Lincoln on Leadership
November 6 and 8, 2012 9:00am-12:00pm

Event Details:
Abraham Lincoln was known as “Father Abraham“ as he led during our country’s darkest hours. He has grown to be respected as a truly Authentic Leader. He is unique among leaders in that his “star” has risen with time; not fallen as have so many historic figures.

We will listen carefully to his advice and follow his example to uncover fundamental principles that will enhance our business acumen and improve our ability to work effectively with people whether they be employees, peers, seniors, customers, stakeholders, and, importantly, your loved ones as you balance your career and life’s work.

Tuesday November 6, 2012 Topics:

You knowing You
Lincoln was introspective, read extensively to learn and develop his values, ethics, principles, and what was important in his life. You have too and continue to do so. We will follow Lincoln as he matured his understanding of what was important and what he believed he needed to accomplish to make a difference. We will also share what energizes you and what does not and what you might do to compensate.

Trust
Lincoln was trusted and revered for being honest and insightful. He was unique of course but we can learn much from how he behaved to earn him trust, respect and credibility that opened the door for his leadership of even skeptical colleagues. If you have ever had the thrill of being on a highly performing team, you know instinctively that trust is indispensable … indeed, it is the indispensable foundation upon which successful teams are built.

Vision, Goals, Strategy
Lincoln knew where he needed to lead the country. He also knew when to take the next important step to get there and how much the country could bear during the progress of the Civil War. We too have similar challenges. No it cannot all be done at once. People need time to understand and assimilate change and to take the next step toward the ultimate objective. Lincoln will help us fully appreciate this challenge of leadership and how to attend to it.

Thursday November 8, 2012 Topics:

People; Essential to Success
Lincoln connected quickly with nearly all he met. He was really interested in people. He wanted to know what they knew, what they believed, and was able to quickly assimilate their information and advice. In this way he kept a pulse on the country, formulated the next best step that would have the people’s support and those subsequent step(s) needed to continue progress.

Learning, Innovation, Creativity
Do you have a patent? Lincoln did (the only President to do so). More importantly, he persistently studied up on the latest scientific advancements, talked to inventors and innovators about applications, and always looked for innovative ways to get things done more quickly and efficiently. Think about this challenge today! If there was ever a time to keep up, this is it. Advances are coming fast. You need to keep your curiosity revved up to continually learn how to use the latest technology to help you compete.

Communicating with clarity and impact
Perhaps this is one of the best known leadership traits of Abraham Lincoln. But did you know that he wrote far more than was ever made public during his time? Nearly half a century after his presidency much of his correspondence was uncovered with the following annotation: “AL, never signed, never sent.” It turned out that he honed and refined his thinking on many issues by writing and rewriting them until they reached a clarity and impact worth publishing (or not). Even if not released, he found this technique useful to test his thoughts and assumptions and to prepare himself to make better and lasting decisions. Today, more than ever, we are able to do this thanks to advances in word processing. We can now iterate our thoughts easily … writing is thinking and thinking is writing. BUT, most of us don’t take full advantage of this benefit … in fact we are all painfully aware of the opposite … that email that we (or someone) sent before it had been fully and carefully considered.

Facilitator: Ken Karr is adjunct coach and trainer with MSBCoach, Director, Nuclear Performance Improvement, Dominion Resources Services, Inc., leading initiatives to improve practices in nuclear electrical generation. He is a coach, mentor, advisor and leadership development facilitator. He has also served with Virginia Power, Carolina Power & Light, Commonwealth Edison and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). He was President of consulting firm KRK Inc. and Vice President of the Advanced Reactor Corporation. His work with utility CEO’s, Senior Executives, and Plant Management also included plant evaluations and advanced nuclear plant development. Ken served in the US Navy as Captain of two nuclear submarines and as the Senior Member of the Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board, U. S. Atlantic Fleet.

Ken received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Engineering (Chemical) from the James Breckenridge Speed Scientific School, University of Louisville, M.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering and M.S. degree in Oceanography from the University of Washington.

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