Nobody Died

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

I have a new CEO client who used to be a trauma surgeon. We’ve had many conversations about the differences between leading an ER surgery team and leading a business. The other day, he said something that has stayed with me since, so I decided to write about it.

Here’s what he said, ” while I certainly see the leadership differences between the two roles, the most profound difference is with very few exceptions, in business, nobody died.”

In business, no matter how serious the challenge, it is a rare situation where we can’t gain perspective from his words. Sure it matters, and sure we need to give every business challenge our full attention and full effort. And, if we can simply remind ourselves that nobody died, I wonder how that might enhance our ability to resolve issues and address our challenges.

My client told me that one of his last patients was a little girl he could not save. He shared that it turned out one of the nurses in the ER knew her family and shared a photo of her in happy times. He plans to keep that photo on his desk, he said, to remind him that no matter what the stress, no matter what the challenge, nobody died. 

Perhaps we all need to keep her photo in our mind’s eye. 

Q3 2020 Vistage CEO Confidence Index: Confidence Rebounds

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

Signs of life in the economy and an increase of business activity has led to an increase in confidence of small and midsize business CEOs. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index rebounded to 82.8 Q3 2020; while not at peak recovery, this is just 2.6% below Q3 2019.

While all factors that comprise the Index improved from last quarter, the biggest driver of the rebound is decreasing pessimism about the future U.S. economy. September’s survey found that 83% of CEOs expect the economy to worsen in the year ahead, a 10-point improvement from 93% last quarter.

The other factors that contributed to the rebound from last quarter include:

  • 32.5% improvements in revenue expectations
  • 29.2% improvement in profitability expectations
  • 28.3% increase in investment plans, largely driven by a significant decline in contraction
  • 25.4% improvement in workforce plans
  • 10.1% improvement in expectations for the U.S. economy

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About the Vistage CEO Confidence Index


YOU PIVOT™: Face Your Fear

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

Ryan started his career in his early twenties, working for his dad. And, as is often the case, this young firebrand felt he knew better how to run the business, dad disagreed. On one thing they did agree, it was best that he go to work somewhere else. 

After two years of working for a not-for-profit, Ryan went back to work for his dad. By then, he had learned that his dad knew a thing or two, and they developed a strong working relationship. Today he describes his father as his mentor. 

Seven years later, Ryan had an idea for a business. He asked his dad to invest, and he said no. They kept talking, though, and with his dad’s help, he put together a partnership that gave his dad the confidence to invest.

Ryan eventually became the CEO of this company, and eleven years after its founding, at age 41, they sold to a Fortune 500 company.

While Ryan could have taken some time off, after three days in Florida, he decided instead it was time to do a startup on his own. He saw a gap, had an idea for filling it, and off he went to do it. A scary thought, he said, but he felt it was time to face his fear.

His big fear was, can I do it alone? 

“I know I contributed to the last business. Ultimately though, I did it with partners. The partnership was fraught. I was anxious to push through it – pent up – wanted to prove I could – fear became the drive for the new business. In some ways, this was valuable, some ways a mistake – it wouldn’t be off the ground if I hadn’t – we wouldn’t be where it is.”

It took 2 1/2 years for the new business to get traction, which seemed like an eternity to Ryan. He confessed that while the company is doing well and has high growth potential, he is not enjoying running it. 

Time for the next pivot… 

Ryan calls his first pivot moving from an operator to a founder. This time he sees himself as becoming a true entrepreneur, revolutionizing businesses and processes focusing on doing what he enjoys most and what he does best — i.e., the ideation and build phase, including creating the leadership team.  

The new business will be a portfolio of companies, with a president for each company and Ryan as CEO of the holding company. He sees his role as developing the overall vision and finding and inspiring the leadership talent. His head says he is doing this too soon, the business is too young, and his heart wants to move on. “Am I naive? I know management transitions are difficult, a significant amount of risk, and the leader is culpable,” he reflects.

Is Ryan afraid of failure? Yes. Is he facing his fear and going ahead once again? Absolutely.

What advice does Ryan have for others who want to Pivot? 

Three words, Face Your Fear:

  • A lot of people allow their head trash to drive their behavior. If you have the drive, head toward the things you are afraid of – look the fear in the face and go right at it – so many people allow their fear to win – I always start with asking what are you afraid of? That is where the magic is.  
  • This is not your practice life – follow your heart, not your head. Is it the best service if you are half-hearted? 
  • Take time between pivots. I went directly from A to B. I wonder what I would have discovered if I had taken time to explore. 

Let’s work together. If you are looking to grow or get unstuck and cut the time to action to six months or less, there is no better time than now to contact me.

© EKS LTD Please feel free to forward this blog in full with attribution including the copyright notation.

Happy New Year, L’Shana Tova

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

This past Friday night began the Days of Awe in the Jewish religion. Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the New Year in the Hebrew calendar, marks this period’s start; Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, marks the end. It’s a time for reflection, which I enjoy, even though I do not consider myself a religious person.

The prayer we read at the opening of the service goes something like this, ” On Rosh Hashanah, it is written, and on Yom Kippur, it will be sealed – how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die. I’ve always been uncomfortable with the idea that everything is pre-ordained, and yet, the Stoics remind us of the same thing, Amori Fatal, Momento Mori. The message of the ancient rabbis and the ancient Stoics is the same, make today matter, it may be all you have.

For me, it is this reminder, especially in these times, that causes me to pause, reflect, ask and affirm that what I am doing today, and each day, in the words of Steve Jobs, is what I would be doing if I knew today was my last. L’Shana Tova, Happy New Year.

Rewarding Innovation: Because Great Ideas Don’t Imagine Themselves

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

An engineer friend of mine works for a large, highly innovative company. You know the type of company I’m talking about: the kind that introduces new products, offers unique services, and establishes effective processes with remarkable consistency. The type of company whose employees are told over and over again, “You’re so lucky!”

Here’s the secret: luck has nothing to do with it. Innovative companies, like my friend’s company, take creativity very seriously. Innovation isn’t a result (for example, a successful product). It is a plan of action, a series of concrete activities — including false starts — just enough to lead to successful products.

For example, engineers at my friend’s company must set specific performance targets each quarter. Innovation points are an essential element of these targets. These innovation points are earned based on specific actions, including coming up with ideas, testing the concepts, taking the approved concept forward to the patent stage, and developing a marketable product. Coming up with an idea and presenting it to an innovation review team is worth a $200 bonus. If the idea goes forward beyond the initial concept, the employee earns $2,000. Not every idea is a winner, but the program stimulates enough profitable creativity to justify the investment.

This program got me thinking and searching. There are many public innovation awards, I wonder, how common are internal innovation awards? How much innovation would we see if more companies offered these programs? 

Here are my questions for you:

  • What are you already doing to inspire and reward innovation in your company?
  • What might you begin doing now to encourage and reward innovation in your company?

Let’s work together. If you are looking to grow or get unstuck and cut the time to action to six months or less, there is no better time than now to contact me. 

© EKS LTD Please feel free to forward this blog in full with attribution including the copyright notation.

Labor Day In A Pandemic

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

Labor Day has taken on new meaning in these times. In the early months of the pandemic, we celebrated the labor of our essential workers:

  • food production and food service workers who make it possible for the rest of us to eat
  • health-care workers who care for the sick
  • sanitation workers who keep our communities clean
  • public safety workers who keep us safe 
  • manufacturers that produce the good we need
  • energy workers, and others I am likely leaving off this list

Labor Day historically marks the beginning of the school year. And once again, it is different this time. Different because the definition of school is both unclear and variable. Different because the clear division between parental responsibility and teacher responsibility has become blurred. 

The impact of the lack of clarity is reaching into businesses in unexpected ways. Employees with children struggle to meet their work responsibilities while caring for their children and tackling e-learning.   

The economic impact from this, both short and long term, remains to be seen but certainly, there will be an impact. A text I received from a young executive friend of mine back in July keeps rolling around in my brain “All the northwest suburbs have announced e-learning, the communities near me are doing hybrid. It looks like a lot of parents aren’t going back to work. How is this sustainable? If we had a woman workforce issue before, it’s about to get a whole lot worse.” 

And, the world I live in is full of innovators. Education was already a system under disruption; I am looking forward to seeing what entrepreneurs come up with to address this latest labor challenge.

Perhaps this Labor Day will mark a beginning. 

Let’s work together. If you are looking to grow or get unstuck and cut the time to action to six months or less, there is no better time than now to contact me.

The Gift of Feedback

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

Feedback is a gift. It is an opportunity for personal development and, ultimately, leadership development. And, it is hard; Very hard.

I am not sure which is harder, giving feedback or accepting it. Recently I was with a small group of fellow coaches, several of us long-tenured, and we were discussing this very topic. We spent a couple of hours working with each other to improve our skills at both. I mention long-tenured, as a reminder to myself, that no matter how skilled we think we are at this, it is hard, and requires constant practice. Following are the reminders I heard.

When giving feedback:

  • Start from a place of care, ask yourself what outcome you want to achieve from the feedback, and get clear that you really believe that outcome is possible, i.e., is the person capable of the behavior change you want to see?
  • You can earn trust with truthful, specific, positive feedback (TSP as speaker, Michael Allosso, calls it).
  • When giving constructive feedback, ask first if the receiver is open to feedback.
  • Even better, wait until the feedback is asked for.
  • Own your experience, share feelings and observations; be specific.
  • Use neutral language, e.g., my experience of you… or When you do…, I feel…
  • Remember, the purpose of feedback is to share your experience of another person, not to “fix” the other person.

When receiving feedback, remember it is a gift:

  • Ask for feedback, and be specific about the purpose, e.g., I want to become more effective at…
  • Listen and digest.
  • Try not to defend or respond, simply say, thank you.

Let’s work together. If you are looking to grow or get unstuck and cut the time to action to six months or less, there is no better time than now to contact me. 

© EKS LTD Please feel free to forward this blog in full with attribution, including the copyright notation.

Set Boundaries

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

As we come to realize that these “interesting times” are likely to be with us for some time, we are also beginning to accept that we must find ways to adapt.

While the form that adapt and accept takes will be different for each of us, one thing is true for all of us; we must focus on what we can control, be mindful of determining what that is, and set boundaries.

When I said this to a client recently, he asked me what I meant by boundaries, here is my reply.

For those who see ourselves as servant leaders, especially those who are people pleasers, setting boundaries begins with putting ourselves first. It is only by “putting our oxygen mask on first” and following three key steps that we can be in service to others.  

In today’s world, this begins first with setting aside “me” time. Me time can include exercise, meditation, watching TV, whatever works for us to relax and recharge.

Next, it’s making time for thinking and planning, “library time” as a client of mine liked to call it. Focused thinking time is essential for identifying the things we can control and staying focused.

Finally, it’s about calendar management. We can only accomplish the first two steps if we do this one. Our schedules must have boundaries. If we are fortunate to have an assistant, we can ask them to be the gatekeeper. And, calendar management apps (I use Calendly) can be equally useful. These apps have advanced settings that allow you to set buffers between meetings, a maximum number of meetings a day, etc. Set this for yourself so that you can be fully present and productive throughout the day.

If you are looking to grow or get unstuck and cut the time to action to six months or less, there is no better time than now to contact me.