Leadership Quote: Be Like Water..

Leadership Quote: Be Like Water..

opt 8 Feb 23 blog                This month’s leadership quote:

“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water.”

-Bruce Lee

When I read this quote at my Vistage Key Executive meeting this month, we had a lively conversation about “what does it mean to be like water?” Here is what we came up with.

Water is infinitely adaptable, when it encounters a boulder, a rock or a dam, it moves around it. Water takes different forms, sometimes, hard and solid, like ice, sometimes fluid, sometimes cold, sometimes warm, sometimes boiling.

If we as humans can be like water, we will know when to simply move around the boulder and find another path; when to be fluid and when to hold firm; when to accept and when to respond; when to boil and when to be warm. In short, be like water and adapt to what life presents us with.

Elisa K. Spain

The Queen (Or King) Of Denial

The Queen (Or King) Of Denial

opt 8 Internet LLD-Queen-of-the-Nile-01001918There is a country music song entitled Cleopatra, Queen of Denial, recorded in 1993 by Pam Tillis. While the lyrics talk about a love relationship gone wrong (are there any country songs that don’t?), the title stayed with me because it reminds me sometimes of what I see in business.

What I observe is that both kings and queens of denial sometimes confuse optimism with denial. For example:

  • “Yes we are losing money and if we get that next deal, we will turn things around for good.”
  • “I know, Joe or Jane employee is not up to the challenge now that our company has grown, but I can make it work anyway.”
  • “We have always done it this way, if we continue to do things this same way, things will change.”
  • “Our business has grown about 4% YOY the last 10 years and this year, we will grow 20%, without any new capital.”
  • “I know the industry has matured, and prices have fallen as a result, but if we keep offering customized services, we will be able to command a higher price.”

I am sure you can think of others. And, my further observation is that denial is a powerful drug. As with most other drugs, the user won’t stop using until he or she is ready. No one can tell us we are in denial, we must see it for ourselves. One benefit Vistage members have is their chair and their fellow members will keep holding up that mirror until one day, we do.

 

Elisa K. Spain

 

 

Laws Of Success: The Three Secrets…

Laws Of Success: The Three Secrets…

Still life of pen,glasses and business file on tableWorking with CEOs and senior executives as both a coach and advisory board chair, I have had the opportunity to observe both those that are successful and those with unrealized potential. While their businesses and their personality styles are all different, when I distill it down, those that succeed share the following three traits:

  • Tenacity
  • Discipline
  • Hiring the best people – paying them and treating them well

Tenacity – The willingness to stay with it, even when there are setbacks. As Winston Churchill said so well, “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

Discipline – Successful leaders ruthlessly manage their time, ensuring they ALWAYS carve out time to think and plan and learn. It is so easy for each of us to get caught up in the tasks of the day; successful leaders don’t. They make time to stay close to their business and rise above, stay current and focus on opportunities. And they make time for mental and physical fitness. Every successful leader does this their own way, and every one of them does it.

Hiring the best people AND paying and treating them well – Talented people want to work for talented people. And… the pool of talented people in each industry isn’t large – it is those that find the talented people, pay them and treat them well that succeed. The definition of “well” varies by individual, the leader that understands this and responds to the needs of their key people leads a successful company.

Seems so simple, doesn’t it? Just three things to do.

 

Elisa K. Spain

 

 

Delivery ALWAYS Matters…

Delivery ALWAYS Matters…

Businessman testing a microphone about to make a speach at a press conferenceWhen the stakes are high, we prepare. Whether it is a presentation to a large audience or a meeting with a key client or prospective client, we know we will be more successful if we prepare.

  • What exactly does it mean “to prepare”?
  • When aren’t the stakes high?
  • When we focus on content and not on our audience, are we really prepared?

Last week, I had the opportunity to hear a speaker and deliver a presentation of my own, where in both cases, the content was outstanding and yet the message was not received well by most of the audience. These two experiences reminded me of two important facts:

Delivery always matters – It’s not enough to prepare our content. It is at least as important to consider the audience, prepare our delivery and adjust midstream as we read the audience reaction. Not easy to do, and yet, critical to having our message heard.

Prepare for every interaction as though the stakes are high, because they are – Every interaction with another human being, either as a group or with individuals, matters. When we are fully present, we listen, we adapt and thus can be effective.

 

Elisa K. Spain