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♦ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2008
6A
Take an 'end of year' inventory
Iwaa interviewed recent
ly for my thoughts on
how individuals might
improve their chances of
keeping their New Year’s
resolutions. If you’ve been
reading my articles lately,
you know that I just fin
ished exploring each of
the “six stages of change”
as described in the book
Changing for Good.
The concept of New Year’s
resolutions doesn’t fit well
with what has been shown
to provide excellent improve
ment. Folks making resolu
tions don’t typically examine
the cost required to institute
lasting change (a key part of
the “contemplation” stage).
Making resolutions doesn’t
require extensive “prepara
tion,” the stage that aids the
likelihood of success in the
“action” and “maintenance”
stages.
Most organizational lead
ers don’t generate New
Year’s resolutions, but they
do often organize plans
for causing institutional
WALKER
From page 4A
I was not too interested in
the book, but when I started
reading it, I realized that it
was an excellent read. It is
a story about Clay’s early
life and boxing career and
Ali’s early boxing career,
but it is also about Floyd
Patterson, Joe Frazier, the
Mafia, the Nation of Islam
(Black Muslims), Malcolm X,
etc. The author is the winner
of a Pulitzer Prize, and he
wrote like one.
I enjoyed the book.
Incidentally, I have met Ali
on three occasions: twice
in Atlanta (the old down
town Marriott and in the
Governor’s Office), and once
in New York (coming out of a
hotel). He was always polite
and gracious.
Captain Madam, by Col.
George Walton. Finished
September 5, 1999. My law
partner, Chuck Byrd, rep
resented the Walton family
about 10 years ago, when
Paramount Studios had
some interest in making this
book into a movie. He rec
ommended that I read this
book. It is an interesting,
clever, and sometimes very
funny book. Supposedly, it
is based on true events that
took place during World War
11, when the U.S. Army decid
ed to take over and run two
brothels in northern Africa
to help cut down on the inci
dences of venereal disease
among the troops. The Army
chose a very moral, straight,
“country-boy” from North
Carolina to run the program,
and thus his dilemma and
the humor in the book. In
my opinion, this book still
has potential to make a very
funny movie.
Pickett Leader Of The
Charge by Edward G.
Longacre. Finished April
26, 2000. Excellent book. I
thoroughly enjoyed reading
about General George E.
Pickett of the Confederate
Army and, actually, have a
new appreciation of him. He
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Building Future Leaders
f >
Dennis
Hooper
Your
Leadership
Coach
improvement. Before they
initiate their plans, how
ever, they usually take an
inventory of what currently
exists.
Let’s look at what leaders
typically measure.
Results. I encourage
leaders, whenever they
start any activity, to clearly
define their desired out
comes. “Results” are the
outcomes that are measured
and tracked by the organiza
tion. They may be associ
ated with the satisfaction
of customers, with the qual
ity and quantity of products
and services delivered, with
generated revenue, with the
is an interesting character
and, to some extent, reminds
me of what I know about
General George Custer. This
book was given to me by
Cheri Williams and Beth
Chadwick after they heard
me make a speech on the
floor of the Georgia House
of Representatives, where I
talked about the famous, or
infamous, Pickett’s Charge.
Black Mass by Dick Lehr
and Gerald O’Neill. Finished
July 24, 2000. Very interest
ing and somewhat startling
and scary book! If half of
what is written is true, it is
hard to believe. This book is
about organized crime in the
Boston area and, in particu
lar, how Whitey Bulger and
Stephen Flemmi co-opted
the F. 8.1. It is also about
William (Billy) Bulger and
his political power in Boston.
Billy is a friend of mine and,
thus I was more interested
in the book.
I bought this book in Palm
Beach, Florida when Janice
and I were at a Life of the
South Board meeting. About
an 8, but since I know Billy
Bulger, I would give it a 9.
Southern Yankees by Tim
Darnell. Finished Dec. 3,
2000. Billy Bledsoe loaned
me this book. It is about
the Atlanta Crackers base
ball team, “The Yankees of
the Minor Leagues,” thus,
“Southern Yankees”. To
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"Most organizational leaders don't
generate New Year's resolutions, but
they do often organize plans for causing
institutional Improvement. Before they
initiate their plans, however, they
usually take an Inventory ol what
currently exists.”
satisfaction and retention
of employees,, with contri
butions to the community,
or with other measurable
outcomes important to the
organization.
Systems. The results an
organization generates devel
op from reliable, repeatable
processes that have been
generated and refined over
time. Action steps occur in
a defined, specific sequence,
often executed by different
individuals.
Each person receives
information or an in-pro
cess “something” from
some extent, it is also about
the history of Atlanta and the
old Southern Association.
I very much enjoyed this
book. I finished reading it on
my return trip from Newport,
Rhode Island, where I, along
with Foster Rhodes, had
attended a State Legislative
Leaders Foundation meet
ing. I will return Billy’s book
to him.
An All Day Hanging And
Dinner On The Ground by
Roy F. Chalker, Sr. Finished
Dec. 23, 2000. My friend and
former legislative colleague,
Denmark Groover, Jr., loaned
me this book. I enjoyed it
very much! It is 101 narra
tives of “times past” of Mr.
Chalker’s philosophy - I can
relate to the stories, and I
agreed with most of his phi
losophy.
The book is mostly about
rural and small-town
Georgia. I wish I had a copy
of the book for my library.
General James Longstreet
- The Confederacy’s Most
Controversial Soldier by
Jeffry D. Wert. Finished April
24, 2001. Matt Echols loaned
me this book as we departed
for Paris and Germany (I
“marked it” and bought him
another one). Excellent book!
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I
learned a great deal about
General Longstreet (I knew
almost nothing) and came
to appreciate him, especially
HAMMEffIQE
conw
somebody, then delivers an
enhanced product or service
to someone else. Each serves
as a customer of somebody’s
efforts, and each serves as a
supplier to someone else.
Relationships. Paying
customers are typically out
side the organization. We
think of suppliers as also
being outside the organiza
tion, delivering information
or parts or raw materials.
But some suppliers and cus
tomers, as identified in the
paragraph above, are inter
nal. We usually call these
individuals “employees” or
his sterling contribution to
the Confederate cause.
I was also intrigued by the
politicking and “in-fighting”
among the Confederate gen
erals and between the mil
itary and the Confederate
government. Matt Echols
had told me that we should
hang a portrait of General
Longstreet in the Capitol
rather than one of General
Lee (because of Longstreet’s
Georgia connections).
Perhaps Matt is right.
Again, a very good book. I
marvel at how an author can
get this much information on
a subject - lots of hard work!
Long book - 427 pages.
Some Things I Wish We
Wouldn’t Forget by Jim
Minter. Finished Sept. 30,
2001. I thoroughly enjoyed
this book. It was written by
my friend, Jim Minter, for
mer editor of the Atlanta
Journal Constitution. As I
wrote to him, it reminded
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A happy and
healthy New Year
from our
% %
family to yours.
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“team members.”
Healthy relationships,
whether outside or inside
the organization, are key for
the ongoing success of any
organization.
Leadership. The organi
zation’s leaders are expected
to know the current health
of the organization and to
provide guidance for how the
existing systems should be
directed for the future ben
efit of internal and external
customers.
Since progress will only
occur if the members of the
team work well together,
another role of leaders is to
gain alignment to upcoming
plans.
Leaders are to model
appropriate behavior and
provide the necessary tools
for team members to exe
cute their systems.
Unfortunately, it’s not
always easy for leaders to
discern the health of their
organizations. Leaders who
work closely with the other
members of their teams have
an especially difficult time
evaluating organizational
health - they are just too
close to the daily activities to
be accurate judges.
me of Lewis Grizzard’s writ
ings.
This is Georgia as it was
and as it is and, to some
extent, rural Georgia as it
was. I could relate to almost
everything in Jim’s book,
including many of the people
- Herman Talmadge, Gene
Sutherland, Zell Miller,
Loran Smith, Griffin Bell,
etc., all of whom I know. Jim
is a native Georgian, and
he has Georgia in his bones
- it shows in his writings.
I commend this book to all
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Sometimes a skilled out
sider can help. The leader
instructs his or her team
members to provide their
perspectives on all of the
above, with the intention of
identifying current strengths
and limitations.
A day of interviews to
conduct an overt organi
zational assessment helps
determine opportunities for
improvement over the com
ing months.
Though I’ve given only a
simple overview, I encourage
you to take time to conduct
an inventory of your orga
nizational current state (or
personal situation, if that’s
your focus).
Then, define the improved
outcome you want to create,
measure the cost of change
in terms of time, money, and
energy, and generate com
mitment among your team
members for making it hap
pen!
Dennis Hooper helps
leaders develop the capa
bilities of future leaders.
Contact Dennis Hooper at
dhooper2@juno.com or 478-
988-0237. You may see his
work at www.buildingfu
tureleaders.com.
native Georgians of my age
and older. Excellent! Funny!
Inciteful!
So, there you have it - 27
books written about in this
and my last column. Read
'em all. You’ll be glad you
did. Happy reading! Larry.
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