For many company leaders, finding time to reflect on their leadership concurrently with running a company is a huge challenge. Companies' ability to take their business to the next level is highly correlated with the company's leadership ability. The best companies I ever worked with had great leaders. When investors evaluate the factors they use to evaluate companies, the management team rates in the top 2 or 3.
So just how are executives to develop these skills? By being good leaders and taking on expanded responsibilities, many executives now feel unprepared for the work situations they find themselves in. Some leaders report, “I just don’t have enough time”. Others feel they don’t have the right team to be successful, and struggle with how to manage or improve it. To these career pressures, most add the additional pressures for family and community responsibilities (for example, just this week, I have two "back to school nights", signed up to help with the school fundraising committee and to coach my son's Little League team). Some leaders report they are approaching an inflection point where something needs to change. The need for leadership effectiveness has never been greater.
Dr. Keith Merron at Avista Consulting has a different approach to develop leaders -- a monthly leadership learning group that meets via WebEx and video conference with a small group of CEO peers, and a quarterly in-person meeting. I have known Keith for years, and recommend him highly. The group provides a chance to address what's on your mind, get feedback and be accountable for what you did in the past month, as well as what you intend to complete in the coming month. The first session is September 12, and folks can join after that as well, or join the next group that starts.
If you're interested, click here to download the flyer, TheAvistaLeadershipLearningGroup.pdf and if you're interested, contact Keith.
UPDATE 9/12: I attended the first of these sessions with Keith today, and found it extremely valuable.
Best of luck as you pursue your leadership endeavors!
