What does it mean to persist?  Is persistence a good quality to have as a leader?  Is there a “dark side” to persistence that a leader needs to avoid?

Dictionary.com defines the verb persist as “to continue steadfastly or firmly in some state, purpose, course of action, or the like, especially in spite of opposition, remonstrance, etc.”

I’ve been thinking about the trait of persistence the last few months.  Since my retirement, I’ve reflected a lot on my challenges, successes, mistakes, missteps, and decisions.  From what I’ve read, that is common among retirees.  Even Bruce Springsteen sang about reflection in “Glory Days” (although that wasn’t necessarily positive reflection).

I’ve received feedback from many people that I am persistent.  Most of this feedback is positive.  Some of it reflects “areas of improvement” for me.  I’ve also been given the feedback that persistence is both one of my strongest strengths and one of my biggest faults.  Upon reflection, I agree with that assessment.

Persistence is a topic that has been considered by many to be important.  While researching the topic, I stumbled upon some excellent quotes about persistence:

• “Persistence is self-discipline in action.”  Brian Tracy
• “Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”  Calvin Coolidge
• “Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”  Napoleon Hill
• “Paralyze resistance with persistence.”  Woody Hayes
• “In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins; not through strength, but through persistence.”  Buddha
• “Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.”  Steve Martin

I’ve applied persistence several times in my life and career and received positive outcomes.  The absolute best example of this is my pursuit of my wife, Julie.  We met in high school (junior year).  I was smitten by her and asked her out many times.  She really didn’t want to date me and turned me down numerous times.  I wore her down with persistence!  Last December we celebrated our 43^rd anniversary, so it looks like it’s going to last.  ?

My entire career at Chevron was an example of my persistence.  I started after dropping out of college.  I finished my undergraduate degree in Marketing while working and raising a family.  I continually sought better-paying, challenging jobs that would help me provide better for my wife and daughters.  This was often tough.  It started off hard due to a lack of a degree.  It stayed challenging because I wasn’t an engineer.  When I look back on it, I see many times I persisted.

Another example of persisting was conquering my fear of public speaking.  Those who know me now may be surprised, but I used to freeze up and actively avoid speaking in front of others.  I signed up for a public speaking course that Chevron offered and followed up with being a guest speaker at a management program called SSKP (Supervisory Skills and Knowledge Program).  To be an SSKP guest speaker, you had to commit to four sessions of a particular topic.  One session was to audit a guest speaker, then you were the guest speaker for three subsequent sessions.  I thought three sessions would help me.  It worked because I was asked to do over 40 sessions on many different topics.

I also positively applied my persistence to my commercial career.  This started as a crude oil trader.  A person can’t be a successful trader without persistence.  There were many times I made a bad call or got on the wrong side of the market.  I had to stick with it.  As they say in the movies, failure was not an option.  This later helped me negotiate larger deals in my business development roles.

I can also remember a couple of times when my persistence didn’t achieve the right results.  One job I applied for in Chevron involved a move from California back to New Orleans.  My family had been in California for four years and were really enjoying it.  My wife and I discussed the potential and agreed that I should apply for the job and take it if four conditions were met.  The conditions included a raise, a promotion, and two other conditions we can’t remember (this was over 20 years ago).  I interviewed and was selected for the position, and I accepted the offer.  A big problem was that none of the four conditions were met.  I accepted the position because I thought it would be a good thing for my wife and daughters to be close to my wife’s family.  Big mistake.  My family went from thriving to floundering.

The other time when my persistence didn’t achieve the right result was when I was trying to improve my group’s performance.  I used the data my team knew about to monitor expenses (based on direct expense accounting information).  I managed my team’s efforts to control expenses using this data.  I also used this data to keep my supervisor informed of progress.  I didn’t know that there was a separate management information system that included the basic accounting information and other allocated expense and revenue.  I was diligently managing using the wrong information!  It was like I was trying to drive a car only looking at the engine temperature.  That didn’t end well!

Based on my experience and research, I’ve come to believe that persistence can be very beneficial to a leader.  Persistence can keep a leader on task despite adversity or resistance.  I also believe there is a “dark side” to persistence – not letting go when you should.  It’s a balancing act to know how far to push.  You also need feedback to ensure you’re on the right track.

Have you applied persistence and experienced positive returns?  Do you believe it is a positive trait or skill for a leader?  Have you ever seen it misused or abused?  I’d love to hear your thoughts or comments.

In the spirit of full disclosure, the answer to the question posed in the title came from a child I know.  That was their spirited reaction to any direction they didn’t agree with.  To the Type-A leader, or Alpha-Leader, there is a similar reaction.  Leaders want to lead.  Many leaders have very large egos.  Some would say they must so they can lead organizations through turbulent times.  A question popped into my mind a couple of weeks ago – do good leaders also need to be good followers?

I’ve long thought about this question and have come to the position that I believe good leaders can be some of the best followers.  I wondered if I was alone in thinking this.  Late last year (2021), I stumbled across something in my daily Bible reading that got me thinking.  I was using “Every Man’s Bible, New International Version.”  This version is rather good.  One thing I like is that it includes commentary from the editors in ways different than other Bibles I’ve read.  I liked reading the periodic one-pagers entitled “Someone You Should Know” which highlights a person in the Bible.  In 3 John, the editors highlighted Diotrephes and focused on a single verse: “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us” (3 John 1:9). Their point of highlighting Diotrephes was “good leaders honor others; bad leaders praise only themselves.” (Every Man’s Bible, page 1637)

This inspired me to do some more research on followership, as it’s related to leadership.  I started with a simple web search – “are good leaders good followers?”  I didn’t know if I’d find anything good – boy, was I surprised!  There were a lot of great things.  Three things stood out to me:

• A blog post by Michael Hyatt entitled “Why the Best Leaders are Great Followers – Five Hidden Attributes That Command Respect”
• An article published by Forbes: “To Be a Great Leader, Learn How to Be a Great Follower”
• A Harvard Business Review (HBR) Leadership Research article entitled “To Be a Good Leader, Start By Being a Good Follower”

I’ve mentioned Michael Hyatt a couple of times before, so you’re probably not surprised I liked his blog post!  In this post, Hyatt lists three characters in the Bible who started out as followers and became great leaders in their own right – Joshua, Elisha, and Peter.  Hyatt lists five characteristics of good followers.  These characteristics make great leaders (in my opinion):

1. They are clear.
2. They are obedient.
3. They are servants.
4. They are humble.
5. They are loyal.

Forbes and HBR are two popular business publications.  The author of the Forbes article (Bernhard Schroeder) shares his Four Rules of Following:

1. You’re not following, you’re a leader-in-training.
2. Put your team first.
3. Believe in yourself and your leader.
4. [It’s] what you follow, not who.

These are very good rules for following.  I think they also come in handy in training a leader.

I really enjoyed the HBR article.  I used to subscribe to the HBR, and looked forward to reading each edition.  A sentence in this article really stood out – “without followership, leadership is nothing.”  The authors reported on their analysis of emergent leadership among 218 male Royal Marine recruits who embarked on the elite training program after passing a series of tests of psychological aptitude and physical fitness.  They examined whether the capacity for recruits to be seen as displaying leadership by their peers was associated with their tendency to see themselves as natural leaders.  The results of their analysis were staggering.  Those who saw themselves as natural leaders were viewed as having leadership potential by their commanders.  But the recruits who saw themselves as followers ultimately emerged as leaders.

These three articles support the premise that to be a good leader, you must learn how to be a good follower.

I developed a reputation as a good follower.  For the most part, I am a conformist.  However, there were times in my leadership career when I was a poor follower.  Two times stand out to me.  One of my bosses, while delivering my performance feedback one year, said that he appreciated that we were mostly aligned in our approach to getting results.  He told me 95% of the time we were aligned, but that other 5% was quite ugly!  Ouch, that hurt.  I worked on being more diplomatic with him and ended up on a positive tone.

One of the lowest points of my career happened partially because I wasn’t a good follower.  I didn’t fully establish a positive relationship with one of my bosses.  I didn’t fully understand her expectation and missed many cues to her dissatisfaction with my performance.   This resulted in my removal from that position – the only time that happened to me.

I learned a couple of lessons about leadership and followership:

• Being a follower under a poor leader is tough.  When you believe leadership is heading in the wrong direction, express your concerns in a respectful, reasonable manner.  If your opinion isn’t accepted, follow anyway.  Don’t say “I told you so” if it doesn’t work out.
• Being a follower when you wanted to be the leader is also tough.  In my last job, I wanted to be promoted to the leadership of the group and never was.  I missed out on the promotion three times and ended up training my new boss two out of three of those times.  This was very humbling.

I strongly believe that good leaders can and should also be good followers, but not all good followers can be good leaders.

How good of a follower are you?  Do you struggle to follow when you don’t appreciate the leader’s vision or direction?  If you are a leader, I challenge you to read the three articles I’ve cited.  Develop your own opinion.  Let me know what you think.

I give up – I refuse to do another New Year’s resolution!  I don’t have any for 2022, and I don’t plan on ever doing one again.  It’s February, and I’ve just finished my first draft of my personal goals for the year.  None of the goals resembles a resolution.  You might be thinking – what gives?  Well, to offer a phrase that’s been overused since March of 2020, I’m following science.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had New Year’s resolutions many times in the past.  I like the start of a new year 1 it gives me the opportunity for a fresh start or clean slate.  I usually start the new year strong, with determination that I’d follow my resolution for the entire year.  I rarely do.  Turns out, I am not the only one.

I was a member at the Downtown Houston YMCA for a few years.  I enjoyed that facility.  It had all the equipment I needed, and was easy to access.  I joined mid-year once.  I found the gym not only accessible, but I could always use the equipment I wanted to.  It was great!  Unfortunately, this only lasted for a few months.  The first time I went to the YMCA after New Year, I was bummed out.  Not only did I have a hard time finding a parking place, but I couldn’t use my preferred equipment.  There were so many people there!

For a while, I grumbled about it and even considered quitting.  Being a procrastinator, I never got around to cancelling my membership.  After about six weeks, I noticed I could easily find a parking spot and equipment.  A lot of people started off the new year joining the YMCA, but gave up on their resolution after a while.

This year, I decided to do something different.  As I’ve stated in previous posts, I use the Full Focus Planner (FFP) by Michael Hyatt as my daily planner.  The FFP does an excellent job of integrating annual goals, calendar, task lists, and project management.  I’ve been using the FFP since its inception.

This year, I decided to read Michael Hyatt’s book “Your Best Year Ever” (YBYE) before I wrote up any goals.  This book is one of the best self-development books I’ve seen in many years.  Not only is it inspiring and great for helping write up your goals, but it is full of references to studies and research done in the field.

I started drafting my goals while reading the book.  Once I finished the book, I reviewed the draft goals to ensure they fit the formula for success.  I’ve now settled on these ten goals for the year, and have started working them in earnest.

What have I learned from taking a different path to annual goals:

• I need to devote more time at the end of the year to review my progress and plan my next year’s goals.  Michael Hyatt states, “when we obsess on what’s wrong, we miss what’s right.” (YBYE, page 59).  My favorite leadership author Dr. John C. Maxwell used to say that the old phrase “experience is the best teacher” was inaccurate.  He says “evaluated experience is the best teacher.”  I plan to follow the After-Action Review process at year-end.  This process, developed and utilized by the U. S. Army, includes four simple steps:
  • State what you wanted to happen.
  • Acknowledge what really happened.
  • Learn from the experience.
  • Adjust your behavior.
• As part of my annual review process, I plan to review the YBYE book while looking both back (at the current year’s goals) and forward (to the upcoming year’s goals).  This book is not only full of opinions backed by solid research on achievement and success, but it gives you very clear guidance on how to write goals that will maximize potential success.
• I will be judicious about sharing my goals only with people who either have a vested interest in me achieving them, or with people who can hold me accountable.  One of the studies mentioned in YBYE indicated that sharing your goals actually affects your brain the same way as achieving the goal.

I’d like to hear what you think:

• Do you regularly use New Year’s resolutions to change behavior or achieve goals?  What’s been your track record of success?
• What is your process to develop, monitor, track, and celebrate success?

Leaders must be able to deal with adversity readily.  In my opinion, adversity is like a forge. The forging process is essentially the art of heating and working hot metal into shape.  By working the metal in this way, it increases many of the metal properties, including structure.  Leaders are strengthened and shaped by going through adversity.  Can you recall a time in your leadership journey where you faced adversity?  Did you come out of it as a stronger leader?

I faced adversity a lot in the period of 1999-2002.  This was a time that defined me as a leader, and crystallized my approach to leadership.

I was in a good job in 1999 after my family had relocated to New Orleans in 1998.  This put us much closer to family after four years in California.  I had very little stress in my vocational life, and decided I would go back to school and get my MBA.  I joined the Executive MBA program at Tulane University at the age of 41.

The intensity of the EMBA program was challenging at the start.  We met every other weekend for class and had study team meetings in between.  I was a member of an amazing study team which stayed together for the entire EMBA program.  We were all located in New Orleans and rotated our meetings at each other’s offices.  In addition, I had a great support network at home.  This changed drastically about six-seven months later, when I was offered a transfer and a promotion to a different role in Houston, Texas.  I had to move my family at a time when our oldest daughter was leaving for college and our younger daughter was going into her sophomore year of high school.  That was tough on the two of them, as well on my wife and I, as we tried to hold our family together.  During this time, I was traveling back to New Orleans every other weekend to attend school.  I was learning a new job with a totally different team at the same time as navigating my family through a significant emotional event.

This time was particularly tough for my leadership – both at home and at work.  At home, I was very fortunate that my wife pulled up the slack.  We wouldn’t have made it through as a family without her leadership.  I’m a blessed man!

As for work, in late 2000 I switched to a complex job from one with a relatively simple scope.  I was now responsible for a global team of crude oil traders and operations personnel.  While my title was West Africa Crude Trading Team Leader, I had no direct reports.  My team included five traders in three locations (London, Houston, and Singapore) and operations personnel in numerous countries (which included Angola, Nigeria, UK, Canada, US, and Singapore). 

In addition to a new team and the pressures of my EMBA program, I was in a new job in a new location.  For school, I was flying back to New Orleans from Houston every other week.  For work, I had a tough international travel schedule.  In 2001 (when I wasn’t in school), I flew to Norway, London, Nigeria (twice), and Angola.  In late 2001, I flew to Europe for the last week of school.  This last trip included my family.  Once school was over, we took a much-needed vacation to London and Europe.  I thought that my stress level would decrease significantly after school.  Unfortunately, this lower stress level only lasted a couple of months.

In late 2001, the merger between Chevron and Texaco was approved and moved forward.  I went into another new job as Planning Manager for ChevronTexaco’s Global Trading division.  I was to have an analyst to help me.  Due to immigration issues from 9/11, my analyst (a Philippine citizen) couldn’t get a visa.  I was on my own to prepare the first business plan for the new Global Trading organization.  I plan to write a post about this time, as it was extremely disappointing and was one of the low points of my 40-year career at Chevron.   I finished out 2001 thoroughly disliking my job.  I was miserable at work.

The next year, there was a small reorganization at Chevron and the Global Trading organization was merged with Chevron’s worldwide fuel oil trading and marketing organization.  This year was another transition year for us in three ways:

1. Our younger daughter graduated from high school a year early and headed off to college in the fall of 2002.
2. I got another new job and transfer to California in the summer of 2002.
3. In the fall, my wife and I became empty nesters!  We were in California; one daughter was in college in Louisiana and the other was in college in Oklahoma.

The new assignment in California turned out to be my favorite job in my entire career.  This was despite being a part of an oil spill response (see https://mrhensonllc.com/incident-command-leadership-insights/).

Was my work life adversity-free after 2002?  Absolutely not!  Almost twenty years later, I can see that the time of 1999-2002 was full of adversity.

This period of adversity truly gave me a stronger level of leadership.  While in my EMBA studies, I articulated my personal leadership model (see https://mrhensonllc.com/my-personal-leadership-model/).  In my new role in 2002, I was able to apply this model deliberately.  I strongly believe it was a key to the high performance of that team.

On a personal note, I’ve noted how my daughters’ independence was forged during this time of adversity for them.  While they made sacrifices for all the moves and transitions, they have both developed into strong women and mothers – fierce leaders!

My belief is that strength does come from adversity.  Adversity in a leaders’ life can make them a stronger leader.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.  What adversity have you gone through?  Did it make you a stronger leader or person?  Have you seen the improvement as a result?

Recently, I wrote a post on what I gained from an extended visit with my 91-year-old father (https://mrhensonllc.com/time-with-dad/).  That time, as well as my ongoing visits and phone conversations with Dad, got me thinking about what leadership lessons I learned from Dad.

My Dad made the leap from individual contributor (Drilling Mud Engineer) to manager in 1968 when he was promoted to District Manager.  Apparently, Dad had been a good Mud Engineer and his company (Baroid) promoted him to a position that had a few engineers, truck drivers, warehousemen, and administrative support reporting to him.

I was a young boy at this time, but I thought it was a great move for Dad and our family, even if we had to move from Weatherford, Oklahoma to Pampa, Texas.  The reason I thought it was a good move was that it meant that Dad would have more time at home with us.  As a Drilling Mud Engineer, Dad had to monitor drilling fluids for multiple wells in his area.  It was a demanding job that took him away from us a lot.  I was glad to have him around more!

One thing I remember about this transition was that Dad picked up a book or two on management (I remember Peter Drucker’s The Practice of Management being one of them).  I was naturally curious and was glad Dad always made time to discuss the books and what he was learning whenever I asked.

Dad’s move into management changed my mind about what career I wanted to follow.  As a boy, I wanted to be a Drilling Mud Engineer like Dad when I grew up.  I was devastated when I found out that I couldn’t because of my colorblindness (this was before PH meters, when you had to determine the PH of the drilling mud using a treated piece of paper that changed colors depending upon the PH level).  My mom, whose father was colorblind, worked with me about accepting my colorblindness.  She found out that I could be a pharmacist and be colorblind.  Once Dad became a manager, I decided I wanted to be a manager – Management was my first major in college.

Dad worked for Baroid for over 30 years, with over 20 years in supervisory/managerial roles.  During this time, I watched Dad at work and listened to his stories about work.  I’ve learned a few lessons from him:

1. Study areas of your job you don’t know.  Just as Dad bought and studied books on management, I applied this practice many times during my career.  The study can include book reading, internet searches, and discussions with experts.
2. Study your new organization.  Observe as much as you can without making any judgment calls (if you can avoid it).  Get to know your people as well as the organization chart.  Recognize that when a new leader shows up, people will request things the previous leader denied.  Make sure you seek all sides to any story or request.
3. Get to know your people.  This aspect is an integral part of my personal leadership model (see previous post).  As John C. Maxwell would say “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  I can remember Dad making many home and hospital visits.  He knew a lot about the people that worked for him.  He made quite an impression when he showed up at a wake for a union employee in New Orleans.  They had never seen any manager or supervisor outside of work – it made quite a positive impact.
4. Stand up for your people.  Dad advocated strongly for employees he believed in.  I remember a few times that the first thing Dad told his boss when he was notified of a new job was who the boss should pick to replace him.
5. Be loyal to your employer, but don’t roll over.  Dad was very loyal to Baroid.  There were a few times when things occurred that he didn’t agree with.  He was always vocal about sharing his opinion.  Once he shared his opinion, he returned to doing his job as well as he could.
6. Tough negotiators don’t have to be jerks.  Dad has many stories about various negotiations.  One theme from all of them is that he had respect for who he was negotiating with.  He lived by the “it’s business not personal” creed.  I tried to emulate this in my negotiating style.  I still have friendships with people I negotiated with.  Mutual respect is the foundation of successful negotiating (in my opinion).  I plan on writing a few posts on negotiating, so stay tuned!
7. Let your record speak for itself.  Dad wasn’t one to “toot his own horn,” both at work and outside of work.  He spoke up for himself, but let his results do the most talking.  I came to embrace this in my career. 
8. Stories can have a positive impact.  Dad is famous in our family for his stories (some of them we’ve heard more than once!).  He is able to defuse situations with stories.  He was also able to connect with people easily using stories.  While I enjoyed sharing stories, I also tried to make sure I didn’t tell them to the same people too many times!  (If I did, and you’re reading this, I’m sorry!)
9. You have to make hard decisions in order to succeed.  Dad is always free with me about some tough decisions he had to make.  Telling me about the issues lets me know that I am not alone in the process.  I could always discuss my tough situations with Dad.  He can commiserate and advise at the same time.
10. Quiet anger can be effective.  Dad was never one to yell.  He could affect my behavior very strongly simply by telling me he was disappointed in what I did.  I recognized the power in this.  I also don’t think yelling or losing your cool at work is the way a professional would behave.  I know from feedback that my anger was evident in other ways.  I also know that it brought about positive changes.
11. Do the right thing.  Dad is a strong Christian.  He firmly believes in doing the right thing.  He believes that right will win in the end, and so do I.  I’ve never felt bad about doing the right thing!
12. Enjoy the ride.  Dad really enjoyed his job.  It showed in his actions at work and at home.  I like this approach.  I lived by the belief that we should have fun at work.  The more we enjoy the people we work with, the more we can accomplish.  I try to have fun.  Life is too short!

As you can tell from this post and the other post about spending time with Dad, I love my father.  I am rather proud to call him a friend as well as my father.  My Dad was my best man at my wedding.  I still can’t think of a better person.

I’d love to hear your comments.  What did you think of the 12 lessons?

The 2021 hurricane season ended at the close of November.  Each hurricane season since 2005 has reminded me of Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. Gulf Coast on August 29^th of that year.  We (my wife and I) were living in California at the time.  It was surreal watching from afar.  We had plenty of family in the New Orleans area, so we kept our eyes glued to the television for updates.  We visited New Orleans a few times after the storm and were humbled by the aftermath.  Three notable scenes were:

1. West End Boulevard: this area is a large median (neutral ground for locals).  After Katrina, it was used as a transfer point for debris from people gutting their homes.  It was an amazing amount of trash and debris.
2. Highway 23: this highway runs from the New Orleans area to Venice, Louisiana.  I got to see an album of pictures and videos taken after Katrina that showed a phenomenal amount of devastation.
3. Community Service: I had the opportunity to take my leadership team to clear out a musician’s home six months after Katrina.  It turned out to be the first time the house had been entered since the storm.  We ended up gutting the house to the studs.  I’ll share more of that story on a different post.

For the summer of 2021, we planned to spend a month in Tennessee to escape the heat and humidity of New Orleans.  It was a lovely time, until late August.  Hurricane Ida formed in the Gulf and was headed to New Orleans.  When it was clear that New Orleans would get hit, we wisely decided to stay put in Tennessee.  Once again, we experienced that surreal vision of watching the destruction from afar.  As it turned out, Ida made landfall on August 29, 2021 – exactly 16 years from Katrina.  Power was knocked out for the entire area.  We decided to stay in Tennessee until our power was restored.

About two weeks after Ida, we made the trip back to New Orleans from Tennessee.  We could see the impact of Ida from afar as we drove.  Trees were down, signs were missing, and debris was evident (more so as we got closer to New Orleans).

When we made it to metropolitan New Orleans, we were humbled at the extent of damage.  Blue tarps were everywhere – they are used to cover roofs that have been damaged until the roof can be repaired or replaced.  A massive number of trees were down.  Two blocks from our house, we passed the local YMCA.  It was quite bizarre to see military Humvees with red crosses on them parked out front.  Apparently, they had been using the YMCA as a local field hospital for first aid cases.

We pulled up at our house, and didn’t think it was so bad.  Granted, it was dark.  When we got up the next morning and made our rounds, we noticed more damage than we originally thought.  A piece of siding had fallen off our house and dented our car.  No trees were down, but quite a few limbs were broken.  There was more roof damage than we thought, and quite a few of our windows had leaked.

It took us a couple of days to come to grips with what was happening in the city, even after two weeks.  We had power, but many areas still hadn’t.  There were piles of storm debris all around.  We couldn’t get anyone to help out with our damage – it wasn’t as severe as others, and they were booked.  Two weeks after the storm, the city still hadn’t been able to start picking up trash.  It was over three weeks after the storm (close to a month) before we got our first trash pickup (no debris, only cans).  Then, the city reduced the pickups from twice weekly pre-storm to once weekly.  We still haven’t returned to pre-storm service levels, and the city hasn’t resumed recycling pickups.

About a week after our return, I drove someone to Houma for work.  Houma was where Ida made landfall, and received the worst of the wind damage.  I was deeply affected by the scene surrounding me.  I didn’t know I had it so good in third-world New Orleans!

I learned a few lessons from my Ida experience:

1. Beware of PTSD after an emergency.  My wife and I were “in a funk” for 2-3 days upon our return.  We were depressed about the damage to our house, as well as the damage our daughters and family members experienced.  It took us a while to pick ourselves up and carry on.  Don’t underestimate the mental and emotional impact – take care of your mental health!
2. Normal doesn’t come back quickly or easily in a major disaster.  Here we are over three months after the storm, and things are not back to pre-storm levels.  The extent of the power outage in the area, and the brave and tireless efforts of the linemen from all over the US, cannot be adequately expressed.  The fact that we got power restored relatively quickly is amazing.  The other services (groceries, trash, gasoline, repairs, etc.) took a long time to return.
3. Make sure you get to know your neighbors, and develop good relationships with them.  Because we had good connections with a few of our neighbors, we were able to find out more about our house and the neighborhood while still in Tennessee.  Once we returned, everyone was sharing contacts for roof repairmen and handyman services.  We truly are in this together!
4. Emergency response plans for your family are absolutely essential.  My wife and I have long prepared plans for disasters.  I believe it’s due to my training at Chevron – it was ingrained in me, and I brought it home.  Fortunately, my wife sees the benefit to this.  We had a reasonable plan, and we readily adapted it to the situation on the ground.
5. Local leadership can make or break a community’s response to a crisis.  There have been a few books written on the breakdown of leadership at all levels (national, state, and local) during Hurricane Katrina.  Hurricane Ida was no different – there were breakdowns everywhere.  The mayor of New Orleans did not declare a mandatory evacuation.  This bureaucratic step bogged relief efforts down, and hurt many people.  The parishes (Louisiana’s version of counties) didn’t coordinate efforts very well.  This caused confusion.  This happened to be an election year for many of the local officials.  I would have thought they would have concentrated on getting good things done for the most people.  This didn’t seem to motivate many of them.  The best examples of leadership came from non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  They seemed to have the right approach – they just wanted to help others get their lives back.  Values really drive leadership styles!

When I look at how the various communities in Southeastern Louisiana have responded to and recovered from Hurricane Ida, I am surprised at the difference.  Some have rebounded, while others are still languishing from the effects of the storm.  I can’t help but think that my last lesson is the most important one.

What examples of leadership during crises can you share?  Do you and/or your family have an emergency response plan?

Please share your thoughts.

One of my favorite leadership sayings it “The leader sets the tone.”  How does a leader set the tone and environment for his/her employees to be motivated to succeed?  I’d like to share with you a story as well as the lessons I learned from this situation.

During a lot of my career at Chevron, I worked in an open office environment.  During a particular phase of my employment, my cubicle was located very close to a person not on my team.  To protect their identity, I’ll refer to this person as Becky. 

I enjoyed interacting with Becky over a period of 1-2 years.  She was always cheerful.  When she was at work, she was very industrious.  I didn’t see her wasting time with idle chitchat or gossip with other coworkers.

In spite of this, Becky didn’t appear to be having fun at work in her role (or on her team).  Instead of exhibiting a “9 to 5 mentality” (also known as “checking your brain at the door”), I would say she exhibited more of a “8:15 to 4:45” mentality.  Work appeared to be a necessary evil to her – she wasn’t having fun.

While I could tell she was industrious, I could also tell that there was more to Becky than met the eye.  My conversations with her indicated a high intelligence, along with good opinions.  She didn’t feel free to share her opinions, because she didn’t believe her opinion was valued by leaders in her team.

Because of her intelligence, skills, and personality, I wanted Becky on my team.  When a position on my team opened up, I actively recruited her to apply.  She nailed the interview (as I expected), and impressed the selection team.

Once Becky was offered and accepted the position on my team (a lateral move for her), I started applying my personal leadership model (see https://mrhensonllc.com/my-personal-leadership-model/ ).  I spent quite a bit of time getting to know Becky.  I sought her feedback on what types of assignments she enjoyed, and her preferred recognition style.  I also asked for feedback on what I could do as a leader to help make her job more enjoyable.  I also started to understand her sense of humor, and what she enjoyed.  I applied all this information to provide meaningful assignments, appropriate recognition, and the right level of fun on the job.

This information helped me to set Becky up for success and let her excel.  Over time, I witnessed a transformation in her.  She had a “spring in her step” and smiled more at the office.  Her work output consistently exceeded expectations.  She was also willing to do whatever it took to get the job done.  She stepped up in key leadership roles and experiences.  Becky gave me feedback on my leadership that was actionable.  She initially gave this feedback when I asked for it, and grew to proactively share feedback she thought would help me develop.  I appreciated all of her feedback – it truly helped me improve.  The change in her behavior and output was recognized by many leaders in the group.

I learned three key lessons from this experience:

1. My personal leadership model works!  Becky’s example was one of many applications of this model.  The results were the same: the team achieved success, Becky realized her potential, and I grew my leadership strengths and dealt with my weaknesses.
2. Motivation is unique to the individual.  What motivated Becky was different that what motivates me, and was different than others on the team.
3. The leader’s challenge is to find what motivates the individual.  The leader should not deliver “canned motivation” that is the same to everyone.

Becky has since gone on to achieve great things.  She’s confident, happy, and self-assured.  She’s now viewed as a high-performing individual.  She will continue to add value in whatever role she’s in.

I’d love to hear your comments.  Do you have a personal leadership model?  Have you experienced a leader who drew out your unique strengths, values, and goals through motivation that was tailored to you?  How did that work?

I can’t remember where I heard the expression, but I do remember my parents telling me to be careful about pointing my finger.  The reason they told me to be careful is that when I point my finger at someone else, there are three fingers pointing back at me!

Additionally, my favorite leadership author, John C. Maxwell said “As a leader, the first person I need to lead is me.  The first person that I should try to change is me.”

These two concepts are quite simple:

• Don’t point out issues with others until you get your own house in order
• Start with working on yourself.

One thing I’ve noticed about myself and many people is that we tend to overcomplicate things.  We can’t believe some things about life are truly simple.  It can’t be this easy, can it?  Actually, it is.  Or, at least that’s my experience.  I’ve found that the toughest person I have had to lead (and continue struggling with) is myself.  When I analyze why, I come down to four key reasons:

1. I have an inflated ego.  I’ve heard it said that everyone believes they are above-average.  I know that I fall into that trap daily.  I also know this is the case when I am criticized in a manner I feel is not justified.  I believe having a healthy opinion about yourself isn’t inherently bad.  It’s when this opinion is out of line with reality.
2. I’m basically lazy.  I really enjoy reading.  I would rather read a good book than do any chores.  I also like to nap.  I thoroughly enjoy napping with my grandchildren, as it gives me an excuse to justify napping.  🙂
3. I’m a procrastinator.  I guess this goes along with being lazy, but mine is so bad that I’ve listed it as a separate reason.  I really perfected this during college.  I mean, who doesn’t cram for exams the night before?  I found out that I did better if I waited until the last minute.  (I know, this was a delusion!)  Later, during my career at Chevron, I found that I really worked best under pressure (another self-delusion).  I got pretty good at thinking about a problem or an issue, without taking definitive issue on until right before a deadline.  Some of my best emails, reports, or other written work was done right before a deadline.  I should have been a beat reporter on a newspaper.  The impact of my procrastination is not always saved by my last-minute scrambling.  I’ve recently had a personal issue with a neighbor that my wife told me about some time ago;  I procrastinated in addressing it (also my next character issue).  When I did get to it, it didn’t turn out as I hoped.
4. I avoid conflict.  Just ask any of my family!  I think this comes from my need to be liked.  When you add it to the other three reasons, it can really be problematic.  A couple of conflicts (like the issue with our neighbor) have recently backfired when I did address them.

When I started to write this post, I looked back at the above four reasons, and knew that if any of my employees exhibited these characteristics, I would have addressed them clearly during coaching and performance discussions.  This is hard to believe, since I avoid conflict.  I’m sure some of my former employees will recognize me addressing similar issues with them during coaching sessions.

The last sentence of the John Maxwell quote struck me.  Before I work on anyone else, I need to work on myself.  I’m not rid of these characteristics.  I like to think I’m getting better.  I know I’m a much better performer since I started addressing these things.

My plan for currently addressing these characteristics is laid out below:

• Inflated Ego:  I’m asking for more feedback from those who know me well.  I have an accountability partner who asks me pointed questions – this keeps me humble.  I also have committed to my wife to work on my responses to her (both tone and words).   There have been a few occurrences lately that have been rather humbling to me.  One of them is the outcome of my procrastination and conflict avoidance.  There’s nothing like humbling situations to put your ego in check.  I recognize my many shortcomings and am starting to vocalize them readily (it’s a work in progress for sure!). 
• Lazy:  I love to-do lists.  That’s an overstatement.  I’ve actually found that I love marking things off my to-do list!  If there’s something I don’t want to do, I first try the “Swiss cheese method” of doing a little bit at a time.  This gives me the positive reinforcement of marking something off my list and helps me to be more productive.  I’ve also shown my wife my system of keeping action items written down.  Recently, she started telling me to write things down, including her action items.  She told me if it gets on my list, it gets done.  Progress!
• Procrastinator:  This goes in line with my attack on my laziness.  I have found two tools to help me in this.  I utilize the Full Focus Planner, and have been since its inception.  I’ve found it to be the most integrated planner.  It’s also based on the science behind writing things down.  I love it and highly recommend it!  Check it out online.  I also use the digital tool Todoist.  I find this app to be good for managing reoccurring action items as well as projects.  (I do not receive anything from either of these tools – just passing along what works for me.)
• Conflict Avoidance:  I think the only way to work on this is to admit your tendency (which I’ve started to do) and expose yourself to resolving conflicts amicably and reasonably.  I admit I’ve just started with this one.  So far, I’ve exposed myself to one conflict and received positive results – which is a good start.  I’ll let you know how this goes. 

I’ve had some pretty challenging employees in my career.  I’ve encountered belligerence, anger, shouting, crying, as well as a threat to my life.  None of these challenges match the one I face whenever I look in the mirror.

How about you?  Do you believe John Maxwell’s premise about the first person to lead or change?  Would you agree you are your biggest leadership challenge?  Share with me your thoughts.

Now that I’ve shared my four characteristics I’ve identified and am working on, feel free to comment as to whether you agree with them or not (if you know me of course).  If you’ve done a similar self-examination, tell me how you overcame any character issues. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

This last Thursday was Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.  As I started preparing for this holiday, I thought I should do the holiday right and remember all that I have in my life to be thankful for.  It’s a shame that we don’t often reflect on the many blessings we have in our lives except for one day a year.  The past two years have been a bit better for me.  I try to journal my prayer time every day.  My daily prayer journal includes a small paragraph for giving thanks.  It’s been nice, and has an effect on my outlook.  I don’t seem to have the stress I used to (yes, even retired people have stress!).  I highly recommend contemplating gratitude and thankfulness each day.  It will give you a fresh, new perspective on life.

The past year or so has been rather chaotic if you listen to the news.  It seems to me that there is so much divisiveness in the world today.  I don’t think it’s ever been this bad, but maybe I’m wrong.  This divisiveness seems to cause everyone to look for all that’s wrong in the world, and all the wrong “they” are doing (regardless of who “they” are).  I’ve got the start of a post on the destructive nature of divisiveness, so stay tuned.

This year, I am thankful for many things:

1. My Faith:  if you’ve read my posts, you know that I profess to be a Christ-follower.  I rely heavily on my faith for comfort and peace.  This has given me a sense of calm in this crazy world.  I hope you have some strength you can rely on.
2. My Family:
   • This December, I will celebrate my 43rd wedding anniversary with my wife.  I am so blessed to have a mate like her.  Sometimes it’s only the two of us against the world, but I always have a teammate.   I can’t imagine life without her, and look forward to what the future has in store.
   • We have two grown daughters.  Children truly are a gift from God (IMHO).  Our two daughters are both mothers of their own now.  It’s incredibly rewarding to see how these two have grown and matured into amazing humans and loving mothers.  I am so proud of both of them.
   • We now have three grandchildren (one girl and two boys).  Man, I can’t adequately express how much fun it is to be a grandparent.  We have had the distinct honor and privilege of supporting our working daughters by providing supplemental childcare for them.  Grandchildren keep you young at heart, and at the same time can make you feel very old.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.
   • I have a remarkable relationship with my 91-year old father, and am so glad we talk often.  I’ve already written a post about extended time with him last year (add link), and plan to publish a post on the leadership lessons I’ve learned from him.
   • I have two sisters.  Unfortunately, we don’t live close by, but I still have a good relationship with them and enjoy catching up with them about their lives, and the lives of their extended family.  We’ve grown a bit closer over the last year, as we’ve discussed my dad’s health and future.
   • Our extended family is pretty large.  We are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year.  There will be over 30 people here, split between adults and children.  I’m looking forward to the family time.
3. My Health: for my age (63), I’m still in relatively good health.  I’m blessed.  I don’t take any prescription drugs.  I do take supplements.  I get regular exercise.  I can’t do the things I used to do, but I can still get around pretty well.
4. My Friends:  I’ve reconnected to quite a few friends this past year.  It’s been great finding out what’s been happening in their lives.  I’ve also been very pleased with the comments I’ve received on my blog posts.  It’s been heartwarming.

There are so many “things” (possessions) I could be thankful for.  When I look back on the four things I’ve listed above, nothing else truly compares.

What are you thankful for?  I’d love to hear your thoughts on gratitude and thankfulness.

I have heard it said that leading a non-profit is easy.  My experience is the exact opposite.  I firmly believe that if you can motivate and lead people who have no economic reason to follow you (like getting a paycheck), you can lead anyone. 

As I’ve stated before, I’m a man of faith.  I’ve been very active in church life most of my life.  I served on the board of three separate churches.  It was when I served as the chairman of the Elder Board for a church, that I faced my toughest leadership challenges.  I have served as the chair two separate times.  The first time, I was the youngest chair of the board in the church’s history.  I served in this role for a couple of years, leading the church staff through strategic planning and personal development activities.  We were transferred, so I stepped down.  We returned to this church a few years later, and I was elected to the board (and chairmanship) a year after return.  It was during the next few years that I faced my toughest leadership challenges.

This church had a congregation-led governance model.  That meant that the staff (pastoral and administrative) reported to the Board of Elders.  Shortly after I became Chairman again, our Senior Pastor resigned.  Until the church found a replacement for our Senior Pastor, leadership (even spiritual) of our church reverted to the Board.  As leader of the Board, I became the de facto leader of the church.  This was an incredibly humbling time for me.  I didn’t (and still don’t) feel worthy or qualified to lead.

There were a number of issues I had to deal with during this time.  Before the Senior Pastor left, I facilitated a strategic planning effort for the church.  This pulled on my experience at Chevron, where I had been trained to facilitate teams through numerous strategic planning efforts.  It was different only in that I wasn’t a neutral facilitator, but as a member of the congregation, I had a stake in the future of the church.

Shortly after the senior pastor left, an issue arose that struck the church to the core and severely tested my leadership skills and abilities.  While we were seeking a replacement, it came out that one of the elders was having an affair with another elder’s wife.  Both families were very visible in their service to the church.  I became aware of the situation at the start of a board meeting.  The elder who was having an affair showed up only to submit his resignation from the church and the board.  The wife of the other elder was an active member of the worship ministry, and would be visibly absent the first Sunday after this affair came to light.  As a board, we had a duty to explain the situation (as best we could while protecting confidentiality and staying true to our legal duties).  That Sunday, after worship, I called for an all-church meeting.  I had a script that had been approved by the board and our counsel.  There were certain things I could and couldn’t say.  After the script, I opened the floor for questions.  As you can imagine, the congregation was stunned.  I had to do my best to alleviate concerns while adhering to the right and proper things to say.  I still very clearly remember that after-church meeting.  I also remember the fallout from this incident meant that some folks left our church.  The whole event still saddens me whenever I recall it.

Our search for a new pastor continued.  I had to lead the congregation, the Board, as well as the Search Committee (who reported to the Board).  At the right time, we met the perfect candidate.  The Search Committee met with this candidate and watched him preach a few times.  The board met with this candidate a couple of times.  The second time was rather long and involved.  It was clear to everyone that this was the right person for our church at that time.

The candidate had one request of our church.  He wanted to transition the church from a congregation-led model to a staff-led model.  There would still be a need for the Board of Elders, but in much more of an oversight, governance, and consultation role.  I really agreed with the candidate, because I strongly felt unqualified to lead in many of the areas that were required of a Senior Pastor.  At a closed session, the Board met and discussed this request.  We unanimously agreed to the change in governance models.  We also agreed unanimously that the candidate was the right person to lead our congregation at that point.  We offered the job, and got a conditional acceptance.  The candidate would accept the job AFTER the church constitution was changed.

As the Chairman of the Board, I took the lead on a communication plan with the congregation.  We started a period of time explaining the rationale for the change to the congregation.  We also spent much time in congregational meetings to work through the rationale, the actual wording of the constitutional changes, as well as addressing any concerns from the congregation.  I gained a lot of experience communicating and dealing with tough (sometimes very confrontational) questions in a public forum.  When the vote came, the congregation voted to accept the changes the Board recommended.  The Board then went into a transition mode with our new Senior Pastor.  I still have very fond memories of developing a friendship with our new Senior Pastor, and working with him during the transition.

This leadership role was my toughest role in my leadership life.  In spite of this, I learned many invaluable lessons that I was able to apply in all leadership roles.  These included:

• Sometimes a leader doesn’t get to choose when they need to step into a leadership role.  I wasn’t the most qualified person to lead a Board of Elders of a Christian church, but I was the one who was available and willing to step up.
• Leading volunteers is hard.  In a vocational leadership role, your employees need to follow your leadership in order to get a paycheck.  That’s not the case in a volunteer organization.  Understanding and embracing this early on helped me to understand the next lesson.
• If you can lead volunteers, you can lead anyone.  When given the option, the easy choice for a leader would be to lead employees (where you control their paycheck and motivation to do a task or job).  If you can lead without the “threat” of the paycheck, you can more easily lead when you have that control.
• Not everyone will follow you as a leader.  There were many times we lost some members of the congregation.  This was very hard for me to take.  I felt much sorrow, but had to stick to the vision and plan.  There are times when some people don’t want to go where you’re leading.  As a leader, I feel I have a moral obligation to work with them, and gracefully help them transition.
• Transparency and vulnerability during difficult times is an absolute requirement of a leader.  I was rather open with as much as I could legally and morally share during this leadership role.  I got feedback from many people (including some that left the church) that my openness was greatly appreciated.  It developed trust with the followers.
• A leader needs a support network outside of the organization.  I cannot tell you how helpful my family and friends outside of the church were to me during the toughest times.  If you don’t have a circle of trust outside your current organization, get one!

Looking back on this experience, I grew tremendously as a leader.  The best analogy I can come up with is that of a foundry.  In order for steel to be strengthened and formed into useful tools and equipment, it has to go through extreme heat and pressure.  I definitely felt the heat and pressure during this time, and realized afterwards that I am a much stronger person and leader.  I wouldn’t trade this experience.

I’d love to hear your comments.