Lillian Lincoln Lambert

Over the course of our lives, we all have successes, disappointments, hardships, failures and other things that shape our character and help to develop wisdom. Wisdom is acquired over time based on a variety of experiences. I once had a pastor who said that youth and wisdom do not reside in the same body. There is some truth in that statement but wisdom does not automatically come with age. Instead, it depends on your ability to bring into play the experiences from all that life has handed us.
I speak from experience. As a young girl, growing up on a farm in the South, I wanted nothing more than to leave that farm when I became 18, an adult, and head to New York City. I knew what was best for me – or so I thought- and more education was not it! It took about four years of struggling to survive in the “big city”, working menial jobs and living from hand-to-mouth before I realized that an education was the key to a better life. For me, it took the experience of struggling to survive in the “big city” with no salable skills that caused me to wise up. My life is full of experiences that have helped me to become wiser and it has not ended yet.
An examination of your experiences on the journey of life will certainly pinpoint some situations where you did not make wise decisions. What did you learn from that experience? There is the tendency to classify things as “failures” when it can be a warning to do something different. A failure is that only if you learn nothing from the experience. So wise up.

We  have  all  heard  the  adage,  leaders  are  born;  not  made. In the case of leadership, it does help a bit to be born with particular character or personality traits. But just like it helps to be born with money, you don’t have to be born with money in order to become wealthy. So it is with leadership.

Over the last few weeks I, along with many people, witnessed a lesson in leadership as we excitedly watched the men’s basketball tournament – March Madness. The teams who had made it to the 64 did not include The Rams from the large, urban Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. After they were selected for a slot, sports analysts and others in the media criticized their selection, publicly stating “they did not deserve to be there.”

For many coaches and players, this kind of negative publicity would have been daunting, but not Coach Shaka Smart and his players. They used it as a motivating factor! This takes special leadership. In my opinion there are some leadership skills that are a must in order to be a good leader: visionary, integrity, competency, inspiration and communication.

Drawing upon his life, school and work experiences we saw Coach Smart exemplify these characteristics. His team remained cohesive and focused as they concentrated on using their talents. He “walked the walk” for his players showing them by example. His ability to visualize the team on the national stage, even when many people saw it as an impossible dream, was infectious. He saw the  whole  picture and  did not  allow obstacles or resistance to  impede  the  direction  in which  to take  the  team. He made sure the team was competent both academically and on the court. Very close in age to his players, he related to their interests many of which were similar or the same as his. As a result he was able to connect in ways others may not be able.

He shared his vision with the team which gave them the desire to follow their leader. The team remained motivated because the coach continued to be positive even in the face of seemingly insurmountable circumstances. He involved them in the process and provided the support the team needed.

In essence, a good leader has the ability to motivate a group toward a common goal. Coach Smart did this well. The Rams made it to the Final Four and although they did not make it to the Finals, the lessons they learned along the way will have positive impacts on these young men for the rest of their lives. They saw how to win and how to lose gracefully. It is not always the winning that has the greatest lesson but how you play the game.

Imagine my excitement when I was asked to be the keynoter for the Martin King lecture at Smith College, a place I had been trying to make inroads. Scheduled to speak at 4:30PM, I agreed to take an early flight (7:00 AM) to arrive at the airport at noon. After a 1-hour drive to the hotel I would have a couple hours to relax.

My flight from Sarasota, FL left on time, scheduled to arrive in Atlanta at 8:43 with a connecting flight at 9:40. Just before we were to begin our descend into Atlanta, the pilot announced that we were in a holding pattern because of fog in Atlanta. Fifteen minutes later we were cleared to land only to be told a couple minutes later that we had been put in another holding pattern.  I was now concerned about my connecting flight but assumed that because of fog planes were not taking off either.  Fifteen minutes later we were cleared to land.  I walked into the airport at 9:10, 30 minutes before my connecting flight. Hurriedly I checked the monitor for the gate of my departing flight only to see in big red letters CANCELLED.  What do I do now?

I contacted my speakers bureau to advise them of the situation. The next scheduled flight was at 12:25 PM – 25 minutes after I was scheduled to arrive. The new arrival time was 2:51PM.  An hour’s drive to the hotel would put me there at the about 4PM. My two hours to relax was now gone. Here I was in Atlanta, dressed in a jogging suit, sneakers, a cap and no makeup. My mind went to work. With no time to go to the hotel, where do I change clothes? I attempted to get a pass to the airline Sky Club but was denied.  My only option was the restroom. I had been given a meal pass for breakfast, so after eating I went to my dressing room – the handicap stall in the women’s restroom. I did not feel guilty using the handicap stall (there were 2 vacant) because at that time I really felt handicapped.

After my quick change, I waited in the waiting lounge to board the overly booked flight which left on time. Arriving on time I sprinted through the airport to meet my limo driver. He was nowhere in sight. After playing telephone tag for awhile we finally found each other.  Once in the car, I asked where he would be taking me on campus.  His response “I’m taking you to the hotel”. I explained there was not enough time for that and asked him to call his contact at the school to find out where to deliver me. I, in the meantime called my speakers bureau to have them also make contact with the school. We finally worked it out and I arrived on campus at 4:15.

With the exception of my contact person at Smith no one knew what had happened. I delivered my message, had dinner with students &staff, and finally made it to the hotel at 9:30PM. I had gotten up at 5AM. The school had a fruit basket awaiting my arrival.  That was my breakfast the next morning when I got up at 3:45AM to catch a 6:15 flight.

By the way, the reason my flight was CANCELLED was “That plane was not available”. Explain that!!

I had a meeting recently with a young man who wanted to share with me a new direction for his business and to learn more about what I was doing.  During the conversation I shared with him my regret of not having effectively developing my network from college and graduate school. I felt that I had missed a lot by not having access to those people when I needed someone to talk to, to share information and offer my help as well as receive help from them. That’s when I learned that he realized the importance of feeding that network and conscientiously worked on a networking strategy. During our discussion we agreed that the following things are important for successful networking.

1. Use discretion in referring others to your network

2. Send handwritten thank you notes when someone does something for you

3. Continually looks for ways to help.

4. Listen to what they have to say and show enthusiasm

5. Stay in touch even when not looking for anything from them

6. Make sure you understands their business and they understand yours

7. Make referrals

8. Remember information about them

9. Look for quality instead of quantity

10. Allows be willing to share.

So you are ready to leave your business and pursue some other interests. Over the last few months you seem to have lost your enthusiasm for the business. Coming to work seems to be more of a chore than actually doing the work. So what have you done to prepare for this day?

Many entrepreneurs start their business without the thought of someday wanting to exit it. As a startup, leaving the business is not foremost in the owner’s mind. While that may be the case, a plan for leaving should be high on the agenda. I advise my clients to think about a succession plan early in their business development, so when that time comes they don’t have to do last minute planning. An owner may have to leave the business for any number of reasons. The preferred way is by personal choice but that is not always the case. It could become necessary because of illness, death, a family issue or a myriad of others reasons. It can be done with peace of mind if a carefully developed succession plan has been completed. Thing about these things:
*Who is capable of taking over the business?
*Are there family members capable and interested?
*What role do you want to have after leaving the day to day operation?
*Is an employee stock option plan a possibility?
*Is selling part or all of the company something to consider?

These are just a few questions to consider in thinking about a succession plan.