Michael Bungay Stanier is the Senior Partner of Box of Crayons, a company that helps organizations do less Good Work and more Great Work. Box of Crayons is best known for its coaching programs , which give busy managers practical tools to coach in 10 minutes or less. On the way to founding Box of Crayons in 2002 , Michael lived in Australia, England, the United States and Canada (his current home), where he worked in the fields of innovation and change management. He’s written a number of books, the best known of which is Do More Great Work , with almost 100,000 copies sold. He’s proudest of End Malaria , a collection of essays about Great Work by thought leaders that has raised $400,000 for Malaria No More. His latest book, The Coaching Habit , is already being called a modern classic. To balance all this out, Michael was banned from his high school graduation for “the balloon incident,” was sued by one of his law school lecturers for defamation and managed to give himself a concussion while digging a hole as a labourer… He was the first Canadian Coach of the Year and is a Rhodes Scholar.
“If I had to pick a person to have dinner with, when I need to be prodded and challenged and inspired to think about the things I really am committed to think about for myself and what I’m doing, I’d pick Michael Bungay Stanier. He has an ability to shake our tree and make us more conscious and responsible about what we know but aren’t willing to admit we know yet.” — David Allen, author of Getting Things Done
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
Michael’s old bosses
When business started difficulties overcame:
“I knew nobody in Toronto, I’d been living there 6 months, I’d never run a business before, I’m not particularly motivated by earning a tonne of money and I didn’t know what I was doing”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works Book by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin
Favourite Quote:
- “Don’t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossibly”
- “If you’re going to try, go all the way otherwise don’t even start”
- “Since death is certain, and the time of death is uncertain, what’s the most important thing to do right now”
Recommended Online Resources:
I Done This – helps track your own progress, understand what your team is working on and stay in sync
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
- “Never trust anybody’s advice too much; it’s always a little dodgy”
- “How can you say no so that your yeses have more impact and power”
- …[Listen for More]
More About Michael Bungay Stanier:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“Live your insanity and leave those who want to be normal in the average.” Aniekee Tochukwu Ezekiel
Other Quotes From the Chat with Michael Bungay Stanier:
- “The secret strength of entrepreneurs is the quality of our ideas”
- “Building your reservoirs before you take the leap is really critical”
- “It’s really hard to stay true the vision of your company when you’re operating from a place of fear”
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