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The Leadership Advisor
"Helping Leaders Develop Leaders"
June 2008 - Volume 3 Edition 5
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HOPE Rainbow

"The grand essentials of joy are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." ~ AK Chalmers

"Sincerely and convincingly articulating a bright future especially when the immediate circumstances are bleak." ~ Phil Eastman, Founder & President, Leadership Advisors Group

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." ~ Dale Carnegie

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow them." ~ Louisa May Alcott

"To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing." ~ Anonymous

HOPE
By Phil Eastman

In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins shares an interview he conducted with Admiral James Stockdale. In the interview, Collins inquires about the Admiral's time in the Hanoi Hilton (prisoner of war camp) during the Vietnam war. Collins wanted to know from the Admiral which of the prisoners he spent time with did not survive the challenges of that confinement. The Admiral answered quickly that the optimists that didn't make it. To some surprise Collins asked the Admiral to elaborate since that answer was counter intuitive. Stockdale went on to explain that the optimists were always convinced they would be out of the prison by Christmas, but year after year Christmas would come and go without release. The men who did the best in the camp were those that embraced the brutal reality of their circumstances yet never gave up hope that someday they would be released from their confinement.

Hope is a powerful driver of the human spirit and one of the basic/essential ingredients to human existence. Without hope people die. The routine leadership demonstrated in most organizations does not have to contend with matters of life and death. However, it is no stretch to say that without the hope cultivated by leader's essential spirit and if you will, "the life" of the organization, will be slowly and inexorably be lost. Napoleon stated that "a leader is a dealer in hope". This is certainly the contention here. Leaders must cultivate hope in their character in order to be able to do the same in their teams and organizations.

Hope is a fixed expectation of a future that is brighter than the present. From a leadership standpoint, it is the life's blood of organizations. Cultivating hope is really a combination of attitude and vision. It may be a contradiction to the have referenced the Stockdale story which condemns the idea of optimism and use the same to define the hope a leader must generate. The use of optimism in this sense is not the kind of naive optimism that denies reality. Rather, it is the state of mind that recognizes possibilities and opportunities for the future while staying grounded in the realities and circumstances of the present.

It seems right at this point to share a story of optimism (the naïve, unbridled, rosy colored variety) as a way of juxtaposing what is meant by hope. A small enterprise was led by its entrepreneurial founder. The owner had been reasonably successful in managing the company as it grew to nearly 100 employees. As the company grew beyond that point, it was clear there were leadership challenges that were beyond the owner's experience to handle.

As the company suffered an economic reversal based on a change in strategy by its largest customer, the owner decided that the best way to use the company's finite resources was to look for clients that would single handedly repair the company's financial ills. This meant the sales team was constantly trying to land large accounts in markets in which they had little experience. Soon, a sense of defeat was felt among the employees. Whenever contrary suggestions were made to the owner (making small sales in the local market using products the company already had perfected) they were rejected out of hand as not being lofty enough to both heal the company and (although this was never said) satisfy the ego requirements of the owner's former brush with success.

The result was that the company continued to struggle because it is ruled by optimism rather than hope. Every time the attempt to land the big client failed, the employees suffered defeat. This drained rather than instilled energy and enthusiasm. In addition, the team lost respect for the owner as he appeared detached from the brutal reality of his situation.

No less important than optimism in generating and maintaining hope, is vision. Vision is a fixed expectation of a future condition. Steven Covey would see vision as "beginning with the end it mind." To maintain hope, a leader must cultivate optimism and vision in equal measure. Always making sure that the vision is realistic yet stretches the people in the organization to achieve something together that separately would not have been possible. A vision should capture the underlying human meaning of the organization in a way that stretches the imagination of the people but does not discourage them. There is a delicate balance which will require some practice in finding the balance between stretch and strain of vision.

On the subject of vision, I once heard a speaker say, "the difference between a hallucination and a vision is the number of people who see it." A vision must, by definition, be something that everyone can see, understand, and most importantly commit to.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy set a vision for the nation when he asked Congress for the funding to send a man to the moon and return safely before the end of the decade of the 60's. Here is part of that speech.

If we are to win the battle that is now going on around the world between freedom and tyranny, the dramatic achievements in space which occurred in recent weeks should have made clear to us all, as did the Sputnik in 1957, the impact of this adventure on the minds of men everywhere, who are attempting to make a determination of which road they should take. Since early in my term, our efforts in space have been under review. With the advice of the Vice President, who is Chairman of the National Space Council, we have examined where we are strong and where we are not. Now it is time to take longer strides--time for a great new American enterprise-- time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on Earth.

I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshaled the national resources required for such leadership. We have never specified long-range goals on an urgent time schedule, or managed our resources and our time so as to insure their fulfillment.

Recognizing the head start obtained by the Soviets with their large rocket engines, which gives them many months of lead-time, and recognizing the likelihood that they will exploit this lead for some time to come in still more impressive successes, we nevertheless are required to make new efforts on our own. For while we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first, we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will be our last. We take an additional risk by making it in full view of the world, but as shown by the feat of astronaut Shepherd, this very risk enhances our stature when we are successful. But this is not merely a race. Space is open to us now; and our eagerness to share its meaning is not governed by the efforts of others. We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share.

I therefore ask the Congress, above and beyond the increases I have earlier requested for space activities, to provide the funds which are needed to meet the following national goals:

First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned explorations--explorations which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight. But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the Moon--if we make this judgment affirmatively; it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.

Was Kennedy's space challenge an hallucination or a vision? Obviously looking over the last 38 years, it is clear that this vision was an inspired way to galvanize a nation mired in the midst of the Cold War to reach for something that would transcend the current tension between the west and the Soviet Block.

. . .to read the remainer of this article, please go to the end of the newsletter. . .
Hunting Season
By Lorene Rasmussen

You might be asking yourself, "what in the world does chukar huntin', catfish, and Earl Grey have in common?" To be honest, not a whole lot unless you are visiting with Tony Greer, the Plant Manager at Bigelow Tea Company.

I met Tony for the first time when touring the Bigelow Tea manufacturing facility in Boise, ID. I had no idea the complexity of putting a tea bag together in order for me to enjoy one of life's simplest pleasures; a cup of hot tea. Although tea bag construction is very fascinating, it's not nearly as fascinating as the man that oversees Boise's facility, where 2.5 million tea bags are made daily.

When I invited Tony to lunch to interview him for this article, he humbly accepted saying, "I don't consider myself very interesting." He added with a smile, "but don't let the truth get in the way of a good story." So with his permission, here it goes. . .

Tony holds a master's degree in Industrial Management where he has manufactured everything from homes to tea bags. Upon graduating from college, Tony was pretty confident he had what it would take to run GE. But it wasn't long before reality set in and he quickly realized, as he puts it, "I didn't know, what I didn't know!" After a couple of years working at a very successful plant under a competent manager, Tony was promoted and moved to Georgia where he began the most discouraging job he ever loved.

The plant was considered to be a "challenged plant", losing $1 million a year and suffering from unprecedented turnover. The plant employees that did stay around had lost their motivation, lacked a sense of urgency, and lived with a victim mentality in their personal and professional lives.

Tony's boss let him fail for about a year. Just when Tony was ready to throw in the towel, a manufacturing consultant by the name of Jordy Johnson was hired. Jordy was relentless in his pursuit to educate this young plant manager on things he needed to know to be successful, not just for the company but any position Tony would occupy afterwards.

Jordy would spend a few days in the plant working alongside Tony and then say, "Tony, I'm going to Charleston tomorrow and you're going with me." So the next day, Tony would load up, ride 6 hours locked up in Jordy's car, and learn how to run a plant. Jordy was tenacious with his young disciple as he held him accountable to high standards. Jordy didn't expect anything from Tony apart from action, excellence, and continuous improvement. Tony described the experience as, "kaizen on steroids!"

he 6 hour ride to Charleston became the classroom where Tony learned real world theory which he would apply the very next day inside the plant. They "strategized" how to create quick wins to prove to the employees they had value. They discussed systems that were needed in order for the plant to run efficiently. They developed a plan to get the right people in the right positions while letting go of folks that weren't producing. And they made a commitment to spend a significant amount of time teaching others to think for themselves rather being told what to do at each turn.

In less than 3 years, the employees were able to turn the plant around from losing $1million a year to making $2 million a year. Although Tony was at the helm, he gave the lion's share of the accolades to the employees that had the courage to make changes needed to bring about success.

One of Tony's favorite hourly employees was a man they called, "Catfish." Catfish was a self taught technical genius that loved operating manuals. (You know the big book that most people put on a shelf never to see it again?) As it turned out, Catfish subscribed to Popular Mechanics as a young boy and owned every publication since its inaugural in 1902. Even though Catfish was a lot older than Tony, he was the biggest champion for change within the plant and was always available to help out.

Once the plant was considered successful, Tony was moved to another "challenged" plant to help turn it around. Taking with him all the hard work and experience that was poured into him one drop at a time, Tony was able to help the employees restore the next plant to working, successful order.

Tony has worked from the East Coast to the West Coast, strategically choosing a variety of manufacturing venues to round out his resume. When I asked him how he selected Boise for the next stop on his career path, he smiled and gave me the most honest answer I've heard in while, "the chukar huntin's good here." He explained, "you can always find a good place to work but to find a good place to work and hunt . . .now you're talking." Growing up in a rural community where hunting season was holy season, I kind of understood his passion.

Even though Tony's days are spent making tea bags and his weekends are full of hunting and fishing, Tony also enjoys teaching an MBA Change Management class for George Fox University. As he invests in the MBA students Tony's one desire is for them to learn from his mistakes and experience while still embracing the theoretical / classroom work they must cover.

A month later, I returned to the plant with my 2 grandchildren so they too could see how tea bags were made. Following the tour, Tony took us into the conference room and served us tea, where we got to choose from the assortment of flavors that Bigelow offers. As we left, we each received a box of tea to take home with us, mine was Earl Grey.

Chukar Huntin', Catfish, and Earl Grey is #5 in a series of interviews with local leaders, business owners, and personal heroes.

Lorene Rasmussen is the Partner for Business Operations which guides and supports the daily and strategic operations of Leadership Advisors Group. She combines a unique sense of fun and organization to insure operations run smoothly and that clients receive the highest quality service possible.

Lorene earned a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in marketing from Boise State University and is a certified Life Coach through Genesis Enterprises in Seattle, Washington. Lorene raised boys, is married to a man, and has a male business partner but she does love a good tea party now and again!
DISC
Many of us grew up learning the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." However, through years of research on behavioral differences, Tony Alessandra believes there is another rule which he calls The Platinum Rule. This rule is "Treat others the way they want to be treated."

Do you generally treat all people the same, only to find it works with one person and offends another? Many times we try to brush it off thinking the offended party is too sensitive or has a grudge against us. The truth is, it doesn't have to be that way if we learn how to apply The Platinum Rule.

The DISCStyle Assessment is administered online and produces a personalize and comprehensive report that will provide you the tools to relate to others. The DISC focuses on patterns of external, observable behaviors using scales of directness and openness that each style exhibits. Because we experience these behaviors, you will learn how to "read" others and understand how they want to be treated.

DISC stand for the four profiles that personalities can be categorized within:
D - Dominant: Motivated by results. Time sensitive, goal oriented, likes options, very decisive, and will not take a back seat.
I - Interactive: Motivated by fun/spirit. People oriented, avoids rushing into tasks, optimistic, cheerleader, friendly, and have a strong presence.
S - Steady: Motivated by relationships. Non- threatening, sincere, non-confrontational, warm, sensitive, kind, and speaks in terms of feelings.
C - Compliant: Motivated by accuracy/consistency. Detailed oriented, Well prepared, thorough, all business, needs time to analyze data, and can work independently.

Of course these four descriptors are simplified. The human personality is far more complex. We all have the ability to learn and adapt our own preferred style in order to succeed or survive.

The potential conflicts with dissimilar personalities can be built in just by natural preferences. As you can imagine, if you are the Dominant, results oriented type you may not be as compatible with the non- confrontational Steady. Just like if you are the all business, work independently Compliant, you might find the Interactive, people oriented, life is a party personality to be a little light on follow through. But let's face it, that's what makes life interesting - working with people that have strengths we don't exhibit.

Being self-aware is the first step in not only understanding yourself but learning how to relate with others. The online DISCStyle Assessment can be administered to you alone or you can also invite others to assess your personality giving you even a clearer view of your behavior styles.

Leadership Advisors Group believes in using assessment tools such as DISCStyles at all levels of an organization. However, the noted value of this assessment comes from recognizing that people are different and giving a vocabulary to those differences. In our practice, we have found that a common language emerges from the assessments that can be used to form cohesive teams, help resolve conflicts, and build individual competency.

If you would like to experience DISCStyles for yourself or your team please contact Lorene via e-mail at lorene@leadershipadvisors.com.
If the proposition is sound, then hope is the element of a leader's character that engenders a sense of optimism and vision for the future. Winston Churchill is often regarded as the greatest orator of the 20th century and with good reason. Churchill alone was able to catalyze the western world against the Axis nations of Europe and the Pacific. He was literally on the front lines of the conflict in Europe long before the American public understood the ramification of Hitler's march across Europe. In a frightening and hopeful speech before the House of Commons on June 18, 1940 Churchill solemnly describes the end of the Battle of France, yet demonstrates the confidence and vision necessary to lead his nation into the coming Battle of Britain.

What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization? Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour."

What was the combination of attributes that allowed Kennedy and Churchill to articulate hope for their respective peoples? To begin with they were men driven by lofty ideals and pragmatic truths. However they were not bound by either of those twin realities. Often times, leaders will have a natural tendency toward either vision or pragmatism but not both. It would be useless to argue which is most important because they are both critical. The challenge for the leader is to be able to draw on these two seemingly mutually exclusive abilities interchangeably.

To do so requires that a leader grapple and become comfortable with the burden of pragmatism and the ambiguity of vision. As Napoleon said, "a leader is a dealer in hope" and as such we must cultivate a competency in engendering optimism and vision for the people they lead. To that end, the behaviors that cultivate hope in leaders and in their people are:

· Focuses on learning new approaches from failures and mistakes. Although sometimes frustrated with failure, leaders who demonstrate hope are not overly daunted by the lack of short term success. Rather they look for the learning in failure and put those lessons to work for the organization and its people.
· Encourages and supports the best behavior in others. Leaders that cultivate hope encourage others to demonstrate positive attitudes and behavior.
· Asks questions to challenge current thinking, question accepted practices, patterns and assumptions and to stimulate creativity. Hopeful leaders realize that there is no status quo in life or in organizations. Armed with that understanding they relentlessly push forward and spur others to do the same.
· Assures the organization has a clear and compelling vision of the future. Many leaders are concerned that they may not personally possess a vision for the organization. Leaders must make sure the organization has a vision but they don't have to possess it individually. Developing vision is best done in teams.
· Communicates the vision in a way that promotes wide ownership. Even though a leader does not have to individually possess the vision for the organization they are the primary promoters of that vision once created.
· Executes the vision by ensuring that their own and other's actions are consistent with and support accomplishment of the vision. Leaders need to hone the ability to share the story of how people's work ties to the vision.

Phil Eastman is the founder and president of Leadership Advisors Group, a Boise-based consulting firm. Phil combines more than 25 years of leadership experience with his passion for consulting, coaching, and teaching to develop leaders, build teams, and improve performance. It is his desire to enhance leadership effectiveness for all of his clientele.

Phil earned a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in Management and Organization from Idaho State University. He is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington where he is also an instructor. Phil also holds a Master of Arts degree in Theological Studies from Bethel Seminary.
Leadership Advisors Group assists your organization to succeed through:
  • Leadership - attainable, competency based & character driven approach for all levels of leadership.
  • Strategic Planning - comprehensive, flexible & results oriented to drive organizational objectives.
  • Change Management - anticipate, activate & accelerate people's engagement in a new environment.

You are receiving this email from Leadership Advisors Group because you are a valued client, have requested information regarding our services, or you are part of a highly respected organization. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, please add phil@leadershipadvisors.com to your address book.

". . .It takes courage to have hope. ~ Louise E. Johnson

 HOPE
Phil Eastman & Lorene Rasmussen
Leadership Advisors Group

phone: (208) 344-0471
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