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CAPITAL IDEAS UPCOMING EVENTS OCTOBER 22: 2015 CALGARY SMALL BUSINESS WEEK EXPO AND AWARDS SHOW Networking, workshops, a business expo, refreshments and an award show highlighting Calgary’s greatest small businesses. ■ Where: Telus Spark (220 St Georges Dr N.E.) ■ When: 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. ■ Admission: $40 for nonmembers. More info at smallbusinessweekcalgary. com
FINANCIAL POST
CA LG A RY H E R A L D
COMMUNITY QUESTION
HOW DO YOU ESTABLISH YOUR LEADERSHIP PRESENCE? Entrepreneurs share what values guide them in their leadership roles “Leadership is all about setting the vision and values and letting your people do their jobs. Once the vision and values are set, a leader must take steps to ensure their people can be successful. First, open communication, transparency in decision making and being fair and trustworthy to build respect and trust. Second, coaching staff to help them develop their talents and solve their own problems. Lastly, really listening to what your employees are saying. They have brought their ideas and skills to the table and need to be able to run with them. A great leader understands that they are working for their employees, not the other way around. A great leadership presence is something that is earned, and it is only earned when a leader has set the groundwork and trusts their people to do the right thing.”
OCTOBER 28: 2ND ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN WOMEN IN ENERGY FORUM A platform designed to recognize the contributions that women make to the energy sector, their future in the sector and as a platform for dialogue on key issues. ■ Where: Hotel Arts (119 12 Ave S.W.) ■ When: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. ■ Admission: $180. More info at womensenergyforum.com NOVEMBER 23-24: WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP AND BUSINESS CONFERENCE Designed for leaders, managers and entrepreneurs who want to advance their career or grow their business. ■ Where: Hyatt Regency Calgary (700 Centre Street S.E.) ■ When: 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. ■ Admission: $1295 early bird. More info at wilbconference.com For more great events, visit capitalideascalgary.com/ calgaryevents.
C A P I TA L QUESTION
Merri Lemmex, managing partner of operations, Lemmex Williams Training Inc., lemmexwilliams.com
“Management and leadership are quite different. A good manager will ensure the process is well managed with motivated people . A good leader defines the process, culture and strategy by inspiring the rest of the team” Dave Birkby, president at Vector Energy, vectorenergy.ca
“Leadership is an energy that motivates others to follow your lead. Being clear on who you are and leading from your authentic self is the best way to stay true to your values and be a leader.”
Ave Peetri, owner and coach at Confident Marketing Coach, confidentmarketing.com
“Leadership presence is established by listening and not talking. It’s about having a dialogue with others, not a debate. Being open to new ideas and having the ability to transform differences into opportunities. Using your inquiry skills to ask open questions that will enable those involved in the conversation to take time to build understanding before coming to a solution.” Michelle Phaneuf, Alberta co-director of Workplace Fairness, workplacefairness.ca P H O TO BY: M O NI QU E D E ST. CROI X , U N I QU E PE RS PE CTI VE S ( U NI Q U E P E R S P E CTI VES .CA)
“The number one thing for establishing presence is putting other people ahead of yourself. To find out whether I’m putting other people first I ask a couple of questions like these: Are you listening to other people? Are you paying attention to their needs? Interests? Questions? Suggestions? Are you asking them to do things you wouldn’t do? Leadership can’t be faked because it’s about relationships. It needs to be authentic compassion and genuine interest.” Sara Dasko, CEO of Free Mind Learning Services, freemindls.com
What’s your No. 1 cash flow management tip?
A business needs to update its cash flow forecasts on a regular basis, especially to prepare for down seasons or downturns in the economy, which is why Wellington Holbrook, vice president of ATB Business, is curious to hear from you: What’s your No. 1 cash flow management tip? You can answer the question in two ways: Open today’s Capital Ideas email if you’re a member or visit capitalideascalgary.com We’ll publish the best answers, along with your business name and website address, on October 15th.
Business owners helping business owners
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“I establish my leadership presence by providing up front value. People do what people see, so being able to develop and equip others in advance of offering a service, and therefore modelling leadership in action, is the best way to position myself as a leader.”
Justin Flunder, president of Justin Flunder, justinflunder.com
“Like many things, leadership presence boils down to the strong belief in the value of why you’re advocating what you are. If you truly believe that you have something of value to offer others, then your passion can’t help but show and inspire others to come along for the ride.”
Melanie Love, founder and CEO of Front Room, morefrontroom.com
“I prefer to lead by example. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it and I treat people how I would want to be treated. Actions speak much louder than words and I find this is the one of the most effective ways to establish your leadership presence.”
Jenn Egroff, principal at Catalystica, catalystica.ca
These answers are in response to a question posed by Laurie Stretch, general manager, Edelman Calgary (edelman.ca). Here’s her take: “Leadership ability can appear to be a natural attribute — you’re either born with it or you’re not. In reality, leadership is a skill to be learned and nurtured like any other. Happily, in the case of leadership, there is no one model that must be perfected in order to succeed. Great leaders can be introverted or extroverted, funny or serious, decisive or open-minded, female or male, young or old. Developing one’s leadership presence is a conscious effort that plays to natural strengths and compensates for natural weaknesses. I also believe that learning not to take things personally is critical to developing leadership presence.” Laurie Stretch will be participating as a panel speaker at the North American Women in Energy Forum on Oct. 28. Go to womensenergyforum.com for more info.
R O U N D U P : R E C E N T P O S T S F R O M C A P I TA L I D E A S M E M B E R S Find the full posts on these members’ LinkedIn profiles. We’ll curate a selection every Friday on our LinkedIn group, Capital Ideas Alberta. To bring yours to our attention, email it to hello@capitalideascalgary.com or use the hashtag #capitalideas when you post to LinkedIn.
From “Is your organization a duck or a frog?” by Len Nanjad, partner at COREinternational (coreinternational.com):
From “Why leadership through horsemanship?” by Nancy Lowery, lead people whisperer at The Natural Leader (thenaturalleader.ca):
From “Achieving Success” by Bruce McGregor, business coach at WBRC Solutions (wbrcsolutions.com):
“As the oil patch comes to terms with a more prolonged lower commodity price, and in turn, the rest of the Canadian economy, it may be time to change organizations from ducks to frogs. Each animal moves smoothly through water. But the efficiency of that movement is vastly different. Frogs, by natural design, can only move forward”
“Of the many lessons horses have taught me three concepts of great leadership stand out. You must be particular in your communication, impeccable in your behaviour and brave with your failures. The three go hand in hand each needing the other to be successful.”
“It is well documented that many people fail to achieve their goals in life due to the phenomenon known as ‘fear of failure’, but are you aware that a major factor that is often overlooked is a state known as ‘fear of success’?”
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