Leadership Summit Balances Head and Heart for Success

Attending the 2-day Leadership Success Summit in Ontario, CA at the end of January left me and everyone I met energized and exhilarated; ready to implement everything we learned immediately! To ensure our success, we were given the tools we needed to implement all we had learned. Lisa Marie Platske, CEO of Upside Thinking, created this business conference with that intention in mind. Not only did she actively balance head and heart, she appealed to different personality learning styles while teaching us all how to incorporate and implement important basic business tools immediately.

Lisa Marie and I spoke at length about how important it is to find a personal balance between head and heart in growing a successful business. We are not just heads running around creating deals and building business, we are flesh and bone and feelings. If we are to include our personal happiness in our definition of success we have to tap into our passion - our heart. Lisa Marie "wanted to offer a business event, help businesses get the help they need, but not have them burn out with too much information".

The structure of the conference was based on Lisa Marie's Seven Pillars of Success: planning, personality, partnerships, priorities, presence, progress and personal and professional development. Each pillar was explained in detail by one of the speakers or by a panel and then the audience could ask questions and get immediate coaching. In addition, Lisa Marie took time to ensure audience members left with the proper tools they needed to implement these pillars immediately.

People learn differently.

There are four primary learning styles: visual, auditory, read-write, and kinesthetic (more touch and feel centered). People learn using a variety of these methods, but one is usually predominant. Lisa Marie addressed all learning types in her conference. She even had a basket of small toys and balls to choose from for kinesthetic learners.

Each of the speakers were chosen with this in mind. She invited Faith Rivera, an Emmy award-winning singer/songwriter to sit on a planning and strategy panel and share her songs with the audience. Faith was able to offer her unique perspective on strategic planning. Later she lead us in song; she energized and inspired us all as we found ourselves up on our feet, singing and dancing. The tag line on Faith's website is "change your music, change your life". Her music added heart to Lisa Marie's conference.




In between learning segments, Lisa Malik got us all on our feet again, moving and smiling while she shared more great tools from her Maxitize Method. Not only did we learn, we learned how to retain what we learned! "Lisa Malik has a wonderful way of engaging and energizing audiences with her Maxitize Warm-Up method....She received rave reviews from the attendees and presenters alike!" , says Lisa Marie.

And for those who like Ice Cream, (who doesn't?) Smita Vasant, founder of Neemo's Exotic Ice Creams and Saffron Spot, provided us all with her signature flavor of exotic ice cream, Saffron Silk. Smita was also a presenter on the strategy and planning panel. She is a true 'foodie' and she inspired us by sharing how she turned her passion for food and spices into profits.

Each of these successful women business owners is passionate about her business. In fact, these women based their businesses on their passion. Each implemented the best business strategies that were in alignment with their personal beliefs. Although they each run very different companies, what they have in common is passion and a balance between head and heart. This particular combination has brought them to their current levels of success (and they are all growing). They are passionate about their businesses and have made the conscious decision to stay in alignment with their core missions.

Many of the attendees were 2nd and 3rd time participants at this conference and have already marked their calendars for next year's conference. In 2010, Jenee Dana of Focus Planning "Mapped out a detailed plan for the year that has created a powerful and profitable foundation for years to come!" This year she participated as a vendor and paid close attention so she could continue to build on the strong foundation she has already created.

This conference stands out among others I have been to because of its balanced approach to business, learning and action. The journey to success is personal one. Finding a strategy to build on your passions while incorporating proper structures and foundation is a clear path to create a thriving business that will add to your personal happiness.

The good news: you don't have to do it alone. It is possible to lead with your heart and build a successful business and find the support you need to succeed!