John Hersey Leadership Blog

We often find leadership lessons in very unlikely places; like a yoga class on Waikiki Beach.

So many of us long for the “good old days” when the good guys finished first. It seems as though those days have been replaced by all the “bad boys” winning the big games and gaining all the notoriety and huge pay days. Well, we have news for you; the good old days may still be with us.

We recently traveled to Baltimore to visit relatives and participate in a fund raiser for the Baer School, which Bev’s sister Debbie Kastendike, her uisband Graham and their sons Eric and Christopher and his wife Ashley are deeply involved with.  The plan was to have an affair at the Legends of Sport Heroes right near Camden Yards where to Baltimore Orioles still play. A special treat would be an appearance by Joe Flacco, Quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens. With all the controversy about and around “star athletes” these days I wasn’t so sure that the QB’s appearance was anything worth getting all excited over. Boy, was I wrong!

Joe Flacco impressed each of the 200 people there, including the biggest doubting Thomas of all, me.

Joe Flacco and the Kids of The Baer School

Joe and more Kids

Eric Kastendike, Joe Flacco and Christopher Kastendike

Joe Flacco and Ashley kastendike

Joe and another Baer School Charmer

To watch him was to learn about him. He began quietly, appearing a bit shy at first. Then as we entered the room where the kids were he began to be more lively. For the last picture above he actually asked if the little girl would like to have a picture taken. He didn’t presume she wanted the shot, nor did he walk away relieved that he avoided yet another inconvenience. No, he asked if she would like a picture.

Most of these kids had no idea who Joe Flacco is, nor did they care. They only knew that he enjoyed being with them, paying attention to them, talking with them, smiling with them. They loved him for that and so did the delighted people that came to help the Baer School.

That night, we all saw a side of Joe Flacco, and perhaps other “star athletes” that made us revisit our attitudes toward all athletes. Perhaps they are not all thugs and bad boys. Perhaps a few, like Joe Flacco, are really good guys that just dress up like athletes and happen to get paid a lot of money for doing so. This doesn’t make them bad. In fact, it just helped prove a really important point for all of us. Despite what the world may look like from time to time, good guys really do finish first.

Be Well & Be Contagious!

John

Recently, Bev and I attended an all day Economic Forum sponsored by the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce. We listened to two economists speak about the national and local economy. The first speaker was Jim Rounds, Senior Vice President, Elliott D. Pollack & Company. His expertise is in economic analysis and overviews related to national and state economies. He was followed by Dean Martin, Chief Financial Officer for the State of Arizona. Martin has developed quite a reputation for opening government finances to the public and is a three-time “Freedom of Information Award” recipient. What we learned and how you can benefit is summarized on the audio recording below.

What did we learn during the day?

1. Nationally, the recovery is underway.
   The Leading Economic indicators are pointing to recovery even though one is a bit artificial. Real GDP is up
   largely because the government continues to dump money into the economy. But, Real Income is up and Unemployment has flattened.
2. The recovery will play out state by state. Those that did not overbuild will recover first while the rust-belt states
   with too little diversification will lag. The over builders like Arizona will also lag perhaps as long as five years.
3. The recovery will not be swift. It will not be a V shaped recovery (fast to decline, fast to recover) nor
   will it be U shaped (fast to decline then flattening followed by a sharp improvement. The economists agreed
   (surprise, surprise) that the recovery will look more like the Nike Swoosh (fast down, long, slow rise.

What Does this mean for you?

Ram Charan, leadership expert and author of Leaders at all Levels said, “Financial’s tell us the history of a company,
the leadership pipeline, tells us about the future of the company.”

With this benefit of being able to see the recovery, Contagious Leaders will get their leadership pipelines in order by focusing on three things:

1. Assess the current leadership pipeline.
   Where are the gaps between leadership positions needed and available talent?
2. Assess your current culture. Is it a leadership culture? If you have been micro managing your way through this economy then
   you do not have a leadership culture. Lack of a leadership culture will limit your ability to attract leadership talent to fill your pipeline.
3. Determine NOW leadership qualities that are important to your organization and how you will measure them
   in every leader and aspiring leader.

Leadership is a conversation. It is ongoing and constantly evolving. Your leadership pipeline must tap into this conversation to grow, stay current and evolve. Our new program, The Contagious Leaders Coaching Club gives your teams access to this ongoing leadership conversation. Go to www.contagiousleaders.com
to learn more.

Be Well & Be Contagious,

John & Bev