AMERICAN HERO

Clarence Edward “Ki” Faulkner

September 14, 1923 – April 3, 2017

How does one summarize such an impactful life?

My Dad, Ki Faulkner, saved lives in the middle of a war, saved lives by making airports safer, and saved entire species from extinction.

An Eagle Scout with Troop Number 1 in Brewer, Maine, Ki Faulkner devoted his life to the outdoors.  He loved to hunt and fish, and to simply walk in the woods teaching others about the wonders of nature.

He left after his Freshman Year at the University of Maine, Orono to volunteer for the Tenth Mountain Division.  He quickly rose to acting Platoon Sergeant of 3^rd Platoon in the 86^th Regiment.  The Tenth Mountain Division was specially trained for mountain warfare and led the Allies’ final push in Northern Italy during World War II.

Ki was known for his leadership skills and his acts of bravery.  He earned two Bronze Stars, for rallying his men in turning back a German counter-attack on Riva Ridge and for leading the capture of the German Headquarters in Torbole during the battle for Lake Garda. 

Yet, he was most proud of his Soldiers Medal.  On February 10, 1945, his Platoon was staying in a warehouse readying for a patrol.  A pin popped out of a grenade during distribution of ammunition.  As others froze, Ki rushed forward, grabbed the grenade, and threw it through a ceiling skylight to explode in the air.  He saved the lives of eighteen of his comrades.  The commendation reads:

By his quick thinking, instantaneous initiative, and selfless heroism endangering his own life to save the lives of the other eighteen men, Sergeant Faulkner has earned the highest commendation and praise for his gallantry and valor.

Ki returned home and earned a BS in Wildlife Biology from the University of Maine.  Just as he was starting his career, he was called to duty during the Korean War.  His former Commanding General in Italy, Mark Clark, wanted veterans to “season” new recruits bound for the Korean War.  My Dad designed and led highly challenging field exercises for the 101^st Airborne on Okinawa.

Once back in America, Ki began a 36-year career as the first Wildlife Biologist hired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  On October 4, 1960, he came to national prominence developing bird safety procedures in the wake of the deadly air crash at Boston’s Logan Airport.  His guidelines for removing bird habitats near run ways remain the global standard to this day.

While leading the Midwest Region in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ki developed and led teams who saved entire species from extinction.  His Wolf experts developed the world’s first radio collars, including inventing batteries, transmitters, and plane based tracking technology, to better understand Wolf behavior, ultimately saving the Eastern Timber Wolf from extinction.  His Eagle experts, collected eggs from healthy birds in Minnesota, then used hot water bottles to keep them warm as they flew to other parts of America to replace soft eggs laden with DDT, thus restoring Bald Eagles in the lower 48 states.  His bird experts perfected ways to drive away Cowbirds in order to save the Kirkland Warbler from extinction.

Ki’s most ambitious effort began with the chance discovery of a Black Footed Ferret in a Prairie Dog town.  Ferrets were thought to be extinct since the 1920s.  His teams charted the tiny population and began a captive breeding and release program that continues to this day in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution.  In 2015, a male Ferret born in captivity was named after him in honor of his role.  “Ki Ferret” is now happily making little Ferrets after being released into the wild in Colorado.

My Dad’s greatest desire was to have young people, for generations to come, discover their own love for nature and the outdoors.  He founded the first co-educational Explorer Post for Wildlife.  In his final years, he donated all his collections, photos, and papers to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Museum at the National Conservation Training Center near Shepherdstown, West Virginia.  These include his hand tied fishing flies and hand carved decoys, all amazing works of art.

I was incredibly blessed to have Ki Faulkner as my father, and to be guided by him throughout my life, up to just a few days ago.  His legacy lives on through the descendants of those he saved in Italy, the animals who still thrive in the wild, and the generations of young people who will view his collections and be inspired to love the outdoors as much as he did.

Ki married Irene MacDonald Faulkner on June 22, 1946.  She passed on November 6, 2013.  They will both be memorialized and interred during a private family gathering in Maine later this year.

Those wishing to honor Ki Faulkner should make a donation to the Harpers Ferry Park Association; P.O. Box 197; Harpers Ferry, WV 25425.  Make checks payable to “Harpers Ferry Park Assn. Ki Faulkner”.

Scot Faulkner

Son

Saving the Secret Service

Failure to perform the most basic of protection functions for the President, his family, and world leaders visiting the President, is not acceptable.  Secret Service Director, Joe Clancy, was pointedly held accountable for his agency’s failures before the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee on March 17.

Defending his being blindsided by agent misconduct, Clancy asserted, “I brought in my staff. We discussed why I didn’t know prior to this event. We had a good stern talk about that”.

Members of Congress from both parties were appalled at Clancy’s bureaucratic response to agent behavior and operational integrity. 

“This is my first test,” said Clancy.

Clancy is wrong on so many fronts.  The first test of a leader is their first interaction with their organization.  Even how they enter their headquarters for the first time is a test.  Tests of leadership occur every waking moment of a leader’s tenure.  To think otherwise is to fundamentally misunderstand leadership.

Clancy admitted he was appointed to change the increasingly dysfunctional and unprofessional culture of the Secret Service.  He defended himself by noting his short tenure and that cultural change takes time.

“With all due respect, I’m just shocked by your testimony,” said Nita Lowey (D-NY). “Take time to change the culture? I don’t understand this one bit. It seems to me it should take time to help people who think this is the culture to get another job.”

Changing an organization’s culture is hard, but not impossible.  The challenge for Secret Service Director Joe Clancy is to actually want change, lead change, and embody the change.  He can learn from successful culture changes in the federal government.  There are only a few, but their lessons are universal. 

 

I was lucky enough to be on the leadership team that turned around the General Services Administration (36,000 employees), and to lead the team that forever changed the U.S. House of Representatives (14,000 employees). 

 

The Secret Service employs approximately 6,500 people, including 3,200 special agents, 1,300 Uniformed Division officers, and 2,000 technical, professional and administrative support personnel.   It is much smaller than the two strategic transformations that succeeded in creating immediate, tangible, and sustainable change.  There is no excuse for inaction.

Define the Promised Land

Change fails because there is no clarity of purpose.  A leader must visualize every aspect of a defined outcome.  A leader needs to see, hear, touch, and smell their end point and to understand the timetable for reaching it.  Whether the horizon is six months, a year, or three years, a leader must see that “Promised Land” and a general path to reach it.  Only then can a leader communicate that vision to others and to win converts who will assist them with the journey.

 

Gerald Carmen took the helm of the General Services Administration (GSA) on May 26, 1981.  His background as President & CEO of a regional network of auto supply dealerships gave him the clarity and common sense embodied in every successful small businessman.  He immediately visualized how core operational services and resources should be provided to the federal government and set about bringing on board an inner circle of experts who fundamentally grasped his vision.

 

I became the first Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the U.S. House of Representatives on January 3, 1995.  My experience included working with Carmen at the GSA, with Quality Management Guru Philip Crosby, and personally leading the transformation of smaller enterprises within the Peace Corps and the Federal Aviation Administration. I also had the advantage of absorbing the work of Jim Nussle’s House transition team.  Like Carmen, I quickly visualized the “Promised Land” and immediately set about recruiting an inner circle of experts who shared that vision.

 

A leader’s vision of the Promised Land should be their very first priority.  The only thing that is clear at the Secret Service is that the Clancy does not know where he or his agency is going.

 

Deploy Air Cover

A leader in government needs the backing of someone who will back their efforts early and often.  Only then will those they lead pay attention.  People both inside and outside the agency must realize that the change is a priority to those that matter and there is no hope for end running, appealing, stalling, or waiting out the effort.

 

President Reagan personally told Carmen he would have everything he needed to either shut down or transform the GSA within six months.  Speaker Gingrich placed ending corruption in House operations in his manifesto “Contract with America”.  Both Carmen and I constantly referenced our mandate and our patrons to embolden our change agents and allies.  Obama, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, except for some initial remarks, have been low key to the point of silence on changing the Secret Service.

 

Strike Hard & Fast 

Joe Clancy was appointed as acting director of the Secret Service on October 1, 2014, and became its official Director on February 18, 2015.  He had 168 days at the helm before his hearing.  Clancy took a small step in the right direction by reassigning at least four top officials to posts elsewhere in government. Little else was done.

 

Within his first weeks as GSA Administrator, Carmen forcibly reassigned a dozen top officials, leading to their resignations.  He elevated the three top whistle-blowers to key positions of leadership.  Within his first 100 days he had completely changed all the leaders of GSA, he had established a “War Room” to investigate and remove everyone associated with corruption, and he had created an Operations Center to implement and monitor business-based performance measures over every major GSA function.  Carmen had also begun implementing a strategic plan to run the GSA based on business principles and to use a combination of attrition and hiring freezes to flatten GSA’s layers of management and reduce its workforce from 36,000 down to 20,000.

 

In the first hour of my tenure as CAO, I fired the top 48 executives of House operations.  This lopped off the heads of everyone who had been complicit in, or ambivalent about, corruption.  Within the same hour, a team of outside experts became the “A Ring” for driving change.  By day 20, we had a strategic plan drafted for fundamentally transforming House operations.  By day 45, the CAO “A Ring” had detailed plans, complete with timetables and outcome measures, ready for 75 distinct reform initiatives.  By day 100, over two dozen of the reforms were already in place with the others awaiting committee approvals.

 

Unfurl Your Banners

Change requires ritual and symbolism.  Sun Tzu, the military genius of 4^th Century B.C. China, stated it best, “In night-fighting, then, make much use of signal-fires and drums, and in fighting by day, of flags and banners, as a means of influencing the ears and eyes of your army.”

 

At GSA, Carmen, within his first three months, resurrected a World War II war effort poster – the American Flag with the slogan “Give it your best”.  The poster went up throughout GSA headquarters.  Carmen constantly reminded employees that they worked for America and that they should always “give it their best”.  Handing out performance awards and recognitions further echoed this theme as did promotions.  It inspired increasing numbers of career employees to become fanatics about performance and service.

 

At the CAO, we adopted a credo drawn from top global service providers - “We are serving our country by serving our Congress” within the first 30 days.  Top global companies’ fundamentals of service excellence became the CAO’s “Contract with Congress”.  Wallet-sized hard cards were given to every CAO employee.  Training in service and operational excellence was provided to all.  Awards and recognition, as well as promotions, reinforced the new culture and won over legions of long time House employees to the new world of pride and performance.

 

The Secret Service, 168 days into Clancy’s tenure, has no organizing symbol or slogan to rally believers to the new order.

 

Cement Your Sand Castle

Real change must transcend its inception.  Changes must be irreversible.  Bridges back to the old ways must be burned or blown-up.  The Promised Land must be institutionalized through new position descriptions, new titles, new mission statements, new performance measures, and new incentives. Even new colors and office configurations play a role. 

 

At GSA, Carmen immediately moved out of the vast ceremonial office and turned it into a general meeting room.  He also repainted the hallways of the headquarters building (the color scheme remains to this day).  His “War Room” eliminated titles and operations that had outlived their relevance.  New mission statements and position descriptions were installed as he eradicated the old order.  All remain in place to this day.  When corruption tried to seep into the GSA twenty years later, career employees used to the new culture of integrity to blow the whistle, defending the integrity of the reinvented agency.

 

The Congressional reform removed and sold off furniture, and worked with the Architect of the Capitol to completely change spaces as operations were abolished, downsized, or privatized. New mission statements, position descriptions, core skill requirements, and performance measures were created as old ones were removed or created where none had previously existed.  Twenty years and two partisan changes later, everything remains in place.

 

The Secret Service, and Director Clancy, have much to learn and much to do – if they are truly sincere.

 

[Scot Faulkner served as Chief Administrative Officer for the U.S. House of Representatives, and as a member of Carmen’s GSA Executive team.]

 

 

Carnival of Fools

What happened to the Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph was anything but. It has already been labeled “Ship of Stools” by Jon Stewart.

What happened to the 3,143 passengers is terrible. Worse – everything that happened could have been avoided.

Mistake #1 - Putting to sea
Carnival Triumph was a flawed ship. A vessel inspection was conducted on January 28, 2013 by the Texas City, TX, U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit. This revealed "a short in the high voltage connection box of one of the ships generators causing damage to cables within the connection box." Carnival had until February 27, 2013 to resolve this deficiency.

This citation should have caused great concern. There had been three previous engine room fires on Carnival owned ships resulting in a loss of power: the Tropicale in 1999, the Carnival Splendor in 2010, and the Costa Allegra, owned by a Carnival subsidiary, in 2012.

Instead of resolving the issue immediately, Carnival executives choose to put to sea and repair the problem upon the Triumph’s return to port.

Mistake #2 - Keeping everyone on board
On Sunday morning, February 10, 2013 a fire occurred in the aft engine room. The fire was automatically extinguished, but the Triumph lost power and propulsion. The emergency generator provided some power, but the ship was adrift about 150 miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico.

Carnival Triumph was originally expected to be quickly towed to the Mexican port of Progreso. Unfortunately, Gulf currents took the stricken ship north prior to the arrival of seagoing tugboats. Therefore, Carnival Executives went for Option B, a longer journey to Mobile, Alabama.

Carnival Elation arrived next to the Triumph Sunday night of February 10. Many of the 3,143 passengers could have been transferred and arrived in Progreso within hours. This did not happen.

Carnival Legend arrived next to the Triumph around 3:00 p.m. on Monday February 11. Once again passengers could have been transferred and, in this case, arrived in Tampa the next day. This did not happen.

Emptying the Triumph would have simplified everything and avoided four days of hardship. Two large fully operational cruise ships could have coordinated using their pilot and life boats to transfer passengers. Instead they opted to transfer food and water to the Triumph.

Mistake #3 – Not enough provisions
Once the decision was made to keep everyone on board, little was done to maintain a relatively sanitary and comfortable environment.

If one has to be adrift, the Gulf of Mexico is the best possible place. Hundreds of helicopter transport and industrial support companies ring the Gulf. They exist to support the hundreds of off-shore drilling and pumping platforms and their oil company crews. Why weren’t helicopter shuttles bringing Port a Potty units to be placed on the top decks? Why weren’t helicopters bringing sufficient food and water? Off-shore crews are provisioned regularly and can be mass evacuated when a hurricane draws near. So why overlook this established support system?

Mistake #4 - No leadership
The Triumph was adrift both literally and figuratively. Passengers complain about not being informed and no one being in charge. Front line crew was given credit for being helpful and cheerful, but where were the Captain, Cruise Director, and their top supervisors?

We do know where the CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines was. On Tuesday night he was court side cheering on the Miami Heat, a team he owns. Chief Executive Micky Arison should have been managing the crisis. He should have also been aware of the bad visual he was creating.

Mistake #5 - No communication
Not only were passengers kept in the dark on the ship, they were kept in the dark regarding what was going on and what would happen next.

A vivid indication that Carnival executives were clueless and hapless was displayed during the Thursday morning news conference held by Senior Vice President Terry Thornton. He announced that passengers would be given two options to getting back home. He should have said something like the following:

“Our crew members have spoken with every Carnival Triumph guest to determine how each would like to return home. Fifty percent have told us they would like to return immediately to Galveston, thirty percent wanted to travel to Houston, twenty percent opted for a complimentary stay in New Orleans, and the remaining ten percent are making individual arrangements once they reach the Port of Mobile. We are making sure all their needs are being met.”

Such a statement (the percentages are hypothetical for this example) would have projected a sincere commitment to respond to guest desires not the other way around.

Mistake #6 - Compliance alone is not enough
Some commentators, including cruise industry experts, commented that Carnival “did more than was legally required”. Really? When you have a brand name to protect, legal compliance should be the “floor” not the “ceiling” of what you should do.

Carnival Cruise Lines is not the first, and will not be the last, company confronted with a crisis. While no lives were lost (unlike the Costa Concord on January 16, 2012), reputations were. Civil suits and tell all books, blogs, and interviews are still to play out.

Carnival Triumph has object lessons for all: prevention is better than crisis; contingencies should always be at the ready; a crisis is not over until it is really over; leaders should work the issue until the issue is resolved, especially when it is CNN’s lead story; communication is always important, but it is of prime importance in a crisis; finally leaders should know that, in this era of Smartphone cameras, actions and inactions will be chronicled - they are always on stage.