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Here are some of my take-aways, in my own words, not necessarily quotes from the speaker. i.e. if you think it is clever and memorable, give credit to the speaker. If you have a less-favorable opinion, you can blame me.

Bill Hybels -- Tolerance is for cowards. It is better to strive to understand someone else's viewpoint.

Sheryl Sandberg -- Her comments on what she has gone through since the unexpected passing of her husband was moving. The work advice I took away was that "results matter more than facetime". To the degree that we can manage our teams based on getting things done rather than being "in the office" and "filling the seat", everyone will be happier. Resilience is grown and developed -- like a muscle. It is not just something that you "possess".

Marcus Lemonis (aka The Profit) -- Be vulnerable and transparent to connect with people. Unlock someone's heart and navigate challenges together.

Michael Jr. - what he did for the Richardson family in helping them get transportation for their large, gracious family was simply awesome. +1 for the Nissan NV (I have one too, though not tricked out like the one he purchased!)

Fredrik Haren -- (sorry, I don't know how to put the cool accents on the letters...) - What is an idea? Taking two formerly known things and combining them in a new (and useful) way. Be creative to model the practice to your team. To Create is to emulate the Creator. Very cool.

Bryan Stevenson -- be proximate, change the narrative, stay hopeful, do uncomfortable things.

Andy Stanley -- Uniquely Better. Mess with the "prevailing model" Be mindful of the shared assumptions in our industry (business, family, community, etc). Closed minds, close minds. We must pay attention to the frontiers of our ignorance. Communicate more with "Wow", than with "How". We need to be mindful to "wow" ideas to life rather than "how" them to death.

Laslo Bock - Give your team more autonomy. In fact, we should be giving them enough autonomy to the point where we're feeling a bit uncomfortable. If we don't feel uncomfortable, we're not doing it right! When hiring, don't have the interviewer make the hiring decision (due to various biases from the interview process itself) and only hire someone who is better than we are. Up the game. This echoes some of the comments from Sheryl Sandberg as well.

Juliet Funt -- wow, what a great presentation. In short, we need more space to think in our lives. Cut back on the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-etc appointment setting on our calendars. Here are the thieves that steal our time: Drive, Excellence, Information, Activity. While these are all "good" things, we can find ourselves "serving" those four. Instead, let them serve us through careful introspection.

Drive -- Why am I pursuing this activity?

Excellence -- how good is good enough?

Information -- do I really need to read that article/chart/etc?

Activity -- don't be busy for busy-ness sake. (This is a core tenent of the encouragework maturity model!)

Marcus Buckingham -- study excellence, not the absence of it. Build more teams like the excellent teams we have been part of. Two important themes: Let people know what is expected of them and let them work in their strengths. As much as they want purpose, what they (we) really want is attention! Weekly check-ins with everyone on the team. Find out what they need help with and give it to them. If you have too many people on your team to provide this feedback on a weekly basis -- you have too many people on your team. Again, another tenent of the encouragework maturity model!

Sam Adeyemi - What people see and hear over time will enter their hearts. Change how people see themselves. Help them over come their (our) self-limiting beliefs. How old are your children? "The doctor is 3 and the lawyer is 2". That is having a vision and speaking it into their lives. OK, relax, it's an illustration.

Immaculee Ilibagiza -- survivor of Rwandan genocide. Wow, God met her and continues to work in her life. After wrestlilng with the pain of what happened to her family and community (all murdered), she chose forgiveness over bitterness. "If you say so, it must be". That was her response to God's call on her life.

Angela Duckworth -- shared about "grit". Bottom line, the more passion and perseverance we have, the more likely we are to accomplish something. We want to avoid both arrested development and of course "dropping out". Never let someone quit on a bad day.

Gary Haugen -- Leaders, do. not. be. afraid. Relentlessly inventory our own fears. If we do not we will be leading our teams by our own insecurities. Switch from defense to offense. Courage, like fear, is contagious. Build a community of courage. The International Justice Mission looks like an awesome organization.