Scientists at NASA needed to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl in order to test the windshield strength of high performance airliners, military jets, and the space shuttle. To do that, they developed a gun built specifically to launch dead chickens at such windshields in a test environment, both at close range and high velocity.

British engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the new, high performance windshields of their high speed trains. Arrangements were made. But when the gun was fired in the initial test, the engineers stood shocked as they watched the very first chicken hurtle out of the barrel, crash into the shatterproof windshield, smash it to smithereens, crash through the control console, snap the engineer's backrest in two and embed itself in the rear wall of the cabin.

The horrified British engineers sent NASA the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield, and begged the U.S. scientists for suggestions.

The difference between a boss and a leader: a boss says, 'Go!' -a leader says, 'Let's go!'.
- E. M. Kelly

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
- Abraham Lincoln

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
- Max de Pree

The signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their potential? Are they learning? Serving? Do they achieve the required results? Do they change with grace? Manage conflict?
- Max de Pree

Leadership is an opportunity to serve. It is not a trumpet call to self-importance.
- J. Donald Walters

The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
- Colin Powell

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
- Lao Tzu

Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.
- Thomas J. Peters

A message from Lynne Key and Tom Dambly

As a culture we are enamored with the new, the glitzy, the improved, and the revolutionary. It is wonderful when some new approach comes our way— an approach that puts things in a different perspective and helps us focus or see things in new ways. Too many times, however, the newness tempts us to leave behind some of the essentials that are needed for any approach to work. That is certainly the case with leadership. There are new books all over about new approaches to leadership. Some of them have wonderful insights that can help us greatly, yet those insights don’t trump the essentials. There are aspects of leading people that were as true for Julius Caesar as they are today. As any football coach will tell you, no offense or defense will work—no matter the sophistication—if the essentials of blocking and tackling are not done and done well. At DiamondWinds we know that the essentials really are “essential” and our learning products reflect that. We ensure participants leave with the essential skills and knowledge that will make a positive difference back in their real world. Think about it—if learning doesn’t make a positive difference, why do it?

DiamondWinds—because trust is the point.