Featured Alumni - Terry Poling
Name: Terry L. Poling
Business: The Poling Group, Inc.
Title: Executive Business Advisor
Best phone for contact: 248.656.9298
Website: www.ThePolingGroup.com
Leadership Oakland Class: LO XIV (i.e. the “best class”!)
Q. What is the most significant leadership lesson you have learned that has impacted your personal life?
A. I recently learned the virtue and value of patience … in all aspects of my life. Prior to my six-month consulting assignment in Ethiopia last year, I had little appreciation for patience. It was a foreign concept that didn’t fit with my ‘bias-for-action’ worldview and lifestyle. At some level, I believed that to be patient meant that I was compromising my own values and standards. However, living in a culture very different from my own, I soon understood that patience was not only necessary but also enlightening. I learned that my self-imposed expectations and proclivity toward action often blinded me to my deeper source of motivation. Practicing patience allowed me to be in touch with the present moment and to reconnect with my real passion … to improve the quality of life for others … more fully. David Whyte, poet and author, has written that, “A tragedy of living life fast as an answer to the complexities and responsibilities of existence, is that over time we cannot recognize anything or anyone who is not traveling at the same velocity as we are”. Amen!
Q. What was one of your finest leadership moments professionally?
A. Having the courage to stand up to one of my worst bosses ever on behalf of the organization and the people I served at the time was one of my ‘finer moments’. Although he was politically savvy, behind the scenes this guy was brutal and unscrupulous in his treatment of people. His ego far outpaced any sense of integrity. It all came to a head when I confronted him in private about his intentions of rigging an assessment process for a company layoff. I challenged him to change his ways or I would ‘go public’. He finally backed down. Although I left shortly after this incident for another company, I am confident that my resolve and actions removed others from ‘harms-way’ and ultimately contributed to my effectiveness as an external organizational consultant. For me, courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to act in spite of one’s fear!
Q. Is there a leader that inspires you? Why?
A. Mahatma Gandhi. For being the change he wanted to see in the world. Period. What else can I say??
Q. What is a mistake you have made as a leader and what did you learn from this?
A. Oh, where do I begin with this one?? There are so many examples!! I must confess, the larger mistakes/failures have been ‘sins of omission’. In other words, not speaking up or taking action when I should have. Indeed, it has been my experience that asking for forgiveness is much easier and admirable than asking for permission. On the other hand, where do I go to seek forgiveness for those things that I should have done, but didn’t? I’d welcome the advice of others on this one!
Q. If you were to give advice to others in leadership during tough times, what would it be?
A. A few years back I had the great fortune of dining with James Lovell Jr., commanding astronaut on the incredible Apollo XIII Mission (think Tom Hanks!). I asked him a similar question and his response has always impressed me, especially given the dire circumstances in which he led others to safety. Consequently, I’ve tried to integrate his advice in my own life and have offered his words to many of the leaders I’ve coached over the past several years. Lovell’s response to my question was: “Don’t sweat the ‘small stuff’. And, take my word for it; most of life is the ‘small stuff’.” Again, Amen!
