Author Todd Mitchem: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Learn fundamental skills around presentation, holding others accountable, defining your words, and how to be agile in the future of work. — Not much else needs to be said here except that these are critical and fundamental skills that you need now. Don’t wait.

As part of our series about the “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Todd Mitchem.

Todd Mitchem has been called a “Future of Work” expert and visionary. He is a former tech CEO who discovered firsthand how our over-customizing of technology was and is damaging our relationships, which was the subject of his TED talk. He has also been recognized for building communication programs that stand the test of time, regardless of available technological tools. Todd is always looking into the future and helping clients navigate today’s ever-changing transformative landscape of work.

On top of this, Todd is an accomplished author on the topic of Disruption and a business leader who has worked with some of the top companies at the upper level of the fortune 100. His book, YOU DISRUPTED (Random House) helps leaders and individuals understand the importance of intentional self-disruption. As a speaker he has conducted over 2000 presentations in countries around the world.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

Of course! I started in the world of business strangely. At first, my aspirations were to become an actor and comedian, which included years of training, including the famed SecondCity in Chicago and several acting studios in Los Angeles. I even created an interactive comedy show in Chicago that ran long after leaving. It was called Comedy You Can Dance To. But as with most careers, mine evolved into something even more dynamic when I became a speaker and learning and development executive, leadership facilitator, and large conference speaker. At that point, I started to combine my entertainment skills with these other business-focused elements to become a leader in the learning and development arena. I find that learners in a business tend to grasp and hold onto a new skill more if they are also enjoying the training, so incorporating these aspects into my work just makes sense.

After ten years as an L&D leader, I left to become the Chief Revenue Officer and spokesperson for a start-up that grew 1600% in a year! I then founded and led the team of another new start-up for dating and connecting. As the CEO of this vital community-building tool in tech, I learned how to leverage technology as a tool rather than as a hindrance to human connection. There were bumps along the way, which I discussed in my TED talk, but I leveraged my mistakes and opportunities to grow and expand the app’s reach. I grew that brand from 0 users into 300k users in less than 11 months before selling my shares to new investors. In any tech app project, that is a huge accomplishment, so I am proud of the work my team and I did there.

Then, after taking some time off to reflect, I jumped back into the learning and development space as a leader, speaker, and certified leadership coach. Now I combine all of my skills as a senior leader start-up founder, speaker, performer, and coach to drive disruptive change to my clients in a world of hyper transformation. My main focuses are presentation skills, executive presence, sales, leadership coaching, and keynote presentations.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

One of the funniest mistakes I have ever made involved the very technology I love to utilize, Twitter. I mention this in my book, but back in 2014, I took it upon myself to engage in a Twitter battle with activists in my industry over a company policy. I thought it was a good idea at the time, or at least my ego did, but it proved to be a disaster for the company and me personally. I regret my impulsivity at that moment. It taught me vital lessons, however, to get rid of my ego, demonstrate more empathy, calm down under pressure, and never get pulled into a Twitter argument just for the sake of fame. It is often said that we learn the most from our mistakes. I find that to be true and funny.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

One of my mentors and a man I credit with my growth in the area of understanding the neuroplasticity of our minds is a man named Stephen Hager. In my opinion, he and his partner Deanna Phelps are the father and mother of biodiversity thinking. Over the last thirty-plus years, their research has led to massive discoveries in how we take in and process information. Their assessment tool called, BrainPathways changed how I saw myself in the world and how I interacted with my own mind. I utilize their research in my leadership, presentation, and skills training engagements. Always a friend with a new perspective, Stephen was a spirit of change, positivity, kindness and had a mind that always thought about positive, equitable outcomes over profit. He inspired me every day. Stephen passed away recently at the age of 83, but his spirit and work will live on in me and my work. I cried many tears over his passing, and my only regret is that I did not spend more time with him over the last couple of years. He was a true visionary.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?

I always work on the same purpose: to prepare my fellow humans for the future with new skills and different ways to think and lead them toward their own purpose-driven work/personal life. In every business, project, and interaction, this is my primary focus. I find when I take my engagements and my business seriously in this way, people change for the better, disruption happens with a goal, and my life is far more fulfilling.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?

Well, I think for all of us, the last two years have been a sea of uncertain times that compounded with each new news story. For this, I think it’s best to talk about my clients and their teams. Keep in mind I work with companies of sizes from 500 employees to thousands, from Microsoft to Alkami Technologies, and everywhere in between. So when the pandemic hit, I wanted to help these client companies pivot to disruptive tools and skills that would keep them ahead of others. Immediately I took a step back and asked myself how the world of presentation, sales, leadership, and executive presence skills could be changed, even if everyone was remote. And I think this is a critical lesson for your readers; resisting a massive change will not serve positive disruption. Living in your habitual way of thinking will not help your disruption. Instead, you need to embrace what IS happening and pivot to what NEEDS to happen for you to be successful. So many companies either resisted the changes that were flipping our lives upside down or embraced everything and made forward movement a focus. For the first group, the last two years were a struggle. For the second group, like my clients, they dug in, brought me in to help them, doubled down on training or executive coaching, and the results were spectacular.

Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?

I never wanted to give up. But my clients certainly were faced with struggles. For them, I need to be a calming force of positivity and change in the right direction. To many of my leadership coaching clients, I acted as both therapist and leadership advisor. With my psychology and neurodiversity background, it was helpful that I could hear them and their frustrations then help them continue transforming into a new normal. That being said, I have faced giving up in other ways in business ventures, but I find that is where reflection and getting away from things help me. The criticality of taking time to yourself cannot be overstated. It took me a long time to get over feeling guilty if I took time away from family or work to reflect while collecting my thoughts so I could reenergize for a forward solution. I know now, however, that to avoid burnout, the feeling of giving up all while gaining more motivation, I need to regroup in a way that centers me personally. I no longer feel wrong about this in any way. It’s necessary. For your readers, they need to understand this important lesson. No other person on earth will care more about you, your life, or your well-being than you. So take time to regroup, refocus, and reenergize in YOUR way. You do not need excuses for this; just do it to avoid burnout.

What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?

There are several skills I think all leaders need to possess to prepare for the future, and they are not all common skills.

First off, any leader who wants to connect with their team and drive results MUST be adept at creating a work world of inclusivity, equity, and an environment where honest dialogue can occur to make the relationships on their teams stronger. I am not saying we need to hit people over the head with “diversity training” or other fad learning. Instead, leaders need to make inclusivity and equity just a part of the DNA of their team. You can’t get there with a typical off-the-shelf training program. Individuals need to learn skills around communication for understanding rather than winning an argument. They need to learn the value of a diverse set of people with ideas based on their backgrounds, upbringing, social challenges, etc, because this is true diversity. That’s the fundamental part of developing a team focused on diversity. Does your team want to understand each other truly, or are you, as a leader, checking a box of diversity? This will be a key focus for leaders, especially during challenging times.

Second, any leader faced with a challenging time or a time of transformation needs to articulate what will be changing, what the team will no longer be doing, and what will stay the same. Most people hear the word change in a company and assume EVERYTHING will change. That is not accurate. Some things will change, but many will stay the same. It’s up to the leader to articulate a new vision to show what these items are and how they will impact their team. The skill needed to communicate this vision can be achieved with coaching or training, but don’t skip the step in your communications.

Lastly, challenging times require concise and clear communication to keep everyone on the same page. I suggest every leader reading this learn how to get to the point in a discussion or presentation. Stop beating around the point because when you do the most valuable asset any human owns, time, is lost.

When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?

Engagement is so much more than motivation. For people to be engaged in today’s culture, I feel that we all need to be way more personal with each other. The antiquated office life my father experienced is, thankfully, gone. Now, leaders need to engage their team in new, more personal ways. I have been articulating this sentiment in many of my most recent presentations. Leaders of tomorrow will need skills in psychology and an understanding of what forms humans into adults. For example, if I know that you had a rough childhood and your parents were absent at best, that tells me something about your psychology, how you react to situations and how I need to communicate with you. If I work with someone and know this about them, I will help them understand I care about them, support them, and work hard for them. The context I gain from understanding their life helps me be a better leader and teammate. Essentially I need to customize my approach based on their psychology. What this means for leaders in the future is that they need to have a very highly developed emotional intelligence based on psychology. Leaders need to see the whole person, not just the “work mask” a person wears daily. Gen Z, by the way, will demand this of their leaders. I see this emerging in my own observations of my teen kids, their friends, and their peers.

I also like to point out, when discussing the future and uncertainty, that no matter what comes for a business like; the end of email, augmented reality, more short video type conversations, virtual reality, cryptocurrency, remote work etc., these are all just tools for work and humans to interact. The skills needed to be ready for this future are fundamental. Clearly articulating a message, presentation skills, leadership skills ability to hold yourself accountable to outcomes, are all just a sample of the skills that transfer to success, regardless of the tool used to get your work accomplished.

What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?

I like to be upfront. Difficult news need not be disguised as anything else. However, the caveat is that the person relaying difficult news does so with empathy and respect. We saw the opposite of this lately in several CEOs I won’t mention here, firing their team on Zoom meetings. This is not only childish; it is cruel and demonstrates the leader is clueless as to how humans operate. When I see leaders with that level of low emotional IQ, I cringe. Regardless of their ability to make money, a leader who can not demonstrate respect for fellow humans who work for them is trouble ultimately for the business. So, when you need to relay difficult news, be respectful, kind, and treat others the way you would want to be treated.

How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?

Interesting question. If I were coaching a leader around planning this time, which I often do, my advice is first to list out what will be predictable. By knowing what is predictable, I can prepare in certain areas farther out than others. For the unpredictable items, like pandemic resurgence, virtual teams, new technologies, I can plan for a flexibility mindset knowing that some things may change in the future. Again, when designing in uncertain future situations, I can control many things, like skills development and behavior. A leader’s team will be watching for the leader to panic on not panic when times change, so the leader needs to use planning time to develop abilities they need to be flexible, clear-minded, and articulate. These things they can control.

Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?

If I had to nail down one principle, I think it would be something I often say that I came up with a few years ago, “No one gets out alive, and we are all in it together.” I like this principle because it demonstrates that any struggle is temporary. In the end, everyone’s life will end, and all they worried about, were frustrated over, and even celebrated will die with them. But, the “we are all in it together” part adds flavor in that this principle immediately creates an inclusion mindset. If we are all on the same big blue ship flying through space, and it’s a container, we can’t escape; we are truly all in this together. When you say it out loud, suddenly your agitation with others, the walls you put up, it is pointless. Steve Jobs once said, “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.” This is a true statement. When we realize as business leaders and humans in general, that we are all going to die and we are all in it together, suddenly our minds shift to how we live and coexist as a unified group in a company, a community and a collective of humans with amazing diversity.

Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?

I think I have said it in the entirety of the interview, but I will summarize in a mindset I adopted years ago. I call it the USE IT mentality.

U — Understand the Big Picture — What is essential at the moment to you and, more importantly, those around you.

S — Say, “My attitude dictates my experience.” — Your attitude is all you can control. What does your attitude say about you? Does your attitude make people want to work with you or run from you? The mental positivity or negativity you choose will determine the kind of life and work you live in each day. Choose wisely.

E — Evict Your Ego — Ego, or the need to be right and win all the time, is a useless mental construct. Kick it out of the house of your mind and replace it with a mindset of seeking understanding.

I — I Assume Nothing — Nothing? Nothing. How many times have your assumptions about a person or situation been wrong? More importantly, how many times have you acted on wrong assumptions incorrectly? Replace your assumptions with seeking clarity. You will thank me later.

T — This Is Not Personal — Because it isn’t. Nothing is personal, not even that person cutting you off in traffic. Everyone is doing the best they can given the information and awareness they have at the time. If they knew better, they would do better. So relax and realize that nothing is personal.

Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?

In a simple statement, don’t panic or overact. In addition, always be open-minded to new opportunities and don’t scoff at things you don’t understand. People thought it was a fad of epic proportions when the internet was first introduced. Now that idea seems silly. But as we embark on VR, augmented reality, AI, WEB 3.0, Cryptocurrency, and the myriad of new technologies changing our world, we must not ignore them, hoping they are fads. Instead, we need to seek to understand these new opportunity areas. Am I saying dump all your money into Bitcoin? No. But don’t laugh at your kids if they want to make NFTs and sell them. It could be a big deal in the future.

Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Learn to communicate for understanding — As I stated earlier, communication effectiveness needs to be focused on understanding. When we seek to understand others, their point of view, background, biases, and why they act in a certain way, we are on the road to building a world-class team of people who want to support each other. Communicating for understanding means that you are an inquisitive leader who asks questions, so you fully understand all that I mentioned. Diversity and inclusion efforts depend on this skill from leaders.
2. Accept that technology is about to change everything around how we interact, embrace it. — I have mentioned many of the changes coming, but I also think that some huge transformations are going to upend the way work is accomplished, but I think also improve it greatly. From the death of email to remote on-demand work to augmented reality and VR, we will see business rapidly change right before our eyes. As a leader, you must never disparage these changes; in fact, I recommend you take time to learn all you can about unfamiliar tech. Staying current on these new technologies will keep you in the loop as they are integrated someday.
3. Learn psychology and why people do what they do and react the way they react. — Do you know if people on your team came from broken homes? As my mentor Stephen Hager would advise, do you know who on your team prefers to take in information auditorily, kinesthetically, or visually? Do you know how the psychology of unhealthy parental anchoring plays out in adult human dynamics? If not, you need to get these skills. We are becoming integrated as a species where work and home life are more blurred than ever. As a leader, you need to start sharpening your skills in these areas so you can connect with your team and help them drive results. As a team member, you also need to learn these skills to help your colleagues better understand you so you can get to know them on a deeper level. Empathy comes from this level of psychological understanding.
4. Learn fundamental skills around presentation, holding others accountable, defining your words, and how to be agile in the future of work. — Not much else needs to be said here except that these are critical and fundamental skills that you need now. Don’t wait.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“God didn’t bring you this far to only bring you this far.” I believe that we all have a purpose. We are all here to enjoy, live and be in that purpose. Regardless of our obstacles or perceived challenges, we have control over our mindset. We are not done until we are dead. This concept help s me get up each day and take on challenges with a positive mind and an open heart.

How can our readers further follow your work?

I am easy to find and follow. Start with ToddMitchem.com. You can also find me on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn simply at @ToddMitchem. My book, YOU DISRUPTED in on Audible, Apple etc in audio form (narrated by me) or anywhere books are sold.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!