Hanging out with new and old friends at The Factory STL for Entrepreneurs' Organization #keystaffday.
Loved hearing from Chester Elton, Garry Ridge and Bill George.
Bill George reminded us of the essence of leadership - leading with heart rather than the head. His words summarized were essentially that "You can move from one organization to another, but if you take you, nothing changes, which reminds us of the importance of Kaizen, constant and never ending improvement. Bill, your authenticity, sincerity, and compassion exemplify the qualities of a leader's leader; qualities I aspire to embody more with each passing day.
Garry Ridge's poignant observation that a company is essentially "a collective of individuals united to protect and feed one another" was a powerful reminder of the human aspect of business, an element that profoundly resonates with me given that we're leading a people first business. Your perspective on "we're not selling WD40 (oil in a can) we're creating positive, lasting memories - reinforces the idea that ALL widgets/services/products CAN be infused with emotion.
Chester Elton's session was the perfect conclusion to the day, filled with profound insights. Chester, your discussion on the human tendency to perceive negative intent and the importance of empathy in leadership was soooooo good. The questions you posed around "Am I fully committed? Is my team fully committed?" prompted me to look at the team members Meagan Sweeney-Hyde and Jordan Stack who attended with me, and nod in affirmation... we have a killer team who is ALL IN! And your energy and delivery were the PERFECT energizing close to an incredible day. BTW - Thank you for acknowledging the people in the back. I appreciate my new orange Frisbee.
The more I pour into myself, the more I can pour into others.
My biggest lesson and takeaway from the day can be summarized by this thought that dropped in during my AM workout: "bosses are the ones who say THEY succeed instead of giving it away to their team because being right and having greed is what feeds their need. Where leaders teach other leaders to lead."
THANK YOU SO MUCH to all the speakers, and the ones behind the scenes who made this thing happen: Jana Franklin, Kaylee F., Jennifer Auer, Melanie Meyer!
And thank you to the sponsors and my fellow EO/YPO'ers: FINTOP Capital, Woodard Cleaning & Restoration, FSI, Hunter Engineering Company, Beltservice Corporation, Cambridge Air Solutions, Caravus, Swank Motion Pictures, Inc., Gateway Truck & Refrigeration, Plancorp Wealth Management, Vetta Sports, Sandberg Phoenix, Encouraging Leaders, Beck Flavors, Hermann Companies, Scott Leisler, RubinBrown LLP
#companyculture #eo #entreprenurship #motivation #mentalhealth #corporateevents #nonprofitevents