In September 2023 I had the opportunity to provide the keynote leadership presentation at Comcast MilDev. This is an annual event where Comcast brings together military Veterans from across the United States and the United Kingdom who work for the company.

My remarks focused on the value of leading as an Iron-Sharpened Leader. Iron-sharpened leaders are servant leaders who lead with character, competence, and resilience. The facilitated discussion touched on many worthwhile leadership approaches including the ability to grow trust, factor values into one’s decision-making process, making decisions when decisions must be made, communication skills, and the ability to guide teams through adversity.

Effective Listening

During the two days I spent at the conference I had an opportunity to listen to some remarks from Comcast CEO Dave Watson. He talked about the importance of what he called “effective listening”. He defined effective listening as the ability to listen to employees and then do something about what was heard.

Watson makes a great point. Leaders must actively listen to what their followers are saying by maintaining good eye contact, leaning into the conversation, and signaling they hear what is being said. Leaders must then do something with the information and let the one providing the input know what can or cannot be done with the information received.

Continuous Learning

Leaders must engage in continuous learning. When a leader stops learning they stop growing. John Gronski has developed online leadership development courses. Learn more here.

 About John Gronski

Major General John L. Gronski (U.S. Army Retired) is the founder and CEO of Leader Grove LLC, a leadership consulting firm. John is the author of two books, “Iron-Sharpened Leadership” and “The Ride of Our Lives” and he is an international and Fortune 500 speaker. Learn more about John Gronski at https://johngronski.com/