An hour with Robert Kaplan

every year the joke why do adults always ask kids what they want to be when they grow up because we're still looking for ideas i'm kay mcintyre and today and kbr present what you really meant to do that's the name of rubber sealing kaplan's latest book in which he explores careers finding your own definition of success and taking leadership in the workplace kansas public radio has a copy of kaplan's book to give away go to our website to a pr that case you that edu and click on ticket giveaway kaplan is a nineteen seventy nine graduate of the university of kansas he went on to get an mba degree from harvard university where he now teaches in between he worked for the investment banking firm goldman sachs caplan gave the two thousand thirteen anderson chandler lecture sponsored by the university of kansas school of business he spoke september ninth two thousand thirteen i think hey you lead center will have my back to goldman sachs for twenty three years and i took a leave of absence in the fall two thousand five to go

teach a semester of leadership at harvard business school intellectual and i thought and i think my boss my sat next to at the time the ceo of the firm thought i would get this out of my system and i would come back and i decided after teaches semester i liked it much better than i thought i didn't know how long that stay at harvard but i decided that i would leave goldman sachs and set sail for new work effort of my life far so it's turned out well now become professor seniors as the etc etc ah i worked at the empowerment during the crisis but one little thing and that that wasn't so great so go back in your city and i would say to people that say what you do and it's in teaching her business or caucus really that's really cool and its it would you teach me and i sent teaching leadership and they go oh

and i thought a while woolworth's was a problem and amari a little shaky enough you know that loved his career and on the teach cow the strange career change they say you can't teach leadership of the yankees which in fact more than that i think either leaders are born here the border we're you're not whatever you do and they're white you teach him something that can be taught or cases supporter depressing to me at the time very depressing so i've spent the last several years tried to learn about leadership demystify leadership alto yet these things tonight i'mma talk about a few things out weren't outlay the most one of the most important things i've learned not only but kenna leadership you weren't for those of you were wondering what you can learn to be a leader not only can it be weren't i will tell you this i have not yet met a successful leader who has been successful over a

sustained period of time no you were to buy one yet of either a business or a nonprofit or government leader who's been successful over a sustained period of time who didn't have to learn how to be a leader they had to learn and i got some bad news for the straight a students in the audience the smarter you are and the more you are the best read everything you did a harder time you may have and learning to be a leader why because many of the things you have to do is a leader are very uncomfortable for example if you're the smartest person in the room or in your in your class or in your company why would you ever delegate attests to someone else i mean they'll do it they're going to do worse than you what it's gonna make you crazy you're going to be a lawyer in history do what they did has of the terrible experience their candidate you insisted that experience whatever do that yet leaders learned they have to

do that there's a whole number of unnatural acts seeking advice i've been vulnerable or we're communicating delegating asking for help all those things that if you want to be a leader you must learn to do and so what i've tried to what i i work a lot with ceo's are government officials as well as young people and everyone in between and what i try to do is unpacking leadership at a little bit to demystify and so let me talk a little bit about this first what is leadership anyhow given no one knows what it is to say you know if i didn't if i get a little quiz and this room and asked to write down your definition of leadership i assure you we would give the cell hundred different definition i know that for sure there's another before your smarts or give you my definition leadership have also following number one can you figure out what do you believe

sounds simple right can you figure out what you believe and the reason it's so hard to do that is it involves analysis for those are your skin should take all these classes really learning tools to try to help analyze situations you can figure out which italy it involves judgment and involves talking to people in both sides of the situation and often involves experience in that you don't see what's really going on and that she had more experience you put all that together and you strike i spend my whole life striving to figure out what i believe and even with that hyper says the time i'll be in a situation and i don't know the leaders strive to figure out what they believe then every once in a while you get a conviction i know what i believe i know what i believe i know so that involves a second part of being a leader can you take that belief that conviction and act

on it can you take action and by the way that may sound easy to you but there's a number of people in this room but always have the answer but can't speak out for some reason when that when it's on the line why they're afraid of that sound stupid their fear they might be wrong maybe the boss will disagree maybe who knows why that's not leadership and an end in business often those people come up to me after we screw something up and i made a decision that went terribly wrong and they say you know i would have done i was tense and i say if you know it is no good to tell me now that you thought i was a bad idea leadership involves if you get a conviction can you do something for new act on it either by speaking about why acting nobody will make it takes interpersonal skills to take action it takes thinking through how to do something to take action it's not an easy thing to do so first two parts do you figure out what you believe and yet the ability and the guts the courage to

act on it and then there's a third party in a way that adds value to others turn away the others despite your business in this country and around the world it's got a little bit of bad name and what i'll say it my former industry you know the best they can and she's got a very bad name because people think people in the industry just want money right and by the way that there's interested earned from twenty three years in the investment banking firm you'll become aggressive that great investment bank unless you have a strong philosophy on how you add value money is an outcome is an outcome as a result of adding value leaders explore and focus and strive for ways to add value and if you're not it had any value to make the money it won't last so the un leaders and

you figure out what you believe he had the guts to act on it and you believe that on in a way that's why if you do that i would argue your leader now by that by that definition you don't need to manage anybody to be a leader you to be a policeman or woman soldier serving in afghanistan single mother father small businessperson all those people in my opinion are leaders any walk of life can be a leader by the same token you could be i'm manager of thousands and thousands of people and not believe all if you don't strike a figure out what you believe that step on it in a way that adds value and there's many people in big leadership jobs with lots of followers who we don't perceive as leaders were very disappointed and because they don't do those things my big question is do you if you want to be a leader that indeed is the test figure out what you believe

act on it in a way that's right okay so if that's the case they're not there are lots of things on leadership we could talk about i guess a minute and think it just the high spots tonight given we don't have that much time and we want to take questions so let me tell you three or four questions for those of you heard me speak before to me leadership is about asking the right questions it's not about having all the answers were the most important things that i learned a long long time ago if you think you're going to have all the answers you get in serious trouble and normally when i see a leader government or business who thinks that all the answers it usually is a precursor to trouble leadership is about asking the right questions do you have the courage are you confident enough to ask advice to ask questions a lot of people think that it's a sign of vulnerability asked questions i think it's a sign of confidence a wide leaders say why might you

fail in this audience two main reasons i have found outstanding people fail it's not because you're not charming and upper because you have enough charisma or a newish the people talk about leadership two reasons one isolation two inability to learn and i keep coming back that the next thirty forty minutes isolation in italy the war you don't ask questions you don't seek advice you get isolated and this gets worse as you get more senior by their protest the morsi here you are the more people are reluctant to tell you the truth and you fail to warn you shut down you don't learn ok so let me talk about what some of the questions are you need to ask as a leader when you start with the first one for those of you have if you wanna run an organization wanna be a leader ok so if you do i'll tell you now and for those who are

doing every cabinet don't know your muscle resonate more but i will say to you i have not yet met a successful leader yet of a nonprofit of business or government you name it who does not articulate a clear vision for what the realization is trying to do and here's my definition edition how do we add value based on what the competencies how do we add value to the customer base on what the competencies what we need to be great at to do great leaders are always thinking about are we adding value are we adding value are we adding value are we having value and what we need to be great at at that time and they realize that money or financial rewards or for a politician even our governor they have they have to have the faith that the boats or the money will be an outcome of adding value and building confidence is that the first

question i would argue if you're interviewing for a job right now how many of you were interviewing looking for a job at any stage your career i would argue this is the first question about an organization you're looking at running you should be asking how do you how does the dead are you based on what competency i get a raft of business leaders and other leaders come into my office looking for advice when they are having trouble it is almost always related to they stopped asking this question and her company is out of alignment with adding value now a lot of people think that money is a good substitute for this or for making money we must be doing well from a more profitable don't talk to me about vision stupid we're profitable and again i would save you money is an outcome is a lagging indicator of good example i come from an

industry weird industry here sell my industry goes record year record year record year bankrupt and you laughed as it's got a funny women record your record your record your bank bear stearns record your record your record your banker at goldman sachs record your record your government bailout that's one word industry these people got stupid really really fast and the reason they got so stupid they had been out of alignment for several years over leveraged not adding enough value and it's not an accident when you're out of alignment of actually the world in conditions have a way of knocking you upside the head and the profit goes away and so for those of you were comforted by the facts were making record profits you're looking at the wrong thing and leaders must ask the right questions it's not about having the answers how do we add value are we adding value based on what

competencies they sell all that then you set priorities and you as you figure out what the remarkable i mean we could talk for an entire session just about that but that's not the main subject tonight the main subject and it is you so there's a couple a prostheses are always going on if you're a leader one you're trying to figure out the asian of the company or the organization priorities in alignment you trying to diagnose situations for what to do how to do it and then there's one little knotty problem that always seems to get in the way and that's you know it's two and it's a shame but the fact the batteries while you're figuring out what to do any articulated vision in your running whatever you're doing you're working your way out you've got to be learning about yourself you've got to work on reaching your potential and here is what my comment is and i spent most of my career trying to work on the strategic side just talked about

but we're realizing that if we were going to be success we've got to develop people will help them reach their potential and hears two or three questions i would ask you first question who defines your success am i if i had if i would if i had to give you three or four pieces of advice for the young people here that i wish somebody had told me twenty five or thirty years ago here's what they'd be number one on that you've got to take one hundred percent ownership of your career and understanding yourself and reach your potential and that includes define what success means to you now what why bother to say that's the truth is in this day and age gets worse night when i was growing up the use of your family your friends your loved ones popular media than the messages are everywhere what school what's not they're so pervasive there were not even aware of how deeply they're affecting our thinking

and what happens is it's so much easier when you're on campus here when you're with your friends to think what they think is cool or what they think you should do and go do that as opposed to doing the harder job of figuring out who you are which are about to talk about strengths weaknesses passions your story and when i say you've got to take one hundred percent ownership and i mean this is a hard thing to do one hundred percent ownership you need to take ownership of your life it's not somebody else's decision it yours who defines your success whatever it is you're doing why are you doing it and so in that regard it starts with can you write down on a piece of paper your strengths and weaknesses now by the way all this is in the context of trying to be a leader figaro which i believe we have the guts to act on it and a way that outside others while you're doing all that every day you've got

to have a theory in parallel about who you are and you've got to be working on developing herself and it starts with what are your strengths and weaknesses can you write down they get a piece of paper with you right now the sec for the younger people can you write down on a piece of paper your strengths and your weaknesses and my experiences for the first things i ask people when they come into my office including ceo's and invariably i have to learn to my surprise it's worse than i thought most people including me at various times cannot answer the question how could that possibly be little reason is number one it's got to be still based and it's got to be relative to a specific job so for example i'm a very fast runner was always the fastest into my school if i was going to try out for the job today be an olympic sprinter though in that we get them just to get a job ok it's not a strength it's a weakness i should even be thinking about that

for a lot of you you've never wrote you don't do enough work and writing down your strengths and your weaknesses and i would urge you literally literally take out a piece of paper and write it that now most of us are probably is have blind spots and that we don't see ourselves clearly so there's a second step we have to take which is why they're so hard you've got to get observations of people who see you in action and you've got to ask them for their observations about what they think your strengths and weaknesses and most people unless they're really of noxious would prefer not to talk about it now by the way ironically in your workplace religious school here but if i went around to five people that work with you make it's on your strengths and weaknesses like that like that good enough the fact is the bill monroe and ironically the

last person sometimes you know that you i was a gift that weakness is you and this is a big problem because i found years you're the trick is not to be great at everything it's awareness you know your strengths and weaknesses and then you can develop strategies to either work on your weaknesses played your strengths surround yourself with people of complementary skills that that starts with knowing the problem with strengths and weaknesses what you think you got it your job changes the world changes you change your habit anymore every new assignment you take on your strengths and weaknesses change its skill specific and job relative to a job and most people fail at some point in their careers even early on or later they failed to adequately assess their strengths and weaknesses and they go on a detour because they're not aware and they don't like to ask for advice or they send a vibe to people that they don't want to hear

i have found a huge percentage that time if you're aware of the weakness you can improve on it if you want to where you can take action to deal with it you don't need to be perfect and for those straight a's didn't stop there you are you do have weaknesses everybody in this room the us the trick is can you write them down and ruin to acknowledge an antique strategies to work on that now again i am that this is not something you can do by yourself you've got to have people who you ask for advice and they have to think you're sincere and you've got to learn to do this my argument for young people to get in that habit now now you say but how long laughter do this for years the problem with reaching your potential and starting with strengths and weaknesses it's like losing weight are getting in shape you would not go on a diet at least

fifteen thousand to stay out of that with a bike you know right and exercise for four weeks and i one exercise again it doesn't work that way strikes and weaknesses and understand yourself is a lifelong effort it's like getting better to support and i would argue not enough people think of it that way you should think of it that way and by the way when i say you need to own your career at your responsibility to go seek out people get advice and know your strengths and weaknesses your company will try to help you but i used to tell every young person came into my firm and even the venture gladly firm we tell every single person i know your strengths and weaknesses as a hundred percent your responsibility we will do everything in our power to coach you that you need to take ownership of being able to find it out you're not a passenger were in this question is do you act like an owner second you do need to think about your passions and i would argue this goes on for the rest of your life

i deal with seventy five year old people rarely who were ceo's very successful and they're still trying to figure out what to do now i hadn't met many people on this planet who don't want to still find a way to add value and make a difference but to do that yet understand which really love and for a lot of people because of so much peer pressure and everything else this is not an easy thing to do and so i do a couple exercises with people that help with this number one think about that time when you were at your back stay in your life you happy everyone has at times were you shined what were you doing what tests were you performing what was the marmot what does that tell you about you and which might live and the reason i spent so much time on this invariably passion is the rocket fuel that allows you to pieces of performance that sustaining the high level for a long period time now a lot of people say that's easy for you to say you made money i'm not gonna follow my

passion and go make money then i'll call my passion ever that one opaque money now that'll follow my passion here's what i found you'll never make it long enough in the job to make money money is a great goal that that's really what's important to you but it tends to be long term and back end loaders you need to perform at a high level for a very long time to make a lot of money if you don't have a passion for key elements of which are due in my experience is you will not be in the job long enough or perform at a high enough level ever make a lot of money it's not either passion or money my experience is if you want to do very well you need to perform at a very high level and it's very hard to perform at a very high level no matter how talent you are your passion for which you know so micah spend as much time as i could tonight on this and think about what tax you love

what would you do if you got a huge inheritance and you could do anything you want i people come to me and they say i got a job offer to do this or this or this and say what would you do if you were rich why do none of these things ok or white wine what do something totally different on a guy when i said we just stay in the job when the job that i would have put in you now if that's your answer i would argue are heading in the wrong direction so i think about that that's a second question fleur and this is a little more interesting and this doesn't get talked about a much do you understand your life story art endures what i mean i would argue your three stories you have there is the facts of your life were you were born i was born in kansas city my father was a jewelry salesman so on and so forth those the facts we learned were about that straight people what you were capable of writing than your life story might not be a bad

thing for you to do does to remember and you wake get some insights in that second thing i also the need to practice and i would call this your success narrative that says this is a story that you have a whole lot of practice time i mean you're really really good at this store this is takes the facts of your story and it weaves it into just a beautiful narrative like like that like actually we just heard about me that was just a lovely narrative and my mother who's sitting in the middle here she just love that story i mean it was a wake em in the weave together the facts as there was beautiful ok now most of you when you go for a job interview when you apply to school you apply for or you go to a cocktail reception we all are used to tell in our success story an even at work most of the still a success story now by the way there may be setbacks to make a credible you may talk about a terrible setback you had and you were you had a terrible disappointment and

and you were really down but then you stopped you said no i will not be denied i will come back and then i went like this and oh my god what a beautiful story story always ends the same way with you is the human eye and then they're consultants built it should get better at that story and not one of them you're so good at already and you're just going to get back and only coach john that there's a third story though if you're going to reach your potential and i am interested in that you we talk about this a story and not telling anybody and this i would call a failure narrative and and by the way every one of you in this room scott it's a story of self doubt i'm not good enough people to realize i'm really stupid even if you're straight a student people falling to realize i'm stupid i'm an imposter and not as good as they think there are going to screw this up i can't

do like and most of us first of all your spent a time zone this story none even to yourself but it's critical to understanding your life story traumas in your life relationship or failed relations with your parents promise in in situations all three are like and you'll have more of them they affect the way you behave and most people try to block them out and don't talk about him and i would argue you ought to start now get in the habit of writing down that failure narrative ok and finding someone you trust you can talk to about it because if youre aware of that i find you may understand why you lose your temper why you're afraid to speak out why you can't delegate why you're unable to get in front of a group and speak at all of us including me had that i use to the petrified base to do well when speaking to ripple through forget i was petrified deathly

afraid of speaking to reporter house and by the way if you know run investment bank goldman sachs every year the head of the survey would speak to a thousand people thinking that people and i swore to myself i would never get myself in that situation i would quit i would do so i would just i was going to figure out a way to get the hell out of there before it ever had and sadly that the head of the firm surprised me and tried to promote me the head of the us banking when i was thirty nine and i freaked out and bit and i couldn't save him that hank and spirit because i am afraid if i told him that he would talk me through prayer was slapped around but we would have to talk about it but instead what i get is found a way to talk him out of it and i will help i went to his co head of the firm john chorus line really stupidly and convince courtside i was too young and paulson wanted to kill me ok andy didn't understand why i was doing these thought was an

idiot nonstop and he probably was right the truth is i had a failure narrative that i couldn't face and come to grips with and i didn't think i could talk to anybody about what yours can you write it down if we had more time you're for in a class with each this of harvard i would get you to write and talk to another person about it each of you has a dirty little secret that you think is just terrible and what you're gonna find out when you talk about somebody else you're not alone everybody has got some deep doubt but for a lot of view the biggest impediment to sabotaging your career will be and what i'm trying to give people do early is deal with this be aware of that can you write it down to get rid of an invisible way they can you write it down so ok we talk about strengths and weaknesses passions your story and then you get to get you fit with the job and the most important by side gig teacher view from ceo to mobile

lowell to get to if you're aspiring to interview and you're right down the most important thing is kenya right down the three most important tasks that you must do well to be great at that job if you're applying for an entry level job one the accountant would have the three things you must be great at what ever before to grip your be a doctor you want to be a nonprofit leader you wanna do something what are the three task you must be great at and the reason you have to keep doing this the changes by job what made a great investment banker for me was not a great medical the finance department had to learn to let things go to test changed and then you've got a match your strengths and weaknesses your passions and do you war with whether it's a good fit for that not the way none of this is are shaking none of its very sophisticated you were expecting a sophisticated talk tonight you'd be sadly disappointing year this is really simple right and most people do not do and i spent most

of my career working with people thousands of people on a bus and taken investors have been trying to get them systematically to do this at the same time i was trying to get them to articulate a vision set priorities and advising clients and more businesses so there were no i'm trying to do both in parallel and always try to get them to diagnose situations bear out what to do and how to do it and the reason is this so hard to do all these things at the same time vision for peace a line that diagnosis what to do how to do it understanding yourself or understanding yourself understanding yourself and mike spirits is the understand yourself as ultimately what trips people up why do people failed isolation inability to learn what your failing to learn about often you being a leader and also learning about yourself and you need to keep advancing that whether you're

running a company you're governor president on stage for a new nonprofit you've got to keep growing and not enough time is spent in this country and in this world talking about the fact that leaders need to ask questions and keep where most people think you're a leader and now i'm a blanket like i need to have the answers now and work out what you do need to have some answers the need to get even better at asking questions now last point are class two points i would argue what makes that those are the basics strengths weaknesses passions your story fit into a job finds a boy and what makes a restrained somebody who's good and so these great what you've done those things i would argue acting like an owner do you speak out which really get the get stacked on are you willing to do for others without regard to what's in it for you to act like an owner new job you think that someone else's

job you play the game with some degree of abandoned satirist or this is all character and leadership character and your mindset make the difference between good and great and the most important advice i can give you on that just one piece of ice which i got many years ago do for others without regard to what's in it for you and if you don't want to do that then don't but don't do something for someone else especially in a job that in general i would argue because you think you're going to get something back great companies are built around people who act like owners who care enough to love what they're doing enough and act like owners where they do for others and the company without regard to what's in it for them and you have to make some assumptions that justice will prevail if you can make that leap you going to be a whole lot better performer

and a lot of people can do it because of some injustice that was done to them and their life and that your story has told you or trauma in your life was told you forget that that's stupid advice and to do what's in it for me because every time i try to help someone else just felt betrayed that type of thinking is part of your story i argue it will hold you back and what goldman sabotage the last comment you can't do this all by yourself i wish you could if you're going to do all the things you need to do a leader you need to happen as a leader you need to have relationships with others and i mean the mutual understanding mutual understanding mutual trust is mutual respect you need to have people you can talk to you need to develop relations with people who will tell you the brutal truth that you don't want to hear but you need to hear

anybody the same thing that you need to have relations people you won't disclose things to the not so pretty and seek advice for and you need to do the same for that you can go through this journey alive and i would argue the young generation you would think us all people us and its opponents and that has us all people you would think you guys must be veteran at your firm reported on twitter facebook linkedin walla walla walla i found dean of harvard to my shock the opposite there are so many modes of communication today email you you have the illusion that you have relationships in the old days which will put myself in those we had two or three communication options telephone this review of telephone we could meet face to face or the big one could write a letter that was that took a lot of work and occasionally you didn't before that was that was not so

easy ok you guys have a zillion choices and i see people sabotaging relationships left and right today mostly at senior levels and companies all we've done it you know could you use in an email when you should be used to tell use the telephone we should've met in person you can't develop a relationship with someone by email or twitter or facebook it's a way to say to me is maybe in a relationship where you have the understanding trust and respect you should put on a piece of paper would argue right now how many people do you have you could talk to about a serious matter or you could come and talk to you what i find at harvard i get a raft of young people coming to see me with a real blockbuster after they got to know me for a few months the first question always asked is who will sit you talk to and the answer more often than not is no one i say no that's not possible you must talk to purchase their best friends relatives friends or unilever papa

no one isolation in italy the war do you have relationships if the answer is you don't have anybody to talk to at all of us have been there about something i would argue need to rethink and start cultivating relationships you can't do this alone ok so let me stop there and letting go way back when his leadership and you figure out what you believe you have the guts to act on it the way that outsiders that's what we're sure because i'm still trying to figure out how to do it i'm spent my whole life trying to do it and i haven't figured it out yet at our gate and by the way this is a lifelong effort and trying to get better at it and sometimes i wonder i wonder whether am but i'm trying there are three things we're trying to do at all times if i'm writing something i'm trying to articulate a clear vision for how their value how we add value based will be key competencies set priorities an ally in this the whole subject to spend hours and

hours on we didn't really touch much like that this is all this is going on look at any great company out there in this world or nonprofit or later they're doing this you know think they're doing that you're there don't trust a clear vision parties all i'm second thing you do it all the time a diagnosis what to do how to do it but there's a third thing that we don't talk about enough cause it's not as politically correct and start to talk about it and in business schools and in companies more great companies like procter gamble unilever have taken what were doing in him nd some of these things at harvard and other universities stanford and are startling again because they realize a third thing you need to do if you got to develop yourself and reach your potential great companies create an environment where people like you can work to reach your potential that you've got to own it people will help you and you can join the companies that will help you but ultimately

they expect you to own it and that means understanding your strengths and weaknesses your passion historic fitting into a job acting like an owner building relationships and i think i don't have an answer for you on where this is going to take you had no clue about how much money you're going to make an homage that a superb but i do know this if you try to define your own success and are disciplined working at this you'll be pretty happy where you wind up and you might want to put a place that you never dreamed you would i never thought of people believe me the last place on the planet that would be used for a superb is a school that was the age that it didn't make any sense to me that i would do that and this is working on that and i don't know where i'm going at work at this you can't plan your whole life into out that you can get good habits and creative process says you're more likely to get a place we're happy with the impact on the world if you're just

joining us were hearing robert kaplan author of what you're really meant to do and kinect entire you're listening to k pr prisons on kansas public radio listener kaplan now take questions from the audience sighed when and where seidman on the group i'm very passionate about and we're right now being wounded by conflict yeah really suggestions on how to resolve conflict in a small group where the conflict between the people yes ok interesting soaked conflict in a group is typical this is not unusual and i and i started to believe what put this way when i got a number of people the company ceo's and say exactly what you just said here's what i found try an eight either be either maybe among a personality wise you just lousy said but more likely i take it affected all got together you know so like teacher right really thought you did travel exercise they were like a little

child go off site at a blackboard asked three questions as a company social group it's a it's a social research is aaron asked for a city theres which got agree on what as the aspiration for the rich why first question i ask is why are we hear why tea party group what is it to be asked what's the aspiration ok you with me union service says they'll sell was very fast an adult community a cocktail on each person in the group it won the group then each person needs to answer this question out loud signal here you with me you may be shocked at the answers some other people maybe involve a script for reasons you can book will surprise you you need to ask why you involved at second question what you hate about this for what makes you crazy about this right and what you may find is people feel like they're not achieving their aspirations whether something you're doing that as sgt aaron good about

and then ask the third question what should we do about as those three questions why you involved which another way saying what they always do what what why are we doing this with the passion with the aspiration what you hate about it what's making you crazy and what we want to do about it will make you a bet you wish you could tell me at the end of the day it may take an hour to have everybody must talk ok to answer all three out loud and they needed or whatever they'll say and i think you may you may be aware was all this like spirit says normally when people disagree you're not disagreeing about the things you're arguing over you're disagreeing about that everybody has a different aspirations and you may be assuming which will want the same things which and find out if you don't and you need to listen and get up there and you may slightly adjust the mission of the group or the vision for the group after hearing that trial that

i could walk this was biden's happens in companies all the time we have this conversation with people freaked out when companies a senior level it's not that they don't like each other anymore so they stopped listening to each other and a leader needs to start asking again why are we doing this what is your aspirations which are passion where we hear this is a problem as max as in i'm a freshman at the university of question for you is was the single most important course the job doesn't end ok that's a great question actually acting which serves english the most important skill that i learned at kansas and i love the business news great blah blah blah that learning to write and communicate is the most it's still for me on mumbai's most valuable skill you can have you can learn everything else that while

you're here you go into write and generally to communicate your ideas you can do that we do a budget hello i'm zack a muscle or hear it you are my question goes back to something we were reference pretty early new presentation how that the higher up in the management level york less people communicate with us how does one counter it this is a this is a big problem and no one weren't you about this you know when i became head of investment banking people started coming up to me and say oh that was an actual speech and i thought to myself another so insightful these people you know they get me now and i feel so at home now and then after another this or service says the person and i realize no it's that this happened so here's what you need to learn to do

what we could we didn't hit on this today but what i've what i wrote the whole first book i wrote you've got to ask go around and ask people for feedback and i don't mean home i knew that sets not want to say is there one thing i'm doing but i could improve on that desk a very pointed question no one i know what he wants to offend you if you're the big boss and was for suicide they definitely don't want within you and so they won't believe the lookout for people by the way you say oh president obama should do this and it was terrible and then you meet him you know hello mr president and say it's a digital television set on the ukrainian and i know that my one chance to meet the president i feel for myself in and that's what happens in companies so the leader needs to ask and that there's a power asymmetry between the boss and a subordinate and most bosses i've i feel young i feel that i don't feel like i feel the same as

i did did you forget that there's a huge power and centered will tap from you feel like an envoy and destructive po on their hands okay so you it's up to you to ask for advice doing a point when if you do you'll get your trained people that you want to thank you very much that's the low that one of the first thing i want to i thank you for coming to speak with us it's a great opportunity i'm patrick m sophomore year at the university and i am on the board of directors for a new philanthropic organization here to university and my question is what do you think are the most important things to focus on when creating a new philanthropic organization go to the us up in it and i think it was mentioned i rather than triple and the firm and we we back emerging non profits in the business it's critically decide how yeah value based on what the competencies

these securities the line in a non profit what other word multiply this by ten we need to do this as nonprofits are fueled by emotion and at attracting people who have a passion for what you're doing they're only going to have a passionate you're very clear on how you add value would need bigger that there are too many nonprofits out there that after i hear what they do is not clear to me why they exist when shoes join the one that was doing already what would you act was distinctive about you have so i would spend on the norma samantha on this how we can add value what we're going to do thats distinctive and don't do it until you have a conviction that you're doing some that really does add value and is distinctive and if you do that i think the rest of it will fall and that's the most important thing special but it's always important the nonprofit it's extremely important that it suspects hot

pursuit of women in his telling them all in on the freshman year the receipt and this and i write down my question is it's sort of law so we did agree that success is always difficult to define i recently read a book that discussed and cannot indicate that he was more or less that opportunity and luck that was mostly responsible for making people successful and sort of their leaders so a question for you is to what extent do you agree that opportunity or like is responsible for people success who said that parliament american libel is book level yes ok opportunity and walk when it or worse when he left that out and why it was that important ok so what'll i think i guess i get it and i come up in a shock you and that i think opportunity a lot or great but if that's which relied on that's like sit in the backseat of the car with no driver and praying that we get

from lawrence kansas city is not likely to arrive ok one piece that is and i would argue you make it here you can make opportunity and you're a lot more likely to recognize opportunity and get a lot luckier if you work to get good habits and you work at an eye what are you gonna work of these things it may seem to an observer people like topical is rowing guide the way that when he sees successful people that they just an opportunity and they were lucky except he's seen the one person or persons that were successful and he's not looking at the thousands and thousands and thousands of thousands are there were so lucky and sales and i think what makes the difference between them in a block like helps relieve me of great to be like and i feel lucky and it's great to have opportunity to got to work at these things you've got to strive i would argue to do all the things we talk about and that they're the reason i hate beat

its opportune what the basis is out of my control everything i'm saying is the opposite of that and say i don't know if you're going to get lucky rigor have opportunity but i'd like you to take ownership take charge and don't be a passive bystander in your own life though do that you'll regret i think yes hi my name is joshua mesquite island to do you know when you're like eleven and while it's you know what you want to do no of course not i knew i wanted to i knew i wanted a dinner you know when i know i wanted to the women's lib on a serious note series at the time i want to be like my father and my mother my mother was the influence my mom and then slept on a what they're going on really understand what my debts to one or whatever it is of like to be like that so i'm war was swayed at that age by their values una right and wrong and their

values that the ruble it was a mystery to me the world and by the way that went on for several more years that was an active and at twelve so don't feel bad if you don't know your name when you're beginning your career in her new to a business us at the graduate yes would you say is the best way to take on the leadership here's the best advice i can give you when you're starting out in here let's face it you're going to be the junior person on the team and their gmail these people above you here's my best advice number went to address to do and be reliable but a third thing in the time you have left in addition to doing those two things put yourself in the shoes of your boss hay put yourself in the shoes of oz and start pretending what you would do if you were the boss ok and practiced that someday you will get in that person's job practices and all be occasions when soul out for the boss says we ought to do this and because you've been thinking about what it's like to be that person say sure you want to do that i don't think i've read a will to

do this instead and that person that will be mightily impressed and tag says start the one putting years act like an owner put yourself in the shoes of the boss in addition to doing your job but that's another way of saying that define your drop broadly and i like the next level one they give your job not only your job but howard shu the boss just don't do it but think about what you would do to him by another way give them that advice hi there my nearest an nsa and i'm a senior here year and i'm twenty one and i don't know what my passion is the act and you never had an idea maybe a psychic can't pinpoint it were and self doubt how you pinpoint that you know i would say you don't feel bad you're not alone at all and not dealing most of my life with people who were twenty six twenty seven twenty eight twenty nine and a reasonable percentage of them don't know what they want to do and those who claim their

certain some of them don't know what they wanted ok and so here's what i would do that and in the book if you got there at number that i've tried this thing up first on health to try to you know which you're going to have a job when you graduate ok so listen first order business do a couple things one think about a time in your life again like i said earlier when you shine when you were great you had something you were doing or you did a super job just think back to what you learned from that what tests were you performing we're redoing what was the environment is or anything you can learn from that are those experiences then you do your best to get into a job and it's likely to be perfect and see what you can learn from that in addition to the job isn't great i would argue if you have time on tour in the community with a nonprofit or something else it's a second great opportunity to learn

about what you enjoy and keep working at it you were eventually will figure it out it takes most i'm still trying to figure out is it out in some ways you get better at them or things you try the more you learn about what you like and what you don't like it may be for you just leave more experience trying more things and by the way i talk to people you meet who do something different than you and i asked them would what it's like what you need to be great at to do this job what are the two or three cats et be great at the greater job and just keep searching you eventually figured out you may be more likely to figure out when your classmates right now who were darn certain what they want to keep trying thank you everybody you just heard robert steven kaplan father of what you're really meant to do kansas public radio has a copy of kaplan's book to give away if you'd like a chance to win what you're really meant to do you go to our website to a pr back at you dot edu and click on

ticket giveaway again that's k pr that kay you that ed you could pawn ticket giveaway kaplan has a nineteen seventy nine graduate of the university of kansas he then went on to earn a master's in business from harvard university where he now teaches leadership after a long career in investment banking caplan gave the two thousand thirteen anderson chandler lecture sponsored by the university of kansas school of business this event was recorded on september ninth two thousand and thirteen f a k u leed center i'm j mcintyre kbr present is a presentation of kansas public radio at the university of kansas next time i'm katie are present entertainer and civil rights advocate harry belafonte educate mayors governors state officials got an opportunity to go and become members of corporate america but in doing so they also left fallow the commission that link at our present

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