What Happens When Market Forces Intervene?

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

 

Last week I wrote about healthy body, healthy mind = healthy business. One of my readers reminded me, there is a corollary. While, the CEO’s health can and does impact the business, what happens when the business faces market forces and impacts the health of the CEO?

On the one hand, what happens when the market cycle is a down cycle?

While we all would like to believe we can separate ourselves from what is happening to us, we know that, at least for most of us, that isn’t so. Losses in our life affect our well-being. And, business losses, which are part of our lives, can impact our sense of well-being and therefore our health.

On the flip side, what about when things are consistently good for an extended period of time? Do we become complacent, or what I call the “fat cat” syndrome? Life is good, so why not enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. And, when does enjoyment become a negative health factor?

Here’s the story of the reader who contacted me…

  •  Each time his business hits a tough cycle, competitors have gone out, his company dipped and then survived and then thrived each time – with new achievements. And, at the same time, while his well-being was impacted, feeling depressed, losing weight, he continued to focus on health and fitness. My sense is, his business recovery has consistently outperformed because he continued to take care of his mental and physical hygiene, even when things looked their bleakest.
  • And then when things are on an upswing, he began to relax; life feels good, he feels good. He continues to work out, and finds himself eating, traveling, enjoying more and gaining weight. Again, he is mindful of this result and once again begins to focus on health and hygiene.

I am grateful to this reader for reminding me that maintaining our mental and physical health is a balancing act that ebbs and flows, and to be mindful of the impact of both ups and downs.

Can A Focus On Culture Produce Financial Results?

by Elisa Spain1 Comment

 

In 2014, the theme for my Vistage groups was All That Matters is Culture. We talk about culture a lot in Vistage and we have several speakers that focus on this topic. Certainly we can all agree that focusing on culture creates a more consistent workplace. I say consistent, rather than harmonious, because as we learned from Vistage speaker, Edgar Papke, each culture is different – The important thing is to know what your culture is, hire accordingly and ensure your culture (inward facing) is consistent with your brand (outward facing).

And…when we went around the table at the end of the year, two of my CEO members shared that they had their best year yet (both had been in business 15+ years). When the other members asked the reason, both said, without hesitation, “because I focused on culture more than anything else this year. I got rid of the cancers. Everyone who is with my company today reflects the culture. I see it, the customers see it, and frankly to my surprise, the bottom line shows it”.

In one case, one of the CEOs fired his #2 producer. A risky move, so he thought. In fact, he even expected a down year as a result.  He decided the risk was worth it.

Good thing he took the risk because… he was one of the CEOs to report the best year ever.

Elisa K. Spain

Is Coaching For Me Or For My Company?

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

 

As a leadership coach, working with both CEOs and senior executives, I am sometimes faced with this question:

  • Is leadership coaching for the individual or
  • Are there specific results this individual is expected to produce for the company?

For CEOs, the answer to this question is usually easy, the development a CEO gains from coaching usually has a direct correlation with results in their business.

For a senior executive, the question is more complex, both for me and for their sponsoring manager.

As with most things, getting clear upfront about your intentions and expectations will yield better results. Here are some questions to consider if you are either the senior executive or their sponsoring manager:

  • Is coaching for your general professional development?
  • Or are there specific expectations that coaching is expected to address and that you will be accountable for?
  • What is the contract between you and your coach?
  • What is the contract between you and your sponsoring manager?
  • As the executive in coaching, how will I demonstrate or communicate progress to my manager?
  • As the sponsoring manager, how do I want to be kept informed of progress?

 

 

When The Obvious, Isn't Obvious…

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

 

Simplify, simplify… These are the watch words of our world today. The more complex our society has become the more is written on the benefits of simplification.

And, I have begun to wonder if the complexity of our society is also leading us to forget to look for simple solutions when things aren’t working right. The obvious sometimes is missed, along the way to finding a solution.

The following experience happened awhile back and I often use it as a reminder to pause and look first for the obvious, even when it may not at first seem so obvious.

My internet service was continually cutting out. It would go down for a few minutes, sometimes an hour or so, and would always come back on its own. This went on for many months. I called for service repeatedly, the provider sent technicians out repeatedly. They replaced modems, they replaced wires, they really tried to fix it. I became convinced the problem must be with the wiring in the building so I hired an independent company who came out and checked the internal wiring. Everyone who was here, and there were lots of people, all said it should be working. But it wasn’t.  

Finally I called a technician who had been out for another issue in the past. I had saved his name because he was particularly helpful. I told him the whole story and he sent his supervisor out. The supervisor asked a few questions, listened to my story and then solved the problem in 5 minutes.  

How did he do it?

This sounds like one of those brain teasers doesn’t it? Actually, I guess it was. What he did was simple. He asked a few questions, he really listened to my answers, and then looked for the obvious. There was a loose wire where the system was attached to the building. He tightened the wire, and I have not had a problem since!

My takeaway from this … when something isn’t working, in business or in life;

pause, ask questions, listen carefully to the answers….and then search first for the obvious explanation.

 

 

 

The Oft Unheralded Challenge Of Change

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

 

Leading change in an organization is full of challenges. Most of these challenges are associated with creating a vision, inspiring action, achieving buy-in, and sustaining the change. John Kotter, noted for his work on this topic, offers an 8 step process that offers an excellent roadmap.

I am noticing a 1/2 step challenge of change, that while banal, can derail a change initiative when ignored. This oft unheralded challenge is simply that everyone hears through their own filter, and therefore the actions we see are not the actions we expected. Obvious perhaps, and yet when leading change, we sometimes think that things are not happening the way we want because people are resisting.

  • Sometimes, they simply didn’t hear
  • or what they heard is different from what I thought I said
  • or they need to hear it more than once; 7 times I have been told is the magic number
  • or they need to do it more than once, or even twice, to “get it”
  • or we simply need to allow time for the change to settle in

So, next time, before calling out a “resister”, first pause and ask them what they heard.

 

 

Elisa K. Spain

The Emperor's New Clothes

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

 

I have come to realize, duh… that the fairy tales we read as children were intended to prepare us for our adult lives. (Robert Fulghum was right, All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten).

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about The Other Side of Success, when confidence becomes hubris. The Emperor’s New Clothes is, in my view, the ultimate risk of this hubris.

The Emperor’s New Clothes is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”

The emperor is so vain, he believes the tale. The adults are afraid to tell him the truth for fear the outcome may have consequences for them. Only a child tells the truth; he is too young to realize he is taking a risk by doing so.

To be a successful leader, one must be confident, have the courage to move forward even when questioned. And at the same time, the successful leaders I know also ask for feedback. They are constantly in touch with their constituents – customers, employees, vendors, advisors, family (after all it was a child that told the emperor the truth).

Recently I heard a new CEO talk about the changes he had made since assuming his position. He was proud of those changes and went on to say, “things are better because of these changes”. Yet, he hadn’t ever asked his users (customers, employees, vendors, etc.) what they thought. He believed it to be true, just like the emperor. I later had the opportunity to hear from some of his constituents, and they had a different perspective. For them, the changes had made their work more challenging. Which is true? I don’t know. What I do know is most of his stakeholders are telling the CEO what he wants to hear, not what they truly feel and believe.

Years ago, I saw the effect of this first hand. I was working in the investment business and several of the large institutions, like ours, decided to install a new software system for managing trust accounts. The system was built by a small company and it turned out they were better at marketing than at software development. Our largest competitor at the time was the first to “go live” with the new system. It was a disaster, such a disaster that they ultimately exited the trust business. I remember saying to my colleagues at the time “someone, probably several people, at that bank knew this was going to fail and they were afraid to speak up”.

I leave you with these questions:

  • What are you doing to solicit honest feedback in your organization?
  • What are you doing to foster an environment where your customers, employees, vendors and other stakeholders feel they can provide feedback without fear of consequences?
  • Do you have a “child” in your company and your life who is willing to tell you that you are naked?

Elisa K. Spain

 

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?

What Makes A Successful Business?

by Elisa Spain1 Comment

Opt 6 Sept 7

What makes a successful business? Is it vision; is it strategy, or ??

Geoff Smart and Randy Street, authors of the book Who, make a compelling case for the value of management talent as the #1 determinant of business success. In their interviews of 400 CEOs and business leaders, they found that 52% rated talent as #1, followed by 20% for execution, 17% for strategy and the good news, only 11% for external factors.

Additionally, in the research they did with the University of Chicago in 2007, they found that the CEOs who make money for investors are those that have both high EQ (Lambs) and work hard, are persistent, set high standards and hold people accountable (Cheetahs). And surprisingly to some and somewhat controversially, those that accentuate their Cheetah skills were successful 100% of the time.

So, does this mean that we, as leaders, should abandon vision and strategy altogether, hire great people, set high standards, hold them accountable and we are done?

Not so simple in my experience. What I observe is great people want to work for great companies. And, great companies not only have high standards and hold people accountable, i.e. operational excellence, they also can answer Simon Sinek’s, “Why?”.

So, yes, hire great people, and give them and your customers a reason to want to work for you and do business with you.

 

Elisa K. Spain

 

 

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

Caution… You are Entering Your Comfort Zone

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Comfort Zone

The difference between a good leader and a great leader is the ability to improvise and gently push people out of their comfort zone, so says Vistage Speaker Michael Allosso.

In this TED talk, Charlie Todd helps us see the human connection that results from a shared experience — in this case, an absurd shared experience, one that takes us out of our comfort zone.

Vistage members also have shared experiences; in our case, these happen every month. As the chair and leadership coach, I regularly see the human connection that results.

I wonder about the following:

  • Is it incumbent upon as leaders to search for opportunities to create shared experiences in our companies?
  • What great things can we accomplish in our companies by pushing people out of their comfort zone and introducing more intentional and improvised shared experiences?
  • And by making this push, are we fulfilling a key component of our governance responsibility?

 

Elisa K. Spain