Wounded Warriors Project
Leadership Thought of The Day
Leaders,
You have undoubtedly read the quote, "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, Not so good when people obey and acclaim him. Worse when they despise him. But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, "We did it ourselves"." Lao-tzu (604 -531 B.C.). This trait of "best" leadership was recently displayed by two of our own, Apollo members Alexa Ellswood and Sarah Cohen. These two readily accepted a leadership development challenge of working with five teams of Senior engineering students at Michigan Technological University in the design and building of two prototype tri cycle racing bikes used by returning wounded warriors from our military who complete in marathon length races. These returning veterans have often suffered amputations and paralysis of their limbs, but not of their competitive spirit. Unfortunately, many times the make shift cycles they used were sub optimal from a strength, durability and ease of use perspective. These five teams of engineering students were challenged to create bikes specifically designed for these athletes and to accommodate their unique requirements.
Sarah and Alexa were given a nebulous task. Forge these students into high performance teams, organized and focused on the mission to create these racing cycles. They accepted the challenge with zeal, and immersed themselves into the project. They adopted a first order element of leadership, by traveling the 550 miles to campus to meet with the teams and to begin creating the focus and relationships necessary to execute such an ambitious project. In fact, they made the trip many times.
They also kept the lines of communications open, with weekly conferences and status updates. They helped build the teams identity, their specific plans and their vision of what they were going to accomplish. I heard them described as "task masters" and "heaven sent mentors".
The following clips show the final product, which was unveiled at yesterdays Army - Navy football game. Needless to say, the project was a complete success. The two prototype cycles were built and delivered on time and on budget. With that, many wounded warriors will be served and their racing success enhanced. Along the way the image of Chevrolet as the sponsors of the project was enhanced too. These are all very good things. Maybe the biggest success was that at the end of the project, the students believe that they did it themselves.
Beyond those points of success is the fact that several young leaders where forged along the way. Art D. Kaplan once said, "A true leader inspires others to lead themselves." That is what Sarah and Alexa have done, by inspiring two of the students to eventually rise above the many and take lead roles in the projects execution. I hope we got their resumes, because they are destined for great things.
Alexa and Sarah, thank you for your service to these students, our veterans, our country and our company. You have lead well and done yourselves and thereby your fellow Apollo team members proud. The students think they did it themselves, we know better, but it's best to leave it that way...
Stay Strong,
Terry
