679 --> 00:40:35.280
And then ultimately you want to apply that math.
00:40:35.440 --> 00:40:36.880
Now I want to hear the art.
00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:38.480
The artist has to come out.
00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:42.400
You know, what what's the what's the passion sound like?
00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:57.280
What is the um, you know, do they have a, you know, a multi-tenored path to success that uh, you know, has uh you know the right amount of opportunity in it for them to win.
00:40:57.440 --> 00:40:59.199
And I I love hearing it.
00:40:59.440 --> 00:41:07.199
When I don't hear it, I'm happy to tell them that uh they've got to go back to the drawing board and do some more work.
00:41:07.519 --> 00:41:08.639
Yeah, being the truth teller.
00:41:08.800 --> 00:41:12.480
Well, this is I do feel like there's a new book that we are building already.
00:41:13.199 --> 00:41:18.079
I think today we've planted the seed because there are so many other wonderful sound bites that have come up.
00:41:18.159 --> 00:41:29.519
So I hope this is the start of many more conversations where we can explore the insights from the book and really unpack them because I come away from every conversation feeling up-leveled, energized, inspired.
00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:33.119
And I know everyone who listens to you and who's worked for you feels the same.
00:41:33.280 --> 00:41:39.519
So thank you for the gift of your time and for just being so gracious in sharing the how-to with us.
00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:40.639
Thanks.
00:41:40.800 --> 00:41:45.760
I appreciate all your time, Georgie, and your focus on raising the bar as well.
00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:46.960
So thank you so much.
00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:47.920
My pleasure.
00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:48.880
Thanks, Lance.
00:41:49.599 --> 00:41:59.519
If you want to see the full episode, please do look at Apple and Spotify under Stratospheric Leaders, or go to YouTube where it'll be under Georgie Dickens.
00:41:59.679 --> 00:42:01.440
I hope you enjoyed the full episode.
00:42:01.599 --> 00:42:03.599
There are so many great sound bites shared.