Strategic Leadership Shaped by a Service Mindset

What does it take to lead organizations through change and innovation? In this episode, Rich sits down with Christie Tarantino-Dean, CEO of Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). With over 30 years of experience in association management, Christie has also served as President and CEO of the Association Forum of Chicagoland and Executive Director of the Academy of General Dentistry. She shares insights on the importance of relationships and offers valuable lessons for leaders aiming to innovate and create lasting value.

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Key Quotes:

“I do think because people that I've seen either that I've worked with or that I've known professionally that focus so much on the next thing, they may miss those opportunities to learn, so they're prepared for the next thing. I see a lot of people who moved to the next thing, and then they're on the bigger stage. And they're hit with a moment where they have no background or experience and they don't know how to manage through that. And it can be really detrimental to their career moving forward. So I'm a big believer in not focusing two and three steps ahead.”

“I've actually started blocking a whole week a quarter to be able to think more. I'm always thinking about the future, but really having dedicated uninterrupted time to think.”

“If you're not upsetting about 20 percent of your membership, you're probably not doing enough to advance the organization into the future.”

“We've worked on constructive dissent, people saying what they really think in the meeting and being comfortable with that so that we don't have the, “Well, I knew that was gonna be a bad idea,”, later on. But at the end of the day, someone has to own it and you're not going to get everybody 100%--maybe you can get 80% of the way there and then you can assess whether it was the right decision and, and adjust along the way.”

“At the end of the day, it is impossible to make everybody happy. And so we try to focus on the good of the whole and really understanding how we can have the biggest impact and that is focusing what we do.”

“Stepping in not to step over, but to support the team.”

“Reaching our vision and mission as an organization means we need to continually change and evolve in order to serve. And if we really want to make that impact, the status quo is going to move you along that road to irrelevance really quickly.”

“I think the strongest teams come out of moments of crisis where everybody is supportive and steps up. And it's maybe not their job, but they're there to help each other.”

Practice Makes Profit: How to use SWOT analysis correctly to be a valuable planning tool

 

League of Strategic Minds [listener question] How can I explain the difference between strategy and tactics to my team? 

 

Winsights: Ideas for Advantage

Jim Barksdale, former CEO of Netscape Communications said, “In the fight between the bear and the alligator, the outcome is determined by the terrain. Each animal presents a fearsome figure on its own turf, but the bear will flounder in a swamp, while the alligator surrenders many of its advantages when forced to fight on dry land. In a battle where the two are evenly matched, the victory will go to the one fighting on home terrain.”

What terrain is most advantageous for you, for your team, for your product and service offerings, and how can you move your competitor into that terrain more often?

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Time stamps:

(01:07) Deep Dive Interview with Christie Tarantino-Dean

(47:55) Practice Makes Profit

(51:47) League of Strategic Minds 

(53:51) Winsights, Ideas for Advantage 

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Links:

Submit a question for Rich to the League of Strategic Minds 

Christie Tarantino-Dean on LinkedIn