The Other Side Of Success

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Opt 3 Sept 21

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 happens 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 the 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 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?

The Unrecognized Value of Operational Excellence

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Opt 9 Aug 24

Strategy and sales are the key to success, right? Well, yes, and no. Yes, they are important and without execution and operational excellence, they don’t matter. As Thomas Edison said so well, vision w/o execution is hallucination. 

So how do we get there? The DIME Method (Design, Implement, Monitor & Evaluate)  is a start. And, it’s the M & the E that get you to that operational excellence and where governance comes in.

It starts with figuring out what to monitor and keeping it simple, and then circling back and evaluating progress and measurements, making Design adjustments, Implementing those changes and starting the Monitor and Evaluate process again.

The successful CEOs I work with that have achieved operational excellence consistently follow these three key actions:

  • They identify the 3-5 key measures of success and monitor those daily, these could be sales calls, throughput, rework; what to watch depends on their business
  • They act when the the key measures indicate a variance, and they don’t wait and don’t accept excuses
  • They have a culture of co-accountability; their team holds each other accountable for the results they agree to

And,  they design compensation plans that are consistent with the results they want, e.g. if net income is the goal, the leadership team is ‘bonused’ (deferred or current) on results, and they work together to get to those results.

Elisa K. Spain

Leading Isn't Easy

Leading Isn't Easy

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Opt 8 Jun 22

I can hear the response now, “Well of course it isn’t easy, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it”. Yes I know, and when those difficult moments arise, and we are in the midst of, “not easy”, this is an important reminder.

Recently I was reminded of a personal leadership moment, several years ago, that I am hoping by sharing, will inspire you.

I was in a multi-vehicle car accident last week. Fortunately everyone involved walked away. Minor whiplash and vehicle damage were the only consequences. And, this accident should never have happened…

Two of us were sitting in traffic, in two separate lanes. The driver that caused the accident was an elderly gentleman, who was on oxygen, and could barely stand up, much less drive. My guess is he was either disoriented or passed out. Not easy to rear end one car, and then rear end another car in another lane!

One of the hardest things my sister and I did was take away my Mother’s car keys. She didn’t speak to me for a year; and this situation reminded me to pat myself on my back for doing it. I remember the deciding moment was when a friend of mine said, “How are you going to feel when she runs over a 5 year old?”

So what is the leadership lesson in this?

Sometimes, we have to make decisions where no option is a good one. Either choice we make has negative consequences, and yet we have to choose. And when we choose the more strategic option, the short term pain may be higher. Easy to say, hard to do.

 

Elisa K. Spain

Sometimes Things Are Not As They Appear

Sometimes Things Are Not As They Appear

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Opt 4 June 15 (2)

We make assumptions daily, mostly about other people. These assumptions enable us to take shortcuts and keep us moving forward. Or so we think.

  • We assume a person attended or didn’t attend an event because…
  • We assume a person responded to us a certain way, because…
  • We assume a person took an action or didn’t take an action because…

What if instead of assuming, we, as CEO’s and leaders, paused and asked:

  • What is the reason you made this choice or took this action?
  • When your customer complains about “service”, do you probe to understand what is really going on?
  • When we see something, as the TSA reminds us, do we say something?
  • When an employee behaves a certain way, do we ask what is going on?

When I was a young driver, I learned this leadership lesson from a police officer who pulled me over for passing him on the right, when he and another officer were stopped – blocking both sides of the road. He asked me why I passed him. My response was “I assumed you were going to be there for a while and I wanted to get to my destination”. His reply, “When you assume, you make an ass-u-me”.

I often think of this encounter when I rush to judgement.

Elisa K. Spain

 

Crawl? Walk? Run? Fly?

Crawl? Walk? Run? Fly?

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Opt 5 June 8

Hard to know when to walk, when to fly, when to run or even when to crawl. In this fast paced world we live in, our tendency is to default to run. And, my sense is, there is a place for each.

The challenge is to let things unfold at their own pace. Here are some questions I ask myself, when I remember to pause, to determine what pace fits best with the given situation:

  • If I am feeling a sense of urgency, what is driving it?
  • If I slow down the pace, what benefits/costs will result?
  • If I speed up the pace, what benefits/costs will result?
  • What will happen if I choose to observe rather than act for some time?

Elisa K. Spain

 

Growth Doesn't Have To Be A Lonely Path…

Growth Doesn't Have To Be A Lonely Path…

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

 

2014-06-01Join us on June 11th, to learn more…

All the economists are reporting steady growth and I see it in my Vistage groups. For the first time, in a long time, members are focused on expansion. And, they are cautious, the Great Recession is still fresh in our collective memories.

Here are some of the questions I am hearing:

  • How does a business expand without shouldering the capital burden alone?
  • Is it possible to continue to grow and  begin to diversify and take some money off the table?
  • My management team is in for the duration; how do they begin to put skin in the game?
  • As the business has grown, my partners and I have different personal goals, how do we resolve the financial challenges associated with this?
  • I want a sustainable enterprise that continues on beyond me; how do I finance my retirement and accomplish this goal?

With these questions in mind, I had a conversation with a friend of mine at Duff & Phelps and this led to an exciting seminar in Chicago on June 11 to answer these questions. Duff has assembled the top experts on private financing to address these questions in an interactive session with open dialog.

For those of you who will be in Chicago on June 11, here is a link to register. If you can’t make it and want the transcript, let me know.

Elisa K. Spain

 

Leadership Quote: Tell Me And I'll Forget…

Leadership Quote: Tell Me And I'll Forget…

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Opt 7 May 25This month’s leadership quote:

“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

Hold The Advice…

Hold The Advice…

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Opt 1 May 18 Blog

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

The Other Side Of Change

The Other Side Of Change

by Elisa Spain1 Comment

7 May 4 imagesF7X46U34

 

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

Culture Doesn't Change, But It Can Bend

Culture Doesn't Change, But It Can Bend

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Opt 1 2014-04-20 Blog

 

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.

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

Elisa K. Spain