In this premiere episode of Leadership Lounge, the new show from EQ and partners Return to Your Power and Clockwork Productions, I sat down with Jonathan Allen, Publisher and Editor in Chief of EQ Magazine, and Doug Curtis, Founder of Clockwork Productions, and got real about why a media company is investing in events, why the way we define leadership needs to change, and your opportunity to grab the mic and speak up at Leadership Labs, the upcoming full-day event that EQ is hosting as a kickoff to MDMC.

Why Live Events are Still the Apex of How People Connect

EQ has been sponsoring and organizing a number of events such as the popular Bourbon Friday and the EQ Town Hall and EQ Leadership Lounge at Venture Café, because as Allen puts it, EQ wants to “Come down from the tower of editorial and focus on bringing people together.” He believes that this also gives his magazine the best opportunities to showcase the good news in the region, stories of incremental successes (and failures) that are focused on the positive.

The recently launched EQ Community Network, which is in beta now and free to join, is designed to be a social network, but as Allen says, social networks have been done and overdone so it’s kind of a “social network that’s not a social network.” It’s more of a suite of Apps that help members navigate the ecosystem, get the information tools they need to grow their business, and ultimately find more ways to connect in person.

The best conversations, as Allen says, happen in person so you can expect to see EQ involved in more opportunities, before and after the Leadership Labs event, to connect with the ‘preneurship community live and face to face.

Leadership is Dead, Long Live the Leaders

Allen also says that EQ is putting a lot of focus on leadership because he believes the old models and definitions of leadership no longer serve. “We’re used to this idea that leaders are bosses and bosses boss people around,” he says. But the collaborators who have come together to team up with EQ on building the Leadership Labs and other events are working under Allen’s definition of leadership, which is “People taking little risks on behalf of the team.” It’s what EQ calls “emergent qualities” leadership or what I think of as the “company of heroes” style of leadership. Rather than a one-to-many relationship it’s a group of leaders leading each other toward a common goal.

It comes down to speed and scalability, as well as personal fulfillment and widening the opportunity net. As Allen says, this way of defining and development leadership means more people can contribute and provide solutions in the system, there is less burden on any one person or group, and the more we collaborate with other leaders the more we can accomplish and the faster things happen.

What Does Love have to do with Leadership?

The principle keynote at Leadership Labs will be delivered by Tim Sanders, bestselling author of Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends. As Allen says, that message is so fitting for a leadership event, but he knows that Sanders’ presentation will be so much more than what is between the covers of the book. Sanders speaks to everyone at the corporate or individual level about what it means to be a collaborative leader, a “lovecat” as he calls it, and to create influence through sharing your knowledge, network, and compassion.

Your Turn at the Mic – The Leadership Lounge at Leadership Labs

Doug Curtis, and his partner at Clockwork Productions, Carlos Suarez, are the collaboration partners in charge of one of the most special areas planned for Leadership Labs – the Leadership Lounge. This area is going to be set aside for you to demonstrate leadership. As Curtis says, “We’re going to empower attendees to be leaders, to come up and speak about what leadership is to you.”

Which is exactly in line with the mission of EQ, a place to discover the voices out there and give everyone the opportunity to be the next voice showcased on the magazine or at the next event. Because, as Allen says, “There are a lot of people saying amazing, interesting things. Things that we should all noodle on.”

And, as I know from years of attending and speaking at events, a lot of the voices we should listen to, and people we should connect with, aren’t on a stage. Sometimes the most meaningful conversations are in the halls, over coffee, or just as you’re walking out the door. So join us for Leadership Labs, hear the voices EQ has been listening to and share your voice, because we want to hear what you have to say.