Elisa Spain – Page 36 – Elisa K. Spain

Leadership Quote: Tell Me And I'll Forget…

May 25, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.“

-Chinese Proverb

We are often reminded that the key to successful leadership is successful delegation. And yet, many of us struggle with making delegation stick. I hear responses, like

It takes too long; I may as well do it myself
I can’t get my team to take ownership
When I delegate, it doesn’t get done right

While there may be other reasons for these results, I wonder if one might be, we are too often telling and showing? And, if we changed that ratio to more involving, if we might see different results?

Elisa K. Spain

Elisa Spain

elisaspain.com

Hold The Advice…

May 18, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

When we discover something new, or see someone we know in pain, or struggling with a problem, we want to help, to solve the problem. And off we go, giving advice. And, more often than not, that advice is received with resistance. “How can that be?”, we ask, “I genuinely wanted to help, and I am sensing my advice is not being well received”.

Here are some examples I have experienced lately, perhaps you can name one or two of your own:

I was watching my partner try and figure out how to do something on his Ipad. He didn’t ask for help, but there I was offering a “better way”; just wanting to save him time I said…
A friend found a new exercise program for his back, and instead of simply sharing his happiness with the results, he was working really hard to convince me to agree to try it (even though I reminded him I have one I use).
A colleague and I were discussing best practices, sharing ideas and then, without asking, I received a series of emails offering advice.

Offering unsolicited advice is the opposite of asking the better question. So, next time you are tempted to give advice, don’t. Wait until you are asked. And if you must say something, consider asking a question.

Elisa K. Spain

Elisa Spain

elisaspain.com

Here's To The Crazy Ones…

May 11, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

As my regular readers know, I collect quotes, share them here and on my website. Typically I publish one quote a month, but this month you get a bonus quote.

The last few weeks I have been on the theme about leading change. The quote below from Steve Jobs is a wonderful reminder that ideas only come and change only happens, when someone has the courage to disrupt the status quo.

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Steve Jobs

Here’s to the crazy ones! I hope you are one of them and if you aren’t, that you at least have one of them working for you.

Elisa K. Spain

Elisa Spain

elisaspain.com

The Other Side Of Change

May 4, 2014 by Elisa Spain1 Comment

As leaders, we are frequently driving change. Lots has been written on how to do it effectively. Two weeks ago, I published a blog about the challenges and opportunities associated with changing, or bending an organization’s culture.

And, while change can be good for an organization, tinkering sometimes may not. We all know the leader who loves change for change sake, whether it’s a new award system, a new comp plan, a new training program, a new sales structure, the key word is new. Change, for change sake. Harmless, perhaps. And perhaps not.

My experience is those of us who say we like change, are thinking “we like driving change”. I have yet to meet a person who says “I love having change thrust upon me”.

With this in mind, next time you are thinking about making a change in your organization, pause and ask yourself, “what is driving this desire for change”?

Is something not working or is something going on with me, perhaps I am bored? And if it ain’t broke, perhaps the best thing to do is to pause, before setting out to fix it.

Elisa K. Spain

Elisa Spain

elisaspain.com

Leadership Quote: You Can Tell Whether A Person Is Clever…

April 27, 2014 by Elisa Spain1 Comment

This month’s leadership quote:

“You can tell whether a person is clever by his/her answers. You can tell whether a person is wise by his/her questions.“

-Naguib Mahfouz

In Vistage we chairs encourage our members to stay in a questioning mode. This is probably the most important ingredient in effectively getting to the resolution of an issue and the most difficult to do.

Those of us in leadership roles are accustomed to having the answers. After all, it’s having the answers that got us where we are; we solve problems. So… when we hear a problem, we want to shout out our answers and help the other person (or is it we want them and everyone else to hear how smart we are? Perhaps if we are honest with ourselves, it is a little of both).

Here’s the thing, I think I am smart too. When I bring an issue to the table, first I am a bit uncomfortable, because I am being vulnerable. Second, when you give me answers, I immediately go into objection mode.

If on the other hand, you ask me questions, I can get to the answer myself. Does it take longer than just giving me the answer? Sure for you. Sometimes you can help me by making observations, but don’t solve it for me. That may help you, but it doesn’t help me.

So, as our Vistage speaker, Amy K says, “strive for the better question”. Easy to say, hard to do. Here are a couple of tips I have picked up from Amy that can aid the process:

Write down your question before asking it.
Write down 11 questions, and then pick your best to ask. The act of writing down so many, helps you push for the better question.

And in the moment, when writing the question isn’t practical, listen to yourself. When I catch myself making a statement, instead of asking a question, I will pause and say, “wait, let me rephrase that as a question”.

The Socratic method after all was named for the man viewed as the wisest in the land because of the questions he asked.

Elisa K. Spain

Elisa Spain

elisaspain.com

Culture Doesn't Change, But It Can Bend

April 20, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

It is often said that culture change is the most challenging change one can attempt in an organization. In fact, Edgar Papke, Vistage Speaker and author of True Alignment, says that culture can only change when you change the majority of the people at the same time.

Hmm, does that mean if we aren’t willing to fire 1/2 of our team, we may as well not bother?

I say no. While I agree with Edgar that complete change will only happen with a complete change in players, culture does bend.

It’s hard; it takes a long time and can sometimes (often) be frustrating. Yet, the results can be worth it. Here is an eight step process (synthesized from John Kotter’s landmark book, Leading Change) that can serve as a template toward bending the culture.

Create a Sense of Urgency
Pull Together a Guiding Team – choose a powerful group with leadership skills, credibility, authority and a sense of urgency
Develop a Simply Stated Vision for Change – paint the picture of how the future will be different
Communicate – create a surprising, compelling and visual experience – strive to change feeling, rather than thinking
Empower Others to Act – remove barriers, including people that are barriers
Produce Short Term Wins – find them and celebrate them
Don’t Let Up – press harder and faster after first successes
Institutionalize the New Approaches/Behaviors – continually reinforce

Elisa K. Spain

Elisa Spain

elisaspain.com

Ask, The Answer May Surprise You

April 13, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Sometimes, in our zeal to anticipate our customers’ needs, we forget to ask what they prefer.

The notion of anticipating customer needs has been around for some time. And… certainly it makes sense when it comes to product development. Steve Jobs was famous for anticipating customer needs; knowing that we often don’t know what we are going to want next, best to give it to us and let us try it out. While it isn’t easy to anticipate customer product preferences, when we do it successfully, awesome innovations enter our society.

I wonder though, if we have taken this notion of anticipating needs beyond where it was intended, i.e. toward anticipating (guessing) preferences. I keep learning that when I guess at what someone wants, I am often wrong. Here are some small examples:

I believe the customer I meet with regularly wants to meet in the morning, so I keep scheduling morning meetings. It turns out, she would prefer afternoons and thinks I am only available in the mornings.
I believe a customer has referred someone to me because they expect me to include them in my vendor search. But instead, he is indifferent, and just providing a referral in case I need one.
Because my service provider is organized and intentional, I assume she is inflexible and unwilling to adapt to my scheduling preferences.

In short, ask for what you want and ask them what they want; the answer may surprise you.

Elisa K. Spain

Elisa Spain

elisaspain.com

Vistage Confidence Index: Optimism Remains High In Q1 2014

April 6, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

The quarterly Vistage Confidence Index is now available.

CEOs in the latest Vistage survey maintained their economic optimism at the same high level as in late 2013, despite the negative impact from the harsh winter. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index was 101.3 in the 1st quarter 2014 survey, virtually identical to the 101.5 in the 4th quarter of 2013, but well above the 96.6 in last year’s 1st quarter. The past two surveys set the highest average six-month level of confidence in three years. The harsh winter was reflected in more negative evaluations of current economic conditions, but firms reported increases in employment and investment intentions compared to either last quarter and last year.

Below are some key highlights from the Q1 2014 Vistage CEO Confidence Index (all members surveyed):

58% of CEOs plan on increasing the number of employees in the years ahead, the highest level recorded since the start of 2007.
76% of all CEOs reporting using management training and leadership development programs, with 47% of all CEOs intending to increase their investment in such training.anticipated higher sales revenues in the next year.
56% of CEOs provide retirement savings programs to eligible employees.
74% of CEOs expect to increase revenue in the next year.
57% anticipated higher profits in the next year.

Elisa K. Spain

Elisa Spain

elisaspain.com

Leadership Quote: It Is Only As We Develop Others…

March 30, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

This month’s leadership quote:

“It is only as we develop others that we permanently succeed.”

-Harvey S. Firestone

As leaders, we truly have only one job: to develop others. The success of our organizations rests entirely in the hands of the people who build our products and deliver the service to our customers. So, we have two choices, we build the products and deliver the service ourselves or… we develop the leaders who work for us, and they, in turn, develop their teams.

When we choose the latter, we permanently succeed because we have built a sustainable enterprise.

Elisa K. Spain

Elisa Spain

elisaspain.com

Did I Delegate Or Did I Abdicate?

March 23, 2014 by Elisa Spain1 Comment

Here’s a simple test to know if you have delegated or abdicated.

At what point in the process will I know if my expectations were met?

Hmm… guess that means if my intention is to delegate, I must take the following 5 actions:

Clearly outline my expectations
Check-in to see if my expectations were understood
Agree how both progress and outcome will be monitored and measured
Agree when and how progress will be reported
Agree when and how progress will evaluated and adjustments made

You might be asking yourself at this point, “seems a lot of process; do I have to do this every time I ask someone to do something for me?”

This decision of course, is yours to make.

Meanwhile I will share a personal story that happened years ago and reminded me of the value of following these five steps, and following the DIME Method, whenever I assign work to someone else.

I emailed a document to my virtual assistant, asking simply, “please clean up this document and send it to FedEx to make into a poster.” What I had in my head was a black and white, 24×36 printed document that I could roll up and take with me to a meeting and then throw away at the end of the day. The cost of this type of document is about $5.

When I arrived at FedEx, my bill was $100 and what they had ready for me was a full color, 24×36 printed document, mounted on a board and laminated.

Which do you want? And, have you made that clear?

Elisa K. Spain

Elisa Spain

elisaspain.com