Bringing together Economic Development Leaders

An Economic Development SummitEffingham, September 29, 2011

des·ti·ny noun \des-tə-nē\ plural des·ti·nies

Definition of DESTINY The definition of destiny is a pre-

determined series of events that happen; a pre-ordained future.

Life is not about your circumstances; it’s about your choices.

Your choices. Your decision making must work for you…not against you.

“I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

“You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Experience is what you get…when you don’t get what you

want…

Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

-John F. Kennedy

Life is replete with Examples of Experience…

-Judging Team-Academic Grade

-Ball Games-Speech Contest

-Queen Contest-Job (Employment)

-Relationship-Election - Political

-FFA, 4-H -School

Board -County

Board

Example is…

• How could I have done it differently?• Where did I fall short?• Why did I do it that way?• Failure creates a future – a different

future than you planned, hoped for, or Expected.

Watch what you say…things aren’t always what they seem…

= Guilt (gilt)

=Pharaoh (farrow)

CPA =

• Nobody likes a complainer

• Destiny• Fortune• Fate• Luck • Serendipitous

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

IF YOU THINK YOU ARE BEATEN, YOU AREIF YOU THINK THAT YOU DARE NOT, YOU DON’T

IF YOU’D LIKE TO WIN, BUT YOU THINK YOU CAN’TIT’S AMOST CERTAIN YOU WON’T

IF YOU THINK YOU’LL LOSE, YOU’VE LOSTFOR OUT IN THE WORLD YOU’LL FIND

SUCCESS BEGINS WITH A FELLOW’S WILLIT’S ALL IN THE STATE OF MIND.

IF YOU THINK YOU’RE OUTCLASSED, YOU AREYOU’VE GOT TO THINK HIGH TO RISE

YOU’VE GOT TO BE SURE OF YOURSELF BEFOREYOU CAN EVER WIN A PRIZE.

LIFE’S BATTLES DON’T ALWAYS GOTO THE STRONGER OR FASTER MAN

BUT SOON OR LATE THE ONE WHO WINSIS THE ONE WHO THINKS HE CAN.

--- Anonymous ---

Lesson 1 - Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.

Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It's inevitable if you're honorable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity:

You'll avoid the tough decisions, you'll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you'll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset.

Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally "nicely" regardless of their contributions, you'll simply ensure that the only people you'll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization.

Lesson 2 - The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

If this were a litmus test, the majority of CEO's would fail. One, they build so many barriers to upward communication that the very idea of someone lower in the hierarchy looking up to the leader for help is ludicrous.

Two, the corporate culture they foster often defines asking for help as weakness or failure, so people cover up their gaps, and the organization suffers accordingly. Real leaders make themselves accessible and available.

They show concern for the efforts and challenges faced by underlings-even as they demand high standards. Accordingly, they are more likely to create an environment where problem analysis replaces blame.

Lesson 7 - Keep looking below surface appearances. Don't shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms. It's a mindset that assumes (or hopes) that today's realities will continue tomorrow in a tidy, linear and predictable fashion. Pure fantasy. In this sort of culture, you won't find people who proactively take steps to solve problems as they emerge.

Lesson 10 - Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.

Too often, change is stifled by people who cling to familiar turfs and job descriptions. One reason that even large organizations wither is that managers won't challenge old, comfortable ways of doing things.

But real leaders understand that, nowadays, every one of our jobs is becoming obsolete. The proper response is to obsolete our activities before someone else does.

Effective leaders create a climate where peoples worth is determined by their willingness to learn new skills and grab new responsibilities, thus perpetually reinventing their jobs.

The most important question in performance evaluation becomes not, "How well did you perform your job since the last time we met?" but, "How much did you change it?"

Lesson 14 - (Borrowed by Powell from Michael Korda): Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.

Effective leaders understand the KISS principle, or Keep It Simple, Stupid. They articulate vivid, overarching goals and values, which they use to drive daily behaviors and choices among competing alternatives.

Their visions and priorities are lean and compelling, not cluttered and buzzword-laden. Their decisions are crisp and clear, not tentative and ambiguous. They convey an unwavering firmness and consistency in their actions, aligned with the picture of the future they paint. The result? Clarity of purpose, credibility of leadership, and integrity in organization.

Lesson 15

Part I: Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired.

Part II: Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.

Powell's advice is don't take action if you have only enough information to give you less than a 40 percent chance of being right, but don't wait until you have enough facts to be 100 percent sure, because by then it is almost always too late.

His instinct is right: Today, excessive delays in the name of information-gathering breeds "analysis paralysis." Procrastination in the name of reducing risk actually increases risk.

Flexiblevs.

Rigid

Never Say Never!

“One thing life has taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you. When you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

“It’s not the strongest species that survives… it’s the one able to adapt, adopt and accept change.”

…Have no regrets“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face…You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

We must take change by the hand or it will most assuredly

take us by the throat.- Winston Churchill -

“Ignorant – Naive – Overly optimistic.”

“Good to Great,” says that great companies “first get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. People are not your most important asset. The right people are.”

Consider your Roots and Wings:-Responsibility-Accountability

-30 years of broadcasting-Informing -Educating –Communicating

–Representing -Listening

-voice->didn’t have one -> ->amplified

“Women are like teabags; you never know how strong they are until they’re put in hot water.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Release - next breath = refreshed with a new perspective

“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it ‘The Present’.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

People don’t remember what you say.People don’t remember what you do.

People remember how you made them feel.

“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

-Dr. James F. Evans, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois

USDA Rural DevelopmentUSDA Rural Development

•Business & Industry

•Community Facilities

•Water and Waste Systems

•Housing

LOW COST FINANCINGLOW COST FINANCING

• Business projects-loan guarantees-grants for business development-grants for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and value added agriculture

• Community and water projects-loan guarantees-direct loans-grants where need is demonstrated

• Housing -loan guarantees -direct loans -repair grants for very low income seniors

$ 744 Million invested in support for Rural Illinois $ 2 Million delivered each day in Illinois 1 out of 26 Illinois families have been touched by

the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

During FY 2010 in Illinois USDA Rural Development provided financial assistance to benefit more than 771,800 individuals, families, businesses, not-for-profits and government bodies.

Lesson 17

Have fun in your command. Don't always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you've earned it: Spend time with your families. Corollary: Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.

Seek people who have some balance in their lives, who are fun to hang out with, who like to laugh (at themselves, too).

“Once I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: ‘No good in a bed, but fine up against a wall’.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/rural-council

The Leadership of Destiny…

USDA Rural DevelopmentCommitted to the future of rural communitiesCommitted to the future of rural communities

Prepared especially for the

Economic Development Summit