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1. The World Isn’t Flat!
Leadership Lessons from
Around the Globe
LOMA
March 2, 2011
Barbara Mulhern Fowler
J.D., LL.M, CLU, ChFC

2. Old Chinese Proverb
Go to the people
Live among the people
Learn from them
Love them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have
But of the best leaders,
When their task is accomplished,
Their work is done,
The people will remark,
“We have done it ourselves”
By Lao Tzu
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3. Cultural Diversity
1. Hearing that a nine year old girl was not allowed to play with a classmate because
the classmate did not do well in her school grades makes me feel …..
2. Seeing a six-year old getting on a subway alone in a major city makes me think
her parents are …..
3. Finding out that a good student was giving her answers to several other students
taking a test made me think that …..
4. Seeing someone throw trash on the street makes me wonder if …..
5. Interviewing a candidate for an executive level position who answers several
questions with the preface “my psychologist and I have discussed this” makes me
feel……
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4. Choice in Culture
 When making choices, do you consider
what is best for you or what is best for you
and the people around you?
 In what areas do you like to have choices?
 Where would you prefer not to have a
choice?
 Individualist versus Collectivist culture?
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5. Making Assumptions
 Don’t make them
 If you do, assume the best intentions
 Our assumptions are always biased
 Seek first to understand, then to be understood
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6. Failing Forward
“Good people are good because they
have come to wisdom from failure. We
get very little wisdom from success.”
William Saroyan
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7. Failing Forward
Fear
Fear
Inability Cycle Inaction
Inexperience
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8. Failing Forward
Confidence
Fear
Success
Forward Action
Ability Cycle Failure
Experience
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9. Don’t Make Excuses
“Do what you can with what you have
at the time.”
Teddy Roosevelt
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10. Take Responsibility – 100%
 I need to do a better job of
explaining this…
 I must not have been clear
enough…
 I was at fault…
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11. Learn to Have Difficult
Conversations … Constructively
“If we avoid confronting people…we rob the
other person of the opportunity to improve
things.”
Douglas Stone
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12. The Power of Teams
T–E–A- M
Together Each Achieves More
Or…
Together Each Achieves Mediocrity
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13. Making Dreams into Reality
 Write them down
 Say them out loud
 Make them specific
 Ask for help
 Give permission to others to hold you
accountable
“It is never too late to become what you
might have been.”
George Eliot
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14. Use Open-Ended Questions
 To develop a team
 To give/get feedback
 Get independent opinions, not group
consensus
 Second person to speak
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15. Give Them Permission to
Supervise You
 If you see me having difficulty,
please….
 If I am not clear, please….
 I would appreciate it if you….
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16. Change is Not Easy
“Without change, there can be no
growth. Without change, there can be
no improvement.”
Robin Sharma
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17. “The Common Denominator
of Success”
“Successful people form the habits of
doing the things that failures don’t like
to do.”
Albert E.N. Gray
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18. Make it Harder “Not” to Get Up
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19. Michelangelo’s David
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20. Questions?
Contact
Barbara Fowler
www.chiefoutsiders.com
bfowler@chiefoutsiders.com
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