Leadership Quote: We Cannot Become What We Need To Be…

Leadership Quote: We Cannot Become What We Need To Be…

This month’s leadership quote: We cannot become what we need to be, by remaining what we are – – Max Depree

When faced with anything new that is significant in our business or our life… a new role, a new competitor, a new technology, most of us humans, first resist.

And, it is what we do next that matters most.

Change is difficult. And in my experience as a leader and a leadership coach, what  I have learned is when we say we like change, the truth is we only like change when we are leading it. When change is thrust upon us, the resistance begs to take over.

What if instead, we were to embrace all the change that comes our way, not just the change we initiate. By recognizing that we cannot remain as we are; rather, we must recognize the changes we must make within ourselves so that we can become what we need to be to thrive in the new environment.

Elisa K. Spain

When Is Followership Leadership?

When Is Followership Leadership?


Interesting that “followership” is a word we rarely hear. My spell checker didn’t even know the word. According to Webster the word wasn’t even used until 1928 while the word leadership has been in use since 1821.

And yet, without followership, there is no leadership. As Vistage Speaker Rick Eigenbrod reminded us in his recent presentation, “the one characteristic all leaders have in common is they all have followers”. And, Rick also reminds us that the best leaders also are good followers. We learn by following.

So, what is followership? Webster defines it as as following or the capacity or willingness to follow a leader.

For me,  followership happens when someone is doing something that is worth following. When the leader is doing something, saying something, creating something, accomplishing something that we want to be a part of, participate in, contribute to.

And, followership is also leadership.

  • When was the last time you chose to follow instead of lead?
  • What about the leader inspired you to follow?
  • What about the first follower perhaps inspired you to follow as well?

Elisa K. Spain

Coaching Companies To Greater Sales & Profits….And An Invitation

We hear a lot about sales strategy and sales management, as though it is something separate from business strategy.   Vistage Speaker Jack Daly encourages us to think of it this way, “a great place to work is a great place to buy”.

If you are a CEO qualified for Vistage membership and would like to hear Jack’s  indepth treatment of this topic, I am inviting 3 CEO guests to attend the September 12th meeting of my Vistage CEO group.  Please contact me at (312) 421-1813 if you would like to see if your company has what it takes (or if you would like to refer a guest).

Elisa K. Spain

What Is The Business Practice All Leaders Do And Everyone Says They Hate…

What Is The Business Practice All Leaders Do And Everyone Says They Hate…

What is the business practice everyone does and everyone says they hate? MEETINGS!

How often do we hear, I hate meetings? And yet, how do most leaders spend most of their time? In meetings.

Most of us accept that, as leaders, we need meetings to communicate and get things done through other people. And yet,  most leaders, say they dread attending meetings, even the ones they are leading.

As a leadership coach, I enjoy my meetings. I draw energy from the peer group meetings I lead and from the coaching sessions with my Vistage members.  Some meetings, of course, are better than others and I find value in all of them. I  enjoy the interchange, the questions, the sharing, the challenging and the learning. And, my members tell me that meetings inside their companies sometimes have these characteristics and sometimes they do not.

I am curious to hear from you. What’s working for you in meetings and what is not?

For those who hate meetings, here are my questions:

  • When you say, “I hate attending meetings” what would you rather be doing?
  • What is it about one-on-one meetings you don’t like?
  • What is it about group meetings you don’t like?

And, for those of you who like meetings and find them to be productive:

  • What is it about one-on-one meetings you like? What makes them work for you?
  • What is it about group meetings you like? What makes them work for you?

And, for those of you who want to learn more about leading productive meetings, one of my favorite books on the subject is Death by Meeting, by Patrick Lencioni.

 

Elisa K. Spain