LeadershipCHRISTA

“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

WALKING onto the construction site where four homes were to be built, fear was taking over my mind because I was part of the management team. The site was a sea of armyworms, pretty birch trees and grass, all soon to be dug up for four Habitat for Humanity foundations. My boss and I got right to business and ordered an office trailer and additional pre-construction necessities. The office trailer was delivered and my boss and I set up shop to start building. It was the first time I had my own office and title, the excitement was overflowing to be a Construction Superintendent for the summer. In the office trailer my desk became organized desk, made to-do lists were created, safety rules were drawn up, materials were ordered, the site was staked out and the tool trailer was organized all in preparation for my first group of volunteers to start building.

Soon after the excavator dug out the first two holes, the first volunteer crew and myself was knee deep in mud in order to lay out the foundation. While being covered in mud trying to make the foundation level and square, reality hit that my title was Superintendent leading groups of people to build homes and it felt wonderful. My crews and I worked along side each other all summer and four homes started to take shape. Over the course of the summer we had college groups; church groups, bank groups, various organizations and individuals, all come to help build homes for someone they never meet. We worked as a team to raise the walls, put up trusses, put on the exterior treatment and start the interior of the home. The best part no matter what skill level everyone was at we all learned from each other. There was some challenging days when no matter how I tried to phrase duties they just did not understand.

Case in point, when their definition of ‘flat’ was different then mine, I spent two or three hours grinding concrete on the sill plate of the foundation. Why spend hours grinding concrete in the beating hot sun? If this location was not flat the house did not secure correctly to the foundation. The two most challenging days managing the site was media day and Elks club day. The day the Elks club came there were more than 40 people on site that I was managing between four homes, it was fun and unbelievable. The clubs brought baked goods, sandwiches, drinks, salads and various other picnic type foods. The men and women working on the homes worked all day long and even though it was organized chaos, we accomplished a lot. The second most challenging day was media day when were planning to raise a two to three wall sections for the media, homeowners, stakeholders, residents and city officials. Racing to prepare the house, the people, the setting and put everyone in correct place by the needed time was a leadership/organizational experience of a lifetime. We did it and three wall sections were raised for the cameras. The summer spent at Habitat was invaluable with what I learned from my volunteers, my bosses and myself. People think it’s easy to be a leader, but it’ anything but easy to a good quality leader.

Another leadership experience that sticks out in my mind as a monumental learning experience was organizing the Stout construction job fair. This duty always falls on the shoulders of the Vice President of Sigma Lambda chi, construction honor society and it was my turn. It was my responsibility to attract as many construction companies as possible to come to Stout in February to recruit students for internships, summer or full-time employment. The whole process of the job fair was reorganized that year to make it more efficient. The invite letters, the thank you letters, the reminder letters, the information packet, the day of events and created a map of how to lay out all the tables were changed to be more professional, clear and concise. It was a large project, but a lot of fun. The day arrived for the contractors to arrive, so we were there to greet them, show them to their tables, help them unload and set up and show them to the hospitality room full of munchies. It was a huge success and learning experience.

There are people out there whom are born leaders or leaders who work very hard to make the process look effortless. Two people, in my mind, who are wonderful leaders, are Millard Fuller and Hans Timper. Millard, I only know of the great things he has done with Habitat for Humanity, whereas Hans is a mentor of mine from my Stout days.

“I see life as both a gift and a responsibility. My responsibility is to use what God has given me to help his people in need.” -Millard Fuller [1]

Imagine living a very luxurious millionaire lifestyle by the age of 29 and then selling everything you own to move to a Christian farm? Millard Fuller and his wife did just that because their life lost its meaning and their marriage and his health was failing. They turned to God to show them the way in life. [1] Luke3:11 states : whoever has two shirts must give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share it.” [2] Millard and his wife started to give back to the community and began a ministry in housing. Their first project was to “build modest homes on a no-profit, no-interest basis” this made the homes affordable for low-income people.

The homeowners were expected to assist with the building of their home and the homes of other families as part of the ‘sweat equity’ portion of their no –interest mortgage [1].   From the Christian farm Millard and his wife went to Zaire to test their housing model project. It was a success and Millard started performing speeches in the States to get people excited about the project and realize there is a need in cities for affordable housings [1].   One of the first projects of the new Habitat for Humanity organization in the 1970’s was in San Antonio, Texas. The volunteers, and the Fullers started building in a neighborhood called Hidalgo or “the devil’s triangle” because there were so many murders and crime in the neighborhood [2]. Millard and his supporters, however, were not deterred they decided to rename the neighborhood for the Habitat people “the triangle of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” and they continued to build [2].

Millard is an example of a tremendous, quality leader. People are taken by his story and his unrelentless strive to help others in need. He is so influential, kind and has an ease of reaching out to people to create relationships. People feel a twinge in their heart to help out with his cause. Once you see the eyes of a homeowner who is going to receive a home you are building, you would lend a hand anyway you are able.   People’s lives change when they are given a small amount of hope. Hope is what that house gives them. Habitat for Humanity is worldwide and has built more than 175,000 houses “providing more then 750,000 people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter” [1].

As Millard has made monumental changes in the affordable housing market worldwide, the Stout construction program director, Hans has made unbelievable changes in the construction program locally and internationally. The Stout construction program now has exchange students from England and Lithuania because of Hans’s efforts to expand the student’s horizons and experiences and Stout students have studied in those countries.   Hans in his years as program director and professor brought in huge donations from the industry, created a larger advisory board, stays connected with the industry and has expanded the programs studies all to benefit the students. The program coursework includes marketing, management, organizational leadership, legal aspects of construction along with the many architectural, structural, estimating, and plumbing/electrical courses to give the students a broad yet focused educational experience.

I worked with Hans for two of my four years at Stout and watched first hand at his leadership style. He leads with a kindness yet firmness. He has a gentle persuasiveness and he utilizes his experiences to teach others. He treats people as equals not as lesser humans whether they are the janitors, secretaries, students, visitors or other faculty. The construction program has reached its enrollment limits with over 300 students, two student organizations that continue to be successful year after year, the advisory board continues to support and suggest improvements to the program and the placement rate of construction students is in the 90percentile. Hans is one of my mentors because he taught me a vast amount of information that is utilized in many areas of my professional life to this day.

“One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” – Andre Gide [3]

Millard was and currently is a wonderful leader for Habitat. He “had the courage to question the status quo and to make the impossible possible.” [4] It took a while to get the Americans on board to their idea. People did not think the project model, which was and is successful in Zaire would work in America. The patience and perseverance they had was astounding because they knew there was a need and they knew people would help when they saw that need. Millard either was a born leader or he learned some key techniques and tools along his journey. Some of the key leadership tools to gain power and honor with others according to Stephen Covey’s Principle Centered Leadership are:

What else does it take to be a good leader, a leader people want to follow? Stephen Covey has his point of view with the principle centered leadership techniques, but if you go to Barnes and Noble there are rows and rows of management and business books. Who is right? Who is wrong? Is anyone really wrong with how they deal with people? No leadership style is wrong, as long as it is not degrading to humans, but everyone reacts differently to different types of people. Just like everyone does not learn the same way, everyone does not follow the same way. A simplified version to answer the question of what is leadership? “Leadership is shaped by beliefs, feelings, attitudes and behavior” [6]

Stephen Covey, however, is not the only one who many people look to for leadership advice and tools. During my days at Stout, one of the most valuable courses we had to take was organizational leadership and we read Dale Carnegie’s, How to win friends and influence people. Unbelievable book. I take it off my bookshelf quite frequently to read the tips. Some of his valuable tips [7] for anyone to follow whether you are the Doctor or the Exercise Physiologist:

Another real-life example of a good leader is the CEO and President of Patagonia. Michael Crooke, the President and CEO of this outdoor apparel retailer has helped this company show gains each year for more than 30 years. Crooke has not been around for those 30 years, but during his time at the helm of this company he has set goals and met or exceeded them. Patagonia under his leadership remains debt-free all while ensuring their product is of good quality and that the employees reap some of the rewards of this company.   Crooke states, “For Patagonia, the metrics of success are based around the employees, the products and then environmental aspects of the organization” [9].

Even though the Patagonia example is from the business world, the principles can be applied to any industry, including Exercise Physiology. The exercise physiology profession has come a long way since the leaders created ASEP, the formation of the EPC exam, accreditation and the annual national meetings; however, it does have a way to go until it obtains the recognition, respect and consideration similar to physical therapy and nursing. Establishing the accreditation process is a very important piece to creating a quality exercise physiology profession. Organization is power. If you take a look at the construction industry the ACCE-the American Council of Construction Education is the seal of approval for quality construction management programs. Schools that undergo the accreditation process are more of a quality institution because their leaders took the time and effort to follow ACCE’s guidelines.

Why don’t the leaders of ACSM and ASEP take an initiative to work together on one issue to form a council on exercise education? One organization that is the leader in creating quality exercise and sports medicine programs and call it a different name other than ASEP or ACSM?   It is good for exercise physiologists to have their own organization as nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists and doctors all have their own organization to share ideas, networking, jobs, continuing education and to have a support system of peers.   It would also be beneficial and a good display of professionalism if organizations can come together to create one dedicated to assuring the quality and standard of education students are receiving.

One key component the Exercise Physiology profession needs is for additional people to stand up as leaders. People need to stand up and lead and others need to start seeing the benefit of exercise physiology. Lets revisit the ‘organization is power’ statement, that is the first piece of information I learned during my first days as a community organizer. The more people you have fighting for one issue the more likely it will be heard and it will succeed. Take a look at AARP.   AARP’s leaders have created a huge organization that has so much political pull at the state and national level people listen when AARP leaders talk.

“Now is the time to come together and acknowledge that the exercise physiologist is an important member of the healthcare community” [3]. I could not agree more the exercise physiologists need to come together along with the other health care professions to realize the value of EPs. Instead of fighting between the professions to establish a place in the huge health care world, how about working together to form a partnership?   It is always better to build relationships then to break them if you want to succeed with the help of others. One suggestion to help acknowledge the value of exercise physiology, how about giving talks or lectures to the physical therapists, nurses, occupational therapists, athletic trainers and doctors and tell them what we do, why we are valuable and how we can help them and they can help us, how we can feed off each other’s knowledge and experience?   This idea will take strong leaders to stand up and demand the respect from others.

Another key component that exercise physiology profession needs is to change their narrow focus [3] to a wider view of life. It again will take leadership to have the courage to change this focus, but it is needed to spread the information of what exercise physiologists are capable of doing. A third key component the leaders of the exercise physiology have done that is great is instilling the need for continuing education credits. This requirement ensures that certified individuals are keeping up to date on the current trends and information and they are expanding their knowledge. The continuing education credits requirement is standard with many industries that have certifications otherwise how do you maintain a solid profession. As noted above the exercise physiology profession has come along way thanks to its leaders, but it is going to take additional people to step forward as leaders and more followers to continue with the cause.

“The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on… The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.” - Walter Lippmann