549: How to Actually Get Traction From Leadership Books, with Nicol Verheem

Nicol Verheem: Teradek

Nicol Verheem is a globally recognized leader and innovator, senior business executive, serial entrepreneur, and prolific angel investor. He has been recognized for his impact in the film industry with a lifetime achievement award from the Society of Camera Operators and an Academy Award for Sciences and Engineering, also known as a Technical Oscar. He was also recently recognized with the Innovator of the Year Award from the leading business journal in Orange County, California.

Nicol currently serves on the Executive Management Board of The Vitec Group, as the Divisional CEO of Creative Solutions, and as the CEO of Teradek. As a technology leader, his is responsible for the strategy, roadmap, and execution of Teradek’s highly recognized high tech video products driving more than $100M annual revenue — with dominant market share across the globe. He is also a member of the Coaching for Leaders Academy.

In this conversation, Nicol and I discuss how to take the ideas you hear in books, presentations, and podcasts — and make them your own. Nicol shares many examples of how he has done this in his organization in order grow a team that was ultimately recognized with an Academy Award. Plus, we discuss some of his mindsets that have helped drive the success of Teradek over the years.

Key Points

• Leadership models aren’t always molded to your organization or situation. Adapt the idea to make it a better fit for you.
• Well intended language by an expert might not match the culture of your organization. Don’t hesitate to change a word or phrase to make sense to your team.
• Build relationships today with the people who will grow with you throughout your career. That’s “networking for commoners.”
• When interviewing, ask people about their hobbies or interests in order to discover if you can lead them to live out their passions.

Resources Mentioned

• We’d Like to Thank the Academy by Teradek
• Coaching for Leaders Academy

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• Start Finding Overlooked Talent, with Johnny Taylor, Jr. (episode 544)

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