Randy Pausch (and Captain Kirk) on Leadership
Randy Pausch passed away last week. The Carnegie Mellon professor, husband, and father of three young children died of pancreatic cancer on July 25. The video of his Last Lecture has been viewed more than five million times on YouTube and The Last Lecture book is currently #1 on Amazon.com. In May he was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time magazine.
I read his book this summer and found some great leadership lessons.
"It's important to have specific dreams." Too often our goals are vague, fuzzy and unclear. This makes it difficult for others to understand them and be motivated to achieve them.
Pausch believed that Star Trek's Captain Kirk was a great example of leadership. He "knew how to delegate, had the passion to inspire and . . . established the vision, the tone."
He illustrates the value of humility and a desire to learn. When he met William Shatner in person, Pausch was "hugely impressed." Shatner was the "ultimate example of a man who knew what he didn't know and was perfectly willing to admit it."
He reminds us that influence is not about fame or popularity. Pausch's father earned a citation for heroic achievement during World War II, but never talked about his accomplishment. "In the fifty years my parents were married, in the thousands of conversations my dad had with me, it had just never come up. And so there I was, weeks after his death, getting another lesson from him about the meaning of sacrifice - and about the power of humility."
He explains that leadership is about developing others. Part IV of the book is dedicated to "Enabling the Dreams of Others." "It is a thrill to fulfill your own childhood dreams, but as you get older, you may find that enabling the dreams of others is even more fun." "Go out and do for others what somebody did for you."
He offers a great example of the importance of leading from the inside-out, of walking the talk. "I've long held on to a clipping from a newspaper in Roanoke, Virginia. It featured a photo of a pregnant woman who had lodged a protest against a local construction site. She worried that the sound of jackhammers was injuring her unborn child. But get this: In the photo, the woman is holding a cigarette. If she cared about her unborn child, the time she spent railing against jackhammers would have been better spend putting out that cigarette."
The lesson is so important the he comes back to it later. "My colleague told me: 'It took a long time, but I've finally figured it out. When it comes to men who are romantically interested in you, its really simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do." Great advice for our daughters and ourselves as leaders.
He reinforces the importance of self-awareness. "I wanted to help students learn how to judge themselves. . . In the end, educators best serve students by helping them be more self-reflective."
He gives some simple advice about influencing others. "Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other."
He reminds us of the importance of integrity. Chapter 48 is entitled "Tell the Truth." "If I could give only three words of advice, they would be 'tell the truth.' If I got three more words, I'd add: 'All the time.' My parents taught me that 'you're only as good as your word.' . . . People lie for lots of reasons, often because it seems like a way to get what they want with less effort. But like many short-term strategies, it's ineffective long-term."
Finally, he steals an analogy from my book :-) "The best caregiving advice we've ever heard comes from flight attendants: 'Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.' Jai is such a giver that she often forgets to take care of herself. When we become physically or emotionally run down, we can't help anybody else, least of all small children. So there's nothing weak or selfish about taking some fraction of your day to be alone, recharging your batteries." This is great advice for parents and leaders. You can't give what you don't have. Take care of yourself first, so that you have the strength to help others.
I've included additional quotes from his book on my Freak Factor blog.
