360 Leadership group hears about champion principles

story and photo by Linda Kaufenberg

Mike Thompson, author of “The Organizational Champion” and CEO of SVI, an organizational development company, spoke on the four core principles of being a champion at the 360 Leadership Series luncheon held Nov. 5 at Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith.

A group of graduate business alumni from John Brown University-Fort Smith organized the 360 Leadership Series. The mission of the organization is to provide development and networking opportunities for professionals in the Fort Smith region.

Thompson told attendees that when he was a child there was a monster in his closet every night. Up on the shelf was a clown that would laugh at him.

“Today there are real monsters in business,” he said. “GM, the 32nd largest business, fell to its knees; the real estate business has plunged; planes flew into the Twin Towers and every year 1.5 million people die from not having clean drinking water.”

But every monster story has a hero or champion. He cited the following:
• Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico, who challenged some of Pepsi’s famous brands saying the company could do better without them and it did.

• Lou Gershner of IBM who ignited the culture and encouraged collaboration and turned the company around in 10 months.

• Capt. C.B. Sullenberger, US Airways pilot, who crash landed a plane in the Hudson River without any fatalities.

• Jessica Lewis, Wal-Mart Assistant Store Manager  in Waveland, Miss., who after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the town, took a bulldozer, rammed the front door of the Wal-Mart, loaded the bulldozer with dry items and drove it through town distributing the items.

“These people knew what the right thing to do was and they did it,” Thompson said. “They had the courage to do the right thing.”

According to Thompson, the Four Core Principles to being a Champion are:
Enlightenment: having a strong set of personal values
Connected: pursues win-win everytime
Change maker: action oriented
Opportunity minded: visionary who goes beyond the task list

At the end of his presentation, he challenged everyone to “do a better job in investing in others. Make sure you know what your associates are good at and how they can contribute to the company.”

Spring speakers for the 360 Leadership Series are Delia Haak, executive director of Illinois Watershed Partnership; Gary Oliver, executive director of the Center for Relationship Enrichment at John Brown University; Fitz Hill, president of Arkansas Baptist College and John McFarland, chairman and CEO of Fort Smith-based Baldor Electric Co.