life's too short for PowerPoint

Inspiring people is my job. I recognize I need to do this on multiple levels all the time. On an individual level, I try to enter most conversations thinking: How do I leave this person inspired to do amazing things — to believe in themselves and the work they are doing. I don’t always get it right, but I try. I believe being authentic is key, too. People want to feel a sense of belonging, safety and shared purpose. To really unlock that, you need to allow them to see the real you.

I also need to communicate, communicate, communicate. In theory, you could do everything on video these days. But I don’t think inspiration works that way. So when I travel to a market, I try to connect with as many people as possible through town halls and “working the work.” I don’t come to judge what people are doing. I roll up my sleeves and help them solve their biggest problems. Life’s too short for PowerPoint presentations — there are real problems to solve!

Syl Saller

"'Life's Too Short For PowerPoint': CMO Leadership Talk With Diageo's Syl Saller" by Thomas Barta.  Forbes.  Feb. 24, 2017.

a cause larger than yourself

Nothing in life is more liberating than to fight for a cause larger than yourself, something that encompasses you but is not defined by your existence alone.


John McCain
Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir. Random House. 2016. p.348

what my job as CEO is not

The most powerful learnings for me in my journey as a CEO have been about what my job is not –

It is not my job to be a judge. My job is to give people the tools and visibility to assess themselves. People are fully capable of self-assessment and although I often give feedback, this is just an input which may or may not be relevant in the problem they are solving.

My job is not to problem solve. I have a natural love of problem solving so my natural instinct is to jump in and try to solve the problem. My true job is to make sure success is clearly defined and then hard as it is—step aside. One person has very limited experiences to draw from and we can only achieve success if everyone is problem solving together.

Phoebe Hayman

"Phoebe Hayman, the founder of Seedling, Talks About Leadership as a Support Role" by Ramon B. Nuez Jr. Huffington Post. August 28, 2017.

leadership as a support role

Personally, I see leadership as a support role — a listener, a facilitator, a translator, a navigator. I know its common to think of the leader as the visionary, but if you’re a good listener, facilitator, translator and navigator then the leader shares ownership over the vision with the entire team.

Your time to lead is in developing a framework for the team to work within. In order to be successful in executing this shared vision, it’s the leader’s responsibility is to help people understand the role they play and how they can successfully measure their performance. Then you need to take a step back and get out of their way.

Phoebe Hayman

"Phoebe Hayman, the founder of Seedling, Talks About Leadership as a Support Role" by Ramon B. Nuez Jr. Huffington Post. August 28, 2017.

four characteristics of the transformational leader

Transformational leaders exhibit four characteristics in their interactions with employees; idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration.

Transformational Leaders

• Charisma: Provides vision and sense of mission, instills pride, gains respect and trust. 
• Inspiration: Communicates high expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts, expresses important purposes in simple ways.
• Intellectual stimulation: Promotes intennigence, rationality, and careful problem solving. 
• Individualized Consideration: Gives personal atention, treats each employee individually, coaches, advises. 

Transactional Leaders

• Contingent Reward: Contracts exchange of rewards for effort, promises rewards for good performance, recognizes accomplishments.
• Management by Exception (active): Watches and searches for deviations from rules and standards, takes corrective action.
• Management by Exception (passive): Intervenes only if standards are not met. 
• Lasissez-Faire: Abdicates responsibilities, avoids making decisions. 

Bernard M. Bass

"From transactional to transformational leadership. Learning to share the vision." by B.M. Bass.  Organizational dynamics.  Winter 1990.  As quoted by "Phoebe Hayman, the founder of Seedling, Talks About Leadership as a Support Role" by Ramon B. Nuez Jr. Huffington Post. August 28, 2017.