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"Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth." Susan L. Taylor

Acting like a Leader: Responding to the Crisis

Doug: After that was all over and I got back home, then I volunteered for submarine duty and they sent me to San Diego. Lena Mae was already on her way away from Hawaii. They wouldn’t let us change our abode because war had already broke out. And all I could say was meet me at the YMCA in San Francisco. I couldn’t tell her when, where, or what not, because I couldn’t tell her on the radio where we would dock or when.

So we met in San Francisco, and they sent me to San Diego to catch the S-27, which was an old type submarine. As soon as I got on her, we went to the Aleutian Islands. And from the Aleutian Islands…

Lena Mae: “Well, let’s go back to Pearl Harbor. When he went to do his duty station, the girl next door and I, we didn’t know what to do.

 

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"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them."

- William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene V).

Uncle Doug joins the navyUncle Doug Eaker is a quiet man--salty at times, introspective at others and with a twinkle in his eye. Like most people, he has many stories. On today, the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, I offer his story of leadership thrust upon him at age 23. He shared this with me a decade ago, on September 30, 2000, at our annual family reunion. The story will be told in several parts, including his perspective, his wife, Lena Mae's perspective, and that of his sister-in-law. Finally, there were will some statistics, for those die-hard history buffs. History serves as an important library of resources for the study of leadership.

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triangulationLack of trust is one of the most insidious and difficult to resolve challenges in change management.

Despite the fact that individuals can, and will, verbalize their trust gap, they often triangulate, or share that perception with a third party, versus sharing their concerns with the second party, the target of their mistrust.

Consequently, many executives are oblivious to the brick walls they have inadvertently erected through poor communication, failure to engage individuals in the challenges being considered that drive the need for change or outright failure to deliver on promises. Open and rich communication channels build trust.

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Ashton Will, one of the photographers for Valutivity LLC, was honored in the Mechanicsville Local, Vol. 27, No. 29, as “The Local Pick” for the November 17, 2010 issue. You may remember that his evocative photography was featured in the October blog item titled Thirst. The full text of that article is included here.

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thumb down thumb upThey say “Everyone’s a critic.”

I don’t buy that. I think everyone's a naysayer. Good critics are few and far between.

But unfortunately, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary could not care less about my opinion.

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wakeupTwo of my quotes related to humility were included in a recent e-book developed by Achieved Strategies, titled Wake Up and Shake It Up. It's complimentary and available at their website; click the graphic on the right hand side; registration is required. Also, check out Derrick Strand's article, Tapping Into Precious Natural Resources.

Humbleness is an attractive trait in a leader, though it is often unrewarded or even rewarded punitively.

  1. Leaders: Are You Ripe Yet?
  2. Abilene Christian Univ. Highlights Karen Smith-Will's Recent Gen-Y Research
  3. Additional Reading About Servant Leadership
  4. Transparency