Leadership Profile: Mike Parkinson
Mike Parkinson is a geek. He is 1 of 36 Microsoft PowerPoint MVPs in the world, a CPP APMP Fellow, best-selling author, keynote speaker, and an industry thought leader. Mike owns Billion Dollar Graphics (www.BillionDollarGraphics.com) and is a partner at 24 Hour Company (www.24hrco.com), a premier creative services firm.
Can you introduce yourself Mike?
Long story short, I’m a geek. I own two companies. The first is Billion Dollar Graphics, which I run with my wife. It’s a small DIY creative services firm—we give people tools and training to do things themselves. The second is 24 Hour Company, which is a “we-do-it-for-you” firm. I created two companies to clarify the difference. The rest is just me being enthusiastic and helping others be successful.
What does being a leader mean to you?
Mike: At its core, leadership is about inspiring and guiding others to a shared goal—something we all align around. It’s about a common mission and vision. That seems to be the best way to move forward, although it’s not always easy.
It’s rarely easy—you’re dealing with many different personalities and trying to unify them. What are some other important characteristics you think leaders should have?
One is vision—that clear, shared purpose that unites and drives us. Purpose is a big part of success—being wealthy, healthy and happy. Wealth isn’t about jets; it’s about not worrying whether you can eat tonight.
Another is clarity and simplicity. Great communicators find the simplest way to explain something, whether it’s through metaphor, simile, or analogy. Amelia Barr, a novelist from the UK, said, “It’s always the simple that produces the marvelous.” And simplicity is hard. Pascal, Franklin, Thoreau all said a version of, “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”
The next is positivity—which includes empathy, humility, appreciation, and a win-win attitude of gratitude. We all want everybody to win, and we appreciate everything everyone is doing to get to that win. I think there was something you said in your TEDx, it was about listening first. I believe Stephen Covey said, "Seek first to understand, then be understood." I also learned a lot from Simon Sinek. At first, I wasn’t a fan, but after seeing him speak, I became a raving fan. He said great leaders put others before themselves—just like parents or caregivers do.
And another characteristic for me was creativity—it’s key for leadership. It’s about solving problems and finding paths where others see roadblocks. That’s part of both entrepreneurial and managerial leadership.
I remember reading E-Myth Manager by Michael Gerber, who says businesses have three roles: technicians, managers, and entrepreneurs. Often, someone great at their job gets promoted to management without being given the tools for that very different skill set. I had to learn the hard way that I wasn’t a great manager at first, but I got better by learning from others.
What’s been your greatest challenge in your career?
One of the biggest has been staying the course during short-term turbulence. Sometimes pressure makes me question my path. I always think of this parable: a flood comes, and a guy stands on his roof as the water is rising thinking that God is going to save him. A boat comes along, but the man says “no no, God is going to save me.” Then the National Guard comes along and tells the guy to get into the boat, but again he says, “no no, God is going to save me.” At this point, the water is so high, the guy is clinging to his chimney. Then a helicopter comes along and they drop a ladder. On the megaphone, they tell him to climb, but again he says, “No God is going to save me!” When he dies and goes to Heaven, he asks God why He didn’t save him, and God says, “I sent you two boats and a helicopter!”
I think of that as the parable for, “are these the signs telling me to get in the boat and abandon post and go a different direction, or are these just hiccups?” Because I don’t want to be at the end of whatever transpires and say, all the signs were there, I just wasn’t open to them. For example, with AI and creativity, I wonder if this is a sign that I should change how I package my solutions to help people? But it’s those types of things that give me pause.
How do you engage and motivate your people?
Yeah, it’s about giving the because. A lot of people talk about the why—I think Simon Sinek calls it the why. I’ve heard others refer to it as the because. Transparency plays a big role in that. But really, it all comes down to authentic enthusiasm and the kind of communication you mentioned earlier—explaining why we’re doing something. “We’re doing this because…” That because has worked really well for me. And to be honest, I’m guilty of not always following through on this myself.
There’s an old saying: the shoemaker’s children have the worst shoes in the village. I think these are the right things to do, and I’m still learning how to do them well. I guarantee if you talked to my team, they’d say, “Mike’s good, but he could get better”—and I’d completely agree. I’d also hope they’d say they’ve seen me improve over the years, because I’ve learned from people who are better at this than I am.
That’s really what it comes down to—authentic enthusiasm, transparency, and honesty. And giving people the because. Explaining the reason we’re doing something—not in a “because I said so” kind of way, like a parent might say. What I mean is, when I give the reason why, it opens the door for others to offer their perspectives. They might say, “Yes, and what about this idea?” And you know what? Sometimes they’re right. It makes more sense, and we pivot. We do that instead.
And you’ve talked before about how mistakes can actually be helpful in leadership. In fact, I don't know about you, but I trust people more when they make mistakes and own those mistakes. They did an experiment where someone was selling a product at a mall or a Costco — something like that — and in the first round, they made sure the salesperson did everything perfectly. It was some kind of device. In the second round, they had the same person sell again, but this time, they deliberately dropped something and acted a bit uncomfortable. They ended up selling way more products because people resonated more with them. There was more of a connection. People want us to succeed — the world doesn't want us to fail.
You mentioned you do orals coaching—can you share a few tips for our speaker audience?
Absolutely! I have three key rules:
Be yourself—don’t be fake. People have strong “BS detectors.” They buy people first.
Know what you want to say before you say it. You should understand the journey you’re taking your audience on.
Practice out loud. In your head, it always sounds perfect. Out loud, you’ll hear where something doesn’t land or connect well.
Also, in my world, content is no longer king. Context is king and contrast is queen. Context helps people understand value.
For example, back when the iPhone first came out, someone said, “Hey, here’s an iPhone for $499”
At the time, phones were either free or around ten bucks with the phone plan. So people said, “That’s too expensive.” The anchor—the mental reference point—was a regular phone. Then they reframed it by saying, “No, this is a personal computer, a camera, and a phone for $499,” And suddenly, people went, “Oh, that’s a great deal.”
That’s why context plays such a major role. If we say something without providing context, it becomes very hard to understand the value of what’s being offered.
The third thing is contrast. Our brains are wired to pay more attention to things that are different. When we see, hear, feel, or notice something different, our brain goes: “Snap to attention. You need to be engaged. You need to pay attention to this.”
That’s why stories are so effective.
For someone stepping into leadership, what’s a piece of advice (or experience) you’d offer?
I’m not a huge believer in traditional advice because it assumes we have the same background and superpowers. Instead, I share what’s worked for me, and you can mold it to fit your world.
Here’s what’s worked for me:
Listen more than you speak. You have two ears and one mouth, use them in proportion.
Lead with empathy. But not just the golden rule (treat others how you want to be treated)—the platinum rule: treat others how they want to be treated. And in order to learn how they want to be treated, you shush—be quiet, listen, pay attention, ask questions, be genuinely interested in what people have to say. Find something in what they're saying that really intrigues you, and tune right in.
And then, setting expectations or goals was a big one for me. I was part of a group of people who I consider very successful—financially, spiritually, and just genuinely good people with strong interpersonal skills. And I asked them, “What is the number one thing you would teach your kids if you couldn’t teach them anything else?” They all said the same thing. They said, “Set goals.” So I thought, that must be a big one then—because they’re pretty successful and they figured that out.
And the last one—I think you already said it—we don’t have to have all the answers. To me, not knowing the answers actually makes you a better leader. I’d say the same applies to me. If someone asks, “Hey, how do you do this?” I can honestly say, “That’s a great question—I don’t know, but let’s figure it out together.”
What Are you driven by?
What drives me is helping others achieve their goals. I can’t remember who said it, but the quote goes, “If you help enough people achieve their goals, you’ll achieve yours.”
So, it’s not entirely selfless—it’s a little selfish too, because I feel amazing when someone says, “Oh my goodness, because of something you shared with me, I was able to achieve this thing.” They couldn’t have given me a better compliment. That’s what drives me—absolutely. Being in service to others, helping them get where they want to go—and in doing that, it helps me get where I want to go. Win-win.
Connect with Mike
SOCIAL MEDIA and WEBSITES:
Billion Dollar Graphics website: https://billiondollargraphics.com/
24 Hour Company: https://www.24hrco.com/
LinkedIn (BDG): https://www.linkedin.com/company/billion-dollar-graphics
LinkedIn (me): https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-parkinson-bb364/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BillionDollarGraphics/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeparkinson_bdg/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRDQaYfze62MYQ_CO5rjo1w
COOL STUFF I MADE (to share to help folks):
Graphic Cheat Sheet (PDF to help you pick the best graphic for your needs): http://www.billiondollargraphics.com/GCS.pdf
Build-a-Graphic (turn text into professional graphics in PowerPoint and use anywhere): http://billiondollargraphics.com/build-a-graphic
Billion Dollar Graphics ebook (+200 graphics): http://billiondollargraphics.com/ebook
PowerPoint book (+100 graphics): http://billiondollargraphics.com/powerpoint_book
