Only have a minute? That’s all Stanley had, too, when he sat down with me following his opening address at Chick-fil-A Leadercast, a one-day simulcast event watched by 125,000 people around the world on Friday, May 4. Stanley kicked off Leadercast’s speaker lineup of prominent leadership experts, practitioners and academics by introducing the theme: Choices.

He presented three questions to the audience to think through before making any decision, big or small. Each question suggested the need to introduce objectivity or clarity into the process.

1. What would my replacement do?
2. What would a great leader do?
3. What story do I want to tell?

Throughout his talk, Stanley drove home the point that leaders are not always the smartest in the room, or even the ones with all the information, but they are the leaders because they can make—or have to make—decisions when it matters.

“Leaders are important because of the thing we hate most: uncertainty,” he said. “Uncertainty is not indicative of poor leadership; uncertainty underscores the need for leadership.”

Stanley expands on how to balance the fear and motivation question No. 1 can incite in a leader as well as how he has become a better speaker to live and virtual audiences in the video below.

The other Leadercast speakers offered insight planners can implement in their leadership roles, but planners can learn even more from what went in to planning the huge event. Read our interview with Leadercast planner Michael Williams here.

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