Two Dozen Basic Management Principles (Pt. 8)

“Dad,” Lopez said, I would like to run, then play football, er, soccer.” “Okay, Lopez. You can do that. How far would you like to run?” Dad said. “Thirty kilometers.”

Rob Rogers looked at Barbara with a very puzzled expression. “Don’t look at me,” Barbara said. “I have no idea how far thirty kilometers are. You should give Jim Paccia a call. He will know.” Jim was the coach of the high school cross-country team. Rob pulled out his cell phone and left the room. He returned a few moments later with a very shocked look on his face. “You’re sure you want to run thirty kilometers?” he asked Lopez. “Thirty, yes.” Rob’s eyes got very big. Thirty kilometers was nearly 19 miles! Lopez did not understand what the big deal was. Every boy in the camp who played soccer ran thirty kilometers before he was allowed on the field. That was the distance one had to run to complete one lap around the refugee camp. Lopez’ request seemed perfectly normal to him. “Well, if you take a right out of the house and run to the dam and back, it will be about 14 miles.”

Lopez shot out the door and took off running down the road in a borrowed set of running shoes. The shoes made his feet feel heavy and out of control – since he always ran barefoot. He thought that the shoes were in the way. But soon the heat of the blacktop was evident even with the shoes on. “Maybe, they are not such a bad idea,” he thought. It felt good to run again. The air rushing into his lungs seemed heavier, more humid than what he lived with in Kenya. At the same time, he discovered that he could run harder without losing his breath. Only later did he learn that he’d spent his entire life in a high elevation and Syracuse, NY sits at only 380 feet. He felt like he could run forever here and never grow tired. Before he knew it, he reached the dam and turned back toward home. The run back took him up a hill, but he did not mind. Running set him free from all his worries and cares.

About a kilometer and a half from the Rogers’ house, a man stood waiting for him. He knew he was waiting for him because when Lopez ran past him, this man started running with Lopez. “Hi, Lopez, I am Jim Paccia. I am a friend of your parents.” “Hi,” Lopez said, not breaking stride. The man began breathing hard. He seemed to have a little trouble speaking. “Wow, you sure are running fast,” he said between breaths. Thinking that Jim told him that he was running too slow, Lopez kicked it into another gear. The man disappeared in the distance behind Lopez.

After his first run, Lopez begged the Rogers to let him run every day. His first lesson in America came on the second day in the Rogers’ home. Rob came into his room carrying a lamp. “I picked this up for you,” he said. “It will be a little more comfortable for you to sleep with this on instead of the overhead light.” He plugged in the lamp and set it on the table. After turning on the lamp, Rob walked over and flipped the light switch down, turning off the overhead light. “So that’s how you turn that thing off!” Lopez thought. He never slept with either the overhead light or the lamp on ever again.

The next lesson came a few days later. After enduring frigid shower after frigid shower, Lopez found a large pot in the kitchen and filled it with hot water. Rob walked in. “What are you doing, Lopez?” “Getting hot water for the shower.” “We have hot water upstairs too,” he said. “No problem,” Lopez answered, “I can use this.” “Come on, I’ll show you,” he said. He led Lopez upstairs and showed Lopez how to turn the lever in the shower and change temperature of the water. Thank God! Lopez knew that he could not take one more cold shower. Once he had the lever set in the perfect position – he never changed the setting!

 Management Lesson #11 – Ask for Help
While it laughable to hear how Lopez suffered because he did not ask for help, we often to the same. Many project managers fail to ask for help due to pride, fear, or laziness. Recognize that you are not expected to work on an island. You are a part of a team. You have been given stewardship over a project and/or group of assets. When faced with the unknown or the unexpected – be willing to ask for help!

Two Dozen Basic Management Principles (Pt. 7)

His new family greeted him with hugs and kisses. They introduced themselves as Rob and Barbara Rogers. “But you can call us Mom and Dad,” they said. “Do you have any luggage?” Dad asked. “Yes,” Lopez replied. Lopez had no idea what luggage was but he said yes anyway. Yes was the one word he knew he could use and never sound impolite. The last thing he wanted to do was offend these people. After waiting for a piece of luggage that never came, Rob came over and looked at Lopez’ ticket. He gave Barbara a look and then said, “I’ll go get the car.” Rob pulled up in the most amazing car Lopez had ever seen. This car was so sleek, so new, Lopez felt like a king climbing inside. “Joseph, are you hungry?” Rob asked. “Yes,” Lopez said even though his stomach did not feel much like eating. They pulled into a restaurant and walked inside. They walked up to the counter where photos of everything were on a menu. Lopez had no idea what was what. So much food from which to choose! He knew that this had to be one of the nicest restaurants in all of America. Only later did he discover the truth about McDonald’s. The drive up to the house was even a bigger shock. The house set next to a lake. Boats and Jet Skis covered the water. The house itself was huge. For starters, there were three other vehicles in the driveway in addition to the car he came in. The house itself stretched back out of sight for a very long distance. Home? No, someone had to have made a mistake. “Come on, Joseph. Let’s show you around,” Rob said. “This is the garage.” Throwing open a large overhead door revealed more equipment than Lopez had ever seen. Most of the equipment Lopez didn’t even know what they were for. But he did recognize the four bicycles. Rob pointed out who owned the first three bicycles. The fourth, looking at Lopez, was his. “Mine?” “Sure, if you want it.” Lopez had seen many bicycles but only the wealthy in Sudan and Kenya owned a bicycle. “This is the shed.” Lopez’ jaw dropped to the ground. Inside the shed were enough soccer balls for a year in Kakuma. “How did I get here?” Lopez thought. Thirty-six hours earlier, he was a poor kid, a lost boy of Sudan with one pair of pants, one shirt, and one pair of shoes. Now he found himself surrounded by riches unlike anything he ever dared to dream about. “What did I ever do to deserve to be in such a place?” Lopez thought. “This is your room.” Lopez was confused. “My room?” Lopez asked. “Of course,” Barbara said. “Where did you think you would sleep?” He had expected that he would be sleeping out in the shed. He did not dare tell her that. They should have known the answer but they were clueless! Rob and Barbara left the room and Lopez collapsed on the bed. He had never slept on anything so comfortable ever. He thought about moving to the floor but did not want to upset the Rogers. They told him this bed was for him, so that’s where he had to stay. He did not plan on braking the rules his first night in America. His body screamed for sleep and he wanted to give in. However, the light overhead hurt his eyes. Apparently in America, people slept with light shining in their eyes. He just pulled the cover over his head and fell fast asleep. Management Lesson #10 – Undeserving Ultimately, we are undeserving of much of what we have. As such, we should be very grateful for the incredible gifts that we do have.

Two Dozen Basic Management Principles (Pt. 6)

The flight to America was quite a learning experience. First, he got on a airplane that was large enough to hold his entire village – a 747. The plane had two aisles and four seats in the middle section. Second, he learned about airplane food. When the airline attendant asked him if he wanted any food, Lopez responded, “No, thank you.” After landing in Cairo, the plane took off again. Again an airline attendant asked him if he wanted any food. Lopez responded, “No, thank you.” After landing in Beijing, the plane took off again. Lopez was wondering if he was ever going to get to America. Again an airline attendant asked him if he wanted any food. Lopez responded, “No, thank you.” This flight attendant chose to press Lopez. “Please, take the food.” But how could he? How would he pay for it? “I have no money,” Lopez said in his best English. The flight attendant smiled. “Free,” she said. “Free?” That was one English word Lopez knew. He promptly ate two whole meals and part of a third. After deplaning from the 747, he was led to a terminal to await the flight to Syracuse, New York. This is where he learned a third lesson – not every American was white. Lopez was thrilled. The melting pot that is America – Americans from Puerto Rico, Africa, Latin America, Asia, etc. -- was a pleasant surprise. Management Lesson #9 – Don’t Be Narrow-Minded The plane finally landed in Syracuse. Lopez waited until everyone got off and he followed the crowd. The jetway led to the airport gate area. He paused for a moment looking for one of the workers like those who helped him in New York. That’s when he saw it. Right in front of the gate area was a white man and woman. Both wore huge grins. The woman held up a sign with words of English Lopez could understand. There were only three words on it but they were the best words Lopez had ever read – “Welcome Home, Joseph.” Ten years after the rebel soldiers had ripped him out of his mother’s arms, Lopez finally had a place to call home.

Two Dozen Basic Management Principles (Pt. 5)

Part Two

2001 – 2004

Chapter 4

Nairobi

Lopez heard the airplane before he saw it. He was in his tent with his friends talking about America. He and his friends ran to the airstrip and stood in a crowd of boys lining the fence around the airstrip.

The same man who has first given him his envelope began yelling out names. Finally, he called out – “Joseph Lopepe Lomong.” Lopez jumped up and down with a huge grin on his face, waving the envelope over his head. “Here! Here!” He said.

Lopez got on the plane. A nice lady came over and showed him how to buckle his seat belt. Lopez had never ridden in anything other than the rebel and Kenyan trucks in his whole life!

Lopez was off to Nairobi for a set of interviews, tests, shots, and orientation classes. He never realized that once he stepped on that plane, he was never coming back to Kakuma.

The staff in Nairobi gave Lopez a crash course on life in America. His favorite lesson was handling a strange, cold, white substance – snow! He had never felt anything so cold in his life. Then it dawned on him: No wonder Americans are so white. The cold and snow make them that way! Little did he know that God planned on sending him to one of the snowiest places in America.

The lessons – stripes on streets, toilets, etc. – all began to run together. But there was one lesson that he could not forget. According to his orientation class, there is no such thing as hakuna matata in America. Hakuna matata means “no worries.” In Africa, it is more than a saying. It is a way of life. Time simply does not matter. The instructor was very firm. “Hakuna matata does not work in America and it will not work here.” The instructor meant what he said. Lopez had to arrive everywhere on time.

During his stay in Nairobi, Lopez went through a series of four interviews spread over several weeks. Finally, his interviews came to an end. Every Wednesday, a list of names was posted on a bulletin board in the middle of the facility. The moment the list went up, boys crowded around, looking for their names.

While Lopez looked over the list week after week, a man named Rob Rogers picked up a bulletin on his way into church near Syracuse, NY. There he saw an announcement that read, “We need host families to serve as foster families for the lost boys from Sudan.” He later showed the bulletin to his wife, Barbara, and said, “I think we should do this.”

Barbara wasn’t so sure. However, she agreed to attend the informational meeting the following Thursday while Rob travelled. By the time the meeting ended, she had signed the two of them up to become a host family. Over the next few months they attended more classes and had every part of their life investigated by the state of New York. Finally, a letter arrived telling them they had been certified to serve as foster parents.

Lopez did not know any of this. All he knew was that his weeks in Nairobi had turned into months and still his name did not appear on the list.

Wednesday rolled around again. Six months had passed since he had climbed on the airplane in Kakuma. Most of his friends had left for America. Lopez had begun to wonder if he would ever join them. But there it was – “Joseph Lopepe Lomong, Syracuse, NY.” He was finally going to America.

Two Dozen Basic Management Principles (Pt. 4)

Chapter 3

Kakuma

The four boys were loaded into a truck – a much nicer truck – and taken to Kakuma. Kakuma was a United Nations refugee camp and it became Lopez’ home for the next ten years.

Life at Kakuma was not a picnic. After the three older boys disappeared from the camp – Lopez never saw them again – he moved into a tent of ten boys in camp section fifty-eight. This group became his new family. Each one looked after the other. They shared what little they had with one another. Let me share a couple of snapshots from his time at Kakuma.

Food -- Once a month, the UN called their names for the food distribution. Each received a bag filled with grain, some oil, a little sugar, and a little salt. When they got back to the tent, they combined their rations and hid them in the tent from the older boys who preyed on younger, weaker boys.

Even with pooling their rations, they only had enough grain for one meal a day. Six days a week they ate their meal in the middle of the night. That way, they were the hungriest when they needed their strength the least.

Management Lesson #4 -- Live Within Your Means

It is easy to be successful when you have access to unlimited capital funds. It is easy to be successful when you can raise your operating budget 5% every year. It is something different when you are asked to do more with the same amount or fewer dollars. Lopez learned very quickly how to ration out the limited amount of food he got. This was made even more important when that ration was cut by 50% due to a famine in Kenya. Can you be so disciplined? Can you be successful if your budgets are held flat or cut? Can you learn to live within your means?

Six days a week they ate only one meal but one day was different. Every Tuesday around noon, workers left the fenced UN compound and pushed wheelbarrows to the far side of the camp. Every boy in the camp listened for the squeak, squeak, squeak of the wheelbarrows rolling through the camp.

The moment a UN worker emptied the first wheelbarrow over the edge into the dump, mayhem broke out. Boys jumped down into the pit and dug through the garbage as quickly as they could. Elbows flew. Fights broke out. Boys went after the garbage like hungry hyenas fighting over a gazelle carcass.

Lopez’ family worked together as a team down in the pit. They fought against the other boys for ripe mangoes and half-eaten pieces of bread, bananas, and scraps of meat. Tuesdays were the high point of their week, the one day they ate well – the day they ate garbage.

Management Lesson #5 -- Don’t Complain

Lopez never thought that life was unfair because he had to eat garbage. Instead, he looked at the scraps of food from the dump as a blessing. He knew some who chose to feel sorry for themselves, who complained constantly about their lot in life. What is the point of such complaining? After all the whining and complaining is over, you still live in a refugee camp. All the complaining in the world will not make your life any better. Instead, you must choose to make the best of whatever the situation in which you find yourself, even in a place like Kakuma.

Death – Lopez had to adjust to the fact that death was a regular part of life. In Kakuma, boys got sick and died every day. Whenever boys died, they always said that malaria got them. They did not want to admit that the deaths were due to the cutting of the food ration during the Kenyan famine or the unsanitary conditions in the camp. Boys simply wanted to keep swimming in the big hole in the wet season that served as the latrine in the dry season.

Soccer – Nearly every boy in Kakuma played soccer. On the field, Lopez lived up to his name – Lopepe – which meant “fast.”  He became one of the best scorers in the camp. As the camp grew larger, the boys crowded onto the soccer field making it impossible to play. To solve this problem, the older boys came up with a plan. Before anyone could set foot on the soccer field, they first had to run one lap around the camp. The faster you finished your lap, the sooner you got to play soccer. While running sounds like torture to many people, running allowed Lopez to escape the realities of life in the camp – hunger, illness, and death. Running became his therapy. But he ran fast because he loved soccer. The faster he finished his lap, the more soccer he got to play.

School – When Lopez was not running around the camp or playing soccer, he went to school. Every weekday morning from eight until noon, he attended UN-sponsored classes.  He did not have a classroom. Instead, he met under a large canvas tent workers put up to protect students from the sun. The school did not supply textbooks. They sang most of their lessons. They did not have paper and pencils. They wrote their lessons in the dirt with a stick. Mistakes were corrected – not with a reprimand – but with a swift smack of a stick.

Parents – Lopez does not remember the day that he came to the realization that his parents were dead. Every day, he wondered if today might be the day his parents would come and take him home. Surely they must be out there somewhere, searching for him anywhere and everywhere. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years, but they never walked through the gates.

Once he made peace with the fact that he would never go home again, the next step came quite naturally. He did not have a home any longer, and for all practical purposes, he no longer had a mother or father. He accepted the fact that he was an orphan.

Church – The longer Lopez was in Kakuma, the more central to his life church became. It was his doorway out of the refugee camp and into a wider world. He heard news from the outside there. It was his post office. But the best part was the worship. When he was at church, he did not think about hunger, malaria, or death. Instead, he lost himself singing praises to God. He knew that God was there with him. He never, ever doubted that fact for a moment.

A turning point for Lopez came a few weeks before Christmas when the priest announced confirmation classes were to begin the following week. “A baptism service will follow on Christmas Eve for those who completed the class and are serious about a relationship with God,” the priest said. Those words touched Lopez deep in his soul. He knew this was something he must do. He knew that God had always been with him. Now was the time for a deeper relationship with Him.

Over the three or four weeks leading up to Christmas, the priest taught him many Bible stories. More than that, he taught us how to be close to God. That’s what Lopez wanted. Lopez did not have an earthly mother or father any longer. He wanted to have that Father relationship with God.

It is hard to describe what came over Lopez on Christmas Eve that year – the night of his confirmation. When the priest baptized him, he said: “You are now Joseph, and I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Second Corinthians 5:17 states that: “if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. All the old things have passed away and everything is made new.”  That verse came true for him that night. He was a new boy with a new name. He was now Joseph, a follower of Jesus, trustworthy and hard-working. He was no longer a lost boy. He was a brand-new man.

Management Lesson #6 -- Have Faith

I am convinced that a core management trait, one that is completely overlooked, is the need for each of us to be faith-based. I understand that Lopez was a Catholic – you should know that I am not. What is important -- whether you are a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, a Hindu, or a Muslim – is that your faith should dictate how you manage in the workplace. Your management of people should be characterized by how you value truth, how you treat the weak, how you act as a steward of the assets given to you by upper management, and how treat others. That is – you need to have a faith that guides your decision-making.

Olympics – A buzz rose in the camp in the late summer of 2000. Everyone talked about a strange new thing. A word flew around the camp, a word that Lopez had never heard before – the “Olympics.” As told earlier in this presentation, Lopez’ first encounter with the Olympics convinced him that a life existed for him beyond the perimeter of Kakuma. God Himself had brought him to Kakuma. He always thought He must have had a reason for bringing him here. Now he had it. Now he knew where his destiny lay. Michael Johnson opened a wider world to him. By God’s grace, he would get there.

Management Lesson #7 -- Dream Big

It would have been easy for Lopez to dream small. He was an orphan, stuck in a squalid refugee camp, with no assets or connections. Yet, when he watches an Olympic race for the first time – he decides that he will one day run in the Olympics for a country that he is not a citizen! How big are your dreams? Do you limit your potential by dreaming small?

America – From where Lopez sat, the only difference between America and heaven was that he had to die to go to heaven. He knew all about America – or at least he thought he did. “Everyone eats as much food as they want.” “Anyone in America can get any job they want.” “That’s the place where all your dreams come true.”

The occasional sight of an American in his camp only confirmed everything he thought he knew. Every American who visited the camp stood tall, clean, and well fed. They also were white and pure. Americans were white just like the pictures of Jesus he’d seen. That’s why he thought Americans must be close to God. He dreamed of going to America but he had no chance of seeing that dream come true.

Until now.

A real live American stood up to fill him in on the details. “Thirty-five hundred boys from Kakuma will be allowed to move to the United States permanently under the sponsorship of Catholic Charities,” he said in English, which was translated into Swahili by one of the camp directors. “Anyone can apply to be one of the thirty-five hundred. You must write an essay in English that tells your story. We will accept essays for the next three weeks. Obviously, the sooner you turn yours in, the better. Once we receive your essays, we will read through them and make our selections.”

Thirty-five hundred. The number sounded so high yet so small at the same time. When Lopez ran around the camp each day, there were boys as far as the eye could see. He never thought of trying to count them all, but he knew thirty-five hundred was a drop in the bucket compared so many lost boys. He’d heard other boys’ stories. Everyone had lived through Hell. Many of those boys had lived through Hell far longer than him.

The moment the church service ended, he went back to his tent to pray. “Father, I cannot write anything that stands out from all the other boys in this camp. But I trust You. If You want me in America, I know You will lift up my essay and make it stand out. You will take me to America, not this essay.”

Words spilled across the page. He was not nervous. He did not wonder what the Americans would think of his story or whether they would find it strong enough to select him as one of the thirty-five hundred. Sitting in his tent, borrowed paper and pencil in hand, he did not write his story for the Americans. This essay was a prayer he wrote for God alone. It was a prayer he hoped He would answer.

Having written the story in Swahili, he went to his friends, his family of boys who lived with him in his tent. “Guys, I need some help.” Over the next few days, translating this Swahili story into English became a community project.

Lopez took his completed essay to church the next Sunday. “To You, God,” he prayed as he dropped it in the bin near the front of the church as an offering. During the service he could not listen to the sermon. The bin of essays had his full and undivided attention. “It is up to You, God,” he prayed. “You will decide.” Yes, it was up to Him, not the Americans. God would indeed decide what was best for him. God had brought him to Kakuma with this three angels. God must have a plan for when and how Lopez was to leave. Knowing God was in control was the only thing that allowed him to stop fixating on the bin and go back to his tent after church.

On Christmas day, Lopez ate a feast and then went to church. As he walked into church, something was different. The American was back. His heart raced. The American announced: “Please come forward when I read your name.” Name after name was read. Finally, Lopez heard: “Joseph Lopepe Lomong.” Lopez leaped out of his seat. His friends clapped. They slapped his back. He strolled up front. A worker placed a large, white envelope in his hands. He went back to his seat, his heart pounding.

“Open it,” a friend said. “What does it say?” said another. Lopez opened the envelope. “What?” he said. The entire thing was written in English! He could not read a single word except his name. He walked up to one of his friends who could read and speak English well. “Can you tell me what this says?” Lopez asked.

He took one look and broke into a huge grin. “Congratulations, Lopez. You are going to America!”

Management Lesson #8 -- Worry Only About What You Can Control

It would have been easy for Lopez to constantly wring his hands after putting the application in the bin. But he didn’t. He understood that he had done his part – he had completed the application and submitted it on time. He understood that he had done his best. It was now up to something and someone that he could not control. We as managers, need to have a similar perspective. We need to cast a vision, create a plan, staff the plan, provide the resources for the staff to complete the plan, and then get out of their way. There will always be surprises that we cannot control – systems that crash, employees that get sick, sponsors that get promoted, etc. Like Lopez, we need to worry only about those things that we have control over. Those things that we do not, are not worthy of our worry.

[1] Lopez Lomong with Mark Tabb, Running for My Life. Thomas Nelson Press, Nashville.

Two Dozen Basic Management Principles (Pt. 3)

Chapter 2

Escape

 “You’re going to see your Mom again.”

“What?” Lopez nearly shouted.

“Shh, not so loud,” one of his three teenage friends said. “You can’t tell anyone.”

Most of the boys had settled down for the night, although one or two were up walking around. “This is our secret, okay, Lopepe.” These three older boys – angels to Lopez – chose to take this six-year old boy with them when they planned an escape.

After everyone fell asleep, the group of four worked their way across the room. Once they reached the door, they stopped dead still. After what felt like an eternity, one nodded toward another. They cracked open the door. One of Lopez’ friends poked his head out of the door. The coast was clear. The guard who normally sat at the door had left his post. One after another, the four boys crawled out of the hut.

For the first time in three weeks, Lopez smelled fresh air. The four boys crawled toward a chain link fence. Everywhere around them, guards smoked cigarettes, talked, and laughed.

It took ten minutes to cover the distance from the hut to the chain link fence. Once they were at the fence, Lopez noticed a very small gap in the bottom of it. One of his friends crawled under the fence. Lopez couldn’t believe that the guards could not hear the clanking of the fence. Once all four were under the fence, they ran for their lives.

None of the boys wore shoes. Rocks cut into the soles of their feet. They kept running. Bushes suddenly appeared in front of them slapping them in the face. They kept running. Thorns tore their legs open. They kept running. They do not know how they could run so far, so fast, and so long. They did not run with their own strength but with strength from God.

Management Lesson #2 -- Protect The Weak

In this day of lean staffs, it is easy to leave the weak behind. Yes, we can always fire the weaker team member and replace them with a stronger team member. Or, we can coach and mentor the weaker team member. What would have happened to Lopez had the three teenagers left the six-year old boy with the rebels? Their gift of including him in the escape was finding out that he was able to keep up with them! Why not see if we will similarly be surprised by the younger, weaker employee who we bring along for the ride.

The boys ran for three days, with little food or water. They rested in the middle of the day and ran largely at night. They valued caves, trees, and the rare oasis with muddy water.

Suddenly they came upon a tin-roofed building. A couple of trucks were parked next to it. Before they could escape, soldiers rushed towards them. They were caught! The questions the soldiers asked made no sense. They spoke in a language that the boys did not understand.

They had been arrested – not by Sudanese rebels or Sudanese soldiers. The whole time they thought they had been running towards their village, they had been running straight to Kenya. These soldiers were Kenyan border guards! And the soldiers knew who the boys were. They’d come to recognize the rail-thin build and the rags on their backs as distinguishing marks of boys escaping the civil war in Sudan.

Management Lesson #3 -- Perseverance

It is easy to quit when the going gets tough. Lopez’ three day running odyssey is a picture of perseverance. Likewise, we as managers need to mimic this perseverance. We need to persevere…..