What if every night before you went to bed, you had to prove that you deserved another day on the planet? It’s this question, this philosophy, that guides Drew Dudley — internationally acclaimed leadership speaker and the founder and chief catalyst of Day One Leadership.
Drew crafted his leadership philosophy during his eight years as the director of one of Canada’s largest leadership development programs at the University of Toronto. He worked with students on defining values of leadership and learned that this wasn’t enough — his students were merely using them as a means to evaluate past behaviour instead of driving it. That’s when he discovered the secret — “Questions,” he said, “are an incredibly powerful driver of human behaviour.”
With his students he developed the leadership test — six questions that cover key leadership values: impact, courage, growth, empowerment, class, and self-respect. By turning leadership values into questions, we hard-wire our brain into wanting them answered, ultimately influencing our actions in our brain’s quest to answer each question. Drew challenges people to answer three out of six of his questions everyday — that, he says, is what true leadership is. It’s when our “to be” list outweighs our “to-do” list.
“Our “to do” list drives our schedule and decisions but our “to be” list defines us as people, and that list should be more important.”
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It can be daunting to make this kind of behavioural change — a daily commitment for the rest of our lives! Drew draws on his experience battling alcoholism to show others that change is possible, you just have to take it one day a time.
“Day one of any voyage has an inherent commitment, humility, and forgiveness to it. And so, day one is when you say these are the non-negotiable behaviours on whatever voyage you’re on— to health, to mental health, to your leadership — and my argument is day one of your leadership is saying here’s what I actually want to define me as a person and here’s a plan to live up to it. And you simply recommit to that everyday. And when you screw up and you go home and you didn’t pass the test, alright, try again tomorrow.”
Watch the clip below to learn more.
Through his high-energy talks, Drew Dudley shares practical and actionable insights on creating cultures of leadership that lead to higher levels of pride, productivity, and happiness. He empowers audiences to believe that they are leaders and gives them the tools needed to make a difference.
Interested in learning more about Drew and what he can bring to your next event? Email us at [email protected].
