present reality..future vision

This past week I attended the Council on Independent Colleges Conference for Chief Academic Officers and Chief Advancement Officers, having the chance to hear and learn from some very smart people who run what I call "top-notch" colleges and universities. Many of the people who presented came from schools who have a longe tradition (many over 100-150 years) of graduating students in a variety of liberal arts majors. Their alumni have seen success in a variety of vocations including business, medicine, engineering, government and the arts. In return, they have realized an amazing return in gifts from their alumni, often measuring the hundreds of millions of dollars during their campaigns. I listened with envy as they described what they are able to do as a result of these gifts and legacies...and I began to wonder why my institution is not able to do the same.

My first reaction was to be angry. What's wrong with us? Why can't we realize those same types of gifts? If we we had better people...if we had a better plan...if we weren't so insular...if we focused more...if we got outside our box...and the list continued. It became easy to blame and grouse and be incredibly frustrated. And then I had a mindshift...

I was relaying my experiences to a colleague and he looked at me, smiled, and said, "What you have just described is a picture of our future." I at first had a quizzical look on my face and then smiled with him as I realized that we were not stuck in our present reality - and that the future vision was already being realized. The reality is the my institution has been one who has graduated people in the past who went on to become pastors and teachers...we are a young institiution in graduating people who are going on to make the type of money who can endow professorships and build buildings...we are creating programs today that will see fruition tomorrow...we have a strong President who has laid a foundation for future success in this area...and we are graduating students who are making a name for Concordia throughout the greater Central Texas Region. We are a geat university that is beginning to realize its future today!

So for those of us who always wish things would be better (which is a part of a leader's DNA), here is my list of ways to keep from being frustrated with the present reality:

1. know that as a leader you will be frustrated and should be frustrated...just don't dwell there for too long.


2. keep hanging out with those institutions whom you whom you aspire to be like...they will provide fuel for your fire.


3. put in place now the programs and people that will help you get to that future vision...and give them time to mature.


4. find others who share in your future vision...and give them the space and the resources to create that vision in their unique way.


5. enroll those outside the institution in your future vision...and get them to start supporting that vision today.


6. understand that the present reality is never as bad as you think it to be...it just looks that way because you have a different (better?) picture in your mind of what can be.


7. get rid of that which is keeping the future vision from becoming a reality sooner rather than later...most of the time its people you may need to remove.


8. never give up,,,never, never, never, never give up! (with regards to Winston Churchill)

three questions

On a recent blog I wrote regarding the one big question, a comment came back that asked this: What are three things that you would do differently on your path of leadership and why would you change them?

Great question, Carrie. I thought about that question in my own life and here would be my personal answer...I hope it helps others:

1. I would have stayed at my first position longer. After three years of leading a band at Minneapolis Lutheran High School I was off to graduate school. It was as if I needed to get on with my life and it seemed as if this first job was getting in my way. What I realize now is that I needed to give myself more time to mature in that position and build a successful program that would have lasted. Leadership is more than coming in to an organization and "wowing" everyone with one's skills and talents. Building a program that would have lasted - and learning how to do that early on - woujld have served me better in the long run. That being said, I had a phenomenal experience at the school and made amazing friends and learned so much about what it takes to build a program.

2. I would have built strong succession plans early on in my career. It took me until last year to build a succesion plan that willl enable the organization to continue at the present level were I to leave tomorrow. Much of what I did throughout my career has been very successful - but most of it did not continue at the same level beyond my tenure. I have come to understand that my style does not easily lend itself well to a continuation of what was begun...it is part of my personality and part of how I get things done. That being said, I now know that is unacceptable and have built a strong interim succession plan for my current position. I know without a doubt that if I were not able to serve in this position tomorrow, most aspects of the College would continue at the same level they are now.

3. I would hire more slowly and fire more quickly. I let people stay on way too long too many times, and it hurt the organization in the long run. I often wanted to give people a second (and third, fourth, and fifth) chance, but I came to realize too late in my career that for most adults, once they are set in the way they do things, they will continue to act in that manner. When people become toxic to a culture, they need to be removed quickly - and everyone needs to know that the individual was removed because they were toxic. None of us like to let people go...but our first responsibility as leaders is to care for the organization and its future. Keeping bad people around hurts the organization - and we are not living up to our vocation of leadership if we allow those type of people to continue.

I hope these three things help others as they are on their own leadership journeys. By the way, regarding #2 above, you do not need to be in a "leadership position" to build a succession plan. Everyone with any type of responsibility should have one of these in place. Succession plans should be written down (remember that these are for interim positions should you not be able to function in that role), 2-3 people identified as to who would take over for you, what the roles and responsibilities are of the interim person (and what they are not), and the plan should be shared publically. More to say on that later...

One more thing...it is good to be back among the "living." I can use two hands to type and move around without being in pain or having to be careful. I hope to keep up with this blog on a more regular basis, continuing the journey of learning about leadership.

organizational roadblocks

After wrist surgery this past week, this may qualify as my shortest blog ever...

What is an organizational roadblock? It is anything that keeps the institution from more fully living out its mission and vision. Such items could include:

• structures


• budgets


• silos


• unaddressed critical issues


• unaddressed non-critical issues


• weak personnel policies


• a focus on managing rather than leading fron those in leadership roles


• having the wrong people at the table


• lack of support and encouragement for the organization's best people

This list could go on and on, and will change depending on what is happening in one's life and/or organization at any given moment. The biggest question to ask is this:

AM I A ROADBLOCK WITHIN MY ORGANIZATION...

and if so, what am I going to do about it starting right now?

the one question

Excuse the shortness of this blog, but I still only have one hand with which to type...


Yesterday,I had the opportunity to interview Gerard Arpey, CEO of American Airlines as a part of our speaker series on campus. It was an amazing event - packed auditorium, great discussion (his pastor joined him for a dialogue on faith & work), and a overall feeling that we were doing something good and right. Prior to the event, I challenged some students and faculty to consider what question they would ask Mr. Arpey if they had several minutes alone with him. This is actually a harder exercise than one may think - so...


If you came face-to-face with a leader whom you admire; or someone who leads a large organization; or a person of great influence in your community; or?????? what would you ask them? Remember, you only get one question and only a few minutes with this person.

So think about your ONE question...write it down...memorize it...and be ready to use it. You may even want to practice it with a friend (their answer might lead to an interesting dialogue).

a new year

A new school year began this week, and I started it with a broken left wrist(thus the short nature of this blog) and a broken left. You see, there was this car accident on Monday morning...

A new year brings several leadership challenges within an organization, especially at an institution of higher education. These challenges include:

1. 1/4-1/3 of your population is new...how will we welcome them into and help them understand our culture?


2. those who are returning expect to see something new...what have we done to make the place better?


3. we have taken a break (at least mentally)...how much energy will it take to get the wheels in motion again?


4. it's been a long summer...what needs to be done to remind people of the mission and vision?


5. new students are now enrolled...are we really ready to start the recruiting cycle again with renewed enthusiasm?


6. next year is right around the corner...what needs to be done NOW for cetain initiatives to be in place for the new year that begins in 12 months?

The paradox of the new school year is that as soon as it has begun, our role shifts to the NEXT school year. I wonder if my administrators really get this? I wonder if my faculty really get this? I wonder if I really get this? (then again, what choice do I have?).

the four R's

Rest...Relaxation...Renewal...Re-Creation. After finishing four weeks at our cottage in Maine, I am more committed than ever to these four R's. I have very few friends or colleagues who REALLY believe in the maxim of Sabbath and take it seriously. There is a reason that God instituted the concept of Sabbath, and I believe that those who are in leadership positions need to take this concept seriously and practice it regularly. Brian Tracy, in one of his newsletters over the past year, stated that leaders need one day a week with no work...3 straight days each month (long weekend) with no work, and at least 2 or more straight weeks each year with no work in order to rest, relax, renew, and re-create. Here is what these terms have meant to me over the past four weeks:

REST: my mind has rested from the day-to-day issues that regularly arise in my work. I have not heard an alarm clock go off for four weeks (though I still get up early - but on MY time). I have not had to make decisions (except for which movie to watch each night). My body and mind both are rested and I am ready to "get back at it" next week.
RELAXATION: To be able to just sit with my wife and relax together is something that does not happen on a regular basis. I am not talking about a few minutes on a Saturday morning, but full days of relaxing together. This is the "kick back and enjoy life" relaxing, done for a concentrated period of time (four weeks for us). I literally did not look at eamil for the first three weeks I was gone...but even catching up with it this past week has been relaxing as I went through it at my leisure time. Making relaxing a habit during these four weeks carries over to the rest of the year as I remember how important this is.
RENEWAL: My vacation is spent mostly reading - I probably read about 7-8 hours a day. I put together my reading list all year long, as well as remain serendipitous to see what might come my way during the time here (we have a great library and bookstore in town). I get to read long novels that I have been putting off, as well as some of the "hard" stuff (philosophy, etc) that needs my concentrated effort and time. As I read, I come up with new ideas and ways of thinking, always considering what I am learning in the process. To be able to read this quantity and quality of texts with little or no interruption is a real gift to myself.
RE-CREATION: The song "Morning Has Broken" talks about God's re-creation of the new day, and I beleive that this might be the best part of Sabbath, to be made NEW again and again throughout the process. I see the world differently today than I did one month ago...my relationship with my wife is more full than it was one month ago...my spiritual life is more complete than it was one month ago...I will be a better teacher than I was one month ago...I am more fit than I was one moth ago...I will lead differently than I did one month ago...I have different experiences to talk about than I did one month ago...I have a wider vocabulary than I did one month ago...I am a better person than I was one month ago. I am a NEW creation.

So I urge each of you reading this to take Sabbath seriously. I know it might not be possible to do four weeks every year, but remember these items as you prepare for an extended time away:

• there will always be work left to do


• no one is irreplaceable


• you can always delegate more


• the less you are around, the less people will rely on you


• being away is a great way to develop other leaders


• we got along without email and cell phones in the past


• you have a lifetime of work ahead of you

Thanks for letting me share my Sabbath thoughts with you. How can you plan NOW for an extended Sabbath sometime in the future? And while you are at it, take that three day sabbath(no work) very soon!

leadership ala proust

This past week I finished volume three of Marcel Proust's epic novel Remembrances of Things Past. The third volume (The Guermantes Way) is pretty droll...it spends over 100 pages describing a reception at one of the homes and another 130 pages describing a dinner party. The writing is phenomenal...the story progresses slowly yet keeps the reader interested...and since it is considered one of THE novels of western literature, I will keep reading over the next several summers until I finish all seven volumes.
Since most of my reading is done with what I call "leadership lenses," here are two leadership lessons learned from reading Proust:

1. The narrator (the novel is semi-autobiographical) seems to idolize (and idealize) many of the characters prior to actually meeting them - he holds them in such a high esteem that he misses many opportunities to engage them and get to know them (i.e. the Duchesse Guermantes). Once he gets to really know them, he realizes that they are people just like him, with all the flaws that accompany humankind. We often put certain leaders on pedestals and become immobilized in approaching them or learning from them. Once we realize that all leaders put their pants on one leg at a time, it can become much easier to call them, approach them, email them, or invite them out for lunch. We should not be afraid of approaching people and getting to know them, just because they have a certain title or position. Much of the narrative of the novel is Marcel listening to these people talk amongst each other and getting to know them in that manner. Listening is key to building these relationships - and people love to talk about themselves. So be sure to show up at the right occasions, and just listen in.


2. During the dinner party, after listening to some very "silly" conversations, the narrator makes this note to himself: "so there is no conversation, any more than there are personal relationships, from which we can be certain that we shall not one day derive some benefit." How true this is for each of us in our own lives. Every conversation - every talk - every person we meet - every relationship might have something to offer that will be of benefit to us in the future. Every book we read - every movie we watch - every speech we listen to - every opportunity to engage in a conversation might offer to us something that we can use in our own leadership in the future. Taking advantage of these opportunities and then making the most of them might be the mosts important part of our leadership development. As noted above, LISTENING is a key element in learning, so take advantage of all opportuniites presented to you to listen and learn.

By the way, in a recent Wall Street Journal article on summer reading of the 2012 presidential candidates, it was noted that Governor Rick Perry reads (and re-reads in the original French language) Proust's Remembrances of Things Past. While I am no Rick Perry, it was nice to see that others in leadership positions read this novel. Hope he also takes away leadership lessons from reading great literature.