Transformative Leadership -- All Chips In. How 'bout You? (1/29/2009)

In Sunday's Business Section of the Hickory Daily Record, The President of the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce Danny Hearn, offered an article entitled Creating transformative leadership is crucial to area (you can click the link - there is no online edition).

I have a little trouble understanding the jargon, but after looking up some of the keywords, I can see that he is pretty much spot on in his assessment. As we have stated here many times on this blog, you can't drive a car by looking in the rear view mirror. You must look forward, through the windshield, or you are bound to crash. In my opinion, our community has crashed, because of nostalgia, complacency, and stubbornness. These are three characteristics of people who live in the past.

There have been too many people in our local leadership positions that have been insulated from the financial problems that many of our citizens have experienced. That is the reason why people will tell you, "That's the way it's always been," when you point to deficiencies in our local area. To me, that is just an unacceptable response. I'm sorry, I am old enough to know better. Whole sections of this city have not always been blighted and it is immoral to ignore the plight of the least of us.

I think that Mr. Hearn is looking to do what has needed to be done in this area for years. We have to change the negative, "Can't Do" culture that has permeated through this community. I like what he says in his last paragraph of this article, "Please join us as we create a new system of values, concepts, capacities, strategies, attitudes, and behaviors..." Those are the words I have longed to hear and he is asking us to join together to do this.

What I think needs to be understood is the jargon Mr. Hearn has laid out in this article. We all understand what trends are. It is the general direction in which something tends to move. The concept that I had trouble understanding is "Weak Signals." To be honest, I have never heard of this term before.

In looking it up, Weak Signal Theory defines the ability to recognize and act upon subtle changes in conditions (such as markets) that may lead to extreme changes that can create barriers to growth. Weak Signal Theory espouses the Reduction of Noise (clutter) around projects, by not enabling Band-Aids (Temporary Fixes) to be placed on those projects to facilitate completion. Those Band-Aids mask "Weak Signals" that can lead to disastrous results. Another important "Weak Signal" problem solving issue is "Sense Making." Sense Making takes into account historical data, and using the patterns of that data, to theorize logical conclusions. By learning from past patterns of anecdotal evidence, we cut through problematic noise and get right at the heart of solving problems.

Next, Mr. Hearn went into the need for development of Transformative Leadership Skills. I agree with what he states here about Transformative Leadership Characteristics, but I have questions about "Characteristic 1," The ability to think systematically. I understand the need to have a plan as long as it does not espouse uniformity. In my opinion, uniformity kills innovation.

I agree completely with what Mr. Hearn states about the differences between Transformative Leaders and Traditional Leaders. Harry Hipps says it best, "Almost everyone wants a position and title but who wants to find, promote and evaluate initiatives that may carry some risk and may even fail." Transformative Leaders do not worry about failure. They learn from it!!!

Here I go being honest again, but in my humble opinion, this is where our educational system has failed us. It has turned the masses into a bunch of memorizing, copycat, follow the leader, cheating, grade earners. I was a failure in my formative education and I know why. Formal education isn't about obtaining knowledge, it's about being a good little robot and obtaining a letter of the alphabet (grade) that labels you. I have never accepted labels. Now that we are in changing times, all of the good little robots are running around, freaking out, babbling, "Does not compute, Does not compute, Does not compute," because they cannot think outside of the box.

I am reminded of something a local citizen said about the proposed Cloninger Mill Park. He said, "In 100 years, people will look back and ask why anyone attached a piece of commercial property to this land?" Personally I am not arrogant enough to look that far forward, but I can look back to the changes we have seen since 1909. We have seen 18 Presidents, America has fought in six major wars including 2 World Wars, 14 recessions have occurred including a Great Depression, there was still a Czar in Russia, and it was the first year the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was opened -- for automobile testing.

We must embrace change and relish it. My grandmother will be 95 years old in July. She gives me perspective. She has seen all of this transformation from an economy based on agriculture and sweatshops to where we are today. For all of the simplicity that life had to offer back then, there were still problems. We don't have to deal with Polio, billowing smokestacks, no indoor plumbing, or lack of electricity. We have the whole world at our feet.

We must carry forward with progress so that we may leave a lasting legacy to our descendants, as has been left to us. With all we have been given, we have the responsibility to not let what we have inherited wither. It is our obligation to enhance this area economically, culturally, educationally, spiritually, and environmentally for all our citizens; now and in the future.