“Because You Do Things So Well”

Friends,

On Labor Day, Michigan’s mighty Mackinac Bridge - a 5 mile span that connects the state’s two peninsulas - swells with nearly 50,000 people. They cross the bridge which rises to a height of 199 feet above the water, enjoying the fellowship and one extraordinary view of the meeting point of Lakes Michigan and Huron at the “tip of the mitt.”

In 2005 the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness sponsored a run to precede the walkers, and this past year the Council came up with the idea of “Mentoring: A Running Start,” which invited 20 adult mentors to train with their youth mentees and to run the bridge on Labor Day. Marilyn Lieber, the Director of the Governor’s Council sparked it all with a great vision. She inspired generous sponsors who helped make it all happen, as they treated the mentor pairs to running shoes, colorful running warm-ups, and a weekend on Mackinac Island. Similar acts of inspiration and challenging leadership occurred, as mentors encouraged their mentees to imagine that day when they would stride across the mythic bridge. Some, like 11 year old Cynthia, who is co-mentored by my wife Jennifer and Angel Boshea, ran the entire distance and they are now hooked on fitness and running; Cynthia has run two timed races since then.

I often write about vision. Vision is powerful, and I often mean vision in the literal sense, i.e., what you see . . . you can achieve. (Hopefully your browser will let you appreciate this vision in the picture below.)

Leadership soars with vision. AND leadership works when there is real and credible action. The Mentoring run required that the Mentor Michigan team work with the Governor’s Fitness folks — different teams, missions, and people. And at the meeting to debrief the project, Amber Reiss, the Mentor Michigan coordinator said something that was simple and yet profound. She said to Marilyn, I will work on any project you ask me to work on because you do things so well. Aren’t you a hundred times more willing to follow someone when you know they execute? When you know they’ll roll up their sleeves and get it done?

In the week ahead you might pay attention to the power that comes to your teams when “you do things so well.” And you might also recognize those folks like Marilyn and her team who just flat out get it done, and in those ways,

Lead with your best self,

Dan