Episode 6
The guest of the 6th episode of “The Dialogue” is Scott Mordell. As the CEO of the Young Presidents’ Organization, Scott leads a company consisting of almost 30,000 leaders from all around the world. He talks to our host Sammy-Miles Geiger about the misinterpretation of networking, the importance of relationship building for a good leader and the role of trust in this. Why are these aspects essential? “In our career life, it’s all about the people”, Scott says.
Your Guest
Your Host
Shownotes
(00:25) – Introduction
(01:38) – Scott about himself
(02:25) – Relationship building in an organization
(06:29) –The networking gap
(08:43) – Embracing a diverse exchange
(14:58) – ‘Closed doors’ for building trust
(18:03) – Value of networks in the context of crisis
(21:03) – Filtering out human leaders
(24:57) – The YPO’s promise for better leadership
(27:19) – What Scott would tell his younger self
(28:27) – Outro
Further Readings
1) If you want to learn more about the YPO and their mission to create better leaders, you can visit their website as well as their blog and their LinkedIn page.
2) Scott and Sammy talk about the networking gap as a barrier for some people in building relationships. Check out why LinkedIn and CEO Jeff Weiner identified it as a problem and how they want to solve it: CEO Jeff Weiner Reveals the No.1 Challenge Ahead for LinkedIn, Closing the Networking Gap.
3) In this episode, Scott refers to Charlene Li who has been the first guest of our podcast and who is also member of the YPO. Click here in order to listen to her thoughts about Responsible Leadership in the digital age.
Networking is NOT the search for somebody who can help you to get a job. In this context, networking is often misinterpreted and negatively connotated.
Instead, networking is relationship building. In a network, all people are interesting for different reasons. All can support each other, depending on their current situation and on what they are looking for.
You build relationships based on commonalities, but the value to each other is derived by the differences.
In Scott’s mind, every organization consists of four different parts: firstly, a common purpose; secondly, bringing people together; thirdly, creating processes and structures; fourthly, capital.
People are the ‘heart’ of these components and unite the different aspects.
At YPO, it’s all about the diverse exchange between leaders who have similar empathy, but different experiences. Particularly in times of crisis, mutual support has become more important.
Being connected with someone means being connected with someone’s whole network, provided that one is willing to share it. This has to be based on trust.
Within organizations, building trust is key in order to share even bad news as soon as possible with the leader. Therefore, a Responsible Leader has to create an appropriate environment. This can also justify a ‘closed doors’-policy in some situations.
“The higher up one goes in an organization, one needs to work much, much harder to make sure that they are getting authentic and transparent dialogue with the people that they work with.”
Scott Mordell
CEO Young Presidents´ Organization