Page 83 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

THE LESSONS

Great leaders such as General Pustay (WHF 66–67) and General Ber-
nard Loeffke (WHF 70–71) understand that when people feel valued and
supported, they’re naturally more productive and committed to their work.
Years after leaving his White House Fellowship, Loeffke was named Com-
manding General of U.S. Army South. There, he regularly asked his staff
to “name names,” but not for the usual purpose of detecting and chewing out
slackers. Loeffke instead wanted to know who was doing good work so that
he could offer a word of thanks. The way he expressed that gratitude was
through handwritten thank-you letters.
“I didn’t want to know who screwed up. I didn’t want to hear anything
negative because I’d always hear that anyway. I wanted to know who helped
my staff the most as they set about achieving their short- and long-term
goals,” Loeffke explained. “And I recorded the names of people I personally
saw doing something right. For example, I would go into the range and see
a sergeant who was doing truly good work, one of the best ranges I’ve seen,
so I would get his name. My aide would get the right addresses for me, and
every night I would sit down and write a minimum of five handwritten notes
to the people who helped my staff or to those I had seen doing good work,
thanking them for a job well done. Everyone needs recognition.”

No organization is better than the people who run it. If you want to be a
great leader, put people first. This lesson is so simple, it’s easy to overlook.
Why is it that most managers identify their business by the product it pro-
duces or the service it provides? The fact is that you are in the people busi-
ness—the business of hiring, training, and managing people to deliver the
product or service you provide. If the people are the engine of your suc-
cess, to be a great leader you need to attend to your people with a laserlike
focus.

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