Getting Brett's Story

Although there were different topics discussed during the seminar, most speakers touched on some common themes. Many speakers made emphasis on the importance of communication, how to find a life balance, how to choose priorities in life, the importance of practicing the golden rule and of standing for what one believes, and how to adjust to changes in life. The topic that stood out to me the most was about the importance of standing for what we believe. As Brett Biggs, Vice President and CFO of Wal-Mart said, it is essential that we find a Company that values what we value. I personally feel like when we get a job offer, we feel like we must do anything to get a job. We may even feel like the company is doing us a favor by hiring us. Yet, getting

He has a positions that very few people can obtain and that speaks a lot about him. Something that stood out to me a lot was the emphasis he kept doing on figuring out who we are and what values do we stand for. As I mentioned earlier, Brett spoke about the importance of finding a company that fits our values so that we do not put ourselves into situations where we have to cross lines. This is also discussed by Howard Schultz in his book. As Schultz said, “Starbucks challenge was finding individuals whose accomplishments were matched by their values and an innate sense for Starbucks ´culture (Onward, p. 176). Moreover, he said that effective leaders are always looking for ways to provide convenience. To illustrate that point he shared how he always schedules thirty minute meetings. He believes that when it comes to meetings, all the important information can be covered within thirty minutes and that doing this provides convenience to the other

McLarty´s session was mainly Q&A. Nevertheless, he gave us some advice about how to become successful leaders. The first point was “Do not be afraid of the truth” the truth is not negotiable and if it costs me my job that is fine, we do not have to stay in a place in which we do not feel conformable. “Let your yes be yes and your no be no” (Dr. McLarty). Second, “Do not fear conflict”. Being able to handle conflict and deal with people is a key to success. Even the most genius person will not get too far if he lacks conflict solving skills. Third, “Do not fear failure”. Failure is normal and everyone is going to fail at some point. However, learning cannot happen without mistakes and mistakes are part of the thinking, learning, making, and recovering from mistakes cycle that will lead us to generate the best ideas (Great by Choice, p. 86). Furthermore, Dr. McLarty said that besides these three things, a successful leader helps folks explore their best. He said that we need to find a satisfaction in encouraging and helping others succeed. As Liz Wiseman said, the best leaders are genius makers (Multipliers,