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Columbus Partnership Archives - thinkCSC

Aug 05
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Selflessness Is Strength: Reflections on Leadership

By | Community Involvement | No Comments

by Tom Hastings

cpColonel Eric Kail wrote an excellent article about leadership character in The Washington Post. He says, “Selflessness is all about strength, and it’s not for the faint of heart. Weakness, on the other hand, takes the path of least resistance; and as humans, that means being selfish — wanting all the credit and none of the blame. Real strength is measured by what we enable our followers to accomplish through our service to them.”

To be an effective business leader, one must come from the perspective of helping others play to their strengths. The Columbus Partnership enables us to be such leaders. Three strong pillars support the organization: the Columbus Chamber, TechColumbus and Columbus2020. Each pillar is vital to the health of the Columbus business climate.

The Columbus Chamber looks at the business climate in the Central Ohio region holistically and develops programs to encourage companies to stay in the metro. The Columbus Chamber works well with all the other chambers in the surrounding counties in a cooperative effort to retain businesses. They offer professional development events such as speakers and opportunities for members to learn and grow through networking, trade shows, and other opportunities.

TechColumbus encourages small businesses by arranging funds, or putting them in touch with the opportunity to get investment funds. They are always looking for fresh ideas for professional development. TechColumbus partners qualified people with young entrepreneurs to review business plans and goals. They also have many roundtable discussions with business leaders in town. A unique value proposition and a business plan that has sexy elements to it appeals to the leaders associated with TechColumbus.

Columbus2020! is the newest initiative in the Columbus Partnership. Columbus2020!’s focus is to attract business to Columbus from throughout the country and the world. Their staffers travel extensively talking about how great Columbus is as a business location. Over 200 companies are considering relocating here since Columbus2020! started. They do a great job of getting the news out and telling our story. CSC is proud to be an investor with Columbus2020! They have about 160 investors in Columbus2020! ranging from small investors to big companies that cut checks for $100,000.00. Community involvement through Columbus2020! is a win-win all the way around.

Our goal at CSC, partly working through The Columbus Partnership, is to serve our fellow business owners. If I am giving my people all the access, tools & encouragement that they need to succeed, I am being an effective leader. We are excited about the current and future possibilities in Columbus. We invite you to join us!

Jun 30
0

The Columbus Partnership and thinkCSC

By | Community Involvement

by Tom Hastings
Recently I was invited to attend a Columbus Partnership leadership retreat at Harvard. My experience was eye opening and encouraging! The Columbus Partnership is a civic organization of community leaders whose goal is to improve the economic vitality of Central Ohio. Although The Partnership has many guiding principles & initiatives, their current focus is with economic development in Central Ohio-which is being executed. through the Columbus 2020! Plan.

I had an amazing surprise right off the bat – I was invited to fly on Les Wexner’s private jet with Partnership members. I definitely count this as a top five business experience! We flew to Cambridge and met for two days with Harvard Fellows and Professors who talked about business development, leadership and many other important topics. The conference provided a great opportunity for me to grow professionally and personally.

My initial take away from the leadership retreat is the humility of this group of leaders. The prevailing attitude was, “We’re here to learn because we believe that leadership is a journey and not a destination.”   Their concise focus and mission is to develop Columbus & Central Ohio into the greatest community in the US to both work and live.

The Partnership retreat started with a roundtable discussion about the generations from Baby Boomers to Generation X and Generation Y and the differences on how people think based on their generations. We dovetailed into how each generation works and what they expect from the companies where they work. I found it fascinating: We are all the same and yet we are not-based on the generational timeframethat each of us was raised.  Generational leadership is blossoming in Columbus, and to have this conversation with Harvard Fellows about what makes each of us tick is applicable to Columbus and our workforce.

Three successful city leaders led another discussion on where government and business work well together and where they don’t. The Partnership can take this information and knowledge and apply it to Columbus. When city government and business community leaders work together, long-term goals can be realized more effectively.

The Partnership believes – and I agree – that community involvement is good business. The biggest gift you can give and the biggest difference you can make is your time. Whether it’s reading to a second grade class or meeting with juniors and seniors who are contemplating college, the time and experience you share with students is invaluable.

I learned much at this leadership retreat-the value of trans-generational communication, the importance of humility & the positive impact and outcomes of community involvement.

CSC is already drawing up a plan to participate in Columbus education programs and expects to become more proactive and impactful in the daily business objectives of Columbus – I hope that you do too!