In November of 2024, we were fortunate enough to attend two leadership events in Columbus: 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, and we wanted to share our learnings below.
Disclaimers
Before we go into our Columbus November leadership learnings, we’ve made it our mission to be more involved locally. Our goal for the remainder of 2024 and into 2025 is to be active at our local chamber events. We love Columbus and have been loving the network within the city. This article is one of many we’ll continue to share based on our learnings in Columbus.
Update in September 2025: we’ve met our goal and have been at 20+ events this year!
The Columbus Chamber of Commerce: Leadership Panel
Three brilliant leadership coaches with decades of experience shared their leadership experiences. Each had their unique stories and approach to leadership. Here’s what we jotted down that we thought were powerful and inspiring:
- Leadership meets you where you are: We thought this was encouraging, and it points out that you can’t lead if you don’t know your audience.
- 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 timespan. However, over the span of years, these changes become multiples of where you started. We must remind ourselves that becoming a better leader takes time. So, keep persisting and practicing leadership.
- Leaders must be equipped with the right tools: To unlock your full potential, 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 beyond your control and would not have succeeded no matter what you or anyone else did. A retrospective is key to uncovering key shortcomings throughout your leadership journey.
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 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 a lot of sense. At networking events, there are always guilty parties who 1) look uninterested, 2) would rather be somewhere else, or 3) give one-word answers. Curiosity helps overcome them by uncovering shared topics that can guide 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 builds better business relationships: Having a curious mindset makes you a magnet for others. People will enjoy your presence and open their networks if there’s an opportunity.
- Curiosity solves problems: You may find that you’re not the right guy for addressing their current problem. But you can show others your approach to problem-solving, even complex ones unrelated to your business. When the opportunity comes up, customers will remember you!
We would never have thought that 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 leadership skills. Our local chambers presented some interesting and nuanced aspects for understanding leadership. By understanding those nuances and how curiosity can shape leadership, you’ll gain an edge in 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 to immerse ourselves in all things business in Columbus.
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