Sanlon November 2005 E-zine

Greetings!

On October 24-25 Scanlon Leaders met to learn from one of the top 21 companies in America---Synovus. In this E-Zine we will share some of what we learned. Our new web-site and server are now running. If you have not visited www.scanlonleader.org lately we encourage you to take a look. One of the benefits of Scanlon compared to management by the latest best seller is that we have stood the test of time. In this E-Zine there is a story about Dustin Ruch, our latest intern...and the third generation in his family to study and practice Scanlon. We are extremely pleased that two of our members, Watermark and Wadena Timber Roots, have created world-class Scanlon Plans...the first in Financial Services and in a truss plant. In December we will cover their story in depth.



Ruch Serves As Intern, Third Generation Scanlon Advocate
Currently serving as the Scanlon Leadership Network’s intern at the Frost Research Center in Holland, MI, Dustin Ruch, grandson of Richard Ruch who was the first Scanlon Stewardship Award recipient, is the third generation of the Ruch family to serve the Network and advocate its principles.

Dustin is a junior at Hope College in Holland majoring in Management and Economics and was selected for the internship after showing interest in the position.

“This internship will afford me the opportunity to do extensive research on Joe Scanlon, Carl Frost and the Scanlon Leadership Network,” explained Dustin. “I am looking forward to gaining a better appreciation of good business values and how they relate to being successful in business.”

Eileen Robertson-Rehberg, Frost Center Director and Internship Supervisor, expects that Dustin and future interns will obtain knowledge through experience to help shape their academic skills into applicable real- world tools.

“In time we hope to build a more extensive Scanlon internship program,” explained Robertson- Rehberg. “By re-establishing ties with valuable people like Richard Ruch, we can tap into and provide a more in-depth experience for the interns.”

Known as “Mr. Scanlon,” Richard Ruch was a strong advocate in developing the Scanlon Leadership Network and became the first ever recipient of the Scanlon Stewardship Award.

“I admire my grandfather and am driven by what a successful man he is,” added Dustin.

Ruch was employed by Herman Miller Inc. for 45 years working his way up from Chief Accountant to President/CEO along with serving as Chairman of the Board. While at Herman Miller, he worked closely with Dr. Carl Frost and together they were responsible for implementing the Scanlon Principles at the company. Herman Miller later played a part in establishing the Frost Research Center.

The Center, named after Dr. Carl Frost, is an institution of the Hope College Social Sciences Division. Dr. Frost was instrumental in the development of the Frost/Scanlon Principles and was also the 1999 recipient of the Scanlon Stewardship Award for his longstanding contributions to the Scanlon Leadership Network.

“I am proud of my grandson,” Ruch explains. “Young men and women like Dustin are the hope for the future and will see that the Scanlon Principles continue to evolve for a long time.”

Dustin is the son of Doug and Linda Ruch of Zeeland, MI. Doug is the CEO of The Fleetwood Furniture Company and Linda is a homemaker. In the future Dustin hopes to obtain his MBA, be successful in business and make a positive impact on everyone he meets.


High Ropes Bring High Hopes
Ropes Courses Inc., (RCI) will once again bring their high ropes course team-building adventure to the Annual Scanlon Leadership Network Conference to be held May 1-3, 2006.

After receiving phenomenal feedback from the 2005 conference, the Conference planning team decided to include the portable high ropes course for this year’s Annual Conference. The theme of the conference, is Servant Leadership: The E.P.I.C. Way. This program will demonstrate how the high ropes course can aid in developing leadership.

High ropes is one of the many courses RCI has to offer. Consisting of 12 high elements, the challenge involves being 25 feet in the air and using equipment such as ropes, platforms, beams and nets to get from point A to point B. During the experience participants will encounter and must overcome situations of trust and dependency in order to successfully complete the task.

RCI takes the time to customize team-building programs for each separate organization. The ultimate goal is to help each individual reach their maximum potential by dealing with their fears in a positive manner.

“Being able to resolve issues 25 feet in the air allows participants to see how much less challenging these same issues can be when on the ground,” explained Jim Liggett, RCI, Owner.

In addition to providing organizations with a unique experience, Liggett prides his company on keeping safety a top priority.

“Although scrapes and bruises sometimes occur nothing serious has resulted from using any of the equipment in the last 16 years RCI has been in operation,” stated Liggett.

The high ropes course that Scanlon Leadership Network members will be utilizing at the Conference contains an overhead tracking system safety feature. The system allows for participants to move anywhere on the course while remaining connected to the equipment at all times. Additionally RCI supplies everyone with a full-body harness, enabling complete mobility with no risk

Inspired by his own idea to create a fun business that would help organizations achieve their goals, Liggett designed his first ropes course when he was just 19 years old with the help of a friend. As a result, RCI has been constructing and installing challenging, safe and cost-effective courses since 1989.

The Scanlon Leadership Network has teamed with RCI to bring their highly effective leadership and teambuilding tools to our members and clients. You don't need to wait until the conference. If you want to take your leadership and teambuilding to new heights simply contact the Network office at (517) 332-8927.

Even "lean" concepts can be tought this way. Click to download a pdf file explaining how.


Synovus Shares Leadership Values and Tools
Susan Hosmer, Senior Project Leader, Center for People Development, Synovus lead a workshop on how they develop leaders and their "culture of the heart." Synovus has 13,000 team members in 41 affiliate banks spread across the Southeast. Synovus has been honored as one of only 21 companies in Fortune's best places to work hall of fame.

Synovus believes "If you take care of the people, the money will take care of itself!" James Blanchard their Chairman believes "Servant-Leadership is a worthy goal unto itself. We run our company this way simply because it's right, because every person who labors here has great worth and deserves to be treated so. Our company is built on these values. They define who we are."

Synovus' core values include People, Service and Performance. All supervisors are trained in their values and in servant leadership. They also are given training in leading meetings, listening, performance development, and coaching. Synovus spends over two million dollars a years on training their leaders.

Top leaders attend a Leadership Institute where they are evaluated using 360 assessments, study servant leadership, and study various business skills such as effective strategy formation, marketing, finance, etc.

Synovus listens to their employees. When their performance evaluation system was widely criticized they went to work and created a process called "Right Steps" that focuses on performance and personal development.

Assisting Susan was Dr. Francis Hamilton, assistant professor of Management and Leadership at Eckerd College. Dr. Hamilton has extensively studied Synovus and verified that he found widespread knowledge and acceptance of the Synovus values throughout their organization.

Synvous has also figured out a way to merge and grow while maintaining their culture. They only buy banks "we can take home to mama." In other words there is a long courtship of potential business partners. Rather than thinking of growth as a "takeover" they think of it as a marriage. As new banks are brought into the family much of the prior leadership is maintained and the new banks are given great local autonomy.

Susan developed for the workshop a 360 servant leadership assessment. Participants felt that it was a wonderful tool to learn how their direct reports, peers and supervisors viewed their leadership. This tool has been graciously given to the Network so that members of the Network who were not able to attend the retreat can assess their leadership skills.

Network members may obtain the servant leadership assessment by contacting the Network Office.

To download the Synovus presentation click here....



As I See It
Ben Aagard, Office Assistant/Scheduler, Timber Roots, Wadena, MN. Ben has been with the company for almost two years and has been working with the Scanlon program, serving as a Scanlon Coordinator, since it was introduced to the Timber Roots Wadena plant in April 2005.

“Overall the feedback about the Scanlon plan has been very positive,” he said. “The plan has a lot to do with employees and our input. This has led to an increase in open communication, which has helped me perform my job better.

“It is important to have employee involvement as the focus of our plan,” Ben continued. “It helps my co- workers and me implement what is best for us and for the company.

“The program is fairly new to the plant, so there are still meetings and planning taking place. Once things start to fall into place more. I think the employee appreciation will grow.”



Carrie Lunde, Truss Design Technician, Timber Roots, Wadena, MN. Carrie has been with the company for 11 years and takes part in its recently developed Scanlon “Cool Plan”.

“Employees need to constantly stay involved with what is going on in their workplace,” Carrie began. “Our Cool Plan increases employee involvement and communication between employees has improved since we started with the plan as well. The more that the employees are part of what is going on, the faster problems can be resolved because they know their job better than anyone.

“Everyone has been positive about using our Scanlon plan and the interest continues to grow,” she continued. “Workers always want to know more about the plan and how far along we are with having it fully established.

“The Cool Plan impacts the workers in the truss plant the most and they will be the ones who will continue to see the positive changes. These specific plant workers won’t be the only ones to benefit, though. I think all employees will gain more satisfaction in their job. The more satisfied they are, the harder they will work, and both the company and employees will notice positive results.”