Jeff Brown of the Read to Lead Podcast talks about recognizing talent in others, the importance of mentors, and his favorite business books

Our guest this week is Jeff Brown, host of the Read to Lead podcast. It’s always a pleasure to interview a fellow podcaster, and Jeff is no exception. Right away you’ll hear his ease on the microphone, because not only is he a podcaster, but spent years on radio as well. Jeff has a great story filled with ups and downs, challenges, success, and a time of real soul-searching. We also cover topics like adapting knowledge to fit our industry, the importance of public speaking, recognizing talent in other people, and being a mentor who multiplies the collective skill of those around her.

Jeff’s advice was invaluable, not just from his own experience, but the wisdom he’s gleaned from interviews with some of the best minds in business, art, and leadership. Now, of all the great advice Jeff shared though, here are the three points that really stood out to me.

What You’ll Learn

• Be a leader who recognizes the talent in others, and help multiply it! This was the best part of the interview for me, and reminds of all us that we can be a leader who multiplies the collective talent around us, or divides and diffuses it. Choose to mentor and multiply!
• Know the unique skills you have that can be leveraged in your current and future work. If you have trouble pinpointing those skills, take the time to reflect on what topics or skills people usually ask for your help on. That’s a good place to start!
• Finally, public speaking is rapidly becoming a skill we all need to have. The ability to clearly communicate our ideas and values in front of an audience of one or one thousand can be what sets you apart in your field. For this skill, I recommend Jeff’s interview with Dan Roam, and also the podcast What the Speak?! with Bryan Kelly.

Listen here

Click here to download the episode directly.

Resources

• Brown Knows Media
• Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter – by Liz Wiseman
• Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day – by Todd Henry
• Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk (and watch below)

Connect with Jeff

• Read to Lead Podcast
• Podcaster Academy
• Twitter @TheJeffBrown
• Facebook @ReadtoLeadNation

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