Tag Archives: connection

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Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Ready Player One

A Reel Leadership Article

Steven Spielberg brings Ernest Cline’s award-winning novel Ready Player One to the big screen. Any time a director tries to translate a New York Bestseller to film, they face an uphill battle. Fans of the book are looking for a faithful book to movie translation. Moviegoers are looking for a great story. Most of the time, neither group is satisfied.

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Ready Player One

Having never read Ready Player One, I don’t know how faithful the movie adaptation is to the book. What I do know is that Ready Player One is a darn good movie. Visually, story-wise, and experientially. Moviegoers looking for a fantastic movie will not be disappointed.

What Is Ready Player One?

Ready Player One is the #1 New York Times bestselling book by Ernest Cline. Released in 2012, Ready Player One tells the story of teenager Wade Watts. Wade loves to play a virtual reality game known as OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation). Filled with pop culture references, the book was a smash hit.  Read more...

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Connect With The Right People

The right people will propel you forward

Paul Sohn and I once again hosted the annual Influencer Meetup At Catalyst (formerly the Catalyst Blogger Meetup). This event brought in over 50 attendees who are influencers in various spheres (blogging, podcasting, YouTube, writing, etc).

Not only did we bring in influencers, we brought in people who could help move those influencers forward. There were book publishers and agents that also attended. There were content creators looking for new voices.

Image of Paul Sohn, Greg Atkinson, Chester Goad, and others at the Influencer Meetup At Catalyst

By bringing these two groups together, Paul and I created an atmosphere where magic could happen. Influencers looking to get their voice hear had the chance to be heard by potential publishers. Publishers looking for new voices had the ears of potential clients. This was a win-win for both groups of people.

The Influencer Meetup At Catalyst was a connecting place.  Read more...

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Did You Know The Best Conversations Are Dangerous?

You’ve probably noticed a sad trend in the world. And it revolves around conversation. Or the lack thereof.

Walking into a restaurant, you see it. Husband and wife, both have heads buried in their phones. Frantically texting back and forth. But not with each other.

Or a high school party. Boys and girls are on their phones. Texting away. Just not with anyone attending the party.

True Conversations Are Dangerous

Author Ian Cron stated:

The dangerous stuff comes out in the discussions

At the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta in 2014. This line struck me.

It’s also made me realize that we avoid conversations. Especially the deep, life-changing conversations we long for.

Rather, we substitute true conversation for quick quibbles.

We ask each other how we’re doing. While passing by like strangers in the wind.  Read more...

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7 Ways Young Leaders Can Be More Innovative

Yeah, yeah… I already know what you’re thinking. Young leaders are innovative. Young leaders have great ideas. Young leaders are seeing things that older leaders can’t see.

You’d be right. Young leaders are all of those things.

Young leaders are innovative. Young leaders generate great ideas. Young leaders have insane vision for the future.

But young leaders can be even more innovative (and influential) with a few tweaks.

You can have great ideas as a young leader

Image by Mark Plepers

Thomas Edison was the inventor of the light bulb. But even before the light bulb people couldn’t say Edison wasn’t innovative. He had hundreds, if not thousands, of patents and many ideas that he was still testing.

He was innovative. He was creative. He was the man.

We can see with Edison that even though he was an innovator, he always found ways to be even more innovative.  Read more...

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The Problem With Always Being Connected

There’s a major problem with leaders in the top organizations today. One many of them are unwilling to face for fear of missing out or fear of being thought of less.

That problem? The problem of always being connected.

There's a problem with always being connected

Image by Irina Slutsky

You may think I’m talking of how connected we are with others. The relationships we’ve formed. The bonds that draw friends together.

This isn’t the connection that’s the problem. Those are great connections and we need to strive to make more of these meaningful connections.

There’s a more sinister type of connection that’s quickly burning emerging leaders out.

The connection that’s killing us is the always on, always available connection.

How We’re Connected

In the last century, we’ve come to expect to be connected at any hour of the day. We’re no longer able to leave the office at 5PM and expect a semblance of privacy. Oh no, those days are long gone.  Read more...