Geneva Johnson -- Thoughts for the Evening
The Leader of the Future Celebration (2006)
- Thoughts for the Evening
- Award Presentation
- Reflections from the Celebration
Greetings, my thoughts for the evening will be on my reflections about the Leader to Leader Institute as I reflect on the past with an eye to the future. I want you to join me in my reflections of a celebration of another successful year of achievement. I want you to join me in my reflections of gratitude for the many, many friends and supporters of the Institute and finally, I want you to join me in the hope for an even greater, brighter future. Celebration, gratitude, hope. As we reflect on the past, we can't help but celebrate the fact that we have many successful achievements. Among them, our publications: The Future series: The Leader of the Future; The Organization of the Future; The Community of the Future; and the Leader to Leader journal. Tonight we celebrate The Leader of the Future 2. All of our works challenge our readers in the words of the late John W. Gardner, "Not to be servants of what is but shapers of what might be."
As we reflect on the past, that first Leader of the Future was edited in 1996, we celebrate the late Peter Drucker, our first Honorary Chairman, our mentor, our teacher and our leader. Peter ended his forward in this first book with words of wisdom to the reader. He wrote, "This book is a book about the future. But I hope that it will also be read as a call to action. I hope it will first challenge every reader to ask, "What in my organization could I do that would truly make a difference? How can I truly set an example? And I hope that it will then motivate each reader to do it." We also celebrate a former Leader to Leader Board member who also wrote a chapter in that first book, Bill Pollard. He said, "Servant leaders must be committed. They are not bystanders or simply holders of positions. Their leadership responsibility is for the long term and not for their own short term benefit." He ends his chapter with "As leaders, we recognize that we are all prisoners of hope. Our hope sustains us. Our vision of what could be inspires us and those we lead."
We celebrate one of the first editors, Frances Hesselbein and the phrase she wrote in 1996, which has lasted through the years and has become a truism in the definition of leadership. She wrote, "The leader of today and the future will be focused on how to be ... how to develop quality, character, mindset, values, principles and courage." The other editor and current Board member, Marshall Goldsmith wrote in his chapter "The effective leader of the future will consistently ask…to receive feedback and to solicit new ideas ... leaders who reach out, ask for input, learn, and therefore, will be able to respond in a positive manner."
And, now as we reflect on the present we celebrate the latest The Leader of the Future 2. The Leader of the Future 2 was dedicated to Peter Drucker with the deepest respect and love. We celebrate Peter's life and his gifts of wisdom, caring, and legacy on leadership and management. All that he has given to the world will live on in his writings and will continue to illuminate our lives and our times. Part One of the book, "A Vision of Leadership" begins where it should, with the chapter dedicated to Peter, "Peter F. Drucker on Executive Leadership and Effectiveness," by Joseph A. Maciariello who collaborated with Peter on many projects. In the chapter he quotes Peter, "An executive who establishes the spirit of performance in daily practice is a leader of his or her organization, for leadership involves 'the lifting of a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, and the building of a person's personality beyond its normal limits.'" We have much to celebrate this evening as we present The Leader of the Future 2.
Tonight, we have another special reason to celebrate, Leader to Leader Institute's first annual The Leader of the Future Award. We celebrate our first recipient, Alan Mulally. Alan has truly made a difference by his leadership as the former president and CEO of the Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and we know he will make a difference as the president and CEO of the Ford Motor Company. He will be introduced later in the program.
Please join me for a few moments as I reflect on our gratitude for the many, many friends and supporters of the Leader to Leader Institute. We are deeply grateful to Frances Hesselbein, our founding president and now our chairman. Frances has provided a brilliant beacon for excellence in the social sector. Through the years it was her faith in seeing beyond the walls, in building partnerships, in brokering services and people, in creating new beginnings that helped us dream, and helped us realize that our dreams could become reality. We are grateful to Frances for being a role model of excellence in leadership and a mentor in understanding the meaning of what matters. We are deeply grateful to all our thought leaders for their generosity in contributing to all our books and the award-winning Leader to Leader journal. Their willingness to participate despite their busy schedules is overwhelming and all of us are truly grateful we cannot express in words our heartfelt gratitude to our publishers; Jossey-Bass, for all their support, expertise, and various contributions to the work of Leader to Leader Institute. We are grateful to all the staff at Jossey-Bass for their support which really ends up being a labor of love. Thank you, Jossey-Bass. We are grateful to our partners: Foundations (The Mandel Foundation, in particular), Mutual of America, other corporations, and individuals. Your belief in us through your many, many contributions has enabled us to implement our mission "to strengthen the leadership of the social sector" and build partnerships with the public sector and the business community. A word of gratitude to our Board of Governors…I will paraphrase an old hymn "Great is your faithfulness."
And last but not least, we are grateful to our dedicated staff under the wise leadership of our president and CEO, retired U.S. Army Brigadier General, Bob Gaylord. Finally, join me in my reflection of hope for the future of the Leader to Leader Institute. Our hope is to continue, with your help, the legacy of Peter Drucker. We want to, in Peter's words, "never predict, but simply look out the window and see what is visible but not yet seen." Our hope is to be true to our mission and be innovative by creating "a new dimension of performance." Our hope is to realize our dreams of excellence in leadership in the social sector. We do not believe this is too much for Leader to Leader to dream. Our hope is for an even brighter future under the leadership of Frances, Bob Gaylord, his staff and the Board of Governors, and all of you here tonight, the dream can become a reality. We celebrate you, we are grateful for all you do and we hope for a continuous partnership and a productive relationship.
And now may we bow our heads.
We come before you, our creator with grateful hearts and thankfulness, for all your bountiful gifts to each of us here tonight. We ask that you bless the food that has been prepared for the nourishment of our bodies. We give you thanks. Amen.
