SHOCEO^® Reading for Success: 10 (Ten) Minutes.

 

For this edition of the She’s Her Own CEO^® Interview Series, we are excited to introduce you to Dan Nolan.

Dan’s twenty-six-year military service with the US Army culminated with command of the 1st Armored Division Artillery in Germany and Kosovo and as Director, Commander in Chief’s Action Group, US Central Command. While on active duty, his commands included the 1st Armored Division Artillery, Deputy Commander, Task Force Falcon (Kosovo), 1st Battalion, 78th Field Artillery, and 9th Battalion, 1st Field Artillery.

Following his military service, Dan served as the Deputy Supervisor of Elections for Hillsborough County, FL, the 4th largest county in the State. There he was responsible for transitioning the office to electronic voting and inaugurating early voting. Through the creation of proactive voter outreach and education, voter turnout, and satisfaction increased. After this public service, Dan started his company, focused on providing strategic management services with a deep dive into understanding the National Security implications of energy.

Dan was then enlisted to provide internal support to the creation of culture and strategy at a fledgling public college attempting to break the paradigm in higher education. As the looming crisis of student debt confronted the country, his focus was to shape the higher education discussion around accessibility, attentiveness, and affordability.

Dan is also a noted expert in the area of energy security. His work in this area has been featured in Thomas Friedman’s 2008 book Hot, Flat and Crowded and Amanda Little’s Power Trip as well as the documentary Carbon Nation. He has been the principal author of the DOD Energy Blog, a commentary on the Department of Defense’s efforts to attain energy security through energy efficiency, smart distribution and alternative/renewable energy.

Dan is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He holds a Master’s Degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California, as well as a Masters of Arts in National Security and Strategic Planning from the US Naval War College. A lifelong learner, Dan continues his studies at the doctoral level in Organizational Leadership.

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®: Hi Dan, thank you for sharing your career story and insights here today. What were some of your early career experiences that have contributed to your success?

Dan Nolan, Change Management Leader: I spent 26 years in the military developing my understanding of leadership through education and experience. My education included the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, University of Southern California, U.S. Naval War College (Strategy), and doctoral work at the University of Phoenix in Organizational Leadership. In addition to two-plus decades of command and staff experience in the military, I have worked in elections, higher education, and entrepreneurship.

What I have learned is that trust is the basic bond of any relationship, most importantly leadership. Leadership is not a title bestowed from above, but a mantle placed on your shoulders by those who you lead. Trust is a product of shared values and where trust is strong, people feel they belong.

Character is the product of the assumptions we make about the world, the values and beliefs held based upon those assumptions and the behaviors and artifacts which reveal values and beliefs. The same is true of the culture of organizations. The assumptions we hold in common are what bring us together. If we say one thing but do another, we have an integrity problem. This is what walking the talk really means. My success has been a product of creating trust and always acting in an ethical manner, even at the cost of profitability. If you value anything higher than integrity, you will do anything to achieve that higher goal, including sacrificing integrity.

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®: On ShesHerOwnCEO.com, we first and foremost talk about Leading Yourself, Providing for Others (family, friends, community), and Creating for the larger world (self-actualization / the top rung of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). Each of us, in our respective world, has these opportunities. How have these perspectives impacted your career?

Dan Nolan, Change Management Leader: To get to the top rung, you must climb. After physiological needs and safety is love and belonging. To access this rung in others, you must develop a deep and honest understanding of yourself. Ask yourself, “How do I want others to feel about themselves when they are around me?”. We all have a job description that is tied to a paycheck, but what leaders really want from people is innovation, creativity, and risk-taking. You create that environment by creating psychological security for your people.

If you know how you want people to feel about themselves, then you know you must have the means to mitigate those emotional responses you might have that prevent that environment from existing. The casual cruelty of something as simple as an eye roll can make people feel psychologically insecure. If you know yourself and can mitigate negative emotional responses, then you must be able to empathize with those around you. Empathy is the basis of relationship management and that is an enormous leadership task. This process of emotional maturity will help you lead yourself, provide for others, and create for the larger world.

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®: Dan, please share with me your favorite example of how you Lead, Provide, and Create™ in your professional and/or personal world! Perhaps it’s how you impact the world through consulting and coaching…or is it something beyond that?

Dan Nolan, Change Management Leader: I try to be open to new ideas. In Conscious Business, Fred Kofman talks about the idea of Ontological Humility. This is the idea that you do not have a special claim on reality or the truth, and that others might have equally valid perspectives deserving of consideration.

I had just started a new job as the Chief of Staff of Elections Office for the 4th largest County in Florida. This was in 2003 with the debacle of 2000 still a sore subject among elections officials. My idea was that if we could increase voter turnout then we could show that there was a return to confidence among voters. With great excitement, I gathered all the elections professionals from the office, and I said, “Right, let’s throw out some ideas on how to increase voter turnout.  There are no dumb ideas. Let’s hear them all!”. They all looked at each other and then looked at me, the newbie, in silence. Finally, one of the old pros said, “Well, boss, if you want to increase voter turnout, you only have to do two things. Have very interesting candidates and create divisive issues.” I stood there for a moment and then said, “But we can’t have any control over those things!”

The old pro just sat back while understanding dawned on me. I was focusing on the wrong thing, something we could have no influence on. This humbling moment allowed me to take a step back and ask a better question, “What can we do to create confidence in the voters?”.  Now everyone leaned in and began serious brainstorming.

By showing them that I could and would learn and that I valued what they valued, we were able to create a relationship of trust. I was able to create an environment of psychological security that allows people to unleash their own potential and make mission accomplishment possible.

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®: Being the CEO of your world can take many forms (for example, volunteering in your community, holding a formal corporate position, engaging in creative pursuits, or being a reliable family member/friend). In your opinion, what is the best way to achieve success and to become the boss of your world?

Dan Nolan, Change Management Leader: I try to give of my time, talent, and treasure to make my community a better place. I have worked with several philanthropic boards of directors to help them revisit why they have come together to do the work by helping examine the basic assumptions about the world around them. Doing a facilitated examination of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats their organization encounter can help to re-center the culture and provide a stable platform upon which to build their vision, mission, and strategy.

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®: Any outside interests you would like to share?

Dan Nolan, Change Management Leader: Physical well-being is the platform upon which you build psychological well-being. My wife and I try to stay fit by taking advantage of the great parks and recreations available in the region. I am a casual runner, but she is a marathoner! We engage our minds through literature and the arts but also through active engagement with our family and friends. I am on three philanthropic boards and love to write about leadership.

You must be truly invested in the psychological security of others. You must care. You can’t get more out of people. They are not dishrags you wring out. You can allow them to unleash their own potential by creating an environment where they can express themselves without fear of ridicule or derision

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®:  Any additional advice you can share with motivated, aspirational professionals?

Dan Nolan, Change Management Leader: To thine own self be true. If you look to outside sources for the troubles in your life before you do an internal examination, it is like blaming the road for the breakdown of your car. The road contributes, but did you do the maintenance you should have?

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®: Dan, thank you for sharing your experiences and your leadership perspectives with the success-driven She’s Her Own CEO® audience!

 

 

Looking for even more #CEO Insights? Check out my other interviews and be sure you’re subscribed below!

Kathryn

 

Learn more about Dan’s work here:

https://www.petramengagement.com/