Tag Archives: Leadership

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Platform Conference Recap: 7/10 – Carrie Wilkerson

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Our seventh speaker in the Platform Conference recap series is Carrie Wilkerson, better known as the Barefoot Executive. Carrie was the perfect antidote to the post lunch slump. Energetic does not begin to describe her. She spoke to us on Filling Your Stadium: Building More Fans, Friends, & Followers. Who knew the Wonderful Wizard of Oz would figure so prominently into this presentation? Join me after this awesome Lego representation of

Follow the Yellow Brick RoadCarrie described herself as almost an accidental success story. Leaving the corporate world to be a stay at home mom to two toddlers she had adopted she found that her priorities changed as did her workplace. Since then she’s has built several businesses as well as being a coach to others.  Along the way she described overcoming extreme debt, losing 110 pounds and having two more children.  Her big leap into ‘brand name’ recognition followed the publication of her book, “The Barefoot Executive’. Much of the advice she gives in the book comes from her own experience, but she had to be talked into writing the book as she initially felt that she was not qualified to write it. She already had a large following but was conflicted in her mind on how best to proceed.  She knew that in defining her niche she was inevitably going to lose some of those followers.

Therein lies a key learning. Don’t be afraid to NICHE DOWN. Continued focus on a clearly defined niche will alienate some of your tribe that is looking for broader content. However, it will multiply the followers who are looking for targeted content in the niche.  Content without the fluff. These are the followers that really care about the message and are the raving fans we all seek.

photo by: pasukaru76
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What Does It Mean To Be A Leader?

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Now, before you think that this blog post will be a self-absorbed piece on leaders and leadership let me first change the context of this question with the addition of just one word.  Dad.  What does it mean to be a leader, dad? That was the question my son Ryan threw out to me the other morning on the drive to school after I casually asked what he would like me to write a post on. I must admit it has had me stumped. Why?

The Thinker...

I am the last to toot my horn about my leadership ability. I do what I do for my businesses and civic involvement. Over the years some amount of success brands you as a ‘leader’. But are you really a leader? Am I? I honestly did not know what to write as an answer to this seemingly innocuous question posed by my son. One thing I knew for certain, though, is that he did not want a recital of the standard dictionary definition such as “a person who rules, guides, or inspires others; head“, as seen in the Collins English Dictionary.

The way I wanted to answer my son came to me as I listened to an interview with Spotify founder Daniel Ek. I thought his comments got to the heart of what it meant to be ‘a leader’, and more to the point, an ‘entrepreneurial leader’. In his interview Daniel said “when you look at the world there are so many great things out there, but there are also so many things that you can do a tad better”. Hearing that I had my ‘ah-ha’ moment. Working in the real definition I came up with the answer to the question.

photo by: law_keven
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Face The Dragons

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This is a guest post by Tom McCallum. Tom originally wrote this piece for his blog two years ago almost to the day, and has tweaked it just a bit for this, the first guest post on my blog. Tom heads up Shirlaws (Cayman) Ltd (full disclosure, my company is a client) and now writes on this blog. You can also follow him on Twitter. 

We live in a world far different from just a few years ago, a world where what it takes to be a successful leader has totally and completely changed.  We live in a world where a leader must face the dragons of the unknown.

Map of ancient world

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5 Things I Learned About Leadership as President of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce

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We learn leadership in school and college, through life lessons and mentors, and through reading and example. In this post I want to share with you five leadership lessons I learned (or had reinforced) while President of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce.

This past week I completed a year as President of the Chamber here in Grand Cayman. I was given the trust and opportunity provide my leadership to the organisation in its 47th year and worked to ensure that everything I did honoured and built on the leadership legacy framed by the many presidents before me. Basically (and sometimes basic, direct language is the best) I did not want to muck it up!

The record of accomplishment for the year is available on the Cayman Chamber website (the Annual Report will be posted shortly). This post, however, is less about the Chamber and the past year’s activity. It is, rather, five key leadership learnings I gained, or had reinforced, over the past year, and in particular leadership of a voluntary or not-for-profit organisation. The Chamber council (board) and executive leadership is 100% volunteer and non-paid, and the day-to-day activity is run by a paid CEO and staff of four. I believe these learnings translate well into other volunteer and not-for profit groups, and indeed, commercial business leadership.