Category: Results

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

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?

What If Instead, We Gave Feedback?

March 16, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

In my last post, I compared business to dating. Continuing that theme… Another similarity is “absent information, we make stuff up.” In the dating world, if he doesn’t call, we assume all kinds of things. Similarly with a prospect, an employee, a customer, a new connection.

And, most of the time when we don’t like how we perceive something went, we simply walk away. What if instead, we offered feedback?

Several months ago, I met a talented young entrepreneur through a mutual friend. Our mutual friend asked me to consider introducing her to some of my contacts. I am always very careful about making introductions, as I feel a responsibility to both parties. Long story short, I introduced her to a couple of friends and never heard anything more from any of the parties. I like to complete the circle, so I reached out and learned from my new contact that she had met with each of my friends and they were good meetings.

Shortly thereafter, my new contact asked for a second meeting and around that same time, I happened to speak with both of my friends. My friends had a story, similar to each other, but different from what I heard from my contact. Each of my friends came away feeling that my new contact had promised to send them something and never heard from her again.

New friend, only had a first date, while there was a spark, (see last week’s blog), my gut said, “no second date”‘. She didn’t treat my relationships with the same care as I do.

Instead, I did go on the second date, prodded by a friend who encouraged me to. I decided I had a responsibility to give my new friend feedback.

What ensued was a real conversation about the emotional wake we sometimes leave; the importance of focusing on what is important and the importance of perceptions. It was a defining moment for both of us. For me, being open to hearing feedback that was different from my perception; for her taking a pause and focusing on what matters.

She and I have become friends, not in spite of our conversation, but because of it. She has since told me that she has completely changed her approach to building her business, because of our conversation.

The next time something doesn’t go the way you want it to, with someone with whom you see potential, perhaps a new member of your team, someone you recently promoted, or someone you might do business with, would you consider giving feedback, instead of walking away?

When Was The Last Time You Went On A Date?

March 9, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

You are probably wondering why I am asking this question and what dating possibly has to do with a leadership blog…

Actually, this topic comes up frequently in my coaching sessions. Business it seems, is a lot like dating…

So, here are some dating and business best practices I’ve learned along the way:

Be authentic.
Be respectful.
Be clear on what you are looking for in a partner, a customer, an employee or a vendor.
Be clear what it is you bring to the table and be realistic. That high powered CFO may be great in a Fortune 500 company, but is she really what your $30mm company needs?
Put yourself in situations to meet new people that fit. No matter what anyone tells you, it’s not a game of numbers, it’s all about defining and measuring fit.
That wild guy or gal you wouldn’t bring home to Mom, is probably not going to be your SO or your best customer, no matter what he is willing to pay.
As soon as you meet “Mr. or Ms. right”, go out with someone else (when we get fixated on winning one partner, customer, employee, we can appear desperate. As Vistage speaker, Tom Searcy says, “play like you have nothing to lose.”
Go on a date with anyone once (okay, not someone you know is an ax murderer).
Go on a second date, if there was a spark of interest.
When she says she needs some time alone, or the prospect doesn’t get back to us right away, its not the time to call a day later and suggest coffee.
Once you have made a commitment, be committed. Give your customer, employee, vendor a chance to right a wrong.
And.. when a relationship fails (or the service is consistently poor), don’t drag out the exit. End it, learn from your mistakes, decide what to look for next round and start the cycle again.

For an amusing, albeit somewhat crass, perspective on the subject:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinchirico/ways-building-a-startup-is-just-like-dating

The Queen (Or King) Of Denial

February 16, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

There is a country music song entitled Cleopatra, Queen of Denial, recorded in 1993 by Pam Tillis. While the lyrics talk about a love relationship gone wrong (are there any country songs that don’t?), the title stayed with me because it reminds me sometimes of what I see in business.

What I observe is that both kings and queens of denial sometimes confuse optimism with denial. For example:

“Yes we are losing money and if we get that next deal, we will turn things around for good.”
“I know, Joe or Jane employee is not up to the challenge now that our company has grown, but I can make it work anyway.”
“We have always done it this way, if we continue to do things this same way, things will change.”
“Our business has grown about 4% YOY the last 10 years and this year, we will grow 20%, without any new capital.”
“I know the industry has matured, and prices have fallen as a result, but if we keep offering customized services, we will be able to command a higher price.”

I am sure you can think of others. And, my further observation is that denial is a powerful drug. As with most other drugs, the user won’t stop using until he or she is ready. No one can tell us we are in denial, we must see it for ourselves. One benefit Vistage members have is their chair and their fellow members will keep holding up that mirror until one day, we do.

Delivery ALWAYS Matters…

February 2, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

When the stakes are high, we prepare. Whether it is a presentation to a large audience or a meeting with a key client or prospective client, we know we will be more successful if we prepare.

What exactly does it mean “to prepare”?
When aren’t the stakes high?
When we focus on content and not on our audience, are we really prepared?

Last week, I had the opportunity to hear a speaker and deliver a presentation of my own, where in both cases, the content was outstanding and yet the message was not received well by most of the audience. These two experiences reminded me of two important facts:

Delivery always matters – It’s not enough to prepare our content. It is at least as important to consider the audience, prepare our delivery and adjust midstream as we read the audience reaction. Not easy to do, and yet, critical to having our message heard.

Prepare for every interaction as though the stakes are high, because they are – Every interaction with another human being, either as a group or with individuals, matters. When we are fully present, we listen, we adapt and thus can be effective.

Leadership Quote: We can't solve problems…

January 26, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

This month’s leadership quote:

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

-Albert Einstein

Typically when we discover a problem, we bring together the same team that was involved when we first launched the new product, new division, new whatever, that led to the problem we are now facing.

What if instead, we asked people who weren’t involved at the beginning to look at the situation and give us questions to consider and offer possible solutions?

Perhaps you can gather a new team to look at the problem with fresh eyes.

Or, consider asking people outside your business.

Each month Vistage members have the opportunity to ask their private advisory board to bring that different kind of thinking to the challenges they face.

Wherever you choose to go when problems arise, it’s that fresh view that leads to better results.

Why Now?

January 12, 2014 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Continuing the beginning of year theme of strategic planning. The question is, why diversify my business now, when everything is going so well?

Anyone who has hired an investment advisor knows, all of them advise first and foremost, to build a diversified portfolio. And, despite all the data supporting the long term benefit of diversification, some investors believe they can time the market. There are LOTS of stories in the investment press about the risks and consequences of market timing.

Those of you who are frequent readers know that my background is in financial services and investments and I often compare running a business to managing an investment portfolio. And, as with some stock market investors, when it comes to our businesses, we frequently ignore our advisors and the diversification advice they give. We have a great product or service, we are making money, we think “if it ain’t broke, why fix it?”.

Over the years, I have worked with a number of businesses and watched this process unfold…

Business is great, there are industry measures that indicate the product or service is maturing, but business still remains strong. Then suddenly (one could argue it wasn’t suddenly), it isn’t strong anymore, in fact, the business has gone from significant profits to losses, seemingly overnight.

The thing about income statements is they are lagging indicators. If we ignore other key indicators, especially the external industry trends, it is easy to be lulled into market timing behavior. And as with market timers, by the time the CEO realizes the market has turned, it is often too late to adjust without incurring significant losses.

As you continue your planning for 2014 strategic actions, I encourage you to pause and ask yourself the following questions:

What are the trends in our industry; where is our industry in its business life cycle?
How does our product/service compare to others in the industry; are we a leader or a follower?
What is our current level of product/service diversification; where would we like it to be?
What new product or service can we begin development on this year that will replace our core offerings in the future?

Strategic Lessons From David & Goliath For 2014 Planning

December 15, 2013 by Elisa SpainNo Comments

As you put the final touches on your business plans for 2014, or for that matter, your personal plans, I suggest a read or a listen to Malcolm Gladwell’s Latest Book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants.

The book is not about how the weak rise up and triumph over the strong, as you might expect given the title. Rather, the book is about how throughout history, people succeed not in spite of, but because of their disadvantages.

Gladwell begins the book with his own interpretation of the David and Goliath story describing David’s triumph as a function of his going into battle using methods unique to him, (i.e. working in his genius as I am fond of saying), fighting Goliath with a sling shot rather than hand to hand, as was the norm. David takes advantage of his small size and wins because he was innovative and confident.

Throughout the book, Gladwell points to examples of successful inventions and innovations that happened because entrepreneurs who, like David, were perceived as disadvantaged, used their disadvantage to win.

So, as you think about how you might win against the Goliaths in your industry, I encourage you to consider the following questions:

What do you perceive as your competitive disadvantages?
How might you turn these disadvantages into true competitive advantages?

Here is a 15 minute Ted Talk from Gladwell to inspire your thinking.