111 Mark Bowers Reframes Mistakes as Lessons

<p>I invite guests to share personal stories about acts of leadership that help shape their lives. In Episode 111, Mark Bowers describes how he determined the services for his new business that involved feedback and a word cloud. In his next story, Mark illustrates the principle, Believe in Others, and how he helped an at-risk colleague. Mark then advises us about a nontraditional way of learning leadership.</p> <p><strong>Prologue</strong></p> <p>Mark Bowers helps do-gooders do better. Specifically, he helps leaders make a distinctive, sustainable, and measurable social impact. Mark has more than thirty years in leadership and management of government, business, and information technology efforts, including twenty years as a Navy submarine officer. After leaving the corporate workforce, Mark established Lighthouse One to leverage his passions in strategic planning, coaching, and performance improvement for the benefit of mission-focused organizations. His current “labor of love” is as founder and executive director of the Professional Development Consortium of Hampton Roads. PDCHR provides free and low-cost leadership education for membership associations.</p> <p><strong>01:40 Part 1: Word Cloud Insights</strong></p> <p>When beginning to establish his own business, Mark wanted to consider the services that he could offer businesses. Through a suggestion from a colleague, he gathered some feedback, and he entered it into a word cloud.</p> <p><strong>07:44 Part 2: Is It a Loss or an Investment?</strong></p> <p>In this story, Mark illustrates what it means to lead from the middle and how he believed in one of his colleagues who risked losing her job.</p> <p><strong>13:18 Part 3: Where to Go to Learn About Leadership</strong></p> <p>Mark advises us to learn about leadership by reading books but not leadership books.</p> <p>_________________________________</p> <p><strong>How You Can Support the Show</strong></p> <p>Unlabeled Leadership is a free service for people to learn about leadership. If you want to support th