Mike Walsh is CEO of the global legal business of LexisNexis, a leading provider of information solutions and analytics to law firms, corporate, government and academic markets. The business serves customers in over 150 countries and employs ~10,600 worldwide. Mike earned his JD from Harvard Law School and received his BA from Yale University. He sits on the Board of the Atlantic Council. He grew up in Colorado and now resides in New York with his wife and two children.

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FORBES recently called WELCOME TO MANAGEMENT, “the best leadership book of 2020.”

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  • How to host an effective roundtable:
    • Must be an active listener
    • Strive to understand people and their daily challenges
    • Keep a finger on the pulse – “Get as close to the front line as possible.”
    • The right number is 10-15 people
    • Get to know people. Make it feel casual so they will open up
    • Start by having them share sometime special and/or unique about themselves
  • Structure:
    • Ask – What’s going right? What’s going wrong?
    • Have someone in the meeting taking notes
    • If something isn’t going well, don’t feel as though you need to have an immediate answer
    • Save what you’re going to say until the last 5-7 minutes. It isn’t a townhall meeting. It’s for the others to talk…
  • How to close like a CEO:
    • Jot down 1-2 word themes
    • Summarize what you heard
    • Distill the core message to its essence
    • Call people by their names and repeat what they said so they know you listened to them
  • Read the Dale Carnegie books — Use their names
  • I “want one feeling to leave people with”
  • “If you do enough of these, you’ll start seeing consistent themes.”
  • Mike hired a CEO coach… The company invested in someone to help.
  • A CEO leadership circle — Mike has been part of a mastermind group of CEOs for years. They’ve been helpful to discuss topics, issues, how they handled the pandemic, etc…
    • Structure: 1 CEO asks the group a question and learns from the experiences that others share to help answer the question and help the CEO respond appropriately
  • Mike has been named one of the best CEOs in the world for diversity (according to employee reviews)
  • Mike is passionate about advancing the rule of law and equality for all
  • Sustained excellence =
    • Good listeners… Willing to ask for help
    • Care about people
    • Busy, but they know how to manage time. They never seem frazzled.
  • Saying no: “I have to say no all the time.”
  • Reflection: “I have reflection points on the weekend. Ask self: ‘What’s most important?’ ‘Where should I be spending my time physically?’
  • General life advice:
    • Do what you’re interested in doing
    • Follow passion — Need to enjoy what you do.
  • Apply to be part of my Leadership Circle

Resources:

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