Sixth Sense: Leaders Offer Advice On Being Prepared

Editor’s note: Talk Business Arkansas asked six business leaders in Arkansas for their perspectives on how crucial preparation is to leadership, their daily work, and the companies they run.  Their responses can also be viewed in the latest magazine edition of TBA.

Hugh McDonald, President
Entergy Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas

Preparing for the company’s future is a continuous process that includes evaluating various future scenarios with many moving parts. We must understand current industry trends with the accompanying rules, regulations and regulatory framework and anticipate the policies that will be needed to support the future energy needs of customers. These considerations include the price consumers pay for energy, the environmental needs of our communities and the broader region, and the return on investment requirements of our investors.

Dr. Leah Braswell, Pediatric Radiologist
Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Little Rock, Arkansas

Nothing in interventional radiology proceeds without preparation. Patients and their families expect us to be experts in their specific and individualized care. Sometimes that means reading journal articles late into the night before a big case, and sometimes that means knowing that a certain 4-year-old girl prefers princess Band-Aids. Knowing these things ahead of time reduces frustration for the team and anxiety for the kids.

All the preparation in the world can’t make it easy for my patients to be sick, though. Part of being successful in this work is taking the time to listen. My preparation for truly taking care of people started long before medical school. I owe that to my father, a self-described country doctor who told me when I was six years old that the secret to doctoring is listening. Touch every patient. Look people in the eye. Spend more time than you really need. That kind of preparation is worth more than any medical degree and technical training in the world.

Chris Thomason, Chancellor
University of Arkansas Community College at Hope,
Former Prosecuting Attorney and State Representative
Hope, Arkansas

If commitment and dedication are the engines that drive success and accomplishment, then preparation is the fuel that powers the desired positive outcomes from such energy. Preparation, when combined with what is often emotional energy, provides the stable and measured foundation that maximizes the likelihood for short- and long-term success.

In addition, for me personally, as an attorney and a prosecutor, it provided an opportunity to gain a strategic advantage in what is by nature an adversarial environment. If I was prepared for every possible contingency in a case, then the just outcome was less likely to be disrupted by frivolous surprises. As a legislator and chancellor, preparation provides a level of assurance that the policy actions that you champion will deliver the positive results that you intended and promised.

Colette Honorable, Chairman
Arkansas Public Service Commission
Little Rock, Arkansas

Those who are most successful in my line of work are those who are most prepared. When taking on a task, preparation is the key factor which will determine your ultimate success or failure. Not how much you know. Not who you know. Preparation equals success. Lack of preparation means lost credibility and missed opportunity. Are you prepared for the task? Are you able to respond to both the anticipated and the unanticipated? Have you prepared adequately to meet the deadline? As the old saying goes, “A lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” If you want to achieve success, you must master the ability to properly prepare.

Darin Gray, President
Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods
Springdale, Arkansas

Preparation is as much about qualities as it is about specific steps. There are four qualities of preparation I’ve focused on. First is vision…knowing what the goals are…what you’re really trying to achieve. Second, curiosity that seeks input, insights and answers needed to fulfill a vision. Third, anticipation in terms of obstacles and opportunities that may present themselves along the way, as well as options should course correction become necessary. Lastly, discipline that sees a vision through to a successful end. These qualities are foundational to effective preparation, and help ensure motion isn’t confused with progress.

Sheridan Chadwell, Owner
Purdy’s Flowers and Gifts
Newport, Arkansas

Preparation in our business is two-fold if you look at it from a short- and long-term perspective. Our business is about half retail gift and half retail floral. On the retail gift side, you prepare a season in advance, so you look at preparation from a long-term perspective. You’re buying for Christmas in January; you’re buying for spring in June, etc. We must seek out the new, the unusual, the attractive and the attainable, and hope it will be popular the following season.

On the floral side, you look at preparation from a short-term perspective. Our inventory is perishable, and most of our business comes to you one or two days in advance – especially with sympathy flowers. We will order flowers and supplies in smaller quantities 3 to 4 days a week, in order to keep our rotating inventory as fresh as possible.

So, preparation for us is truly two-fold. Our profits and returns come quickly with the floral business, and our profits and returns are more gradual with the gift business. It’s nice to have a balance.