Last Saturday night, my wife and I joined a group of her co-workers to deliver and serve dinner for the families at our local (Jacksonville, Florida) Ronald McDonald House (RMH). She works for Nelnet, a Lincoln, Nebraska-based provider of student loans and related services.

I’ve known of the Ronald McDonald House system for a long time, but had never taken the opportunity to visit one. I’m extremely thankful that I’ve never needed to be a recipient of their services. They provide temporary housing and other services for the families of children who are critically ill. This RMH is practically walking distance from Baptist Health’s Wolfson Children’s Hospital, but serves other North Florida healthcare facilities, too. When kids, including a fair number of international patients, come to Jacksonville hospitals from anywhere out of town, their families can take up residence in the comfortable (not opulent) hotel-like rooms at the house.

I was so impressed with the Jacksonville RMH. It’s a beautiful, spotless, modern, comfortable, and homey facility, with about 30 guest rooms, a workout facility, family lounge, TV rooms, playground, and a state-of-the-art industrial kitchen.

Founded and supported by the McDonald’s hamburger empire, funded by private gifts, and heavily reliant on volunteers, the houses provide meals for residents as often as possible, through volunteer contributions of food and labor. My wife’s team volunteered to bring in lasagna, salad, and all the fixin’s for the expected group of about fifty residents on this rainy Saturday night. There were about eight of us there, including a few spouses. One guy brought a bunch of lasagnas from Cosco, one couple brought the salads, and we got off easy with the paper products. We arrived about an hour before dinner, heated up the lasagnas, put out the salad and drinks, and talked to people.

The residents were fed a hearty meal for less than two dollars each, and with minimal effort on our part. We weren’t building affordable housing in 100-degree heat, cleaning up after a hurricane, or going to the third world on a medical mission. But good was done.

Secondarily, it provided a useful and meaningful way for my wife and her team to interact outside of work. To get to know each other, and each other’s families, a little better.

So – here are some thoughts. First, if you’re in a position to influence the charitable gifts of your organization, consider supporting something that provides help to people who need it. I know there are lots and lots of worthy recipients. It doesn’t matter so much which ones you give to, but give what you can afford, to something.

Organize a group to volunteer to help like this group from Nelnet did. Money is, of course, always welcome, but so are donations in kind, and the gift of a few hours of people’s time. But here’s the thing – we shouldn’t always leave it to someone’s admin or a supervisor to organize these efforts. If you’re a director, VP, or other executive, it would be great to see you spearhead an effort to give back to the community, and pitch in along with everyone else. It’s definitely one case in which you get back more than you give.

Richard Hadden is an author, leadership speaker, and business consultant, who makes the business case for creating a great place to work. For more information about Richard, his partner Bill, and their work, or to book Richard or Bill to speak for an upcoming event, please go to www.ContentedCows.com.

In our new book, Contented Cows MOOve Faster, we wrote about authenticity as one of the prime requisites for being a good leader. Among other factors, authenticity requires that one be reliably honest, open, and transparent. We didn’t write about the matter of authentic leaders showing genuine emotion, but we should have.

I realized that this past weekend when I saw a news clip in which Defense Secretary Robert Gates got a bit choked up in addressing Marines and their families at the Marine Corps Dinner In his speech, Secretary Gates recounted how Marine Major Douglas A. Zembiec had effectively led his troops before being killed in May, while on his 4th (yes, you read that correctly!) combat tour in Iraq.

In watching the video of Secretary Gates’ remarks, one can’t help but get the impression that this was the real deal, not one of those phony inside the Beltway acting jobs we’ve become accustomed to. Gates’ behavior suggested to me that under the skin is a real, pulsating human being who thinks a great deal about the impact of his decisions on others. Somehow, I don’t think the assembled audience of warriors thought any less of him for showing how he really felt.

Let’s face it, workplaces can be emotional cauldrons, and as we all do, leaders experience the full range of human emotion… anger, fear, joy, sorrow, and beyond. And yes, there are times when it is best that we mask, or at least heavily regulate the expression of our true feelings.

Take anger for example. There are those who maintain that it has no place in a manager’s repertoire. I disagree. Though it’s usually not helpful for us to add to the level of fear that already exists in the workplace by going ballistic, people don’t want to work for some soulless, passionless blob of Jell-O either. On the premise that people expect their leaders to be genuine (not perfect), an occasional brief, deliberate, and well-controlled display of temper can sometimes be a good thing… damnit!

This might be a good time to spend a few extra minutes in front of the proverbial mirror reflecting on the degree to which the people around us are getting the benefit of an authentic leader.

“A thought leader in the areas of leadership and employee engagement, Bill
Catlette is a seminar leader, keynote speaker, and executive coach. He helps
individuals and organizations improve business outcomes (growth, profit,
morale) by having a focused, motivated, capably led workforce. For more
information about Bill, his partner Richard, and their work, please go to
www.ContentedCows.com“

Saturday’s big news was the Bush colonoscopy. Although I didn’t need to know the precise number of polyps his doctor found, I’m glad he had it done – and this is irrespective of political views – I’m glad the procedure uncovered no apparent cause for concern. I hope the more definitive tests bear out that conclusion, and I wish him well.

The story raises two points in my mind. First, if you were born before Kennedy became president, and you haven’t already done so, why not talk to your doctor about having a colonoscopy yourself? Before I had mine (before age 50, by the way), my doctor told me, “There’s nothing magic about the number five-zero. There are probably a few good ways to die. Colon cancer is not one of them.”

You’ve heard this before, and it’s true. While the day before is inconvenient, the actual procedure, for most people, is a piece of cake. I had my teeth cleaned later the same week, and that experience was worse than the colonoscopy.

If you’re clean, the peace of mind is worth a lot. If they find something, that’s even more important. With early detection, colon cancer has a high cure rate. Don’t put it off.

Second point. While President Bush was in a state of compromised consciousness (resist the temptation to make cheap jokes, please), Vice President Dick Cheney was officially in charge. (Moratorium on jokes is still in place.) That’s taken care of under the U.S. Constitution’s 25^th Amendment.

What provisions have you got in place in the event of your illness, incapacitation, good night’s sleep, vacation, resignation, termination, or death?

Let’s focus on the more temporary of these interruptions in your availability. You say your people are “empowered” to make decisions without you. Are they really? Could you go under general anesthesia, without notice, and find everything humming along when you came to? Can you unplug when you go on vacation? Will people know how to handle things? Will your customers be served?

Can people find stuff without you? Can they make tough decisions? Can bills get paid, questions get answered, purchases get approved, sales get closed, even when you’re in a physical or electronic blackout?

If not, you’d better be able to find a doctor, like President Bush did, who does colonoscopies on the weekends.

Richard Hadden is an author, leadership speaker, and business consultant, who makes the business case for creating a great place to work. For more information about Richard, his partner Bill, and their work, or to book Richard or Bill to speak for an upcoming event, please go to www.ContentedCows.com.

When my phone rings early on a weekend morning, there better be one hell of a good reason for it. That thought crossed my mind recently when, around 6 AM on a Sunday, sleep was rudely interrupted. Caller ID identified a neighbor as the source of the wakeup call, and the tone of his voice suggested something was seriously amiss.

Without stopping to so much as brush my teeth or visit the porcelain facility, I threw on a pair of blue jeans, shoes, and headed down the stairs. Before reaching the front door, I could hear the emergency vehicles arriving, with sirens in full wail.

Ben Wilson, our neighbor, is a great guy. Behind a faux gruff veneer is a kind, big-hearted man who’s never too busy or too “good” to help out a friend, an employee, or a complete stranger who needs it. Now in his mid 60’s, Ben had been our town’s original fire chief, and later the Emergency Services Director. With the help of a mayor who didn’t fully appreciate people telling her the unvarnished truth, he “retired” several years ago. Arising early every morning now and heading out at first light to do industrial lawn maintenance, Ben’s view of retirement and mine are a bit different. I’d rather do mine with a 9 iron. I digress.

Ben had apparently been suffering silently with chest pain over night, and finally decided that it was time to do something about it. Within minutes of his call for help, a phalanx of firemen, EMT’s, and other emergency services personnel descended on the Wilson residence. As I held the front door open for an ambulance crew, I counted about a dozen first responders already in the living room.

As it turns out, Ben’s call for help had arrived at shift change. Rather than go home, some of the off duty personnel accompanied their on-duty counterparts on the call, and eventually to the hospital. They did so not to milk the clock, or out of any sense of adventure, but because “Chief Wilson”, a man some of them had long ago worked for, and all of them respected, was down, and might need their help. The feeling they had for a man who some still refer to as “their chief” was as obvious as it was compelling.

Thanks to the good Lord and some well-practiced medicine, Ben will soon be back at the helm of his trusty tractor. For my part, over the course of a couple hours, I got a vivid reminder of the admiration, respect, and loyalty that accrue to one who practices the craft of leadership with selfless authenticity. You don’t have to be the most articulate or sophisticated guy in the room to get people to want to follow you, but you do have to be the real deal. Could be a lesson here.

I’m spending this week with my son’s Boy Scout troop on a camping trip in the beautiful hills of Coker Creek, Tennessee. Our merry crew of 18 scouts and various family members – more than 40 of us in total, arrived at the camp last evening, to discover that, owing to an administrative snafu, dinner would be about an hour late. No big deal for us, but perhaps it was for the dining room staff that thought they were going home at 5.

Later, while our group was enjoying a remarkably good meal in the camp’s dining hall (we were the only group in the hall at the time), the senior scout on the trip, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout whom we call “Little Otto” (to distinguish him from his dad, “Big Otto”) stood and asked for everyone’s attention. I should tell you that Little Otto is a 235 pound football player, and when he speaks, most people listen.

There was one fellow in our group who kept talking after Little Otto claimed the floor. It was Big Otto. The son asserted, respectfully, “Sir, I’ve asked everyone to stop talking for a minute so I can ask the group to do something.” Big Otto complied.

Little Otto then pointed out to our group that the kitchen staff, because of a miscommunication on someone else’s part, had stayed past quitting time to make sure that the 40+ of us didn’t go to bed (as it were) hungry. He then led the group in a big round of applause for those who had gone above and beyond to make sure we all got fed.

Two lessons on leadership:

1. Leadership often transcends age, size, rank, and traditional organizational (and family) hierarchies. And when it does, it is asserted with respect.
2. Good leaders are kind, gracious, and appreciative, especially when people go the extra mile. And they model those behaviors for those they lead.