Taking Care of Your Business

Conversation with Kym Laube

Kym Laube is the Executive Director of Human Understanding Growth Services, Inc., HUGS, Inc., located in Westhampton Beach, NY. In this position she brings over 30 years of substance use prevention knowledge and expertise, leading the organization to provide a full array of multidimensional prevention services. Kym is a national trainer and speaker, working with notable leaders in prevention including CADCA.She is also a current member of our Vistage Peer Advisory Group

Long Island Business Leader: Scott Passeser

Join me and Long Island business leader, Scott Passeser. Scott is a proponent of the insights from Vistage’s CEO Confidence Index, and their applicability for business leaders. Each quarter he invites me onto his show, “Radio Jobline 103.9,” where I do a deep dive into these insights. We discuss national and Long Island trends in the report, and bring them to life by discussing how Long Island CEOs are leveraging the information to make better decisions and get better results in their business. Scott has over 25 years of strategic recruitment experience on a local, regional and global scale as both a manager and individual contributor. He is recognized for content creation to increase web and social media traffic, capture of new verticals, account development, training, team-building and full life-cycle recruitment. He also has a strong record of achievement in corporate recruiting working for OSI Pharmaceuticals, Henry Schein, Inc. and CA Technologies. Former Staffing and Career Columnist for National Business Employment Weekly, Newsday and Long Island Business News.

How Hungry Are You?

Caitlin Clark plays basketball for the University of Iowa.  She recently took over the top spot as the all-time scoring leader in the history of women’s college basketball, and also broke the men’s college basketball career scoring record that has been on the books for over 50 years.  Clark has been described as “unstoppable….a supernova….a tsunami of impact!”  People also talk about her swagger: the confidence, boldness and aggressiveness that she demonstrates on the court.  Recent research on leadership highlights 22 behaviors of leadership effectiveness, and one of these dimensions is called “dominant,” which is the hunger we see in the best leaders.  In this podcast you’ll learn what this essential leadership behavior looks like, and how Iowa’s “basketball supernova” exemplifies all that it means.

How Do You Make Decisions?

How do you make decisions? Some rely on instinct and others rely on data. But you can’t overlook the value of outside perspectives. The CEO Confidence Index is one of the crown jewels of Vistage. It’s the definitive source for what leaders of SMBs are thinking—outside perspectives—and a leading indicator of a major metric used by the best economists in the US. It’s a bit like those curved mirrors in a parking garage, you know the ones that help you see around the corner. As the leader of your organization you still have to drive the car, but the Vistage CEO Index helps you see what’s coming around the corner for small and midsize companies. It may help you make better decisions.

Ryan Dempsey on Vistage

Current member, Ryan Dempsey, provides insight into what drew him to Vistage.
Ryan Dempsey is the Managing Partner at East End Group that provides commercial maintenance services to property owners, managers and businesses in New York and throughout the northeast. They install new services and fixtures, perform preventative commercial maintenance services, and complete building condition reports. East End Group has distinguished themselves from other commercial maintenance companies through its exceptional professionals, dedication to innovation, communication, and significant experience as a full-service provider of maintenance solutions. Their professionals are East End Group employees, not subcontractors.

What Can Business Learn From Non-Profits?

A colleague of mine, Norma Rosenberg, says she loves when her non-profit and for profit CEOs get together, because they “rub off on each other.”  Leaders grow when they’re exposed to different leadership approaches.  And in the course of these interactions, divergent perspectives “rub off on each other” to the benefit of all.  In this installment you’ll gain key insights on what business can learn from non-profits on two important topics: strategy and people.

What Can We Learn From Our Competitors?

I recently went to an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum Art that got me thinking about leadership and in particular this question: what can we learn from our competitors? The exhibit focused on two painters from the 19th century—Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas. They were rock stars! (Think “Taylor Swift and Beyonce” from the 19th century!) And they had a complicated relationship over the years; they were friends and competitors, adversaries and even enemies for a time. But they leveraged what they learned from each other to become even more proficient—and creative—artists. The leadership take away for me was that we have a choice in how we think about our competitors. We can give in to the impulse to mock what they do, discredit them at every opportunity, even try to eliminate them. Or, we can step back and appreciate what they do, and look for ways to learn from them to improve our business and become a better leader. This podcast describes the unexpected painting that illustrates how even hostility can lead to innovation.

James Dussich on Vistage

Join me with current member James Dussich to talk about our Vistage peer advisory group.James Dussich is a solution-based leader with immense passion, focus on accountability, dedication to growth and integrity across all aspects of his work. As Chief Executive Officer and Owner at Mint-X® LLC, James manages all aspects of the business including P&L, vision and planning, growth strategy, operations and manufacturing, sales and marketing and business development.His “roll up your sleeves” attitude has driven his company from inception to an international thriving business that includes strategic partnerships with the leading retailers in the world.James has spent his career building Mint-X® from the ground up. Prior to becoming CEO, he was Chief Operating Officer where he established and then managed multiple manufacturing facilities across New York and New Jersey. Additionally, he led research and development of new products, overseeing everything including quality assurance and logistics from ideation to store shelves. Under James’ leadership the company earned multiple prestigious certifications that are nationally recognized as the Gold Standards in manufacturing practices.

The Value of One-to-Ones

I meet each month privately with my members where we really dig into the issues and opportunities specific to each member. In these sessions, I don't have all the answers. In fact, my philosophy in coaching is to ask the questions no one else is asking them. My role is to question their answers and help them get to the next level. 
 
This episode contains testimonials about the value of these one-to-one executive coaching sessions straight from my members themselves.

The Culture of the Peer Group

A friend of mine recently returned from a long weekend with friends she has known for decades. When I asked about the weekend, she smiled and said, "I was with my tribe again: it was wonderful!" There are tribes in the workplace too, and the wonderful book "Tribal Leadership" points out that there are various stages of tribal development in organizations. And each stage has its own culture. What's the culture of our Vistage tribe, otherwise known as a peer advisory group? This video describes that culture, in the words of several of its members.