If you’ve been watching The Shut Up Show regularly, you’ve heard Phil and me share the following quote a kagillion times before,
Do what you love in the service of those who love what you do. – Steve Farber
Well, guess what? We’ve got that smart guy on our show today. The amazing leadership speaker and author, Steve Farber, joins Phil and me on today’s episode to talk about how he made a radical leap from the job he loved as VP of The Tom Peters Company to go out on his own and develop extreme leaders worldwide.
If you’re having trouble exploring your own voice or infusing it into the work you do, you don’t want to miss this episode.
Share Some Shut Up Love –> The greatest leaders never focus attention on their own greatness. They focus on making others greater than them. @stevefarber #shutupshow (click to tweet)
Fun Facts:
- Steve Farber is the CEO and president of Extreme Leadership, Inc. and the founder of The Extreme Leadership Institute
- Steve was formerly Vice President and Official Mouthpiece of The Tom Peters Company
- Steve helps organizations and individuals radically improve their lives with the LEAP framework: Love, Energy, Audacity and Proof
- Steve is the author of four books: The Radical Leap Re-Energized, Greater Than Yourself, The Radical Leap, The Radical Edge
- Steve has his own version of shut up moment, which is that scary/exhilarating experience he calls the Oh Shit! Moment or OS!M.
- Steve is one of Phil’s first real mentors and good friend who has played a pivotal role in helping Phil shut up a long time ago and become the greater version of himself today
Defining Shut Up Moment:
One shut up moment or OS!M was leaving The Tom Peters Company, a company I loved, to go out on my own and lend my point-0f-view through my personal lens. I gave a 6-month notice and transitioned out on good terms. It was not the first time I had done that. Every since I went out on my own, my business model has been simple: speak and write. I’m passionate about my work and I want to spread it to as many people as possible. Scaling has become a real, strategic approach.
What I’m grappling with at this moment is where to put my attention? Should I build up what I’m already doing and continue this body of work? Or, continue to add new books and go into areas I’ve never been before? I’m building public events and building transformational experiences like Extreme Leadership Intensive. It’s very different than anything I’ve ever done before. Another huge challenge is thinking about what I want my next book to be. It’s like writing two books. There’s a content side with valuable and tranformational content. But then there’s a story side, which touches a whole different part of the brain.
All of these changes… all incredibly thrilling and exciting, but extremely terrifying at the same time.
Shut Up Tips:
Sometimes when we’ve already been successful, we rest on that. You did not. You went in a totally different direction. There’s no connection, but there’s a big connection. – Phil
Whatever it is you’re trying to do, there are parallels in my own story. – Steve
Writing a book is a very internal process. The dialogue is between you and yourself. It’s not like giving a speech where you get input from the audience. – Steve
[Of LinkedIn] I’m here to make connections I’m not here to be sold. – Berni
Marketing is critically important, but I have a personal dilemma about keeping it personal and going broader-based. What I’ve been learning over and over again, when something is written with my name on it and not on behalf of me by my team, I have to have written it. That’s where I draw the line. – Steve
I write in the genre as the business parable (business novels). What makes mine a little bit different is I’m the narrator of my own story. When I write, even though I’m telling a fictional story, my voice is real. I do write in my own voice. When I speak, I also speak in my own voice only it’s louder and I use bigger gestures. – Steve
They key is to find your voice, define that voice, and share it amongst the people who work within your organization. A way you can can scale connection, even though it’s on a personal level with an employee, is with the real connection being the voice and values of the organization. – Phil & Steve
Shut up and be more you. – Phil
We all need to find our own voice and ask, “How do I infuse all my work with my own voice?” – Steve
Steve Recommends:
Steve challenges you to ask yourself, “How do I bring my own voice into my business, product offerings and caring about my audience?”
Steve’s books
Check out Steve’s Extreme Leadership Summit in Chicago in April 2014.
Tom Peters – management guru for management gurus
Find Steve:
Steve Farber on Twitter
Steve’s website and blog