We can do this

guest commentary by Tracy Winchell, a member of the economic development staff of the city of Fort Smith

During a recent conversation with a life-long Fort Smith resident, I learned a couple of iconic and decades-old TV sit-coms offer important leadership lessons for the future of our region.

Now that I have your attention, please resist the urge to offer up a wisecrack until I can explain my friend’s correlation between “Friends,” “Seinfeld,” and Fort Smith.

This startling, but simple, revelation began with a question about what the current Leadership Fort Smith class needed to know and understand about our town.

My friend, Nathan Williams, said simply, “Tell them about Friends. Tell them about Seinfeld.”

He waited a beat, and I’m sure he enjoyed the puzzled look on my face, then he explained, “Both of those shows were about ensemble casts. There were no stars. They all cared about the product and the greater good. They wanted the audience to laugh every week.”  Then, Nathan declared, “What Fort Smith needs is more ensembles, like Christmas Honors and the fight for the 188th Fighter Wing.”

A conversation with another friend, who was key in the effort to overturn the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure recommendation to shutter the Arkansas Air National Guard’s flying unit headquartered in Fort Smith, helped me understand that being part of that ensemble team effort wasn’t special because we won; it was special because of how we fought, together, as a community and as a team.

The summer of 2005 is a pivotal point in our region’s history, because of lessons we learned about how to fight; collaboratively, with many voices in a room, and one voice respectfully shouting at Washington.

What I didn’t understand until talking with my friend Kevin Wear (former commander of the 188th Fighter Wing), is that the most important lesson learned during that long, frightening summer is that teams must confront failure. Stare it down. Talk about it. Know what will happen if a daring, impossible mission fails. Once that distasteful activity is checked off the “to do” list, assemble a plan anyway. Execute Be flexible. Communicate. Keep executing the plan. Encourage. Maintain discipline and enthusiasm. And remember the purpose of the mission is to benefit the greater good.

During that summer of BRAC, the global objective was even broader than saving jobs and protecting the regional economy. The “greater good” was about securing a safer homeland because members of the 188th Fighter Wing have a stellar record of being prepared to protect our nation’s interests. In fact, in awarding the unit with a new mission and new aircraft (the A-10 Thunderbolt II), the Base Realignment and Closure Commission agreed that the United States of America is safer with “iron” on the ramp in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

After researching and preparing for my talk to Leadership Fort Smith, I fine-tuned the message and in mid-January the current class heard Nathan’s words about ensemble casts. They heard Col. Wear’s lesson to me about confronting failure. I better understood that these attributes have been readily transferred from “The Great BRAC War of 2005” to at least three more high-profile successes in the region – the recruitment of the U.S. Marshals Museum, creation of the Regional Intermodal Transportation Authority, and Christmas Honors.

These same traits seem to have populated the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce’s work in recent weeks and months. If you were at the Holiday Inn this past week, perhaps you noticed it, too.

The formula of assembling a “no stars” cast that confronts failure and “does it anyway” can be applied to many new initiatives and issues ahead of us. It’s a little too early to assert that these attributes are already part of our region’s leadership culture. However, talking about specific successes and challenging individuals who are eager to be part of a lasting legacy will help us forget we ever tackled problems any other way.

What would happen if we – as a community of people who love this region – insist that members of leadership teams check their egos at the door? What would happen if we habitually focus intellectual capacities and passions that drive our ambition on the long view of 5 years, 10 years, even 50 years into the future? Aren’t we tired yet of looking 30 years behind us? Five years behind us? Five minutes behind us? We can do better. We’ve proven it.

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, talks about leadership for the long haul. In a free e-book, “What Matters Now,” Hyatt wrote, “This is where great leadership makes all the difference. Leadership is more than influence. It is about reminding people of what it is we are trying to build – and why it matters. It is about painting a picture of a better future. It comes down to pointing the way and saying, ‘C’mon. We can do this!’”

As more of us have the privilege of being part of successful ensemble casts, fewer of us are inclined to express skepticism about another team’s audacious idea. Because we’ve witnessed the impossible, felt it in our bones, and seen the enthusiasm and character of the people of this region, we’ll believe in the impossible. It’s insane. It’s infectious. And it’s fun.

Back to the sitcoms. “Friends” received more than 60 Emmy nominations. The program finale aired in 2004, and yet the show still earns a steady revenue stream via DVD sales of all ten seasons. “Seinfeld” wrapped in 1998 after nine seasons which, like Friends, are all available on DVD. According to Forbes magazine, Jerry Seinfeld – the man who let Kramer and George and Elaine upstage him each week for the sake of a few laughs – earned $267 million in 2004. Mr. Seinfeld appears to have checked his ego at the door and is still cashing in.

These shows were about nothing. The products Fort Smith sells are something. Unique. Compelling. Genuine.

C’mon. We can do this!