2014Things

You need To Think

AbouT 5by @brandonberger, Chief digital offiCer, WorldWide, ogilvy & Mather

from

5 Things You need To Think AbouT from 2014

1 Joe leads the MIT Media Lab and pushes his teams to rebel against norms, ideas, and things that “couldn’t be done.”

You don’t get a Nobel Prize

for doing what You’re told. You get a nobel Prize for

questioning authoritY and thiNkiNg for

yourself.Joe Ito

25 Things You need To Think AbouT from 2014

A simple idea, but very powerful.

David Ogilvy always said to hire people bigger than us, and I think if we do so it is the job of leaders to help get the obstacles out of their way.

My friend Jeff Stibel who is CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., and a brain scientist said that the brain is basically just a muscle, and one brain isn’t that much different than another. That’s an interesting thought for a leader, if everyone’s brain is somewhat similar then it is the experiences and environment that people have that make them different and it’s through that they become critical to accomplish a task.

Therefore as leaders it is our responsibility to put the best people together, take down any and all obstacles, and help them tell stories about themselves, changing the world along the way.

Think about the best thing you have done professionally, the work that made our clients famous, the greatest accomplishment in your career, most likely it happened because of a team, through a group of people led by a selfless leader who took down the obstacles for you to do your best.

Leaders heLp

their teammatestell stories about

themselves

5 Things You need To Think AbouT from 2014

Every idea that has been created in the past 100 years that disrupted, challenged norms, did the impossible, had to start with a spirit of audacity.

Banksy said it best in an op-ed that was never published. The quote about New York is true “Nobody comes to New York to bathe in your well-mannered common sense. We’re here for the spirit and audacity.”

The spirit of audacity is what built Silicon Alley, it’s what made Elon Musk believe that he could transform money, then automotive, energy and space, it’s what Jack Ma did to change the way people buy and sell goods across China, and it’s what Steve Jobs did to transfigure the way the world connects.

3We must embrace a spirit of audacity

5 Things You need To Think AbouT from 2014

Let’s be honest, as technology, mobile devices, and social networks continue to proliferate, the ability to control becomes almost impossible. More people are connected by more ways than ever before. Control is a fools errand. 4The 21sT cenTury is

a terrible time to be a control

freak

5 Things You need To Think AbouT from 2014

- Goldman Sachs (in their report Womenomics) estimates that by closing the gender employment gap, the potential boost to Japan’s GDP could go up by 13%

- If we close the gender gap in the US we could increase GDP by 9%

- The number of female politicians in the US is under 20% - even lower than places like Iraq with 25% - it’s better in the US private sector.

- But this stat in politics is concerning not just for equal rights but there is significant data and studies that point to women as community builders and consensus builders - key traits for leading governments.

5We are assholes

if We don’t fix the

gender gap in leadership

and the workplace

5 Things You need To Think AbouT from 2014