$Account.OrganizationName
The Leadership Advisor
"Helping Leaders Develop Leaders"
August 2008 - Volume 3 Edition 7
Take a Look:
Sign Up
Heart of a Leader

"The only thing that makes one place more attractive to me than another is the quantity of heart I find in it." ~ Jane Welsh Carlyle

"Love is having concern, care and compassion for the people I lead and interact with." ~ Phil Eastman, Founder & President, Leadership Advisors Group

"I don't race to win. . .I race because I love the experience, fellow participants, and the accomplishment. One might say that's enough to make me a winner." ~ Lorene Rasmussen, Partner of Business Operations, Leadership Advisors Group

"The heart has arguments with which the logic of the mind is not acquainted." ~ Pascal

"Running is the one thing you can win for yourself. Take Hold and Keep it!" ~ Lorene Oates

Love
By Phil Eastman

The word "love" may be one of the most loaded words in the English language! I even considered finding a different term to describe this element of the character model just to avoid the distraction that could be caused by the misunderstanding of how "love" displays itself in a leader's character. However, upon further deliberation, I thought that the strengh of the word itself would help communicate just how important it is for a leader to cultivate this essential element.

Years ago we had the opportunity to work with a client that utilized our leadership development services to improve the capabilities of his new leaders, as well as to help other leaders get their teams back on track. Such was the case when we received a call to coach Alex. Alex, it turns out, had managed to alienate most of his team members fairly quickly after taking over the group. The team considered Alex to be arrogant, aloof, and hard to communicate with when they approached him.

The call came into our office to see "if we could fix Alex." Like good coaches we explained that the changes that would need to be made would have to owned by Alex if there was going to be any positive and lasting change. We agreed to meet with him and the following ensured.

Alex entered the conference room after being introduced to the coach. He began sharing his capabilities and successes while the coach sat patiently listening to the diatribe. Alex went on to explain that he had been a major player in many multinational organizations and had almost single-handedly been the reason for each of the enterprise's success. Furthermore, after leaving those companies they had all fallen on hard times as a result of his departure. This monologue continued for two hours while the coach listened dutifully.

Finally, Alex finished and turned to the coach and said "well, I guess I need you to be my coach!" To this statement the coach replied, "Before I came in this room I had a chance to gather some information about the feelings your team has toward your leadership. Your team believes that you believe it's 'all about you'. Now after two hours of listening to you I have to agree, so I am not going to be your coach Alex." Alex was a bit puzzled by this response but stayed quiet while the coach finished, "Alex, you don't need a leadership coach; you don't have a leadership problem, you have a character problem. You see Alex, you don't love your people, consequently you will never be able to lead them."

You must love your people in order to lead them. This is a challenging statement, so let me tell you what I mean. Our definition of love as a component of a leader's character is ". . .having a deep seated care, compassion, and concern for your people". This of course is not to be confused with the definitions that include romance nor should this idea be used to defend any sort of behavior that advances beyond the behavior acceptable in a decent work environment. It does however challenge leaders to first of all see those on their team as people.

There is an interesting phrase often used in enterprises that says, ". . .our people are our greatest asset." Although well meaning, this idea that people are an asset of the company conveys a sense of ownership, objectification, and control that is neither desirable nor achievable when dealing with people. Consequently, the type of love we are advocating is that which is characterized by an interdependent relationship where leader and follower share mutual respect and genuine human concern for one another. This love will foster itself in higher productivity from all parties and when the challenges of life and work invade the team, the leader will look first at the team member as a person with complex and interesting lives before she sees them as units of the production for the company's goods or services.

Margaret Wheatley challenges us to separate our mechanistic views of organizations from the systems that are brought to life by people. Her contention (and she is right) that organizations are living systems not mechanical ones, should resonate with all leaders as a call to seeing not only the complexities and challenges of the people side of the organization but the amazing capacity that people have to shape something in which they believe.

When we talk of loving people from a leadership perspective, it is certainly on a personal level that a leader must show the respect, compassion, care and concern discussed above. However, at a corporate level the leader must also love people in a more general sense. The leader should develop an intense respect and fascination with the challenges and complexities the people bring to organizations and see it as a primary challenge to understand and release the abilities of people to find and maintain meaning in their work, which in the final analysis, will be both satisfying to employees and very profitable for the organization.

Like each of the other components of character, it will be useful to look at love by its elements; selfless respect and mutual trust.

. . .to read the remainer of this article, please click on the Love icon. . .

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.
Lorene Oates
By Lorene Rasmussen

Family legend has it, I was suppose to be a boy. With three beautiful daughters and a handsome son, I think my parents were hoping for another male child to help round out the family tree. They had already chosen the name Pete, after my father's favorite uncle and hadn't considered any girl names just in case, "he was a she." But thanks to a happy accident, on September 7th, my parents had to rethink what they were going to name their 5th child.

Dad suggested Mona Lisa, but mom thankfully vetoed and countered with Lisa. They both agreed then selected Lorena as my middle name, which was my maternal grandmother's name. It wasn't until later, mom noticed a typo on my birth certificate bearing the name of her baby girl as Lisa Lorene. Instead of changing the error, she allowed the happy accident to become my given name.

For years I went by Lisa but remember asking mom if I could go by Lorene since there were five Lisa's in my small high school of 75 students. Mom was very pragmatic so she never saw the need for change, therefore Lisa stuck. However, the year I turned 40, I finally decided to take Lorene as my primary name since it was uncommon.

In September 2006, while registering for my first ever road race, it was serendipitous meeting Lorene Oates, the event director for St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration. I took an instant liking to her not just because of the name but because of her kindness and humility. Even though Lorene directs America's largest women's 5K race, she took the time to accept my late registration form and tell me what to expect on race day.

After I made the commitment to run my first marathon in 2007, Lorene and I met again. Once you are in the running community, circles start colliding faster than the Olympic logo and before you know it, you experience the "six degrees of separation theory" play out right before your eyes. Although this is not the scope of the article, I am only 1 degree removed from my marathon hero, Deena Kastor.

Lorene Oates is one of the 2008 Idaho Women of the Year award recipients for her outstanding leadership and direction of St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration 5K Run, Walk, & Stroll. As the director of America's largest 5K race for women, Lorene was recently appointed to the board of directors for Running USA, a national race director's organization. She sits on the board with personalities like, The ING New York City Marathon director, Allan Steinfeld and John "The Penguin" Bingham, my all time favorite adult on-set athlete, author, and motivator that has inspired me to 'Waddle On.' (it would be another happy accident if I ever got the chance to meet "The Penguin")

As an Idaho native and long time Caldwell resident, Lorene's roots are tied deeply to the JR Simplot Company, where her father retired from the Food Division after 33 years. While attending the University of Idaho, Lorene accepted an intern position with the PR Department of the JR Simplot Company, where she began honing her craft, but it was Lorene's father that taught her some of the most valuable lessons. Along with being rooted in old fashioned hard work and having the ability to be part of something bigger than herself, Lorene's dad taught her to, "always remember people's names."

Lorene originally joined the Celebration staff to coordinate the Women's Show which is held in conjunction with packet pick-up. Lorene's knowledge in sales, media, and promoting events didn't go to waste as she stepped into her role.

St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration 5K Run, Walk, & Stroll's real starting line began in 1993 as Idaho's Women's Fitness Celebration Run/Walk and Stroll. The first event lead by Anne Audain, had 2,300 participants which was considered one of Idaho's biggest road races.

The purpose of Idaho's Women's Fitness Celebration, was created for all women, all ages, and at all fitness abilities. Anne wanted grandmothers and elite athletes alike to come together on the same course, on the same day, and be comfortable with one another. Well, it worked! Now some 15,000 women strong, the race just gets better every year.

Audain had a successful running career in the United States and New Zealand. For over two decades, Anne had participated in 1,000's of events world wide so she borrowed many of the experiences for her newly formed race venue in Idaho.

Lorene was eventually invited by Anne Audain to become the event director. Besides all the volunteer hours Lorene had donated to the event, she had a wealth of creativity and event promotional experience. By 2001, St. Luke's Regional Medical Center became the presenting sponsor for the event, changing the name to St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration 5K Run, Walk, & Stroll.

As a not-for-profit corporation, the daily operations of the Celebration office runs much like a family that lives from paycheck to paycheck. They make their budget a $1,000 at a time and rely on faith and donations to keep their doors open. In the earlier years, Lorene's staff sometimes would juggle payroll according to who needed to make a personal mortgage payment. She remembers those days fondly but is thankful that finances are a little more stable for the organization since St. Luke's adopted them in 2001.

The spoken rules and overall nurturing culture of the Celebration Family has no room for negative self-talk or contempt. "Even though I consider myself to be flexible for a fat girl," that rule would take some getting use to for me. (smile)

As part of the successful Celebration Team, Lorene has had to apply many of the same techniques as one would in training for a marathon; a lot of passion, sweat, hard work, coaching, faith, and always keeping her eye on the ultimate goal.

This year has been pivotal for Lorene as she has taken charge of her own fitness, trained for her own races, which included the Sawtooth Relay and Robie Creek, and taken time to celebrate her own accomplishments. Lorene feels, "Running is the one thing you can win for yourself. Take Hold and Keep it!" As a strong Christian woman, Lorene desires to rely on God and in return give Him the credit for her success.

Since I started running in January of 2007, I've had countless people tell me why I should never attempt it in my 40's. I also had a very frustrated orthopedic surgeon tell me I should just take up knitting because my calf muscle wasn't healing the way he thought it should. Of course, when comparing myself to Deena Kastor or Constantina Tomescu-Dita, I'm tempted to join the noise, but after meeting someone like Lorene Oates, I realize I would miss out on some of life's sweetest serendipitous moments.

Photo:
"Courtesy of Idaho Business Review"

Celebrate Serendipity is #7 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. It isn't by happy accident that Lorene will join her daughter-in-love and precious granddaughter as they take their place among 15,000+ women on Saturday, September 20th. The three ladies have been planning to participate in this event since last year. The only questions now are, what to wear and will they run, walk, or stroll?
Celebrate Women
Ladies, What Do You Celebrate?

The Celebration has never been about speed or endurance, but about celebrating health and wellness in any form, for anyone.

The Celebration is for women of all ages and all abilities to come together in a supportive environment. The founders of the Celebration wanted to create an event where elite athletes and grandmothers felt comfortable on the same course on the same day. This unique aspect has inspired many to line up on Celebration Saturday and complete the 3.1 mile course, whether they finish in under 30 minutes or over an hour.

In addition to the 5K, the Celebration includes a two-day Women's Show at the Boise Centre on the Grove. This FREE event draws close to 20,000 attendees each year, and is host to over 160 vendors. The Women's Show offers Celebration participants and the community the opportunity to come together and learn about products and services available for consumers in the Treasure Valley. Participants can shop, sample and preview these items and services important to women buyers. In addition, the Women's Show offers the largest opportunity for product sampling in Idaho.

Mark your calendar for September 16 - 20

Don't miss out, be a part of this year's Celebration Event!

This is for you...Bring your friends and families and make the Celebration yours!
Webstore
For over 30 years, HRP Press has been serving customers by providing training and human resource personnel the products and services required to develop your most important asset. . .your employees! They consistently strive to earn your business by providing:
  • Constant products and solutions innovations
  • Unparalleled breadth of choice - Over 1,000 products and counting
A reliable first point of contact for virtually any training or HR challenge including:
  • Training solutions, hiring solutions, training, consulting, and custom product development
  • And now, licenses that encompass unprecedented collections of development capital, in customizable formats and offering value never before attained in the industry!
Leadership Advisors is pleased to offer their products in our newly formed webstore.
Leadership Advisors Group helps clients achieve success through:
  • Competency based and character driven leadership development.
  • Comprehensive, flexible, and focused strategic plans.
  • Results oriented change management.

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.

Coming to an inbox near you:
THE PERFORMANCE REPORT, an e-letter that is refreshing, honest, sometimes irreverent but always an informative take on the leading issues in managerial and workplace performance.
Phil Eastman & Lorene Rasmussen
Leadership Advisors Group

phone: (208) 344-0471
Email Marketing by