Lessons from a Glass Blowing Studio

“Wow!”  That’s what I kept saying.  I was sitting on an aluminum bleacher watching 3 men create a beautiful work of art from glass.  They kept working away steadily, each one carrying out movements in concert with the others.  How in the world do they know how much glass to put on which one of those rods from which of the containers of molten glass?  How long and how hard do you blow into the end of the rod with the actual piece on it while the other guy rolls it back and forth and shapes it?  And how do you know when to heat it with the hand torch and when to put it back in the glowing oven for a bit?  Don’t you guys ever get burned as you pass by each other with rods holding bulbs of glowing glass from the 2000 degree ovens?!  This process is amazing!!

There’s not a lot of conversation between the men, but they all seem to be completely comfortable and confident in their roles.  Even with all of us who have gathered on the bleachers watching their every move.  As they remove the completed piece from its rod and place it gently in the cooling chamber, we all applaud, impressed with the display of specialized skill and artistry we have just enjoyed.

One of the men steps forward and explains to us that the finished piece will cool gradually for a couple of days before being placed in the gallery for sale.  Then he asks if we have any questions.  As he responds to our questions, we learn all about ingredients and temperatures.  We also learn that he has been a professional glass blower for 13 years.  He has a degree in architecture and took two classes in glass blowing as electives.  He built his own equipment and went into business.  The man standing beside him joined the business four years ago.  The third man, who had left the room, returns just in time to correct the speaker about his tenure; he’s been there 8 years now, not 5!  He also worked as a glassblower at a different studio before coming to this one.

“If you’ve enjoyed what you experienced here, we appreciate any tips you want to leave.  We’re going to take a break, and then we’ll come back and work on a few smaller pieces.”  And off they went.

I couldn’t help but think what an incredible example of teamwork I had just witnessed.  The results of their efforts would go out for sale in a couple of days.  Their accountability was immediate as they either succeeded or failed to create the finished piece together.  (More on that in a minute.)  Their commitment was unwavering as each one carried out step after step in a beautiful flowing process with the other two.  The piece of glass was in constant motion as its shape and appearance continued to change.  I wish I could have heard the conversation the men had before beginning the piece we watched them create.  They told us that the pile of shattered blue glass over in the corner of their work area was their last effort, which exploded during the cooling process after being allowed to reach an inappropriate temperature at some point during their work.  How long does it take to get in sync the way these guys seem to be?  Does trust build quickly or is it a slow process?  I’m sure they have each worked hard to hone their skills.  And the passion for their work was evident.

I will think of those 3 great artists every time I look at my beautiful glass bowl with “Vetro 2012” etched in the bottom.

Post by Sandy Tush, Manager/Facilitator

Called to Coach: Called to Serve

There has been a lot of negative press lately on college sports coaches even some of the more famous ones. I am not one to judge those I do not know, but I would like to tell a story about a famous college football coach I use to work with many years ago – a man I will never forget who quietly retired and is still to this day an inspiration to me.

What triggered my desire to write this story was that I just finished reading his biography, Called to Coach, Reflections on Life, Faith, and Football, which came out last year. This is the story of Bobby Bowden, the coach at Florida State University for 34 years. Listen to these statistics: 33 straight winning seasons, 14 straight seasons of 10 or more wins, and finished in the top 5 nationally. Remarkable success for any college coach in America, success on a level few have attained and few ever will.

But my story is not about how Bobby Bowden coached a football game, because I never spoke to Coach Bowden about how his team was playing or the number of games he won. I knew this great coach in a way few will ever know, not even his many players, who I hope will come to know about this story that was not in his biography. You see, I was a college recruiter living in Orlando, Florida, working for Procter & Gamble, and my job was to visit the athletic department at Florida State University to find a few players to come work for my company. From 1979 to 1981, I would visit the campus, and always visited with Coach Bowden. While he had only been on campus a few years, he was already making his mark at Florida State, with a win in the Tangerine Bowl in 1977 and two visits to the Orange Bowl during the years I visited him.

When I visited with Bobby Bowden in his office at Florida State we never talked about his team, or how he was leading his team; it was always about his players. We discussed the players that he believed would not make it into the NFL that would need to consider another career after college outside of playing professional sports. On one of my annual visits he told me how troubled he was with one of his players who refused to interview for a job after college in business, because he felt for sure he would get drafted into the NFL. Coach Bowden knew his chances were slim, and pleaded him to interview with me and other companies. His player refused to listen to his coach and ended up driving a cement truck in Tallahassee.

Bobby deeply cared about all his players, not just his 1^st string starters, but even the players who hardly ever played a down on the field. He wanted the best for all of them, including a college degree and a good job after they left Florida State. My experience told me he cared as much about the future of his players after college as when they played for him. I cannot prove this assertion, but I believe it based upon how I never had a problem scheduling a visit with Bobby when I came to campus, no matter the time of the year.

As I finished reading Coach Bowden’s book Called to Coach, I realized how religious a man he was, and while we never talked about his faith in Christ, I now see how his faith impacted in the way he cared about his players. Bobby Bowden was a true Servant Leader to his players because he really cared about them, on and off the football field. So if you ask me how this humble man was so successful in coaching, I would say he truly was “Called to Coach”  and put his players before himself.  The impact that Coach Bowden made on me as a young manager at P&G will stick with me forever.

Post by Tom Verdery, Executive in Residence

Great Leadership is Timeless

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at the Soderquist Center! We hope that you enjoy this special LeaderSkilz episode with our founder, Don Soderquist.

We have enjoyed being a part of your lives this year and we look forward to great things in 2012.

Studying for the test

Chip Pollard - President of JBU

A few days ago, I took the opportunity to hear JBU President Chip Pollard address the students who are involved in SIFE.  Chip is my boss and our Center is now responsible for leading SIFE on campus but neither was my motivation for going.  When Chip saw me walk in, he even asked, "Don’t you have something to you should be doing?" 

 

The time was essentially Q&A and it was great to see a university president be that accessible and real with college kids.  Each time I hear Chip speak, I pick up something – which was my real motivation for attending.

 

One of the students asked Chip, (paraphrasing) "Here, we go to class and study so we can do well on our tests. When you get out of school, how do you study for the tests in the real world?"  Chip gave a great answer but as I thought about the question – and why I was even present in the first place – for me there was a slightly different twist.

 

One way that I "study" for the test is by putting myself in position to hear from those who I know can pass the tests that life and leadership bring.  It’s not by osmosis or like catching a cold, but I’ve learned that there is great value in studying credible leaders so that perhaps I might acquire bits of wisdom that I can experiment with as I develop my own leadership muscle.  It’s what I get to do when I have breakfast with Don Soderquist.  It’s why I have meetings with Executive Council members Rollin Ford and Andy Murray this week.  It’s why I read Dan Cathy’s blog and why I’m reading a book on the leadership journey of the Apostle Paul.  And it’s why I go hear Chip speak every chance I get.  He’s on my short list.

 

For all of us as leaders, the tests come often.  We get to prepare for some.  And I’ve learned that while there are still a few pop quizzes in leadership, there can often be "pop finals".  In all of these tests, we need to be prepared – and that means studying.

At the Center, one of the four questions we believe every leader should ask is, "What am I doing to lead myself?"  Said differently, "What am I doing to study for the test?"  The point of application is how you would answer that question for yourself.

 

(There is a postscript.  I did have other things I should be doing.  I missed my workout so I could get home on time.  And after my kids were in bed and my wife started the things she needed to get to, I spent 3.5-hours on my laptop doing my "homework" before I went to bed after midnight.  As leaders, we should be careful not to mistake homework for studying.  I could have done other things with that hour, but I made the decision to study and accepted the tradeoff for that opportunity.  And yes, it was worth it.)

By Chuck Hyde, CEO

The most cliché leadership advice you will ever recieve

Someone asked me recently what makes a good leader.

Seeing as I work for a leadership development center, and that I’ve led quite a few projects, businesses, and groups of people, this guy probably thought I was well equipped to answer his question. Truth be told, so did I.

I thought about it for a second.

Then, to my surprise, what began spewing from my lips was a verbose collection of the most cliché garbage I’ve ever heard. I started saying things like, “you’ve got to manage by walking around” and “you need to over communicate” and “set priorities for people” and on and on. He wrote some things down and then looked up at me like, “really?”

It was embarrassing. He knew it. I knew it. He thanked me (for what I’m not sure) and walked out.

Later that day I emailed him an apology. I also tried to redeem myself by offering some real leadership advice. The following is my attempt at some very basic, non-cliché advice for how to be a good leader:

1. Be real with people. Don’t try to be someone you’re not.

2. Be in constant communication. Informal is better and faster.

3. Push hard. Tell people what you expect.

4. Do remarkable things. Most people think great ideas are crazy at first.

I guess the point of it all is that being a good leader comes down to some pretty simple stuff. The danger is that leadership can easily be turned into a cliché. When it is, whether you’re just giving advice or actually living it out, people notice.

Don’t be like me. Don’t be the cliché.

By Bryson Moore, Director of Emerging Leaders & Communications