noting excellence

Yesterday I commented to a colleague that I did not know what I was going to blog about today. When I opened the paper this morning, I was reminded that one of my own colleagues, Dr. Larry Meissner, was one of 15 state-wide recipients to receive the Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award this year. Imagine - out of the thousands (tens of thousands?) of faculty in Texas Universities, Larry Meissner was recognized for his excellence in teaching. Larry has been at Concordia University for 37 years, and is one of those individuals whom everyone loves. He is a great teacher, he is passionate, he is compassionate, he is...what is it that makes him so amazing?

Napolean made the comment at one time that "leaders are dealers in hope." It would be easy to write about how Larry (Dr. Meissner to those of us who revere him) is a leader and dealer in hope. But today, I want to focus on how leaders should be recognizing and noting EXCELLENCE, such as the type displayed by Larry (excuse me, Dr. Meissner) over these many years. So what does excellence look like? Leaders should be on the lookout for these characteristics:

• positive outlook
• hard work
• new ideas always popping up
• dedication to the organization
• ability to maneuver between hierarchies
• someone to whom others listen
• someone who recognizes greatness in others
• committed to the values and ideals of the institution
• always prepared
• willingness to say "yes" to multiple requests
• enagement with multiple constituencies
• deep commitment to those the organization serves
• willingness to hold others accountable (both up and down the food chain)
• deeply held personal convictions
• ability to laugh and tell a good joke

This listing of "characteristics of excellence" is really a listing of Dr. Meissner's characteristics...and yet, they exemplify excellence in any organization or institution. These are the type of people who help move an organization forward...these are the type of people who make the lives of leaders easier...these are the type of people who best represent an institution...these are the type of people on whom leaders NEVER lose any sleep.

My fear is that these are also the type of people who never get the attention/recognition/reward they deserve. While leaders spend their time worrying about those who make trouble...or those who harm the organization...or those who need to be trained...or those who are still to come to an organization (how many "possible" organization charts go unfilled?) - the Dr. Meissner's of the world go unnoticed, unrewarded, and unrecognized. It is time to step up and NOTE THE EXCELLENCE that these people bring to the organization or institution, through such actions as:

• financial reward (beyond the regular raises that everyone gets)
• vacation reward (beyond the regular vacation that everyone gets)
• development reward (beyond the yearly conference everyone else gets to go to)
• time reward (to develop the newest idea these people of excellence often have)
• food reward (a celebration of excellence at the finest restaurant)
• peer reward (noting one's excellence in front of their peers)
• book reward ($1000.00 gift card to Border's - how cool would that be?)
• longevity reward (beyond the regular recognition everyone gets)
• special reward (something out of the clear blue that no one expects)

While this blog is my attempt to remind myself and others to recognize and reward excellence, it is also my personal tribute to my friend and colleague, Dr. Larry Meissner...my attempt to note excellence on the campus of Concordia University Texas...and my attempt to say to Dr. Larry Meissner, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Thanks for being a model of excellence for me and so many others!

young leaders

I am thinkng these days about creating an advisory board made up entirely of people under thirty. As I have recently celebrated year 50 of my own life, that seems like a long time ago. What was I thinking back then? What (and who) shaped my opinions? Was I more influenced by my past than I am now (or vice-versa)? How did I lead? Did I lead? Or was I merely moving along a path of which I had no clue?

That being said, I believe it is incredibly important to engage young people in discussion of leadership and organizational development. My current advisory board met several weeks ago and we had a wodnerful discussion on what the future of the College of Business at Concordia University Texas holds - but everyone (for the most part) around the table was of my generation or the one before me. What does this generation of those under 30 think about when it come to Concordia's mission of developing Christian leaders?

We often discuss mentoring as if a mentor needs to be older and wiser. Could it be that those who are younger and more foolish (as my mother used to say of me) are really the ones with the right questions? Does their perspective make more sense in today's world? Are they actually closer to the situation (i.e. college students), having a better understanding of the needs, desires and wants of those we serve? Could it be that the leaders of tomorrow need to be shaped by their peers rather than those who have been leading for a long time? How do we solve the problems of today if we listen to those who have led us into those problems?

So what do you think? Does an advisory board of those under 30 make sense? What type of role might they play for me and my organization? How would I use their knowledge and skills? With what type of questions should they be engaged? And what might meetings of this group look like?

If you have thoughts or answers, let me know - I'm ready to engage those who are young and foolish...or incredibly intelligent with the answers that are needed for developing today's leaders.

restless discontent with mediocrity

This past Saturday at our CTX graduation, Rev. John Nunes of Lutheran World Relief, referred to our President Tom Cedel as a "man who has a restless discontent with mediocrity." What a great phrase - and what an apt description of Concordia's president - and what an apt description of great leadership.

It was Jim Collins who wrote in his book Good to Great that the enemey of GREAT is GOOD. How many times do people feel as if it is "good enough?" How many times do peopel settle for less than greatness? How many times are people satisfied with thier own performance, others' performance, or the performance of their organization? Striving for excellence is the hallmark of a great organization - and of a great leader.

How does one's "restless discontent with mediocrity show itself? Here are several thoughts to consider:

1. debriefing after every event, noting what could be done better, and then DOING it better the next time around
2. rewarding people for trying out new ideas and concepts - even rewarding them when they fail to achieve all of the results hoped for
3. defining and talking about what EXCELLENCE means to your organizaton
4. continually asking the question, "What else can we do?"
5. taking "experts" out to lunch and picking their brains
6. holding everyone accountable to the vision; in other words, are we doing what we said we would do - and if not, why not?
7. having a vision
8. asking a lot of questions of everyone you know - both within and outside of the organization

So where are you today? Are you only seeking excellence - OR - are you practicing a restless discontent with mediocrity? I think they look different - and make a difference - for yourself and for your organization.

we do what we say we do

MISSION - it tells us what an organization does. Sounds simple, but often times the mission is nothing more than a nice statement that no one knows, remembers, or even cares about. More often, even when people know it, they seldom live it out.
I am proud to announce that Concordia University Texas lives out its mission of developing Christian leaders. I had the chance on Saturday, February 28, 2009, to witness this happening in three different venues:
1. Four of our students were at the Hatton W. Sumners Student Leadership Conference hosted by the UT Center for Ethical Leadership in the LBJ School of Public Affairs. They heard great speakers, did some self-reflection, worked in teams, and palnned for their own leadership development. Concordia made it possible for these four students to attend this great conference and develop as Christian leaders.
2. I watched the Concordia baseball team win yet another game. As I was talking with our athletic director, we both commented that our coach, Mike Gardner, is a class act that cares more about student development than winning (and by the way, he also does win). It struck me that as these young men learn about baseball, they are also developing into Christian leaders.
3. CTX's music department hosted a one-day conference on contemporary worship on Saturday. I sat in on a couple of sessions, and they were crowded with students and other adults from the community (and even from as far away as Dallas). The thought struck me that through this event, Concordia was - you guessed it - developing Christian leaders (both its students and others from the community).
So how cool is all of that? That's one day - a weekend day at that. Imagine what happens at Concordia in a week's time? We really do live out our mission...because we do what we say we do!