“For me, 2020 was a discovery, an understanding of what kind of leadership do I have, what kind of leader do I want to be and, really, what do I want to do?” said Patrick Sutton, then head of people and culture at Olly Olly, during his FASTtalk at the 2023 Chief Learning Officer Symposium in San Diego.
Sutton’s FASTtalk, “Why Be a Unicorn When You Can Be a Legend: Becoming a Legend in Your Leadership,” was the second of two FASTtalks held during this CLO Power Hour session on the afternoon of October 16.
At the tail end of 2020, Sutton, who had been with a company he loved for about 10 years, found himself without a job due to layoffs in L&D/HR. But in the process of taking a few weeks to reset and beginning his job search and the recruitment process again, he began to reflect on what his strengths are, what he brings to the table and what great leaders have in common.
“I started to reflect on people like Steve Jobs and Dr. Maya Angelou and the late James Baldwin, these amazing writers, innovators, game-changers for the world,” he said. “And I thought, looking at these three people … these people were not ‘unicorns.’ These people were legends … because we’re still talking about them. When I think about how we lead and develop people, what we are trying to move into, what we are creating, is legendary leadership.”
It’s the work that we do, the people who we impact and the stories that we share that make us legendary, Sutton said.
Interested in watching this full session? “Why Be a Unicorn When You Can Be a Legend?” and all other 2023 CLO Symposium sessions are available on-demand now.
Chief Learning Officer also invites you to join us at the 2024 CLO Symposium October 21-21 in Tucson, Arizona.
Photo courtesy of Brant Bender Photography.
