Been there, done that: learning from leaders

Visitors to the recent Vodafone-sponsored Pendulum Summit in Dublin were given a wealth of advice on how to empower themselves in their lives and careers as well as how to lead others to greatness.

The impressive line-up of speakers included serial entrepreneur and solo trans-Atlantic rower Debra Searle, businessman and global explorer Pat Falvey, bestselling business writer Keith Ferrazzi, former Bord Gáis ceo John Mullins, Greencore ceo Patrick Coveney, IAG chief Willie Walsh, and alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny set the tone for the day with a quote from TS Eliot: “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

Personal development expert Jack Black followed up by advising people that in their journey of exploration they should neither be afraid of copying their heroes or of doing things differently and innovating.

Debra Searle’s highly amusing and thought provoking contribution focused mainly on her solo voyage across the Atlantic which had made world headlines as a result of her husband’s withdrawal from the trip after two weeks leaving her to soldier on alone for almost three months.

Among the most telling points she made was in relation to her response to the various setbacks and challenges she faced. Her sister called her on the satellite phone and said in what sounded like a glib tone, “Debs, you’ve just got to choose your attitude about this”. Searle’s initial response was understandable anger but after a period of reflection she began to think differently.

“I thought she had just been on another management course and if I had been in the same room as her I would have punched her,” she said. “But then when I thought about it I could see there was a lot of stuff I couldn’t change like the weather but I could choose my own attitude towards them.

Attitude

“I wrote those three words ‘choose your attitude’ on the boat and every morning at breakfast I chose my attitude for that day. If it was optimism I then had to say out loud various reasons to be optimistic and by the time I had finished my breakfast I would end up feeling optimistic. Three other people in the race had their partners drop out but I was the only one to make it. The other three all said they couldn’t handle it mentally. I made it because I chose my attitude every day. I believe that if you have the right attitude and the right people around you, anything is possible.”

Pat Falvey, who announced after climbing his first mountain, Carrantuohill, in 1986 that he was going to climb Everest, echoed Searle’s advice in relation to taking on major tasks.

“Success lies in following your dreams, achieving them is a bonus,” he said. “My dream of climbing Everest gave me focus and something to pursue and it enabled me to achieve a lot of smaller successes on the way. You have to break it down into small slices and achieve one at a time until you get there.”

Returning to the theme of innovation John Mullins said of his current venture Amerenco: “My job is not secure, my business is not secure, and my business needs to constantly reinvent itself to stay ahead.”

Deepak Chopra probably summed up the day when he spoke of the importance of the journey rather than the destination. “Pursue excellence and ignore success. If you are excellent you will be successful”.

According to Vodafone head of enterprise customer solutions Jonathan Rutherford, the Pendulum Summit and its themes were very much in tune with his organisation's values. "The thing that struck us very strongly was how much the Pendulum Summit was focused on values which we believe in," he said. "Vodafone has gone through a fundamental transformation in recent years and the messages that came across in relation to things like optimism, taking on challenges, innovation, being customer focused, and being open to change are very important to us as an organisation."

The overall theme of unlocking potential for greatness is also very important. “Not only are we connecting people and organisations we are using modern communications technology to help people realise their potential.”

Embrace change

Perhaps most important was the emphasis on innovation, reinvention and the willingness to embrace ongoing change. “Our technology has evolved greatly and enables innovation but its true potential can only be realised by innovative people and organisations. There were some phenomenal and insightful leadership lessons learned at the summit: the need for proximity to customers and for organisations to be more customer-centric in particular.”

And this also plays into the communications message said Rutherford. “Organisations need to get much closer to their customers and suppliers and other partners and learn from them.

“A lot of new ideas and innovations can come about as a result of listening to customers and suppliers. One of the ideas that was talked about over and over again during the summit was the need for constant reinvention and how this can enable organisations to change in ways that makes them more productive and closer to customers.

“For example, at Vodafone we have used our own solutions to enable new ways of working for our people and this applies to our customers as well. They can use it to change in quite fundamental ways and have staff working away from the office from their homes or in places where they are closer to the market and the customer. Just because things have always been done one way doesn’t mean that they have to continue being done that way.”