What You Will Learn

Success is within reach of just about everyone. But personal success without leadership only brings limited effectiveness. Without leadership ability, a person's impact is only a fraction of what it could be with good leadership. The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership.Although it's true that some people are born with greater natural gifts than others. The ability to lead is really a collection of skills, nearly all of which can be learned and improved. If you want to be a leader, the good news is that you can do it. Everyone has the potential. But it can't be accomplished overnight. It requires perseverance and you cannot ignore the 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We all did it! We made it to the end of 2020. In this episode, we look back at our favourite books from Season 5 (so far). Our lists are VERY different again this year, with only two or three crossovers and the rest we had to fight over. Listen in or hear each of our favourite books, or check out the blog post at: https://www.whatyouwilllearn.com/best-of-2020/ Let us know your favourite books of 2020 - message us on social or email us at podcast@whatyouwilllearn.com   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Humans have been dreaming a long time about flying vehicles. In a famous IBM commercial, Avery Books asked: "it's the year 2000, but where are the flying cars?... I don't see them! Why!". Peter Thiel quips "we wanted flying cars and we got 140 characters".And today, the wait could finally be over. It looks like flying cars, alongside all sorts of pie in the sky innovations, are just around the corner. With new technologies such as AI, robotics, virtual reality, 3D printing and materials; and drivers of change such as saved time, availability of capital and longer lives, the rate of change is unprecedented.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We've been doing a lot of dark books recently. Ordinary Men, The Prince and Collapse all paint a dim view of human nature. The idea goes that we have a thin veneer of niceness on the surface, but deep down we're all capable of pure evil.Thankfully, this book gives the opposite perspective. The simple idea of this book is that we're actually all pretty decent. Disasters and tough times don't cause us to descend a few rungs on the ladder of civilisation, but rather they bring out the best in us.Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=10920&awinaffid=766963&clickref=WYWL_website&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookdepository.com%2FHumankind-Rutger-Bregman%2F9781408898949   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A six year study looked at 'visionary companies' and tried to identify what set them apart from the rest of the herd. These visionary companies were the ones that were the premier of their industry, were widely admired by knowledgeable businesspeople, had been through multiple product life cycles and multiple generations of leadership. The 18 companies identified outperformed the stock market by 16X.It was found that they had a few things in common. It largely boiled down to their culture, their approach to new ideas, and a focus on building the company itself. Listen to the podcast episode or read the blog post to find out more about what it takes to build a visionary company that lasts the tests of time.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Steve Glaveski is back for Round 2, this time talking about the launch of his new book Time Rich: Do Your Best Work, Live Your Best Life. This book helps us work smarter and live better. In this episode we discuss the past, present and future of work, and how time is a better measure than money. Make sure you stay tuned all the way to the end for a special musical treat! Check out Steve's new book: https://www.timerichbook.com/ Check out Steve: https://www.steveglaveski.com/   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The ultimate competitive advantage of successful organisations? Teamwork. A leader who can get their entire team rowing in the same direction can dominate any market in any industry.However, teamwork is as elusive as ever. Human beings are inherently dysfunctional. By acknowledging the imperfections of humans, members of functional teams can overcome our natural tendencies and work together toward success. According to author Patrick Lencioni, there are 5 dysfunctional elements that can destroy any team.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lydia Denworth is the author of three books, including the recently published Friendship: The Evolution, Biology and Extraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond.In this interview, we chat with Lydia about the psychological impacts, evolutionary context and elements of a high-quality friendship.Lydia launched this book with perfect timing - just before a worldwide pandemic put friendships and connections to their greatest test.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Disclaimer: we are not psychologists or psychiatrists, or in anyway giving medical advice.Johann Hari was depressed as a young man. He was told a story about why he felt so down: that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. They say that the brains of depressed people have lower levels of serotonin (the happiness molecule). Then we’re told that Big Pharma has the answer. They’ve made drugs that can restore your serotonin levels back to “normal”. This version of the answer says that depression is a brain disease, and companies have the cure... for a profit of course.When scientists tested the water supply in Western countries, they found find it laced with antidepressants. We're literally and figuratively awash with these drugs. What is startling in other cultures has become normal to the Western world. We've just accepted that a huge number of people are so distressed that they need to take a powerful chemical every day to pull themselves together.Johann Hari has asked a distinctly dif

We had the pleasure of speaking to one of the Godfathers of habits and designing behaviours, BJ Fogg. We love the simplicity of his model: "Behaviour = Motivation + Ability + Prompt". Through this lens, we can see exactly why we do (or don't do) the things we want to do! Following on from our own discussion of his book Tiny Habits, this interview dives a little deeper into the intricacies of installing new habits or breaking old ones.  BJ Fogg, PhD, founded the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University. In addition to his research, Fogg teaches industry innovators how human behavior really works. He created the Tiny Habits Academy to help people around the world. He lives in Northern California and Maui.Find out more at BJFogg.com and visit TinyHabits.com to learn about his New York Times bestselling book, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We all want some kind of change. But for most of us, there is a painful gap between what people want and what they actually do. If you have attempted to do something different in the past and haven't seen the results, you've probably figured out by now that change is hard.If you tried to put together a chest of drawers with faulty instructions and parts missing, you would feel frustrated. But you probably wouldn't blame yourself. You would blame the manufacturer instead. Similarly, any habits you’re not happy with aren’t entirely your fault, you just haven't yet been taught how to effectively change your behaviour.BJ Fogg's behaviour model boils any action down to three simple components: Motivation, Ability, Prompt. B=MAP is the combination lock to install long term habits.Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=10920&awinaffid=766963&clickref=&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookdepository.com%2FTiny-Habits-Bj-Fogg%2F9780753553237   See acast.com/privacy for p

"The extraordinary benefits of knowing when to quit (and when to stick)"A great short book the explains why there's always a 'dip' in your projects on your journey to becoming the best in the world - be that getting a promotion, building a business, writing a book, falling in love... anything! At the start, as you put in more effort you'll see good results. Then, theres a dip. You'll put in more and more effort but your results won't improve. This is where most people quit. If you can push through the dip after everyone else has quit, all of a sudden you'll appear to be an overnight success because you've become the best in the world. Check out the full blog post here: https://www.whatyouwilllearn.com/book/the-dip/Grab yourself a copy of The Dip here: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=10920&awinaffid=766963&clickref=WYWL_website&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookdepository.com%2FThe-Dip%2F9780749928308   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Your life is a constant stream of decisions: what career to follow, how to manage a business, whom to marry, how to bring up children, whether to run for president, how to communicate with a colleague and how to react when life slaps you in the face. The common element is that you are not in a vacuum. Instead, you are surrounded by the world that interacts with any decision you make. The context of the situation you find yourself in matters.Game theory is the process of modelling the strategic interaction between players in a situation containing set rules and outcomes. The Art Of Strategy breaks down game theory to help you in practical real life situations.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Malcolm Gladwell is one of the biggest selling non-fiction authors of our generation, with smash-hits like Outliers, Blink and The Tipping Point.  This book is a collection of his essays and newspaper articles. We picked some of our favourites, taking us on a deep dive into three important distinctions: The Arts of Failure, The Nature of Secrets, and Success in the Young and the Old. In this episode, we look at the difference between:  - Choking VS Panicking  - Prodigies VS Late Bloomers  - Puzzles VS Mysteries   Support the show by grabbing a book through our link, either on Book Depository or Amazon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When you buy a product, you can see it, touch it, and depending on the product you can taste/smell/hear it as well. Services, on the other hand, are intangible. There’s no exact clear definition of what you’re getting when you buy a service - you’re just purchasing what you hope the end result will be.Obviously services are different from products, so service marketing must be different from product marketing. But while more than 4 out of 5 people work in service companies, only 1 out of 5 business school case studies focus on services. We’re all being taught how to market products, but we’re never taught how to market services, even though that will be what the majority of people do.Check out the full blog post here: https://www.whatyouwilllearn.com/book/selling-the-invisible/   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So much you want to learn, so little time to learn it.Every new skill has what Josh calls a "FRUSTRATION BARRIER". At first the basics of a new skill can seem fun. But then you hit a wall, a few hours in, where you don't seem to be improving and it is just getting frustrating. You're still horribly unskilled, but now painfully aware of it. Maybe you learned to play Three Blind Mice on the piano, but you still can seem to work out which note on the keyboard matches which dot on the sheet music. Or maybe you’ve been skateboarding in a straight line, but can’t work out the right balance and positioning that allows you to turn properly.This book offers a simple system for learning new skills, a system that allows you to quickly break through that frustration barrier and get to the fun stuff sooner.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"The Art of Happiness" - by HH Dalai Lama XIV & Howard C Cutler'A Handbook for Living'Happy people have it a lot better than unhappy people. Studies show you're more likely to pick up a better mate, have more satisfying marriages, you're more likely to be a better parent, you'll have a better immune system and live an extra 10 years. It also leads to better mental resilience and ability to deal with adversity or trauma. In the workplace, happy individuals perform much better and earn much more than miserable employees. These happy employees are more productive, loyal and take less sickies.The Art of Happiness looks at happiness through different perspectives from two different authors. Firstly, the Western perspective from Howard Cutler, a psychiatrist out of the US. And Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, leader in Tibetan Buddhism and bringing the perspective from the east. Although perspectives differ, they attempt to drill things down to the basic human level. Here the little distinctions like gender,

We underestimate the role of randomness in just about everything. We often have the mistaken impression that a strategy is an excellent strategy, or an entrepreneur is a person endowed with unique vision. Nassim Taleb believes that the world is much more random than we think.Skills count, obviously. But they count much less in highly random environments like trading, than they do in the predictable ones, like dentistry.Fooled By Randomness shows us how to recognise and work with randomness and luck, which is involved in everything you do. In doing so you can humble yourself, turn down your assumptions about your abilities, and have a more accurate view of how the world IS, not how you think it should be.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With Adam Jones turning 30 this week, we figured this was his last chance to work out what he’d done wrong (or right) during his 20s. The key message of this book is that your twenties MATTER. A lot of young people like to say that your twenties don’t matter, that you can put off life’s big decisions until later, that the 20s are the time for fun and enjoying life and not to be taken too seriously… But the research shows otherwise: Two thirds of your lifetime wage growth happens in the first 10 years of your career More than half of people are married or at least dating/living with their future life partner by age 30, 75% by age 35 Personality changes more in 20s then in any time period before or after The brain caps off it’s final stages of growth in the 20s Fertility reaches its peak in late 20s Our social networks – and the opportunities they may bring – are the widest and most diverse in the 20s, then get narrower as we age beyond 80% of life’s defining moments will have taken place by our mid-30s. Life

At the height of the Second World War, the German army had minimal resources to continue the war to the East with Russia, and simultaneously execute Hitler's "Final Solution". The Nazi party had already used up all of the ideological killers in their country. They were left with the dregs of society. They would have to use Joe the local Butcher, Jim the Primary School Teacher even Grandpa George to get the job done. The only people left all had working class jobs like truck drivers, dock workers, construction workers and machine operators. They were "normal people" like you and me, but were called upon to execute millions of innocent Jews.Ordinary Men tells the story of one faction, the Reserve Police Battalion 101 and how they were transformed from normal citizen into "professional killers"  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.