YOU PIVOT™: When and Where Did You Begin?

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

Last month I wrote a blog entitled Which Career Version Are You In? I shared some of my thoughts about career patterns and a bit of my own story. Since then, I have heard from several of my readers and clients sharing their stories. Each story is a bit different, and yet, there are common themes. As I continue to explore these themes, I will be sharing them in this blog..

It seems the place to start is, of course, at the beginning. Career Version 1.0 is the stage where we are first trying to figure it all out. Some of us chose the traditional route, i.e., we graduated high school, went to college for four years, and then started in the work world.

For others, particularly it seems with entrepreneurs, the route may have been more circuitous. Those of us in this category may have attended college, maybe not right after graduating from high school, or perhaps skipped college, or left to start a business.

Whatever the preparatory part was, or not, we ended up in the work world on a path toward independence. What I am beginning to wonder is the path we choose toward Version 1.0, a predictor of when and what we choose for later versions?

It is this question that I am pursuing as I learn more about choices my clients have made and are making today.

For me, as I shared in my earlier blog on this topic, I chose, or perhaps more accurately, fell into, the circuitous path. As a young woman entering the workforce in the early seventies, there were few female role models. Only two women were in senior roles at my first company. One, who became a mentor, started her career at age 45 after raising her children; and the other was near the end of hers, having never married nor had children. While my mentor was someone, I admired and learned from, at age 16, neither story resonated. So, I watched and attempted to follow the male mentors and role models I had. I pursued a corporate career and went back to correct the education I had missed.

It wasn’t until I hit the early part of Version 2.0, where one begins to accumulate some savings/wealth, that choice became an option. And that led to becoming an entrepreneur. Ironically my father was an entrepreneur and he got there following the circuitous path. He, too, started in a corporate job, briefly joined his family business, and then a few years later founded his company.

When I think about stories of  leaders I know who followed the circuitous path, some founded their business early on, but many followed the traditional “get a large corporate job and work your way up” and then veered left. We may have departed the large-corporate world for a privately held company, started a business or some combination thereof.

I will share some of these stories in coming weeks as I begin to sort out whether there are patterns in our early choices that predict choices when we reach 2.0 and 3.0.

Let’s work together. You can learn more about my leadership coaching and peer advisory boards here.

Q3 Vistage Confidence Index – Chicago

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

A couple of weeks ago Vistage published its National Confidence Index Results.  Below is a report comparing the Chicago area to the nation.  Not surprisingly, Chicago business leaders are a bit more pessimistic.

And yet, a recent report from ITR Economics Housing: 6 Signs of a Better Year Ahead offers a contrarian point of view.  Perhaps the message is, monitor your industry and your business, capitalize on opportunities and accumulate cash so when you want to invest you can.

Here is the Chicago Area Survey Highlights:

ECONOMY

  • 12% of CEOs thought the national economy had improved in the past year (vs. 21%nationally)
  • 4% of CEOs expect the economy to improve in the year ahead (vs. 12% nationally)

PROSPECTS

  • 56% of CEOs expect to increase revenue in the year ahead (vs. 61% nationally)
  • 44% of CEOs expect rising profits in the year ahead (vs. 51%nationally)

EXPANSION

  • 35% of CEOs expect to increase investments in the year ahead (vs. 37% nationally)
  • 50% of CEOs plan to expand their workforce in the next year(vs. 57% nationally)

For the full report click here.

Q3 2019 Vistage Confidence Index – CEO optimism falls to 8-year low

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

Overall confidence among CEOs of small and midsize businesses declined for the 7th consecutive quarter. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index was 85.0 in the 3rd quarter of 2019, down 3.8% from the prior quarter and 17.5% from last year’s 3rd quarter survey.

While the overall decline points toward a slower pace of growth in the economy during the year ahead, the recent falloff does not indicate that CEOs anticipate a recession. The Great Recession falloff from peak-to-trough was a more substantial 58% drop, compared with today’s drop of 23% from the Q4 2017 peak. The current decline, however, is comparable to the early decline recorded prior to the last recession.

There are a number of domestic and international issues whose favorable resolution could push confidence higher in the months ahead. At present, however, uncertainty about how and when these issues will be resolved will continue to erode confidence. Tariffs have damaged firms, with 41% of CEOs reporting that tariffs have negatively impacted their business,
and 33% reporting that their business was affected by the tariffs that took effect at the start of September.

Importantly, while the falloff in evaluations of the national economy has been substantial, only modest declines have been recorded in expected changes in revenues, profits, and planned hiring. Nonetheless, firms have embraced a precautionary outlook, which will make their forward planning more defensive rather than expansive.

To read the full report, click here.

The Challenge of Success

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

When does confidence become hubris?

So much is written about the importance of confidence, and yet, there is a dark, ugly side too. We see it every day in the press – rock stars, sports stars, politicians and others, who have so much confidence that they begin to make choices out of hubris.

Well, we say, they are stars, this doesn’t happen amongst “regular leaders.” And, while we may want this to be true, my experience is, it occurs in every arena where leaders are successful.

We all know the leader that made it big and acts as though s/he has the “Midas touch.” After one success, they believe everything they try, everything they touch will be the same. Or, they feel the need to tell everyone about their accomplishments, and they don’t feel the need to listen. After all, they already know it all; they accomplished what others have not.

We also know the leader who despite success after success, is humble. Who, when asked how they accomplished what they did, points to the people s/he has learned from, rather than to their own brilliance. The leader who is on a lifetime journey of learning, who believes no matter what their accomplishments, they can always accomplish more by listening to others.

  • Which of these describes you?
  • Which do you want to be?
  • If your choice is the humble leader, what are you doing to stay curious and continue to learn?

Let’s work together. You can learn more about my leadership coaching and peer advisory boards here.

Everybody Needs A Coach

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

“Everybody needs a coach. It doesn’t matter whether you are CEO, a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast or a bridge player, we all need feedback”  so says Bill Gates & Eric Schmidt in this 1.25min TED Talk.

Perhaps a bold statement.  And yet, doesn’t every professional athlete and every famous performer have one?  You may be surprised to learn, so does every successful CEO, whether leading a Fortune 500 company or a privately held company.

If you buy into what Bill and Eric are saying, and you are a:

  • Soon-to-Be, or Newly Appointed CEO or Business Owner
  • CEO or Business Owner Wanting to Up Your Leadership Game
  • CEO or Business Owner Considering an Exit
  • Executive Pivoting to Entrepreneurship
  • Former Executive Considering Re-Entry

Or perhaps, you are simply looking for clarity, to define where you are and where you want to be.

Wherever you are in your journey, if you want the feedback that Bill and Eric talk about, and the accountability to get to your goals, now is the time.

Let’s work together. You can learn more about my leadership coaching and peer advisory boards here.

Is it Time for a Different Approach to Strategic Planning?

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

This is the time of the year that most companies begin their strategic planning process.

While it’s fun to host and participate in an off-site, the end result sadly is often put on a shelf until next year.

Mostly the plan is a continuation of the last one, and mostly the plan calls for growth, usually growth that is based on internal expectations. And, unless the plan is translated into numbers and then becomes part of the budget, expectations are infrequently measured against actual outcome. No wonder the reality of strategic planning and the hope are often not aligned.

If you are interested in doing it differently this time… Chris Bradley of the McKinsey Consulting firm offers four practical suggestions to tackle the particular problem of bold forecasts and timid actions:

  1. Don’t hide the hairy back in the bottom drawer
  2. Calibrate your projected results to the outside view
  3. Build a momentum case
  4. Focus on moves, not promises

This short article Hockey Stick Dreams and Hairy Back Reality should be required reading for anyone who makes plans, or is charged with approving them.

The Meaning of Labor Day

by Elisa Spain Comment Closed

When the first nationally recognized Labor Day was celebrated in 1894, the day consisted of a street parade sending up a message of “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” (in the words of the AFL). We have come a long way since then. Today most employers focus on offering opportunities and benefits to attract and retain talent; as a result, the need for unions has diminished and few remain.

Yet we still celebrate the day as a national holiday. Perhaps it is simply tradition or the acknowledgment of the end of summer. Or a reminder to celebrate how far we have come as a nation of leaders and followers, where two-way communication has become much more the norm than workplace “negotiations”.

So, as you enjoy your family barbecues, or however you celebrate the day, I encourage you to pause and ask yourself:

  • As a leader, what can I do tomorrow to let each member of my team know they are valued and are essential to our success?
  • As a follower, what I can do tomorrow to add additional value to the success of our company.

Let’s work together. You can learn more about my leadership coaching and peer advisory boards here.