Elisa Spain – Page 23 – Elisa K. Spain

Thanks-Giving

November 23, 2016November 23, 2016 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday because it is celebrated by all Americans, regardless of their backgrounds. While the “thanks” part of Thanksgiving is so meaningful, the “giving” part is equally so.

To celebrate the giving part, a delightful tradition, called Giving Tuesday, takes place on November 29th. It is a day dedicated to giving back. On Giving Tuesday, nonprofits, families, businesses and students around the world come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.

Many of you know about my passion for CARA, a true social innovator that helps motivated men and women, affected by homelessness and poverty, reclaim their voice and their vocation. My relationship with Cara began when a friend of mine invited me to experience Morning Motivations. Soon thereafter, the immediate past CEO of Cara became a member of my Vistage CEO Peer Advisory Board, and today, I am proud to count Maria Kim, CEO, as a current member. Through my relationship with each of them, I’ve come to see Cara as not just a place where people come to get and keep good jobs, but a place where their whole selves are reinvented and recovered in the process.

In a way, their mission, community and culture of accountability are not dissimilar to what I have grown to love at Vistage. We’re both about untapping the leader within and inviting her forward to be her best self. They do it through hope, jobs and opportunity; and we do it through skill-building and peer mentorship to develop world-class CEOs.

Like all well run Vistage companies, Cara measures their performance. They produce hundreds of jobs each year, at retention rates over 20 points higher than national norms, and with over 80% of employed participants moving onto permanent housing in which their families can thrive. They also produce a profound social return on investment, where for every dollar invested in this work, $5.97 is re-invested in society over a five year time horizon.

In this season of thanksgiving, I realize we have so much for which to be grateful – the roof over our heads, the hearty meals we share with our families, and the occupations we have that provide for our loved ones and give us a sense of purpose in the process. These things we may take for granted are not always available for the most vulnerable citizens among us.

This year, once again, I have joined with Maria’s fellow Vistage member, Kevin Krak of Gallant Building Solutions, along with Eric Weinheimer, former CEO of Cara, and Jim and Kay Mabie in offering a $25,000 Challenge Grant. We will match every dollar up to $25,000 (for a total grant of $50,000)! Click Here to give today and your gift will go twice as far. (Don’t let the name fool you, we’re accepting donations today through November 29.)

Thank you in advance for joining us for a Giving Tuesday donation to the Cara Program, or to the social purpose organization of your choice.

Remember That First Date?

November 20, 2016November 5, 2016 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

In my practice as a Vistage chair, I often find myself noticing the similarities between business and dating. After all, dating is a “deal” of a sort, and there are “rules” and best practices we follow in an effort to get what we want, i.e. more dates, and in that special case, marriage.

Like dating, when we want that new customer, new employee or acquisition deal, there are rules and practices that business people follow to get what they want. And like dating, the “rules” are generally not written and the practices are learned along the way both from our own experience and from others who have done it before.

Here are some dating and business best practices I’ve learned along the way:

Be authentic.
Be respectful.
Be clear on what you are looking for in a partner, a customer, an employee or potential acquisition.
Be clear what it is you bring to the table and be realistic. That high powered CFO may be great in a Fortune 500 company, but is she really what your $30mm company needs?
Put yourself in situations to meet new people that fit. No matter what anyone tells you, it’s not a game of numbers; it’s all about defining and measuring fit.
Be clear about what fits with your culture.Unless your culture is one that fits, that wild guy or gal you wouldn’t bring home to Mom is probably not going to be your SO or your best customer, no matter what you are willing to pay.
As soon as you meet “Mr. or Ms. Right”, go out with someone else (when we get fixated on winning one partner, customer, employee, or acquisition candidate (buyer/seller), we can appear desperate). In short, play like you have nothing to lose.
Go on a date with anyone once (okay, not someone you know is an ax murderer).
Go on a second date, if there was a spark of interest.
When she says she needs some time alone, or the prospect doesn’t get back to us right away, its not the time to call a day later and suggest coffee.
Once you have made a commitment, be committed. Give your customer, employee, buyer/seller a chance to right a wrong.
And… when a relationship fails (or the service is consistently poor), don’t drag out the exit. End it. Learn from your mistakes. Decide what to look for next round and start the cycle again.

Please click on comments and share your additions to this list.

Wait I Am An Entrepreneur, Not A CEO!

November 15, 2016November 15, 2016 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

In my practice as a Vistage chair, I often hear entrepreneurs say, “I don’t want to lose the culture as I grow this company” or “We are like a family; I want to keep this feeling as we grow”. And yet as the company grows, the culture inevitably changes and the owner no longer knows the name and the family of every employee.

In the early days, everyone is equal and it is all about getting the job done, getting the orders out, meeting the customer needs. Typically the owner is the chief sales officer and innovator. As a company adds more people, “management” becomes necessary and terms like “building a leadership team” come into play.

Suddenly the owner is thrust into the role of CEO. Some enjoy the change, and most long for the simpler days when everyone was pulling together without any hierarchy. And, while longing for the “old days” s/he is excited about the growth and excited about having a broader impact.

So… s/he hires some executives and asks them to show the way. All well and good, except these folks are focused on their own career path. These key executives want the opportunity to innovate and have an impact themselves. The CEO while still expected to define the vision, must also become a coach and mentor, allowing others to grow and develop as leaders.

This transition from entrepreneurial management to professional management is what Vistage is all about. Members come together to discuss these challenges and inspire each other to make the necessary changes to achieve the results they desire. The ultimate goal for most is to build a sustainable enterprise, one where the CEO’s vision can be achieved without the CEO’s handprint.

Those that are able to make these changes are those rare few that build and lead the less than 1% of companies >$100mm in revenue.

The Unintended Consequences Of Mentorship

November 10, 2016November 10, 2016 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

During my career I have been fortunate to be a mentor to several talented individuals, and to have had wonderful mentors myself.

For me, there are few rewards in leadership that are as good as those that come from mentoring someone and watching them grow into successful leaders themselves. Similarly, I can attribute much of what I have accomplished to the mentorship I have received throughout my career. Mentors who generously gave their time and wisdom to me and modeled behavior I wanted to emulate.

And at the same time, I have discovered some unintended consequences of both being a mentor and having a mentor.

Occasionally, we are seen as mentors without realizing it. We become role models for others sometimes without knowing it. So what’s the issue? Being a role model equates with expectations. When we don’t meet those expectations, the impact can be crushing. After all, we are supposed to be wise and set a good example, and, know what to do, and, do it right… and guess what? We all fail sometimes; we all do things we aren’t proud of sometimes. In short, mentors are humans and if we expect our mentors to always do the right thing, the best thing, we will always be disappointed.

And as mentors, we forget sometimes that mentorship is not forever. We must recognize when it is time to evolve the relationship and recognize when our mentee grows beyond their mentor. It’s not that we don’t benefit from mentoring at every point in our lives; rather it is that a single mentor fulfills a role at a point in time. And then it gets sticky. What happens next? The relationship was uneven. Can it move to a peer relationship? Or does it end? Endings are sad, and sometimes necessary. In my experience, it is delightful when a mentor becomes a friend and peer. For this to happen, it takes awareness, intention and ego set aside by both people. Not easy.

So, the next time you become a mentor or seek a mentor, ask yourself, and even better ask your mentor/mentee:

What do I expect from me in this relationship?
What do you expect from me in this relationship?

Leadership Quote: Strive Not To Be A Success

October 30, 2016October 20, 2016 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

This month’s leadership quote:

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”

–Albert Einstein

As a Vistage Chair for over 10 years, I have been fortunate to work with many successful people. And to a person, the most successful by their nature, follow Mr. Einstein’s advice. It is part of who we are as human beings to want to add value. Those of us who make this our focus are destined to become successful.

Time To Find Something New?

October 23, 2016October 6, 2016 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

So many quotes, so many articles written about the value of sticking to something, the value of not giving up, the value of continuing to stay the course even in the face of adversity.

But what about the flip side? What about the importance of recognizing when it is time to find something new?

Time for the entrepreneur, who after 5 years doesn’t have traction, to try the next thing. And instead, she shows up every day to try, try try; but it is not fun, perhaps never was, and the results show it.
Time for the founder who created something special, had fun when it was small and is no longer working in his genius to move on. Perhaps hire a president, perhaps sell, perhaps even shut down. And instead of moving on, he shows up every day to try, try, try; but it is no longer fun and the results show it.
Time for the young professional manager to pause and think about what she really wants from her career. Perhaps, give up managing because it’s not what she likes or move from the safe corporate job to a smaller company where she can have more of an impact. Instead, she shows up every day to try, try, try, but it is increasingly hard to do. It’s not fun and the morale of her team shows it.
Time for the mature professional manager to retire. He long ago lost interest in his work, but has no idea what he would do with his time. So instead of figuring out what else may be on the horizon and meeting with a financial planner to understand his financial options, he shows up every day to try, try, try; but it’s not fun, and the results show it.

Is any of this you? Is it time to for you to find something new?

Do I Always Have To Negotiate?

October 16, 2016October 19, 2016 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

This week’s blog post appears on Executive Street Blog. Please click this link to view it.

Every now and then, I have a conversation with one of the leaders I work with who is frustrated with a lack of compliance and accountability in their company. The leader will say something like this: “I told them exactly what I wanted. I explained the reason we needed to do it that way and I am still not seeing the results I want. What is the problem?”

When I point out that perhaps they need to allow folks to weigh in so that they can buy in, I frequently hear a sigh and expressions of more frustration. “Well, that’s just a waste of time,” they might say. Or, “Sometimes I am open to feedback. But sometimes there is a reason I want it done a certain way. I don’t want to waste time in meetings trying to convince everyone to just do it.”

At the other end of the spectrum is the leader who constantly strives for consensus. What I hear from this leader goes something like this: “When I want to implement a change, I ask everyone to weigh in. Then, if there is disagreement, we all meet and discuss it until we agree. If we don’t agree, we don’t do it.”

While there is certainly a place for each of these approaches, there is also a third option: negotiate. The leader who chooses to negotiate begins by understanding where “they” are coming from and what is important to “them,” so that they can turn the discussion into a “we.”

While all three approaches lead to a “yes,” the meaning of that yes can fall anywhere within the following five levels of agreement:

1. Acknowledge the idea
2. See value
3. Buy in
4. Qualified yes
5. Commitment

In my experience, except in an emergency, the first leader I described — the “dictator” — frequently gets only to level 1; thus, the reason for non-compliance. The second leader described — the “consensus builder” — may get to level 2 and 3 occasionally. More often, they either get to the point of watered-down action or no action at all. On the other hand, the third leader — a “true negotiator” — is likely to reach level 5 most often. This approach, like that of the consensus builder, admittedly takes more time at the front end.

Therefore, the questions to ask in each situation are: Is this an emergency? If so, dictate. If this is not an emergency, how important is it to reach true commitment?

Vistage CEO Confidence Index Q3: Optimism Inches Upward

October 9, 2016October 6, 2016 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Following six consecutive quarterly declines in confidence, CEOs finally recorded a small uptick in how they viewed prospects for the domestic economy as well as their own firm’s prospects. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index stood at 91.4 in the 3rd quarter 2016 survey, up from the three year low of 88.0 in the 2nd quarter, but still shy of the 96.3 recorded in last year’s 3rd quarter survey.

Robust gains in consumer expenditures were reflected in improved sales revenues and profits as well as planned increases in hiring. Uncertainty about future economic policies has made firms more cautious about investment expenditures, although they have not hesitated to add employees to take advantage of relatively strong consumer spending. Indeed, one-third of CEOs reported that finding, hiring, and training employees was their most significant challenge, mentioned twice as frequently as any other issue.

Below are some key highlights from the Q3 2016 Vistage CEO Confidence Index (all members surveyed):

25% of CEOs thought that the economy had improved during the past year, well below the 10-year peak of 63% recorded at the close of 2014.
39% of CEOs plan to increase their investment expenditures in the next year, the fewest firms in more than 3 years.
54% of CEOs plan to expand their workforce in the next year.
69% of CEOs expect increased revenues in the year ahead, and 54% expect increased profits.
47% of CEOs say the new overtime pay rules that take effect at the start of December will impact their employees.
70% of employees work remotely, although most of them for less than 25% of their work time.

For more details Vistage Confidence Index.

Goal Time Again

October 2, 2016September 15, 2016 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Each year when the leaves begin to fall, it’s a reminder that we are entering the final quarter of the year. For me, it’s time to take stock of what has happened thus far this year, evaluate how we did against our plan and begin thinking about next year.

The questions I ask are:

What would you like to be different in 2017, either professionally or personally?
What will you plan to do differently, so that you achieve these different results?
How will you hold yourself accountable for these results? Will you write down your goals? Will you carry them around with you as a reminder of your desires?