Episode 127: Adam Grant – How Originals Impact The World

Adam Grant has been a leader I’ve admired since I read his NY Times best-selling book, “Give and Take” in 2013.  The book changed my life.  It changed how I view the world and how I view success.  The path to success and sustained excellence is different than I originally thought and I have Adam to thank for you.  It was an absolute thrill to have this conversation with Adam.

Adam Grant is Wharton’s top-rated professor and a New York Times writer on work and psychology. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 25 most influential management thinkers, the 100 most creative people in business, the 40 best business professors under 40, and Malcolm Gladwell’s favorite thinkers.

Adam is the author of two New York Times bestselling books translated into 35 languages. Originals explores how individuals champion new ideas and leaders fight groupthink; it is a #1 national bestseller and one of Amazon’s best books of February 2016. Give and Take examines why helping others drives our success, and was named one of the best books of 2013 by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal—as well as one of Oprah’s riveting reads and Harvard Business Review’s ideas that shaped management.

Adam received a standing ovation for his 2016 TED talk on the surprising habits of original thinkers and was voted the audience’s favorite speaker at The Nantucket Project on the success of givers and takers. His speaking and consulting clients include Google, the NBA, Merck, Goldman Sachs, Pixar, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, the United Nations, the U.S. Army and Navy, and the World Economic Forum, where he has been honored as a Young Global Leader.

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Episode 127: Adam Grant – How Originals Impact The World

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The Learning Leader Show

“It’s a myth that you have to be a big risk taker to be a successful entrepreneur.”

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

  • Being a dedicated learner and always raising the bar leads to sustained excellence
  • Realizing he had no excuse not to share his ideas with the world after he made tenure
  • Why Adam does not consider himself an Original
  • It’s not that we struggle with creativity, it’s Originality where we are lacking
  • Getting invited to the main TED conference
  • The process for writing and delivering a world class TED talk
  • The importance of having a coach – Adam had 4 speaking coaches helping him prepare and edit his TED Talk
  • How to deal with a Taker who has success
  • Why procrastination helps spur creativity
  • Creativity and curiosity are the starting point for all originality
  • The best originals think about risk like a stock portfolio
  • A learning leader cares more about getting better than they do about their own ego

 “I don’t think we struggle at creativity, we struggle at originality.”

Continue Learning:

You may also like these episodes:

Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon

Episode 082: Dan Pink – The Science of Motivation, Legendary Writer & Ted Talk

Episode 086: Seth Godin – How To Become Indispensable & Build Your Tribe

Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why

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Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

Bio From AdamGrant.net

Adam Grant is Wharton’s top-rated professor and a New York Times writer on work and psychology. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 25 most influential management thinkers, the 100 most creative people in business, the 40 best business professors under 40, and Malcolm Gladwell’s favorite thinkers. Previously, he was a record-setting advertising director, a junior Olympic springboard diver, and a professional magician.

Adam is the author of two New York Times bestselling books translated into 35 languages. Originals explores how individuals champion new ideas and leaders fight groupthink; it is a #1 national bestseller and one of Amazon’s best books of February 2016. Give and Take examines why helping others drives our success, and was named one of the best books of 2013 by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal—as well as one of Oprah’s riveting reads and Harvard Business Review’s ideas that shaped management.

Adam received a standing ovation for his 2016 TED talk on the surprising habits of original thinkers and was voted the audience’s favorite speaker at The Nantucket Project on the success of givers and takers. His speaking and consulting clients include Google, the NBA, Merck, Goldman Sachs, Pixar, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, the United Nations, the U.S. Army and Navy, and the World Economic Forum, where he has been honored as a Young Global Leader. His New York Times articles on Raising a moral child and How to raise a creative child have each been shared over 300,000 times on social media.

Adam was profiled in The New York Times Magazine cover story, Is giving the secret to getting ahead? He was tenured at Wharton while still in his twenties, and has received the Excellence in Teaching Award for every class that he has taught. He is the founder and host of the Authors@Wharton speaker series, and co-director of Wharton People Analytics. He has designed experiential learning activities based on The Apprentice in which students have raised over $325,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation while developing leadership, influence, networking and collaboration skills. He serves on the Lean In board and authored a New York Times series on women and work with Sheryl Sandberg, including Speaking while female and Madam C.E.O., get me a coffee.

Adam earned his Ph.D. in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan, completing it in less than three years, and his B.A. from Harvard University, magna cum laude with highest honors and Phi Beta Kappa honors. He has earned awards for distinguished scholarly achievement from the Academy of Management, the American Psychological Association, and the National Science Foundation. He has more than 60 publications in leading management and psychology journals, and his pioneering studies have increased performance and reduced burnout among engineers and sales professionals, enhanced call center productivity, and motivated safety behaviors among doctors, nurses and lifeguards. His studies have been highlighted in bestselling books such as Quiet by Susan Cain, Drive  by Daniel Pink, and David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell.