Leadership is a vital skill that every professional must have and refine throughout their career. As digital marketers, we practice leadership daily, leading our clients through our marketing strategy, planning, and execution. Engaging with our local chambers of commerce, we were fortunate enough to attend two leadership events in November: one hosted by the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and another hosted by the Tri-Village Chamber Partnership. Each event brought a unique perspective on leadership, which we found extremely useful and interesting.
Disclaimers
Before we go into our Columbus November leadership learnings, we’ve made it our mission to be more immersed locally. As a result, our goal for the remainder of 2024 and into 2025 is to remain active around the local chamber events. We love Columbus and have been loving the network within the city. This article is one of many that we’ll continue to share from our learnings in Columbus. Note, we are not experts in the field of leadership, but below captures what we’ve uncovered.
The Columbus Chamber of Commerce – Leadership Panel
Three brilliant leadership coaches with decades of experience opened up their experiences. Each had their unique stories and approach to leadership. After the event, here’s what we jotted down that we thought were powerful and inspiring:
- Leadership meets you where you are – we thought this was a subtle way of encouraging people that there is a spectrum for leadership. You have to start somewhere, whether that’s with zero experience or plenty of it. In other words, it’s a good reminder that not all leaders are built the same and we always have something to work on.
- Leadership is a journey – there is no shortcut for leadership. You have to put the time in to make incremental changes. These changes seem pretty small in a short amount of time. However, once you compound your leadership progress over the span of years, these minor improvements will become multiples of where you started! We must remind ourselves of this and that we will have many learning opportunities throughout our careers to become better leaders. So, keep persisting and practicing leadership.
- Leaders must be equipped with the right tools – to unlock your full potential as a leader, you need the right tools for the job. As a leader, you must keep this point in mind. Your success is only as good as the support you get. Sometimes, a failed project is out of your control and would not have succeeded no matter what you or someone else did. Retrospective is key to uncovering key shortcomings throughout your leadership journey.
These three points are vital to leadership and are just the tip of the iceberg. All three apply to all business leaders, which we’ve found them highly insightful.
The Tri-Village Chamber Partnership – Leadership through Curiosity
It was a coincidence, but another November leadership event was hosted by the Tri-Village Chamber Partnership, representing three cities: Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, and Marble Cliff. This event was unique and was centered around storytelling. The running theme was becoming a better leader by activating your curiosity. Here’s how it works:
- Curiosity leads the conversations – this makes the most sense. Networking events identify the guilty parties who 1) look uninterested, 2) would rather be somewhere else, or 3) give one-word answers. Curiosity helps uncover mutual topics that can help lead the conversation in a more productive direction.
- Curiosity uncovers facts – when placed in a team environment, knowing issues, answers, and people will get you the details to make the best decisions as a leader.
- Curiosity makes better business relationships – having a curious mindset makes you a magnet for others to be around. People will enjoy your presence and will open up their network if there’s an opportunity.
- Curiosity solves problems – you may find that you’re not the right guy for the job. But you can show others your approach to problems, even complex ones unrelated to your business. When the opportunity comes up, customers will remember you!
We would have never thought curiosity would be a leadership tool, but it is. It’s something that we will incorporate at all levels within our digital marketing agency.
The Bottom Line / TLDR
Whether you’re a digital marketer or in a completely different profession, you must possess a level of leadership skills. Our local chambers presented some interesting and nuanced aspects for understanding leadership. By understanding those nuances and how curiosity can impact leadership, you’ll gain an edge over others for becoming a better leader. We hope that you found this leadership article helpful. If you did, we’ll have more to share as we continue immersing ourselves further in all business things Columbus.
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