When it comes right down to it, leadership is really a reflection of…who one is! It is about one’s character and principles. It is about one’s philosophy.
I posted about John Allison in “Those With High Character Take A Stand” and in reviewing his Number One New York Times Bestseller, The Financial Crisis And The Free Market Cure. That book was selected by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top 5 books on the financial crisis.
Just a few weeks ago I posted a review of his newest book, The Leadership Crisis And The Free Market Cure. I gobble up books on leadership and have learned a ton from many of them. This one might be the most important one yet.
After all, there’s a lot to learn from someone who as Chairman and CEO led his company, BB&T, through 20 years of explosive growth (from $4.5 billion to $152 billion in assets during his tenure!). This while many of his competitors were failing left and right.
More importantly, he did it the right way; through creating value for everyone whose lives he and his bank touched. He refused to participate in sub-prime lending even though that would’ve been the easy, profitable and accepted way to do business at that time. In fact, he was — let’s say — strongly encouraged by government regulators to do so. However, because it was contrary to what he believed was right, he refused. Yet, his bank flourished.
Harvard Business Review named him one of the decades top 100 most successful CEOs!
And, this brings us to today’s conversation. You see, all the above was driven by his character, based on the values and principles he lives by, congruent with his life philosophy. And, as he discusses both in the book and in our chat, this influences all forms of leadership: personal, business, and societal.
The current CEO of the highly-regarded libertarian think tank, Cato Institute, he doesn’t pull any punches, and you’ll see he doesn’t here!
In this chat we discuss:
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- A nut-shell explanation of the cause of the financial crisis
- Why leaders fail
- That we all have, and live by, a philosophy…whether we realize it or not
- The importance of training your emotions to support what you know is the right decision
- The essence of self-esteem and why it is THE most important issue of all
To order Mr. Allison’s book click here. For more information on The Cato Institute, visit www.cato.org.
TECHNICAL NOTE: If you are having trouble playing the interview, please make sure Adobe Flash Player is installed in your web browser. If not, then download Flash Player. Or right-click here and select “Save Link As…” to download the audio file to your computer.
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A fantastic conversation and candid look at what started and perpetuated the financial crisis. Looking forward to reading his new book and have admired the way he managed his financial institution. Having worked in financial services, corporately we’d talk wonderfully about helping people reach their goals, but in truth, corporately the focus was on the transaction, not the service.
Thanks for the chat – liked the description of what leadership is and why leaders fail.
Gordon: Thank you for your kind words. So glad you enjoyed the conversation, and I appreciate your very insightful comments; especially from the viewpoint of one working in the financial services arena. Thanks again!
Good morning, Gentleman!
Thank you for the fantastic conversation and great overview of the book – it was the perfect compliment to this morning’s walk! I bought the book after my walk was over (otherwise that would have been awkward…lol) and I look forward to reading to starting my NEXT walk! 🙂
Blessings & Best,
LaDonna
TOPEKA, KS
GGI Member
LaDonna: Thank you. Greatly appreciate your kind and thoughtful note. Grateful to know you enjoyed the conversation. And, excited to know you bought the book. You’re gonna’ love it! 🙂
I know I bought the book and have it on my read list but my stacks of books got shuffled during my office moves recently. Have to dig this one up and definitely have to listen to the recording.
I am seeing a lot of backlash from grassroots around politics, big business and what is really cronyism. I worry that it is going to swing too far as people don’t seem to understand free market.
Doug: Congrats on the office moves. I know your business is rockin’ along. Way to go! Yes, one of the biggest challenges is that the typical person (especially the one who believes they are “against capitalism”) doesn’t actually understand free-market capitalism and confuses it with cronyism which, of course, is not capitalism at all. Only when people understand what free-market really means – and the good it does for the masses – and when they insist on it as economic policy, will true economic prosperity occur as opposed to the artificial kind which, as we’ve seen in the past, does not end well. The Cato Institute does a wonderful job of educating the public through it’s outreach.