Emerging Leaders Retreat recap by CREW Miami member Isabela Montalvo

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”  It was with this familiar Wayne Gretzy quote that the workshop on the final day of the 2024 CREW Network Emerging Leaders Summit began.  It had been a psychologically exhausting set of days for me, poring over workbooks and notes, actively listening to the various speakers, and concertedly looking inward.  There are no rewards without taking risks, no rewards without taking shots at the net, and I wanted to make sure my shot counted.

I had arrived in Phoenix two days prior with just 9 months of experience under my belt as a manager and a new hire/second direct report on the way in less than a month.  The Summit could not have come at a better time, nor could having been honorably selected as CREW Miami’s first Emerging Leaders Summit Award recipient.  It would be my first visit to Phoenix, to boot.

Though in a new city, I felt a certain sense of familiarity with the place.  The golf course and Mediterranean-inspired architecture of the Arizona Grand Resort & Space—the Summit’s stunning venue—along with the sunny skies hearkened back to the Magic City from which I had just departed.  The people, however, were a new experience.  Throughout the three-day Summit, opportunities abounded to network with CREW Network members 35-years-old or younger from all over the country.

While the growth in my LinkedIn Rolodex was a benefit, the growth I was after was for my extended team and my burgeoning team of direct reports at work, myself as a professional, and myself as a person.  The Summit workshops did not disappoint and made it evidently clear that leadership is just as much about knowing oneself as it is about knowing others and how to approach them.  As Dwight D. Eisenhower explained it, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

Joan Fletcher, President of Winning Ways and our first day’s workshop guide, focused on getting in touch with oneself.  We learned how leveraging our strengths can help in both leading oneself and in leading others.  Further, we discussed how regularly checking in with one’s mood and putting a name to it—whether pleasant or unpleasant, high in intensity or low in intensity—can help one to regulate it effectively and productively.

Merrick Rosenberg, CEO of Take Flight Learning, gave us a deep dive into DISC styles with a spin, with each style represented by a type of bird.  We were each met with workbooks showing the results of online assessments we had taken before the Summit, with colorful pictures of our bird(s) and their traits.  After getting to know ourselves, the workshop shifted to learning how to identify and approach other birds and how to speak in their style.  The day-long workshop also expounded upon social awareness and emotional intelligence.

Our third and final day of workshops was led by Stacey McKibbin, CEO of Consilio.  Hers took a much more tactical approach.  We discussed both how to deliver and how to receive feedback; how to read and convey messages implicit in body language and tone of voice; how to pace conversations across not only minutes but also how to build upon them over days and weeks; and how to approach difficult conversations based on our counterpart’s personality style, with a helpful script included.

I took a small risk in applying for CREW Miami’s Emerging Leaders Summit Award, a bigger risk in boarding my flight to Phoenix (looking at you, Boeing), and a special risk in being vulnerable and open to new ideas as the workshop hours passed and the introspection waxed.  Despite its risks, the Summit was a worthwhile experience.  Only more risks lie ahead and only more Wayne Gretzky shots need to be taken as I continue my pursuit of becoming a better leader, and the knowledge I gained at the Summit will help make those shots count.