A Day in the Life
Executive presence
A Day in the Life gives a behind-the-scenes look into a “typical” day of a community member.
By Adam Kulikowski
Photography by Tara Hope
His rich voice resonates with vibrant passion. It fills any room he presides and fills the minds of those in attendance. At 6 foot 3 inches, The Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg President Steven Wiley’s stature in business and in person commands attention.
His accomplishments command respect.
Through more than three decades in business, the 57-year-old founded three companies, served as national spokesperson for the Quaker Oats/Pritikin Longevity Centers, and now guides the leadership institute. By 1989, photos of the Gettysburg College graduate had graced the covers of Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today, Venture Magazine and other publications. His exterior restoration business grew from $50,000 in start-up funds into a multi-million dollar organization with more than 130 offices in three different countries.
He succeeded as an entrepreneur.
Then, Wiley explains while traveling to Hershey for a keynote speech at the State Farm Women’s Leadership Symposium, the company began bleeding funds—to the tune of approximately $400,000 a month—in 1989. That setback that totaled more than $4.5 million in losses. “I grew it too fast,” he says. “I think greed came into it. If I got a big project, I would open a new office.”
That decision and others proved costly. The International Revenue Service eventually became involved and the organization faced lawsuits.
But Wiley turned the organization around. He shut down offices and resolved legal issues.
Hardship became opportunity.
Business partners who noticed Wiley’s verbal abilities urged him to speak to other businesses. The engagements grew into a full-time occupation—the Wiley Group—in 1991, then expanded into The Lincoln Leadership Institute. “We aren’t a history company that is trying to teach leadership, we are a human resource company that’s been working for two decades to develop people’s effectiveness,” Wiley says of the institute. “We just incorporate history into it … What we really do is we put the finishing touch on professionals. We help them with their ability to present to others and to engage those around them.”
As Wiley neared Hershey Hotel, where he would speak to a group of State Farm representatives, he placed the finishing touches on his presentation.
Hours before he took the microphone, Wiley discussed with the institute’s Managing Director Angela Sontheimer which jokes to implement for an audience dominated by females.
When he arrived at the hotel, he met with State Farm officials to gauge the audience. He didn’t want to offend. He didn’t want his presentation to fall flat.
It didn’t.
“He captivated everyone’s attention,” says Lisa Laiberte, a State Farm agent from Maine. “He made us laugh while helping us to lay the foundation to build better relationships.”It’s the building of those relationships that Wiley stresses to clients. “If you build strong relationships with others, you could endure anything. It happened between the soldiers in 1863, it happened in my company in 1989 and it is happening in 2008,” Wiley says as he began the trek back to Gettysburg.
It was in Gettysburg 145 years ago that strong leadership overcame better equipped and better trained forces.
It’s that history Wiley and Sontheimer use as a basis for the institute’s
training program.
It’s a point Wiley stresses to his clients.
“We’re going to use those things [history] as metaphors,” Wiley tells a group of M&T Bank executives gathered at the Antrim 1844 Country House Hotel in early October. “It’s going to be all about you. All about your leadership, followership and your organizational effectiveness.”
M&T Bank CEO Jeffrey Durkee can attest to that.
When the stock market plummeted as much as 800 points October 6 during trading, Durkee and other high-ranking company officials resisted the temptation to postpone the Wiley’s three-day leadership training session.
The group heard a speech from Abraham Lincoln impersonator James Getty, walked Pickett’s Charge and learned about leadership techniques used during the Civil War.
The lesson: “All of our clients—some of the largest organizations and corporations in the world—are having to endure rapidly changing stressful times with limited resources just as they [Civil War soldiers] did in 1863. It is more important than ever that they engage those around them and inspire others to be as effective as they can be,” says Wiley.
For Wiley to be effective, he learned the group’s personality types, background, and strengths and weaknesses before the group arrived in Gettysburg. That specialized approach was coupled with a basic template developed over time.
“He took a very educated approach geared directly at us,” Durkee says. “In one of the presentations that he made, I’ve never heard my group so cohesive.”
Wiley followed up the three-day session with a larger presentation several weeks later at the company’s headquarters in Baltimore, geared toward making the lessons learned by the company’s top executives sustainable throughout the company.
But on this particular day, as Wiley neared Gettysburg’s Lincoln Square on his return from Hershey, his focus shifted to the David Wills House—the future home of his institute.
Stopping to check in on the construction workers’ progress, he stepped over a slew of extensions cords, saws and building materials as he toured the structure, scheduled to open in February.
“We’re excited about the fact that the Wills House is where Abraham Lincoln put the finishing touches on the Gettysburg Address,” Wiley says. “And it’s also the headquarters for our leadership institute where we concentrate on putting the finishing touches on executives and professionals from around the world.”
Though Wiley’s day began at 6 a.m. with a 100-lap swim at his Gettysburg home, it ended more than 2,700 miles west in San Francisco, where he spoke to Apple executives. He continued his workweek in Denver before flying back to Gettysburg.
“Those are some fun and exciting days,” Wiley says with a wide smile. “The truth is I’m not working, I’m having a ball.”
For more information on Steven Wiley and the Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg, visit www.lincolnleadershipinstitute.com.