It has been 4 years since the Vistage Members in L.A. county got together for a Vistage Executive Summit, and this was a super event. The hotel was great, staff was so friendly and so competent and it was great to meet Vistage Members who were not in your own group. Every Vistage Member takes at least a day a month to be with their peers working on getting better as leaders and running their organizations. Meeting a room full of fellow Vistage Members, peers who are aligned with your goals to be better in leadership and business is pretty sweet.
Not all the news was good. According to Connor Lokar of ITR economics, we are going into the recession as we ring in 2024. And speaker Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer of Vistage says we are going to have just a brief lull in hiring difficulties before they become serious again. He recommends focusing on retention of existing team members so you won’t have to spend weeks to months replacing trained people with untrained who demand higher pay.
The third speaker, Sandy Gennaro, drummed his way into our hearts with his message on the rewards that come from doing the right thing, every time, with every interaction. Just like the drummer drives the beat of the band, the leader drives the vision and the alignment for the organization. Do that well and the team performs better than you could have ever imagined.
For the Members present, the interactions outside the formal presentations were the cherry on the cake. Just like they are in every Vistage meeting. Just like it was 65 years ago when we started in Wisconsin with a small group of guys who found even more value beyond the speaker by discussing how to use the content to be better leaders.
As a 23 year Chair and a 4 year member before that, I say here’s to Vistage – where leaders go to get better together. It was a great day!
Photo – Some of the Members of CE 58 celebrating Lifetime Achievement award winner – Dan Mollura of VTI Technologies, on my left and Troy Rankin of Farwest Corrosion, winner of the Legacy Award on my right. From left, Ed James, Alan Sugano, Dan Mollura, me, Troy Rankin, Mitch Su, Mercy Steenwyk, Diane Doolin, and Reto Fehr.
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