ELS Spotlight With Gabe Saysombath
Gabe Saysombath is a Marketing Specialist for Arvest Bank in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
My job responsibilities include: write and distribute news releases to local media for the bank; produce graphics, photos and video to use for local advertising and social media; coordinate marketing events, seminars, promotions, fundraisers, etc.; organize and distribute promotional materials for programs or events; organize advertisements, brochures, flyers, signage and merchandising lobbies for various branches; produce and manage internal communication to associates in the Fort Smith region, and support community bank teams to review and answer contribution and sponsorship requests.
What is the most important leadership lesson that you’ve learned?
The most important leadership lesson that I’ve learned is to actively listen to others and be a champion for others. Everyone in your team has valuable input and may offer different perspectives to projects you may be working on, but not everyone may have the same platform to share their great ideas.
So, I think it’s important to celebrate input from your teams and offer them an avenue to have their ideas heard and implemented.
What does effective leadership look like to you?
To me, effective leadership is when a leader practices servant leadership. Servant leaders think about how they can help their teams succeed and pave a way for their teammates to shine rather than looking for opportunities to bolster their own accomplishments.
Servant leaders realize that they can get much further with the success of their team than on their own and their teams often reciprocate the appreciation and trust that is shown to them in their work ethic.