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| Jackie Pask and members of her fire department |
(40 Summers 40 Lessons Series)
One of the best Aquatics leaders I have had the good fortune to work with was Jackie Pask. We were both with the YMCA in Tallahassee, Florida and our time at that YMCA was always one where we had deep financial issues and moving from crisis to crisis. (I wrote about some of this in another BLOG featuring Peggy Conklin’s leadership and those lessons as well.)
Jackie had a differing management or leadership style (Can you guess hers?) that has served her well and she incorporates a tenant of the Scout motto to “be prepared.”
“Treat everyday like a fire drill,” she said
to me at one of our first meetings. Her theory was that it seemed things
happened and went askew every day and followed what Bear Bryant (former coach
of Alabama football) said, “In a crisis, don’t hide behind anything or anybody.
They’re going to find you anyway.”
I recently touched
bases with Jackie and she is still following that tried and true method in her
life at home and at work. In the current world of crisis after crisis, it seems
that Jackie’s methodology has solid backing.
Eric J
McNulty and Leonard Marcus on Crisis Management (Harvard Business Review, March 25, 2020) wrote,
“You need to
make immediate choices and allocate resources. The pace is fast, and actions
are decisive.” To Jackie’s perspective, it is about resiliency and the
ability to get thru any crisis.
While
McNulty and Marcus did point out, to my opinion and leadership style, that
there was an inherent “risk and ambiguity during a crisis because so much is
uncertain and volatile,” they also focused on the fact that the order meant
subordinates knew what they were expected to do as well as what was expected of
others. Jackie’s team gets what they always get from her management and leadership.
There is no wavering.
Nietzsche said, “That
which does not kill us makes us stronger.” I believe that resiliency is a skill
that most young people display and that often times, it is driven out of by
some of the mundane tasks of life. If we repeat often enough, there again is
that danger of ambiguity.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can
build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind and start over again.
That’s the way life is, with a new game every day, and that’s the way baseball
is.” Bob Feller, Hall of Fame pitcher
for the Cleveland Indians said and practiced this in his leadership as well.
My thinking on
this always brings up the Bill Murray movie, Ground Hog Day. Murray wakes up
each morning to Sonny and Cher singing on the alarm radio and he learns to
expect the same results even when he goes off and tries to alter every
situation. It is a conundrum to consider. I have felt somewhat like that character many times in the recent past.
The past two years
has been a demonstration of a fire drill every day. (Or even more so) It has
been an actual fire in different places and in so many different areas of our lives.
Jackie continues her good work and does two things exceptionally well. She has a great way to prioritize issues
quickly. She sees the crisis and can change and (yes I am using the P word) and
pivot to new priorities. The second thing is she communicates this to her team
and those she serves with a great deal of clarity.
I am grateful for
my time and work with Jackie and I look forward to hearing from her as she maintains
the steadfast motto.
I know that
whatever comes up, she will be consistent in her approach. For me, I continue
to learn and grow in my own leadership style with her influence. And as former
Senate Majority Leader, Mike Mansfield said, “The crisis you have
to worry about most is the one you don’t see coming.”
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| A reminder from Jackie that she has in her home and work. |
In this New Year, let’s hope for fewer crisis that we don’t see coming.
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