ARTICLE
Next month on April 4 at the Scotts Valley Hilton, the Santa Cruz Area Chamber will hold our second installment of our Leadership Forum. The old saying leaders are made by the time and through persistent actions taking on challenges because they do not fear the unknown. Leaders are not born to perfection, rather they are chiseled by incidents in their lives that require strength and sometimes an uncanny behavior that is hard to explain. Of course a leader in the business community reacts differently than a leader in the public sector. But it is true, whether you are the CEO of your company, an executive in the non-profit world or public sector official, that each leader has specific traits that set her/him a part from the rank and file of a business or organization. This Leadership Forum is an opportunity to take a deep dive and listen, learn and walk away with ideas to better understand how these individuals lead. Our two keynote speakers, UCSC’s Executive Vice Chancellor Marlene Tromp and former CEO of MetricStream, Shellye Archambeau come from different backgrounds - one from higher education and the other from the tech sector. We will marvel at their past accomplishments as women leaders in their respective field. Each one will have a different story to share carved from personal and professional experience. Yet, I imagine we will hear similar traits that drive their career path. I spend a lot of time researching, reading, and listening from respected leaders from all sectors. I admire their perseverance to overcome challenges while meeting demanding goals. Here are seven traits of a leader. 1) Vision: Great leaders have a clear and exciting idea of where they are going and what they are trying to accomplish. 2) Courage: Out of the seven leadership traits, courage is the most identifiable outward trait. 3) Integrity: The main ingredient that almost all executives believe is a necessity in a company or organization. It starts at the very top. 4) Humility: Great leaders are strong and decisive yet also humble. 5) Strategic Planning: Great leaders are outstanding at strategic planning. They have the ability to look ahead, to anticipate with accuracy where an industry is headed and time the market accordingly. 6) Focus: The ability to make sure everyone on the team or company is focused and concentrated on the most valuable use of their time is essential to success. 7) Cooperation: Leadership is the ability to get people to work together for a common purpose because they like working with and for you. There are other traits of a leader that come through the inertia to get things done. In reading a recent Forbes article (Here), it struck me that the most common theme of leadership is developing the people you work with to get the very best out of their talents. Cathy Engelbert, the CEO of Deloitte is spot on with her leadership thoughts: First, I’d say focus heavily on the human element of work. Things machines may not ever do. Reading people, influencing people, leading people. Second, focus on long term investments, like investments in emerging technology and platforms, but more important, retooling and re-skilling the workforce. And the third piece of advice is, as a leader, one should consider focusing on getting some small things of symbolic value done to build trust, and then the harder things you want to get done become easier. As we approach our April 4 Leadership Forum, we have a lot to think about in this changing world. We are moving into what is being described as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. When is the last time we heard “more” equality and stability? A good reason for optimism. The future is about a wide set of forces, including technological innovation such as robotics, artificial intelligence, sensors, blockchain and cloud computing, as well as huge demographic shifts like longer lives, multiple generations working together, more diversity than ever, and increased customer empowerment and the rise of global talent markets. Did you know that reports show 65% of children entering school today will work in jobs or fields that don’t even exist yet? These new factors will push us to evolve the way companies work, the way they run, and how they engage with clients and customers. Please join us next month so we can listen and learn from two great leaders and a panel of local leaders in an interactive conversation with our chamber members. See you on April 4. Register here.
Next month on April 4 at the Scotts Valley Hilton, the Santa Cruz Area Chamber will hold our second installment of our Leadership Forum. The old saying leaders are made by the time and through persistent actions taking on challenges because they do not fear the unknown. Leaders are not born to perfection, rather they are chiseled by incidents in their lives that require strength and sometimes an uncanny behavior that is hard to explain.
Of course a leader in the business community reacts differently than a leader in the public sector. But it is true, whether you are the CEO of your company, an executive in the non-profit world or public sector official, that each leader has specific traits that set her/him a part from the rank and file of a business or organization. This Leadership Forum is an opportunity to take a deep dive and listen, learn and walk away with ideas to better understand how these individuals lead.
Our two keynote speakers, UCSC’s Executive Vice Chancellor Marlene Tromp and former CEO of MetricStream, Shellye Archambeau come from different backgrounds - one from higher education and the other from the tech sector. We will marvel at their past accomplishments as women leaders in their respective field. Each one will have a different story to share carved from personal and professional experience. Yet, I imagine we will hear similar traits that drive their career path.
I spend a lot of time researching, reading, and listening from respected leaders from all sectors. I admire their perseverance to overcome challenges while meeting demanding goals. Here are seven traits of a leader.
1) Vision: Great leaders have a clear and exciting idea of where they are going and what they are trying to accomplish.
2) Courage: Out of the seven leadership traits, courage is the most identifiable outward trait.
3) Integrity: The main ingredient that almost all executives believe is a necessity in a company or organization. It starts at the very top.
4) Humility: Great leaders are strong and decisive yet also humble.
5) Strategic Planning: Great leaders are outstanding at strategic planning. They have the ability to look ahead, to anticipate with accuracy where an industry is headed and time the market accordingly.
6) Focus: The ability to make sure everyone on the team or company is focused and concentrated on the most valuable use of their time is essential to success.
7) Cooperation: Leadership is the ability to get people to work together for a common purpose because they like working with and for you.
There are other traits of a leader that come through the inertia to get things done. In reading a recent Forbes article (Here), it struck me that the most common theme of leadership is developing the people you work with to get the very best out of their talents. Cathy Engelbert, the CEO of Deloitte is spot on with her leadership thoughts:
First, I’d say focus heavily on the human element of work. Things machines may not ever do. Reading people, influencing people, leading people.
Second, focus on long term investments, like investments in emerging technology and platforms, but more important, retooling and re-skilling the workforce.
And the third piece of advice is, as a leader, one should consider focusing on getting some small things of symbolic value done to build trust, and then the harder things you want to get done become easier.
As we approach our April 4 Leadership Forum, we have a lot to think about in this changing world. We are moving into what is being described as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. When is the last time we heard “more” equality and stability? A good reason for optimism.
The future is about a wide set of forces, including technological innovation such as robotics, artificial intelligence, sensors, blockchain and cloud computing, as well as huge demographic shifts like longer lives, multiple generations working together, more diversity than ever, and increased customer empowerment and the rise of global talent markets.
Did you know that reports show 65% of children entering school today will work in jobs or fields that don’t even exist yet? These new factors will push us to evolve the way companies work, the way they run, and how they engage with clients and customers.
Please join us next month so we can listen and learn from two great leaders and a panel of local leaders in an interactive conversation with our chamber members. See you on April 4.
Register here.