Spotlight on the Women’s Leadership Forum, Funding Conference and Best Practices Roundtables

Capes On, Masks Off

Women’s Leadership Forum welcomes members under the theme “Find Your Superpower”

Day #1 of the 2nd Annual Women’s Leadership Forum on April 1 in Washington, D.C., was nothing short of amazing. From the moment we kicked off the program, the energy was apparent and the room was buzzing. More than 170 attendees spent the better part of two days growing, networking, sharing and being present with themselves and each other.

Women’s Council Chair Lori Frasier welcomes attendees.

The day began with a warm welcome and opening remarks from ELFA President and CEO Ralph Petta, ELFA Chair Jud Snyder and Women’s Council Chair Lori Frasier. Attendees were urged from the first moment to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them and build some new relationships. Lori shared that it is the association’s goal to create an access point for engagement, and she reminded us that leadership is not a female or a male issue—it is everyone’s issue. Attendees were challenged to be intentional, to be real, to get to know one another and, my favorite, which set the tone for the entire meeting: “CAPES ON, MASKS OFF!”

U.S. Rep. Judy Chu addressed the networking reception. Pictured L-R: Ralph Petta, Rep. Chu, Jud Snyder, Lori Frasier and Shari Lipski.

As we transitioned into the networking luncheon, we were again encouraged to take off our masks and share some real insight with each other. At my specific table, we acknowledged that it is not always comfortable to do that, or to share what we believe are our strengths. However, when gently pushed to do so, it was evident that we all are capable and do some pretty amazing things, often without even realizing it. Grit, informal mentoring, perseverance and a willingness to change were only some of the traits that were shared, and applauded, at my table.

On Day 2, a breakout session on personal branding featured Lori Frasier; Deb Reuben, President of Reuben Creative; and Michelle Speranza, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer at LEAF Commercial Capital.

The afternoon continued with Tanya Menon, Associate Professor at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University, who focused on effective negotiations. We participated in an exercise that quickly revealed how easy it is to let our conversations go to impasse. We learned that haggling is not problem solving, and the best negotiators are those individuals who take the time to understand the other person’s/party’s wants and needs. Value creation comes from complexity, and we must both “value claim” and “value create” simultaneously. Success comes when we ask provocative questions that create both collaboration and dialogue. Further, we must be wary of our kryptonite—unreciprocated favors, reduced ROI and negative personality-based feedback—that comes from others with intent to use our power against us. To be effective, we must find signals in the noise. Before we can focus on our own message, we must first understand the other person’s message. We must be able to establish ground rules, and we need to be able to speak our truth without apology.

Executive Leaders panel featuring (L-R) Kris Snow, Jud Snyder, Kara Miyasoto, Martha Ahlers and Amy Nelson

The culmination of the day came with an esteemed executive panel sharing their powerful superpowers and how they came to both recognize and embrace them. Their personal examples brought these traits to life, and gave attendees concrete ideas on how to emulate such characteristics.

• Kris Snow, President of Cisco Systems Capital Corporation, shared insight on her collaborative leadership style, and reminded attendees to never be afraid to ask for help.
  
  
• Jud Snyder, ELFA Chair and President of BMO Harris Equipment Finance Company, reminded us of the often undervalued superpower of simply being nice, and leveraging self-deprecation to show our human side.
  
  
• Kara Miyasato, Senior Manager of Marketing at Stryker Flex Financial, emphasized the importance of being an advocate for her team. She shared that you are not responsible for your first thought, but you most definitely are responsible for your first action.


• Martha Ahlers, ELFA Chair-Elect and President of United Leasing & Finance, reflected on fostering spirit within her team, the importance of being able to have tough conversations and the need for emotional intelligence. Her advice was to be “soft on the people, but hard on the issues.” She also nudged that we all have the power within us to make the changes that we need to make for ourselves. We just have to do it.
  
  
• Amy Nelson, US President of Healthcare, Clean Technology and Technology Solutions at DLL, challenged us to jump past our kryptonite. She shared the importance of knowing what we are good at, as well as what we are not. She asked us to recognize when we deserve to be “there” and to own it.

Networking reception

See more photos from the 2019 Women's Leadership Forum.

By Jennifer Fanz, Country Sales Manager, US Healthcare, for DLL.
She is a member of the ELFA Women’s Council and Chaired the
Planning Subcommittee for the 2019 Women’s Leadership Forum.

Funding Conference Sees Strong Turnout

Members seeking funding met with lenders.

ELFA’s 31st Annual National Funding Conference attracted a strong turnout of approximately 640 industry executives to Chicago on April 9-11. This unique event allows ELFA members seeking funding to meet with lending sources looking for investment opportunities. A total of 74 funding sources exhibited, up from 72 last year. Plan ahead for next year: The 32nd Annual National Funding Conference is scheduled for April 21-23, 2020, at Hilton Palmer House in Chicago.

Women’s Council Reception at the Funding Conference.

Emerging Talent Gathers in Chicago

The Emerging Talent Regional Networking Event in Chicago in April drew more than 50 attendees from more than 30 member companies. The event was sponsored by PayNet and the Emerging Talent Advisory Council, whose mission is to encourage industry employees to get involved in ELFA earlier in their careers and to attract the best and brightest to the industry. Two more networking events will be held on July 17 at ELFA in D.C. and on Sept. 16 at the Hilton Chicago. Learn more at www.elfaonline.org.

Roundtables Stimulate Discussion

Leaders from ELFA member companies gathered in Chicago in April to discuss hot topics and share best practices at a series of roundtables held immediately preceding the National Funding Conference. The members-only events brought together executives from bank, captive and vendor finance and independent companies to discuss the issues they are facing and how each is addressing those issues.

At the Bank Roundtable, topics included the 2019 economic outlook and its implications for bank-owned equipment finance companies, as well as fraud prevention and business email compromise.

 

ELFA Chairman Jud Snyder kicked off the joint luncheon with a discussion of the state of the industry.

 

At the Captive and Vendor Finance Roundtable, the discussion focused on robotic automation and digital transformation, as well as managed solutions.

 

The Independent Roundtable examined the business climate’s impact on independents, as well as opportunities and threats, including lending in the digital age, data management and fraud prevention.