My View: A perfect way for leaders to find the time to think
I definitely get it. You finally get to the top spot in the organization. Odds are you made it to CEO, president or similar role because you’ve thought of and executed some great ideas in your career path.
Then you quickly realize finding the time to just think is now a rare commodity.
I just wrapped up spending a few days with people who have experienced that scenario. All were participants in the Arizona Technology Council’s 17th annual CEO Leadership Retreat in Sedona. And all jumped at the opportunity to hit the pause button with their peers.
But instead of spending time relaxing at the spa, we all spent one of our days together just listening, sharing — and thinking. Leading the working sessions were speakers who have spent their careers offering guidance to professionals who want to take their organizations to higher levels.
So, what did we learn? What follows are snapshots of the speakers and their topics. While I can’t recreate the discussions in this space, I offer enough information to do your own searches in case you want to hear more from the speakers. Also included are takeaways from some participating members of the Council’s board of directors, who also are leaders in their own organizations.
Genein Letford
Founder and CEO, CAFFE Strategies
Topic: NeuroSomatic Creativity: Building Brain Capital and Brain Health With Creative Thinking
Synopsis: Learn why brain capital and brain health are critical for CEOs to be aware of and how using creative thinking can improve both of those elements.
Alex Iuorio, Senior vice president, Supplier Development, Avnet, Board chair: “The specific discussion on metaphors and being able to think in the abstract/symbolic as the prerequisite to complex cognitive thinking was very insightful. I also think the model she provided on ‘drafting a sub-problem’ can have applicability to any and all of us in terms of honing these cognitive skills.”
Reetika Dhawan, CEO of Entrepreneurial College and vice president of Workforce & Healthcare, Arizona Western College, Board member: “It was fascinating to learn … how fostering creativity can significantly enhance cognitive function and leadership capabilities.”
Matt Blair, President, IMMEDIA, Board member: “You need to experience things outside of your comfort zone to drive that creativity. Use metaphors and visual images to drive the message to drive additional learning to your team.”
Margo Boster
Co-founder and executive coach, ImpaQ Solutions
Topic: Mindfully Successful: Discover Effective Leadership Through the Integration of Brain, Body, and Breath Science
Synopsis: Explore breathing techniques to feel calm, energized or patient; physical postures to feel centered, strong and balanced; and brain exercises to reduce the impact of traumatic reactions.
Dhawan: “This holistic approach to leadership resonated with my ongoing efforts to promote well-being among my team.”
Blair: “Reinforcement of changing your state through breathing exercises to calm your body/mind and evaluate if you’re successfully exhausted or mindfully successful.”
Carol A. Poore
President, Poore & Associates Strategic Planning
Topic: Leadership in the Metaverse: Essential Skills to Lead With Strategy + Build Community In Our Immersive, Web3 World
Synopsis: In addition to becoming aware of metaverse innovations, learn about leadership qualities — agile and strategic, authentic, and servant leader-community building — pertinent to reducing isolation and creating communities of interest, action and impact.
Blair: “Made me think about what type of leader I am and what I need to focus on … and how are we dealing with the metaverse as all of us move forward.”
Iuorio: “Defining the metaverse initially established a common understanding and provided the foundation to discuss leadership styles and techniques in that context.”
Joan (Joni) Hibdon
Executive coach, consultant, leadership developer, author, jdhInsights, LLC
Topic: A New Way To Look At Feedback
Synopsis: Learn how to connect in a conscious, considerate way to make a difference with feedback to create better relationships and improved results in an organization.
Blair: “As a leader are we confident in front of our groups and are we finding ways to gather our team’s feedback? Great point that we get the feedback at the interview, but then forget to provide guiding specifics for expectations along the way of what they are doing well and what needs improvement. New employees don’t know our expectations unless we let them know.”
Iuorio: “Real feedback: easy to talk about … hard to execute. The idea that ‘Not giving honest feedback hits the bottom line’ was/is powerful … and the applicability obvious.”
Steven Weaver
Certified executive coach and Vistage chair, 3-Pillars Performance Group
Topic: Effective Ways to Counter Executive Isolation
Synopsis: The old saying, “It is lonely at the top” is all too true. Explore what executive isolation is and identify solutions that are working for executives.
Dhawan: “This session provided actionable strategies that I can implement within my organization to improve communication and foster a more connected leadership team.”
Blair: “The Mentimeter to run through collective gathering of ideas and to drive discussion was great.”
José A. Oliver
CEO and executive coach, Awakening Minds, LLC
Topic: High-Road Leadership, Bringing People Together in a World that Divides
Synopsis: Learn several practices of high-road leaders who prioritize values and ethics, including cultivating a bigger-picture thinking.
Blair: “The One World Tower example to drive that we can have fun with our teams but also have to give direction on our True North (values), what makes us unique and where we came from is a great way to drive culture to our employees.”
Dhawan: “Reaffirmed the necessity of maintaining integrity, fairness and respect in all our interactions.”
And here is some overall feedback from two other board members:
Eric Miller
Principal & co-owner, PADT; Board member, Executive committee emeritus member
“The presentations from experts and time spent talking with other leaders were great reminders of how important it is to get away and focus on how you and your organization think about leadership. The location in Sedona is conducive to stepping away, stop constantly reacting, and take time to think about how our business operates and how we can build on our successes and meet challenges head on.”
Carol Stewart
Vice president, The University of Arizona, Tech Parks Arizona; CEO, UA Tech Parks & president, UA Center for Innovation; Board member
“An outstanding day of learning and reminders to reframe some of our views from the corner office, to be inclusive in the strategic planning for the future and to create a culture of constructive feedback. I took away ideas and exercises I can implement with my already world-class team to take them to the next level.”
We already are looking forward to next year’s sessions. When plans are set, we will post them on the Council’s website at www.aztechcouncil.org.
Whether you hold the title of CEO, C-suite executive, president, business leader, founder or entrepreneur, plan on joining us next summer. You owe it to yourself and your organization to take the time to think about building your future.
Steve Zylstra is s president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council.