A pin must be sharp and strong to be effective.

A effective leader must also be sharp and strong.

Shanda Gore, a leadership expert, used that analogy to equip leaders with the tools to be sharp as a pin — or a “PinLeader.”

“What is a PinLeader like? What is this all about? It is actually being sharp, being educated and experienced in your area of expertise, having the strength of character — strength of character does count,” Mrs. Gore told an audience of women business leaders Thursday in Toledo.

“People do great work for people who they feel they can follow, that are great leaders. It’s just the reality,” she said.

Her recently released book The PinLeader Path: Identify, Engage, and Develop Effective Human and AI Leadership for Your Organizational Culture debuted as a top title in Amazon’s rankings of Human Resources and Personnel Management hot new releases.

“The book is written as, really, a breakdown of what the most effective leaders look like, and what you can do to be a more effective leader and to sustain yourself so that you can build a culture around you, and hopefully a culture that spawns other PinLeaders,” Mrs. Gore said.

The description of PinLeader Path on Amazon says it is a “groundbreaking guide to identify, engage, and develop effective human and AI leadership for your organizational culture.”

Her book touches on the benefit of using AI as a leadership tool but emphasizes the need for human oversight and critical thinking.

Mrs. Gore is president and founder of Sylvania-based Mays and Associates, a full-service global consulting firm specializing in leadership development, strategic planning, culture building and executive business coaching.

HerHub, a group that connects and supports local women-owned businesses, hosted a networking luncheon Thursday themed PinPoint your Path: Scaling higher, Sewing legacies, at the Toledo Botanical Gardens’ Crosby Center.

As the keynote speaker, Mrs. Gore discussed leadership strategies to scale or grow businesses with about 50 women. Attendees were able to purchase her book and have it signed on site.

“It’s really from the history and the research I’ve done in the book over 20 years, of just understanding how to pinpoint a pathway for yourself. So that’s the whole point — pinpointing your path and then scaling up to whatever your ‘up’ is,” she said.

She spoke to the importance of not only having a vision but also having a strategic plan, and a back up strategy.

“I’ve not found an effective leader who hasn’t had the ability to know where they are going. It’s like going on a trip without a map. ‘Come on along. Get in the car with me.’ The first thing you’re going to ask is, ‘Where are we going? I’m assuming you know how to get there, right?’ No, not really,” she said.”

A strategic plan serves as a road map to where and how you want your business to grow, she said.

“There are people who map out their vacations better than their businesses. They know if it’s going to rain, they got a backup outfit,” she said. “But in their business, if clients leave them, they don’t have a backup plan. How can you scale your business when you don’t have a backup?”

Mrs. Gore advises against overreacting to external factors.

“Do not overreact to something that is occurring that gets you off the rail of your strategic plan,” she said.

Tina Saunders, owner of THR-5, a networking, coaching and consulting firm for small, local, women-owned businesses, said she is more inspired to define her strategic plan.

She took to heart a question Mrs. Gore asked the attendees: Can you name and number the steps in your strategic plan?

“Basically the same way I teach other business owners how to do it, and I’m like, I could name five of my clients, but I can’t name my own,” Ms. Saunders said. “I’m so focused on my clients that I don’t know my own numbers. I really need to do that.”

Mrs. Gore encouraged the group to embrace a diversified portfolio to better position their businesses to scale.

“If one thing goes down, the whole thing doesn’t collapse. When you're scaling, you’ve got to really think about how that is — do you have a safety net when you scale?” she said. “Leaders that are straightforward with the ability to pivot — if something happens, they can do it. And that’s what a pin does.”

On each table, attendees found a pin cushion with different sizes of pins as well as a variety of fabric swatches.

“There should be six pins on the top and a whole bunch at the bottom. The six pins on the top are all different,” Mrs. Gore said.

The sharp point of a pin represents focus and direction. The shaft symbolizes strength and stability, while the head of the pin represents vision and leadership.

Continuing the analogy, she said different types of pins suit different fabrics, just as different business strategies work for various industries or markets.

“We got one that’s bent, one that’s small, one is big and one is shiny and one is dull — completely dull,” she said. “Reasons for dull pins is because something has happened. It’s broken off, it’s dulled down over time. It keeps being used over and over again.”

Effective leaders take care of themselves and have enough people they can count on.

“They take their vacations because they deserve it, and they’ve got people who actually back them up,” she said. “They’ve got a culture they’ve built. They don’t have to worry about coming back to a mess.”

LaVonda Josett Johnson, who owns a photography studio, said the talk inspired her to focus on business strategies and personal growth. “This is probably the best speech that I’ve heard.”

And, she said, she now knows she needs a roadmap to scale her business. 

“I am definitely going to take some time out daily to figure out where I’m trying to go in my business in still life photography,” she said. “I have to have a plan and I have to be strategic about it, and just to stay focused and on track.”

First Published March 21, 2025, 1:40 p.m.