It was the spring of 1984. I remember the day as if it were yesterday. It was a beautiful morning on Boston’s North Shore and I could smell the sea air as I drove to my job as the Director of Marketing for The Parker Brothers Toy and Game Company. When I arrived, I was greeted by the Acting Vice President of Marketing and asked to step into his office. Our company had recently changed ownership and things had been a little chaotic, but I still felt good about my ability to contribute. But once I was in the Vice President’s office, I learned that my position had been eliminated — and that I needed to pack up my belongings and leave the building immediately. In other words, I was fired. Ten years of my career was over in a snap. I was devastated and I was bitter. I went home to my wife, my two very small children, and my one very large mortgage… feeling every bit the victim.

Fortunately, the new owners had set me up with a fabulous outplacement person, Neil MacKenna. Neil was a wonderful, crusty New Englander who didn’t tolerate a “victim” mentality for a minute. With Neil’s guidance, losing my job became a valuable learning experience about what leadership should be. For some, these thoughts may constitute a “blinding glimpse of the obvious.” But I have found them extraordinarily powerful in their simplicity.

First, I learned the power of connecting with people by being fully present — in every moment. Neil’s first words to me were “How can I help?” During every one of our meetings, he listened so intently and earnestly. He wasn’t trying to guide the conversation and he was not at all judgmental. His interest clearly came from a genuine desire to understand and to help. Neil was fully present in every moment, in a sincere and earnest way.

Too many leaders are so caught up in the momentum of work that they lose sight of the opportunity to connect with people. I discovered that the more fully present I was with other people, the more fully present they were with me, and the more productive our relationship became over time.

This is easier said than done (it takes a lot of mindfulness to keep your mind from wandering, or your gaze from flicking to your watch or your phone) but it’s essential to honoring people — another lesson I learned from Neil.

He “honored” me with his time, his attention, his insight and his energy. He also proposed that I honor all the people who crossed my path. More specifically, he had me think about the people who had honored me along my life journey and challenged me to become more like them with the people with whom I lived and worked.

I have found that the more I honored others, the more they honored me and the more fulfilling my career became. In the business arena, I have been surrounded by people with awesome skills. The difference between good and great is determined by the mindset you choose to bring to the work. The concept of honor should be part of that mindset.

And when someone does help you, acknowledge it. Get the name of every single person with whom you interact, from the head of the company to the receptionist. Find a way to connect with them, use their first name and look for something unique about them. When I would leave the building after a job interview, I’d walk next door to the coffee shop and hand-write notes to each person I met and mail them within 24 hours. You can write something as simple as, “Thank you for your help today. I was a little bit confused and really appreciate your help.” Personally acknowledging their work sets you apart as a candidate — and later on, as a leader. If you cultivate a relationship in a genuine, thoughtful way, people will be more inclined to want to help you even though they don’t have to help you.

When you’re connecting with people, honoring them, and thanking them for their contributions, you’ll naturally find yourself with a larger network — something you need not only to find a job, but to lead effectively once you have a new job.

Before I was fired, I had kept my head down and on my work. As a result, I was sadly disconnected to the business world beyond the company. I felt remarkably alone.

Neil told me to build a network of people to solicit ideas and advice for my job search. Then I was to cultivate that network with the hope of identifying some job opportunities and using some of these people as my references. The time to build a network is always before you need one. It took me an extra six months to find a job because I had to build a network from scratch before I could really ramp up my search for a job.

Even after you secure your next job, keep in touch with these people. Maintain thoughtful relationships with people who can help you think through big issues throughout your career. Vigilantly try to be helpful to many of the people who had been so helpful to you. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to more than repay their kindness.

Finally, I would challenge you to be alert to the Neil MacKennas in your life. Learn from them and grow with them. They will help transform your executive life as you endeavor to help and honor the people with whom you work. Yes, losing my job was one of the most difficult things to go through but, in hindsight, it was one of the best experiences of my life.

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As a leader, what do you want to accomplish? Do your employees know what needs to be done to reach that objective? Do they know how you expect them to behave? And — once they know the “what” and “how” — do you provide them with enough autonomy to get the job done in an effective and timely way? These are pragmatic business issues that all leaders encounter. Here are a few thoughts on how you can more effectively address these issues and reach your goals in an authentic and enduring way.

Collaboratively Develop The “What” And The “How”

Before anything else, you engage stakeholders in a conversation about where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there. By seeking and valuing their perceptions, you increase their commitment, confidence, and the likelihood of getting traction when it is time to execute. This collective perspective helps define what needs to be done (the what) and the behaviors needed to deliver (the how).

When I was CEO of Campbell Soup Company, we used a balanced scorecard to create an explicit understanding of each employee in terms of what they were expected to accomplish, including financial objectives, market share objectives and key project objectives. This scorecard defined the “what.” To define the “how,” we used the Campbell Leadership Model, which highlighted six expectations we had for every employee. All employees were regularly evaluated on both.

Declare Yourself — and Live By Your Commitments

Often leaders have the best intentions, but people cannot read their minds. That’s why it’s important to declare yourself: Tell people why you choose to lead and the code you live by. Lisa, a VP who led an innovation team, was struggling in her attempts to influence some of her peers. When meeting with one especially resilient colleague, she made a conscious decision to meet with him privately and do something she has never done before; Lisa let down her guard and was transparent. She declared herself by talking about her values and explaining why she cared so much about her work. Then she said, “I want to have a strong working relationship. Can you tell me what you look for in a colleague? What does it take for you to trust someone?”

It turned out that whereas Lisa valued being tough on results, her colleague really cared about relationships. By letting him know who she was, she created a space for a heart-to-heart conversation that led to a stronger working relationship. This is what I mean by declaring yourself. These powerful insights for both of them became a turning point in the way they worked together.

But declaring yourself isn’t enough. When providing people with the direction and expected behaviors, you need to be alert to the fact that they will hold you accountable. People want to know if you are walking the talk. They will be watching your every move and you need to be one in the same… every minute of every day.

You need to own a commitment to completion; you have to live with the consequences. Bill George, Professor at Harvard Business School and widely respected former CEO of medical technology maker Medtronic, is a great example of clearly declaring oneself, providing excellent results and remaining accountable. While at Medtronic, he pledged to create extraordinary value and build a better world by saving people’s lives. As he told Strategy & Business, “You have to stay a step ahead. You have to say, ‘This is what we stand for. This is a long-term growth company. It will give you great long-term returns, because we perform very well.’” This commitment to action was consistent with his company’s strategy. Yes, organizations drift but you need to be persistent and follow through. Over his 13 years at Medtronic, annual revenue increased an average of 18% and earnings increased 22%.

As George realized, the lofty slogan and mission statement posted on a company’s wall isn’t enough. This declaration is not just a nice statement; you actually have to live it. If your actions aren’t consistent with your words then your ability to lead is compromised.

Respect Autonomy

You need to be careful not to carry the “what” and the “how” to an extreme. It would be counterproductive to tell people exactly what they are supposed to do and exactly how they are supposed to do it to a point where they become more concerned about your expectations than about completing their work in a quality way.

In the book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, author Daniel Pink did a great job identifying what motivates people. His research uncovered that the number one key motivator is autonomy, or acting with choice. People hunger to be the master of their own destiny. Therefore, you have to recognize that people want to know what is expected of them but want as much freedom to operate as possible so that they can deliver the expectations in a way that works for them. In fact, the best solutions often lie in the creative tension between these natural dualities.

To lead at a high level, you should be as prescriptive as necessary to give the organization a sense of direction on the “what” and the “how.” Express it broadly enough so that it is clear, but not rigid to the point where it compromises the individual’s ability to perform in the moment. Give them the flexibility and freedom to interpret it in a fashion that allows them to get the job done in a way that works for them and the organization. Remember, those on the front lines have to deal with the reality of executing these things. Leave it up to them to smartly manage and execute in the moment. By balancing this tension, you give them the pride of authorship as they solve problems in harmony with your expectations.

Be Consistent

Not only do you need to declare yourself early, you need to declare yourself over and over again. People lead complicated lives and aren’t hanging on your every word or the company mission statement. You have to become a broken record of your expectations of the organization and show people why it is relevant and how it works in specific ways.

That is why, while at Campbell, I was always linking everything we did back to our expectations: our mission, our Campbell Promise, our employee value proposition, our three core values, our seven strategies, or our Campbell Leadership Model. I used every opportunity with employees to connect back with the fabric of the identity we created with the Campbell tapestry. I would talk about projects we delivered and how they brought our three core values to the workplace. I would also celebrate the leaders who were inspiring for us, or creating quality direction or executing with excellence… as called for by our leadership model.

Be aware of, and act on, the need to be consistent. Weave the expectations of your organization into everyday conversations you have with employees. The more you do this, the more people will innately put your “what” and “how” into action.

Remain Adaptable

The one thing I know is that whatever decisions I make, they will sometimes be wrong. So, when I declare myself, I acknowledge that at some point I will make a mistake.

Making this room for yourself, being flexible, does not say that you don’t know what you are doing. What it does say is that you know exactly what you are doing and, because of this understanding, you know everyone makes mistakes. In my opinion, it is how you deal with mistakes that ultimately defines your legacy of contribution. As Charles Darwin observed, when the environment is changing rapidly, it is neither the strongest nor the most intelligent who survive — it is the ones who are most adaptable. Thus, the fittest leaders are those most capable of learning.

And not only do you have to be flexible, you have to make others aware of this flexibility. Very early in my tenure as CEO at Campbell, I gave every one of my 350 top leaders a personally signed document of what they could expect from me. The last point I made in the document was, “I will make mistakes. I will do my best to acknowledge those mistakes and remedy them as quickly and thoughtfully as possible.” You are learning and growing, situations may change, and you may need to shift your direction.

When you do mess up — and you will — the key is to course-correct and to do it quickly. The most powerful thing you can do is acknowledge your mistake, commit to do better, and make sure you follow through.

Wrapping It All Up

Visions, strategies and declarations are merely promises. As a leader, your job is to translate those promises into real, on-the-ground performance throughout the complex sequence of interactions, every day.

Use each interaction as an opportunity to practice the elements listed here. Aim for improvement with each interaction. Commit to developing ever greater clarity and capabilities so that you may become ever more helpful in the moment. So say what you care about, make it clear what you intend to do, and remain accountable.

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Back in 1987, I stumbled upon a fascinating new book that I thought was brilliantly crafted. When my wife asked me why I thought this particular book was so brilliant, I answered without thinking, “This guy thinks just like I do!” To be clear, his words at the time were completely new to me but they resonated so deeply that they quickly, almost instantly, become my own. Interestingly, I think many of us define brilliance as a perspective that agrees with our own and, in this case, that was my observation. Needless to say, the author was Stephen Covey and the book was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I continue to share this powerful book with others at every opportunity. In fact most recently, I presented it to each of the 3 interns we’re mentoring here at my office this summer.

Over the years, I came to know Stephen well and was featured in his book, Living the 7 Habits, published in 1999. I also came to know many of his colleagues and a few of his children, particularly his son Stephen M. R. Covey. When it came to advancing my own leadership voice, I partnered with another friend, Mette Norgaard, who I met through Stephen when she was Director of Executive Development at the Covey Leadership Center in Sundance, Utah. Mette and I went on to write a New York Times bestselling book, TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments, which captured much of our own philosophy on leadership and built upon the work of Stephen and others in the Franklin Covey organization.

In my office, I have a collection of several notes from Stephen over the years as well as a special “talking stick” that he once gave me. I also have an entire shelf of my library devoted to his work. He had a profound influence on my life. Many of his sayings are indelibly etched in my mind:

“You can’t talk your way out of something you behaved your way into.”

“Begin with the end in mind.”

“It is easy to say NO, if there is a greater YES burning within.”

“What matters most must never be at the mercy of what matters least.”

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

. . . and, the list goes on and on.

Stephen touched me in a deep and profound way. I will be forever grateful for the wisdom he shared. And, while he has passed, the timeless principles he helped bring to life will be with me – and so many others – forever.

Stephen Covey was a friend of mine. What a blessing!

For those of you who haven’t yet discovered Stephen’s work, or who haven’t spent time with it in a while, I urge you to pick up your own copy of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

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Several years before I came to Campbell I worked for the CEO of Nabisco as part of his executive team. He asked his direct reports to confidentially take a test designed to provide insight into our ways of thinking. The test results identified me as an “Idealist-Realist.” I’ve used this term as a touchstone time and again over the years because it is such an apt description of my core leadership philosophy. Over my career, I have found that idealism and realism are the two leadership attributes that truly inspire and mobilize people. Separately, these qualities are limited and ineffective, but combined they create a powerful tool for engagement.

Rudy Giuliani understood this idea. As Mayor of New York City after September 11th, he stepped-up and announced to the world with conviction and confidence that “we are going to make this the safest city in the world.” At the time, New Yorkers were beleaguered and demoralized. Many wondered aloud whether this was an impossible objective. Still, that vision of the future was one that people desperately needed to believe because it offered them the hope they longed for. But perhaps even more powerful than inspiration, Giuliani advanced pragmatic plans designed to help the city move towards that aspiration. Both his words and actions demonstrated that he realized the magnitude of the challenge. His inspirational vision and realistic approach united the people of New York City and enabled Giuliani to fundamentally change the profile of the city.

An idealistic vision is what motivates all of us. We want to know that we are working toward something consequential, something noble. This simple truth applies to every single person within your organization, from the receptionists to the general managers. That is the real job of a true leader — to offer a vision that inspires and motivates. But as difficult as that is to achieve, it is not enough. People also need to know that you yourself, as a leader, are in touch with reality, that you are willing to roll-up your sleeves and engage in the hard work that execution entails.

Bill George was able to achieve this ideal as Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, where he created an aspirational vision that centered on saving lives. To bring that vision to life he arranged for employees to meet face-to-face with some of the patients whose lives they were saving. He made it plain as day that together they were working toward something noble. But George also made it abundantly clear, through words and actions, that he understood the harsh reality of the challenge. Under his leadership, Medtronic grew in market value from less than $1 billion to over $60 billion in 18 years.

At Campbell, during my ten-year tenure, our idealistic goal was to “build the world’s most extraordinary food company by nourishing people’s lives everywhere, every day.” While this is an ambitious goal, among many other things we’re backing it up with specific programs that will realistically have a lasting, positive impact on the health and well being of the youth in local communities where our facilities are located. Our plan to make our hometown of Camden, NJ a better place is a small but meaningful part of what allows employees at Campbell to feel fulfilled through even this latest economic crisis. According to Gallup, Campbell has consistently maintained an employee engagement ratio at “world class” levels.

This extremely high degree of engagement is a byproduct of realistic-idealism. Over the years, leveraging this philosophy is what has helped me recruit and retain some of the best people in the consumer products industry.

As a leader, my thinking always starts with the question: how can things be better? I find it much more interesting, and fruitful, to start with optimism and then to move quickly on to how to execute against that aspiration. Of course, there have been times over the course of my career when I’ve fallen short of the ideal, where I’ve given up on the vision because it seemed too difficult at the time. Similarly, I have worked in environments where it has seemed impossible to find a compelling vision and I’ve had to settle into block-and-tackle mode. We’ve all been there. But over the last 20 years, I’ve committed myself to always striving for that higher ground — and it has made all the difference in my life and the lives of the people with whom I’ve worked.

An idealistic vision can lift people up and engage them, but it also needs to be approached in a way that acknowledges the reality of the challenge. Great leaders are able to work both agendas simultaneously in a compelling way.

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To know me is to know the Lion and the Gazelle fable: Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It does not matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle – when the sun comes up, you had better be running. This fable underlies my passion for driving an organization or myself to be the best that it can be. I’m not comfortable with complacency or mediocrity, especially in today’s global environment where many nations are seeking the standard of living that has long been taken for granted in the West.

Values that have continuously resonated with me are passion, accomplishment, vision, family, challenge, learning, courage, and perseverance. What drives me is learning and acquiring (acquiring accomplishments in this Journey of excellence). I choose to lead in order to take an organization or team of people to a place they would not have otherwise gone – to build capabilities in an area or team that drive excellence – being the best. I like to go into jobs or experiences where I have no background. This constant challenging feeds my need to learn and keeps me engaged. The CEO Institute has helped me develop more effective ways to reach my goals. However, my life has changed significantly due to the death of my husband several months ago. My priorities and values are shifting and will continue to shift. Developing my leadership model is forcing me to think more about sustaining my total energy to support my family and my career.

Key Leadership Model Elements:

In narrowing down my leadership elements, the core of where I get my energy is my family – the first key element. It always has been, but my husband was a key shaper of ensuring that our children and I were looked after giving me the opportunity to focus on my career. Now my three teenage children come first and I must help them through their loss as they become adults, but also be their key nurturer as their dad is gone. So staying resilient is a second key element. I need to adopt new models that will build and sustain this resilience to nurture my family as well as lead my household and invest in my career. Friendship is a third key element. I need the energy from friends as I have lost my best friend, my husband. In order to nurture both resilience and friendship, I will travel to Peru in July with my best friend to give myself time for self reflection and to build my models for ensuring my energy sustains.

I still have a driving need to build a vision – a fourth element. But I also want to raise my game and build a stronger team of leaders – those that work for me and those around me. I will focus on helping them find their voices. I have a strong desire to give back to the community and will start to feed this vision. I have always been able to challenge others and be courageous and outspoken in reaching a vision; however, I want to now focus on holding more courageous conversations with myself and with others. This takes courage, the fifth key element, to a whole new level and will challenge me on a new dimension. And I take these 5 key elements – my family in the center and surround them with learning. Without constantly learning, I would be empty. And I will challenge my learning to a new level.

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To define the type of leader I wish to become, I went through the following reflection process. I began with my personal mission statement, to ensure it was congruent with my lifelong aspirations. Then, I reflected upon some of the favorite leadership philosophies I’ve studied – especially Convey, Drucker and Welch. Finally, I tried to fuse these elements with more inward reflection of those attributes that define who I am and what morals / values I believe in. The following is my best attempt to synthesize those reflections and articulate the type of leader I aspire to ultimately become – “The Transformational Coach”.

Mission Statement

The most relevant verbiage in my personal mission statement around leadership is as follows: “….to ignite the fire that enable those who pass through my life –
especially loved ones, to discover their inner greatness and help them to realize their fullest potential.”

Formative Philosophies

As JFK said “change is the law of the life”. I believe symbiotic partners to change are growth and development. Furthermore, if one does not change continuously, they are actually regressing.

Great leaders not only deliver exceptional performance; they concurrently develop leaders of the future who will ultimately improve upon the legacy they inherit. Great leaders know and value the whole person, acknowledging and valuing things that are important to them personally and professionally. Few worthwhile efforts are ever successful without commitment, passion and enthusiasm.

Core Leadership Responsibilities: The 5E’s

1. Envision – A good leader starts with a vision of the future that can excite / engage others on what “could be”. Once established, he/she must have unwavering resolve to its realization. The Stockdale Paradox is a great illustration of the type of resolve leaders must have in their vision.

2. Engage – Communication of the vision, to all key stockholders, is paramount. Leaders must not only passionately socialize their vision, but invite additional perspective and ideas into the roadmap development.

3. Empower – A great leader is a reflection of a great team. They must continuously demonstrate faith in that team and re-enforce them as an enabler, resource and coach-not a critic.
4. Execute – Extraordinary performance is never achieved without a well-executed gameplan. A leader is responsible for ensuring an action plan is in place, with clear ownership, milestones and measures of success.

5. Enthusiastically celebrate – Leaders should not only celebrate realization of journey / objective, but also milestones along the journey that provide key indicators of progress.

In summary, my inspirational leadership model is more of a coach that encourages, empowers and excites teams around future possibilities.

The “Transformational Coach” environment has the following attributes:

• Individuals and environment characterized by high / positive energy, inspiration and optimism.
• Individuals are drawn towards teams I lead with promise and commitment that they will grow personally and professionally through the experiences and opportunities they were afforded.
• Calculated risk-taking is encouraged. Failure is understood as an opportunity to learn and improve.
• Passionate ownership and accountability is an outgrowth of empowerment and trust.
• Teamwork and Integrity are cultural norms – our “way”.
• Winning is perpetual.  It is measured by marketplace metrics and organizational growth and development.

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The center-piece for my leadership model is tied to a question that was asked during one of our CEO Institute sessions:

“Why do you want to lead”?

The question, though it appeared simple at first, resonated with me deeply. First, it forced me to pause and reflect on the reasons I want to lead. And frankly, I had not contemplated the question for quite sometime. The closest I came to dealing with the question was in reading a management book several years ago; I believe the title of the book is “So You want to be a Manager”.

This book dealt with the operational side of management: budgeting, resourcing, prioritization, employee relations, etc. This new question, “why do you want to lead”, forced me to think about leadership not only from the perspective of management, but in a much more holistic way. It required me to think beyond “managing”. And with this came a full slate of constituencies: my family, my responsibilities to our company and all its stakeholders, my communities, my friends and myself.

And from this I found a simple word that allowed me to shape my leadership model and the word is “Commit”.

Leadership Model Elements:

For my leadership model, I determined that it is important for people to know the “total me”, to know what I stand for, and to know what I’m going to strive to be the “best in the world at”.

• Commit …. to be inspirational.
• Commit …. to and be responsible for absolute clarity
• Commit …. to make a positive difference in people’s lives.
• Commit …. to deliver results that matter.
• Commit …. to learn >teach >learn >teach …. throughout my leadership journey.
• Commit …. to do things better and better – and always be transparent about my values and principles.
• Commit …. to always “Ask” questions before “Telling” (what to do) vs. my bias toward “Telling before Asking”.

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My Personal Leadership Model

Deliberately seeking out these varied opportunities for personal learning and growth has been a consistent theme in an otherwise unconventional career path. I see leadership as an invaluable vehicle to access opportunities to “learn by doing”. I truly value breadth of experience and diversity of thought, which are the foundations that allow me to bring my core values to life:

• Serendipity is the ability to connect apparently disparate facts and patterns to generate valuable outcomes. Embracing this value as a central tenet of how I operate often allows me to identify insights others may miss, and implement more creative solutions to address opportunities.
• Vision – it is essential for me that all action planning be anchored in a crystal clear vision of the desired outcomes, and a very good understanding of the choices required to achieve them. Rapidly building this vision has consistently been a key driver of my success in addressing challenges I was often technically not prepared to handle.
• Common Sense is probably the most underrated quality in the world. I treasure it as a powerful means to perform reality checks, and simplify decision making. My unconventional career experiences have undoubtedly improved my ability to apply common sense in more intuitive ways, and in many diverse situations.
• Resourcefulness – we live in a world of limited resources, and chances are that what needs to be done will always exceed the resources available to do it. My experiences have taught me that creativity and imagination, applied with common sense to a crystal clear vision, will almost always overcome a lack of resources.
• Helping Others Grow – often thrust in situations where I am not the expert, I quickly learnt that my own success depended on making my teams successful. I thus place a high priority on engaging and motivating the people I work with, identifying key strengths to build upon and critical development needs to be addressed. Engaging actively with my teams also helps me continue to learn and grow as a leader.

The instinctive integration of these values now defines the leader I have become, and I genuinely feel very comfortable in this skin. Beyond this essence, I am also fully aware that story telling, relationships and symbolism are equally key elements of leadership; ones that do not yet come to me as naturally. I am thus more deliberate with these behaviors, which clearly represent further opportunities for me to continue to “learn by doing”.

Beyond the desire to continuously learn and have a positive business impact, proactively seeking out diverse, and increasingly challenging, leadership opportunities also helps me to be a better family member. I embrace my responsibilities as the primary provider, a role model, and an enabler of family growth. The fact that my ten year old daughter is learning her third language, has already visited ten countries, and embraces intellectual curiosity as a given, is probably the most fulfilling part of being a leader.

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We all develop and have leadership models. It is influenced by our parents, tested as we go through school and sports and forged through our life experiences. Leadership is organic and evolutionary. Though, without attention, focus and care, the acts of leadership become subconscious and hidden, almost like breathing. Campbell’s CEO Institute provided the participants the opportunity to consciously revisit and reconnect with whom we are and how we lead. By manifesting this awareness, it afforded us the opportunity to align core beliefs and values to how we behave and lead.

Model Elements

I have evolved my leadership model after considerable reflection and engagement from others. Creating the model involves both introspection and re-discovery. My leadership model became apparent as I brought back into focus my fundamental beliefs and core values. By being consciously in touch with these core building blocks, it enables me to be guided by principles and behave with authenticity.

• Vision – seeing a greater whole and beyond what is;
• Leadership – taking accountability for creating a compelling destiny for myself and for those to which I have accountability
• Wisdom – respecting the experience, culture, traditions and heroes that created what is but not being constrained by what has been to shape what could be;
• Justice – being passionate about what is right, equitable and in the interest of a better society;
• Courage – remaining true to what I believe and willingness to try

Model

Creating a personal leadership model is the synthesis and iterative process of matching values, beliefs and principles. Although my model is very much “under construction,” I know that these statements will be at its heart.

• Inspire new destinies
• Orchestrate extraordinary contributions
• Reach out and be approachable
• Act justly with wisdom and humility

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