Minter Dial, Co-Founder of Podcast Festival Events
Minter Dial is an international professional and energetic speaker and multiple award-winning author, specialised in leadership, branding and transformation.
An agent of change, he's a three-time entrepreneur who has exercised twelve different métiers and changed country fifteen times.
Minter's core career stint of 16 years was spent as a top executive at L'Oréal, where he was a member of the worldwide Executive Committee for the Professional Products Division.
He's author of the award-winning WWII story, The Last Ring Home (documentary film and biographical book, 2016) as well as two prize-winning business books, Futureproof (2017) and Heartificial Empathy (2019).
His next book on leadership, 'You Lead', How being yourself makes you a better leader (Kogan Page) comes out in January 2021.
He's been the host of the Minter Dialogue weekly podcast since 2010 and is co-founder of the Podcast Festival Live. He is passionate about the Grateful Dead, Padel Tennis and languages. @mdial / minterdial.com
Tell us about your current role and what you like about your career or areas of focus.
I'm an author, filmmaker and professional speaker, online or offline. I've made it my mission to elevate the debate and to help connect dots, ideas and people in an effort to make the world a better place, starting with the people in my network and then further afield whenever I have the platform. What I like best is the sense of constant growth.
What inspires you, motivates you, helps you to make each day count?
I've made it a habit over the last ten years to do three things daily. Meditate at the top of each day. Secondly, to make sure I give away valuable content every day. And three, to hold a daily "green appointment" where it's my enjoyment to meet someone new. In this manner, I feel like I'm always contributing to my own personal purpose.
Outside of your professional work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
Three things. First, I love languages. Especially useful when I'm travelling, but it's all about gaining a better understanding and communicating more effectively.
Secondly, I love my music. I've attended about 800 concerts, 200 of which were of the same group (the Grateful Dead), making me a bonafide fan. I also play 30 minutes of the acoustic guitar almost every day.
Lastly, I am a nut for all racquet sports, especially padel tennis (a mini form of doubles tennis played with walls). Exercising the body to match the fatigue of the mind is crucial.
When it comes to your life chosen career, is there a phrase, quote or saying that you really like?
"Change is for sure. Growth is the option."
This was shared with me by one of my mentors, Sam Villa, a Redken performing artist. It's stuck with me in both my personal and professional spheres.
What are you most proud of in your life?
The WWII documentary film and book, The Last Ring Home. It's a deeply personal story that took around 25 years to put to bed. But I'm proud that it's been shown on national television in four countries and been seen by millions of people.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
You don't need to wait for a life-changing moment to find that you can have a purpose in life and your work.
Spend time early on to find out what are your intrinsic motivators.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles?
Those who have the courage of conviction. I can think of Jean-Marc Jancovici, the French engineering consultant, energy and climate expert.
I've long been impressed by founders of companies who have led with genuine purposes, such as Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's or Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia.
However, I've also appreciated courageous startup founders such as Anne Boden at Starling Bank or Audrey Sovignet, founder of IWheelShare that helps people with disabilities get around cities in France.
I also appreciate the editors at UnHerd, the independent media that was founded in 2017, with the intention of balancing mainstream media.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I will naturally tend to favour companies/brands that are taking a bold stand, that stands out. In this regard, Nike stands out for its remarkable storytelling and bold campaigns.
I love Starling Bank as it's a bank with a genuine difference in terms of User Experience, with its employees and for standing up for specific causes (i.e. equity and diversity...).
What is the best advice you have ever received?
It was the advice I was given by a GM on my team when I arrived in Canada to take over the L'Oréal Professional Products Division. She said to me: "Start by thinking of the meaningful legacy you want to create."
What drives or motivates you each day in a work environment?
As I mentioned above, I seek to elevate the debate and connect dots, ideas and people. I make sure that I practice this not just at work, but in my personal life as well.
Making people meet gives me pleasure. Connecting what may appear to be dissociated ideas is stimulating. And making sure that we have powerful and civil conversations is of great importance to me.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
I think the future of social media is tied up with the future of democracy and media in general.
If we can't figure out how to have decent conversations; where unsubstantiated shamings are allowed to happen; where facts and sources go unchecked, I feel we will all suffer.
I believe Twitter CEO Dorsey is right to look deeply at how Twitter can tweak its interface and the implied motivations with its functionalities. While the Chinese state may have other purposes, I feel that WeChat and TikTok provide truly novel experiences from which the West could learn.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
My go-to 'major' social media continues to be Twitter, but Whatsapp (which I suppose may not be considered a classic social media, but rather a messaging service) has become the most visited app on my iPhone. The Whatsapp group chats are more invigorating, the UX is great, and the sharing is easy.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever been a mentor to anyone?
I have had several mentors. One is Pat Parenty, ex-President of L'Oréal USA for the Professional Products Division.
A second, as I alluded to above, is Sam Villa, the international performing artist for Redken.
I'd add that Ann Mincey, who I fondly describe as the VP of Love at Redken, has always been an inspiration for me as well.
How do you network? What is your prefered way to network?
For ten years, since leaving L'Oreal, I've had two important facets to my networking: only connect with people I know and trust/respect.
Secondly, I have a green meeting once a day during the workweek, and that is an appointment, coloured green in my calendar, with someone I don't know. On Linkedin, I've been stingy with accepting connection requests because it's not about the quantity. It's definitively about the quality.
I remain perplexed why I receive connection requests from strangers who don't bother writing a reason for connecting or who just want to be a part of my network. Each connection should be meaningful.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work?
I talk about developing good SEO. It's not what you're thinking though. It's about the Strategic Executive Opportunity. Be the solution to a real problem that someone will type into a Google search query.
Secondly, be specific and differentiated. Find [long tail] keywords that are specific to you and hone your elevator pitch accordingly.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
I believe that having the wrong partner is the biggest reason for entrepreneurial failure.
The other one is, not having a strong purpose that resonates internally. By purpose, I mean identifying something where you serve some more significant cause and/or community than just yourself and/or your shareholder.
To have that purpose resonate internally is important, and this requires being self-aware and understanding one's personal motivations (your inner "why"). When you are tuned into your 'why', you find that the work tends to return energy to you.
Otherwise, you can quickly become depleted and deflated, and ultimately burn out.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
Success must be intrinsic. When you are in touch with and honest about what matters to you, you find a sense of satisfaction and deeper wellbeing that helps overcome the inevitable problems and woes that come with life and running a business.
What skills do you feel have helped you to become successful?
I've always stayed open!
To new ideas, people and cultures. To wit, I love learning new languages and exploring new cities.
By having an open and curious mind, as well as cultivating a strong and broad network, I've been able to bring fresh ideas and perspectives.
Is there anything new that you are working on or involved in that you would like to share?
I've got a new book on leadership coming out in January 2021 - 'You Lead, How being yourself makes you a better leader', published by Kogan Page.
Access www.minterdial.com/books/you-lead/ for more information.