240: Dan Brdar - Leading From Our Values

Leading in an environment where you constantly have to expect the unexpected, Dan Brdar has learned two things that need to happen to stay on the cutting edge: you need to be a fast decision-maker, and you need to lead from your values.Dan Brdar is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ideal Power Inc. He has over 30 years of experience in the power systems and energy industries and has held a variety of leadership positions during his career. Dan is an authority and leader in the energy space, expertly taking new and innovative concepts to commercial markets. In addition to his role at Ideal Power, he served as President and CEO of FuelCell Energy Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company with a market cap of over $250 million. Let’s jump in, team, and learn more about leading from our values!On this episode:Learn how Dan’s unique journey through the energy industry has shaped his leadership style in a way that has taught him how to be nimble in an environment filled with unexpected surprises.Dan talks about the importance of enabling the team’s success and empowering them to work through implementing solutions.Leaders don’t just want a data dump, teams should come to the leader with a problem and ideas towards a solution. Leaders need to make decisions. Instead of delaying the decision until you get more data, you need to be willing to make a fast decision and adjust along the way. Dan talks about the “right” people being vital to the success of the business or organization. Dan explains “participative” leadership. You need to be approachable in order for your team to have better business perspectives. Key Takeaways:Be personally willing to take your team through the process of innovationYou all win when your team is successfulThe next generation of leaders are the ones who build solutions True leaders lead from deep-seated values even when it isn’t popularBe comfortable making decisions even with limited informationLeaders need to continuously innovate to keep up with change Tweetable Quotes:“When you openly working to enable and facilitate your team’s success it just leads to more opportunities to lead bigger and bigger groups.” - Dan Brdar“The things that made that company successful in the earlier days, if they don’t change, you’re gonna get left behind, you’re not going to be able to attract and retain people, and you’re going to lose opportunities to explore new ways to do things.” - Dan BrdarConnect with Dan on LinkedIn. Check out https://www.idealpower.com/ the leaders of the future of energy! Resources:Email: [email protected]: http://www.leadingchangepartners.com/ Leadership Is Changing Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LeadershipIsChanging/Leadership is Changing LinkedIn Page:https://www.linkedin.com/company/leadership-is-changing-podcast/