ML163: Minter Dial on Learning to Lead, Facilitating Meaningful Dialogue and Navigating Paradoxes in Business
Discover the mindsets and skillsets required for transformational leadership, how to facilitate meaningful dialogue and the paradoxes we all have to navigate that matter most in a modern business context.
Minter Dial is an international speaker and award-winning author, who focuses on the topics of leadership, branding and transformation.
He spent 16 years as a top executive at L’Oréal and has written three books including Futureproof: How to Get Your Business Ready for the Next Disruption and his latest book You Lead: How Being Yourself Makes You a Better Leader.
In this episode we discuss:
- How Minter's experience observing 9/11 unfold made him reflect more deeply on his own mortality and values
- The 4 paradoxes we all have to navigate that matter most in a modern business context
- What Minter learned from the experience of making a documentary about his grandfather The Last Ring Home
This was a deep conversation, especially when we get to some of Minter's reflections around 9/11 and it was also remarkably insightful and wide ranging. In it you'll discover the mindsets and skillsets required for transformational leadership and how to facilitate meaningful dialogue.
Show Notes
- Introducing Minter Dial [00:36]
- How does Minter recall his experience at school? [02:25]
- What does Minter consider to be his superpower? [03:34]
- How did experiencing 9/11 outside his office window in New York made Minter rethink the work he was doing and how he was living life? [04:49]
- How are ethics formed? How does an organisation adapt its decision-making process when making ethical considerations? [10:41]
- What is the role of courage in the debate on freedom of speech and the de-platforming of dangerous ideas? [14:46]
- How do you make a good conversation out of opposing viewpoints? [18:15]
- How can you create meaningful conversations despite time restrictions? Why does Minter discourage replays? [20:16]
- What are some practical ways to stay on top of trends? How can transparency result in more valuable content and a more engaged audience? [24:58]
- What are the four business paradoxes we all have to navigate that Minter discusses in his book You Lead? [29:39]
- How does understanding the concept of chaos/order help us prioritise the things that really matter in life? [31:15]
- What events in Minter’s life resurfaced after the January 6 Capitol Riot? Why is it important to process irrationality alongside the rational? [34:31]
- After interviewing Second World War veterans and producing a film about their experiences, what has Minter learned from those conversations and from telling their stories through film? [39:18]
- When making a film, how do you decide which stories to tell, and how do you tell these stories? [42:26]
- What makes a biography real and authentic? Is being transparent the same as being authentic? [44:45]
- Closing remarks [48:04]
Resources
Follow Minter online
- Futureproof: How To Get Your Business Ready For The Next Disruption by Caleb Storkey and Minter Dial
- You Lead: How Being Yourself Makes You a Better Leader by Minter Dial
- The Last Ring Home Documentary Film