Simon Madden joins hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis in this episode of the DevReady Podcast. Simon is the Founder of Simon Madden Consulting and now helps organizations understand what it takes to achieve a sustained high-performance culture.
Simon Madden is a man of experience–15 years of experience in education, 18 years of experience in business and 19 years of experience as an elite sportsperson, and almost a decade of running his own consulting practice. He has worked with small, medium, large, national and international organisations and his success can be attributed to how the combination of experiences from the world of education, business and elite sports has given him a unique outlook on developing and sustaining high-performance throughout the organization.
The ability to ‘get good and stay good’ is vital for success, as per Simon. Many people become successful and then they get comfortable there. Simon says that it is important to realise that the work still remains—there needs to be continuous improvement. If you don’t want to get the same outcome that everyone else is getting then you have to stop doing what everyone else is doing. You need to take that one extra step if you want to stand out in the crowd and sustain your growth.
“For a lot of people, mediocrity is comfort.” – Simon Madden
Simon stresses that improving the people is the key to improving any organization. And he believes that people are the best resource. And these days, there’s more than just money that people seek from their work. According to Simon, understanding those needs takes CARE, as briefly described below:
Consideration
When you make a decision consider the effect it is going to have on people (employees, clients, peers)
2. Affirmation
Sometimes, just an acknowledgement of someone doing well is a real motivator for them.
3. Respect
If you are not giving respect to people within the workplace, you’re getting your business into trouble anyway.
4. Empathy
You want to understand what your people might be going through and what their needs might be.
Simon then goes on to talk about the difference between management and leadership. He says while both are important, both are different skills. And a great leader, to him, is someone who can lead people where they don’t want to go but where they should be. Also, reiterating the importance of people, he says that it takes a good leader to understand the needs of those people while making sure a balance is maintained with achieving the goals of the organization. A few pointers that he has for those leaders are:
1. Understand the people
2. Know what motivates them
3. Value them for their efforts
4. Know that each individual is unique
5. Learn how to empathize
6. Develop a culture that you want in the organization
7. Channel expectations
8. Establish the ‘non-negotiables’
9. Know when to hug and when to push
10. Be responsible for the people
Topics Covered
· What is That Extra Thing That You Are Doing?
· Learning from Mistakes
· People are the Best Resource
· CARE (Consideration, Affirmation, Respect and Empathy)
· Differences between Leadership and Management
· Qualities of a Great Leader
Key Quotes (Time Stamps)
“I understand education, I understand high performance and I understand business. So, I put the three of those together to come up with a consulting practice that helps people understand high performance. And what I talk about is how to get good and stay good.” (3:17 – 3:30)
· “So, in business, I say what is that extra thing that you’re doing. Is it your marketing plan—is it a better marketing plan? Is it a better CRMCRM stands for Client Relationship Management. A CRM system is a digitised process of keeping your customer interactions and details..., better connection with your clients through lunches or dinners or podcasts etc.? What is that extra thing?” (5:49 – 6:06)
· “For a lot of people mediocrity is comfort.” (6:12 – 6:16)
· “Just a simple thing for any organization out there: what’s that extra bit is how well are you utilizing your technology in the right way to get your people connected. But at the same time, get them to feel safe, same time get them to do the work you want them to do and work that they want to do.” (10:50 – 11:07)
· “Remember your best resource is your people.” (11:16 – 11:17)
· “Both roles are very important—leadership and management. They are both important but they are different skills. And the best way to explain this to people is the way I say, ‘management gets your ducks in a row and keeps your ducks in a row; leadership takes your ducks somewhere’.” (19:36 – 19:49)
· “Good leaders take people where they wanna go, great leaders take people where they don’t wanna go but where they should be.” (19:58 – 20:03)
· “One of the important things in the modern workplace is people who can think laterally and critically and look at a problem and say, ‘Yeah! I work through this—collaboratively working together on the problem’.” (25:10 – 25:22)
· “You are your best resource. So, are you looking after your best resource? And if you are not looking after yourself, how’re you gonna do your job right, how’re you gonna look after your family, how’re you gonna enjoy life properly?” (40:35 – 40:47)
Social Media Clips (Time Stamps)
Going the Extra Mile (4:13 – 6:16)
· Learn How to Fail in order to Succeed (6:29 – 9:20)
· People are Your Best Resource (11:16 – 13:00)
· Differences between being a Manager and a Leader (19:35 – 20:58)
· Collaborative Problem Solving (23:14 – 25:45)
· Channelling Expectations (32:51 – 36:06)
· Develop a Culture that You Want (36:07 – 38:33)
· You are your Best Resource (40:15 – 43:49)
· How to Lead People (44:44 – 46: 55)
Quick Links:
Connect with Andrew Romeo
Connect with Simon Madden
Connect with Anthony Sapountzis
