Author: Elisa Spain

Leadership View #7: When Merging Or Combining Two Organizations..

May 19, 2013 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Leadership View #7:

When merging or combining two organizations, it has been estimated that 60% of the people will be relatively indifferent, 20% will be strongly supportive, and 20% will be strongly non-supportive. Focus on the 20% that are strongly supportive and converting the 60% who are neutral.

It is so easy to be drawn to want to “convert” those who are negative. Whether it’s the one customer we can’t seem to please; or the one person sleeping when we are giving a presentation; or the one person on our team of 25 who always has a negative comment.

And the same applies when combining organizations. There is an old adage that mergers succeed or fail based on cultural fit. My experience when combining organizations or adding a significant number of people to an existing group, is the culture bends. The core of the culture remains and it bends to accommodate and subsequently grow from the additions or the merger.

Those who are supportive and positive can inspire us as leaders to carry on and inspire those who are neutral to come on-board. Why waste our time on negative energy, when we can create more positive energy?

Questions for you to consider:

When was the last time you were leading an integration and felt drawn down by negative reactions?
Upon reflection, what percentage of those involved in the merger was actually negative?
What might you do next time to notice what percentage is positive to neutral and focus on them?

Leadership View #6: Some Problems Can’t Be “Solved”

May 12, 2013 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Leadership View #6:

Some problems can’t be “solved” (and, hopefully, made to go away) – they must be managed and may require the leader’s repetitive attention and time.

As leaders and managers, we have been taught to find the root cause and fix the problem. This Leadership View seems to fly in the face of that.

What do you mean “some problems can’t be solved”?

For me the key word here is repetition. For anything to be sustainable, it must be repeated. We humans get distracted, forget what we learned and have to be reminded. This is what Vistage is all about. Our members hear from a speaker 8 times a year. Do you really think each speaker brings something new to the table? Rather, they often are reinforcing a similar message. And, we hear the message differently depending on where we are in our lives and our businesses at the time. An entrepreneur leading a start-up will hear a leadership message differently 10 years later when he or she is challenged with building a leadership team that will lead to a sustainable enterprise.

I asked one of our long term Vistage members recently if he had ever considered leaving Vistage. His answer was “never, I learn something at every meeting, every one-to-one.” He leads a highly successful, high growth business. My belief is he learns something new each time, because he comes with different ears each time.

The same is true for the people that work for us. Some problems can’t be solved, because things happen. Life isn’t static and our businesses and our processes aren’t static. Last year in a post entitled “Is Your Leadership Team Your Co-Advisor“, I talked about the DIME Method: Design, Implement, Monitor, Evaluate. For me the repetition speaks to the Monitor and Evaluate part of the continuum. As problems get solved and things change, we must monitor, evaluate and then design again.

As you mull over this idea that problems can’t be solved, I encourage you to ask yourself the following questions:

When was the last time we monitored or evaluated the systems we have in place?
Are we doing things, “because that’s the way we have always done it”?
What is the root cause of the problems that exist in my company today? Which of these require my repetitive time and attention?

Leadership View #5: When Leading Change..

May 5, 2013 by Elisa Spain4 Comments

Leadership View #5:

When leading change – get some early wins –this makes change irresistible to those that resist. Getting these “early wins” may involve changing priorities or sequencing of events.

How often do we begin an initiative by setting a goal with a date when everything will be complete?

When starting a project we are excited to get “it” done. What if instead we focused on getting small wins and buy-in, how might we approach the project differently?

One of my favorite visible stories of a leader who understood the importance of early wins is The Chicago Wacker Drive Project. Mayor Richard M. Daley began this enormous project, raised the funds for it and hired the team to lead it. It was a massive undertaking. The job required rebuilding both Upper and Lower Wacker, a primary downtown Chicago artery.

What I remember most about this project is it began in early 2001 and was declared “finished” 20 months later in late 2002. It was declared a success coming in on-time and on-budget. The reality was, only a portion of the Wacker Drive rebuild was completed during this period. Work on Wacker Drive continued for many years and continues today.

Mayor Daley knew he had to get an “early win” and sequence the events so that he could pause and celebrate success. The work that continued for ten years hence followed this same model. Small incremental projects are funded, begun and then completed and celebrated.

Here are my questions for you to consider when you next begin an initiative in your company:

What is the ideal sequencing to get the job done right and on-time?
If my goal is buy-in, what changes might I need to make to get that buy-in?
Am I willing to go slower at the front-end to get to adoption?
Who are the people I can count on to be early adopters and influencers? How do I engage them, so they are willing proselytize our success?
How will I celebrate success?

Leadership Quote: Our Job As Marketers And Leaders

April 28, 2013 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Once again, I am taking a brief pause from the 45 Years of Leadership series for the monthly quote. The series will return next week with Marsh’s Leadership View #5.

This month’s leadership quote:

Our job as marketers and leaders is to create vibrant pockets, not to hunt for mass. – Seth Godin

This quote comes from Seth’s Super Bowl blog, entitled, Why do we care about football? In this post, Seth claims, that while mass TV built many elements of our culture, mass TV (except for the Super Bowl) is basically over. The new media giants of our age (Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.) don’t point everyone to one bit of content, don’t trade in mass. Instead, they splinter, connecting many to many, not many to one.

Facebook, Twitter and Google connect businesses to business, businesses to consumers and consumers to consumers. The question is no longer simply are you B2B or B2C but rather who are your customers, who do you want to have as customers and how do you continue to be relevant to them.

45 Year Leadership View #4: A Leader Must Balance…

April 21, 2013 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Marsh Carter’s Leadership View #4:

A leader must balance between near-term and long-term leadership and management tasks.

Hmm.. last week’s leadership view involved balance and here we are with the same subject line again. It does seem that balance is a key challenge for every leader.

Most leaders have a sense of urgency, entrepreneurs especially. Often it is this sense of urgency that got us where we are. And, much like balancing the needs of the organization with the needs of our followers, we must also recognize which of our goals belong in the long term column and which belong as short-term.

And it is certainly a balancing act, because for high urgency leaders, we sometimes move tasks into the now, when they belong in the future. If you are challenged with sorting between short term and long term initiatives, here is a suggested approach to get started.

Begin by capturing all the ideas, tasks and goals. Next ask yourself the following three questions for each item:

How much time will it take to get this done?
What will be the impact/outcome for the organization when this is done? (people, resources, capital, impact on other initiatives impact on customers, etc.)
What will be the impact/outcome for the organization while we are getting this done? (people, resources, capital, impact on other initiatives impact on customers, etc.)

45 Year Leadership View #3: A Leader Must Balance…

April 14, 2013 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Marsh Carter’s Leadership View #3:

A leader must balance accomplishing the organization’s mission with responsibility to followers.

As Vistage speaker Rick Eigenbrod reminds us, the one thing all leaders have in common, followers. When we forget this is the most important characteristic of leadership, we look around and there is no one behind us. While the mission may be what is driving us as leaders, have we stopped and asked what is driving our followers?

Remembering that all we humans act in our own self-interest, the organization’s mission must resonate and must matter to each and every one of our followers if we are going to get there. It is a delicate balance between being out in front because we have the vision; and inspiring our followers to move forward because they see what is in it for them.

In the best of circumstances, we as leaders inspire and our followers are the ones who accomplish the mission.

My question for you is:

What are you asking today to confirm that your followers understand and are driven to accomplish your mission?

Vistage Confidence Index: CEO Optimism Grows In Q1 2013

April 9, 2013 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

The quarterly Vistage Confidence Index is now available.

More than 1,500 Vistage members surveyed in the Q1 2013 Vistage CEO Confidence Index reported an improved economy and brighter prospects for their own firms despite recent cutbacks in federal spending.

Similarly, small business owners who took the March WSJ/Vistage Small Business CEO Survey reported growing strength in the overall economy and have become increasingly confident that their firms would continue to benefit from the ongoing economic expansion. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index was 104 in the March 2013 survey, up from 101.4 in February, reaching the highest level recorded since the survey began last June.

Below are some key highlights from the Q1 2013 Vistage CEO Confidence Index (all members surveyed):

49% of CEOs think that economic conditions have improved compared with a year ago, up from 35% in Q4 2012.
68% of CEOs anticipate their firm’s sales revenues will increase in the next 12 months.
Just 11% of CEOs found it easy to find people with the right skills to drive their business growth, while 75% found it difficult to find qualified talent.
16% of CEOs believe the sequester will adversely impact their business.
82% of CEOs expect U.S. fiscal uncertainty will continue throughout the year.

Elisa K. Spain

45 Year Leadership View #2: Sometimes, The Most Effective Techniques…

April 7, 2013 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Marsh Carter’s Leadership View #2:

Sometimes, the most effective leadership techniques are the simplest.

We often strive to find a method or a framework that we can employ to become more effective as leaders. Sometimes, as Marsh reminds us in his Leadership View #2, it’s the simple things. Sometimes, all we need to do as leaders is simply ask questions, listen and respond accordingly.

Leadership Quote: What You Do Speaks So Loudly…

March 31, 2013 by Elisa Spain2 Comments

As it is time for my monthly leadership quote, I am taking a brief pause from the 45 Years of Leadership series. The series will return next week with Marsh’s Leadership View #2.

This month’s leadership quote:

What you do speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what you say – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We say we provide a great place to work, do our actions demonstrate this by committing to the growth and development of our staff?
We say we want to grow our business, are our actions focused on growth?
We say we want to spend more time learning to play the guitar, are we practicing?
We say we want to make a difference, are we intentional each day in taking actions that do in fact make a difference?
Are we pausing each day, to ask ourselves if our actions are aligned with our words?