A Lesson in Steadfast Leadership

Last evening I had the opportunity to attend a "Roast" for a gentle and good man who had been a fellow board member at the Houston Intercontinental Chamber of Commerce. His name is Bill Townsend and I learned a lot of important leadership lessons in Bill's presence.

Bill served as the organization's Treasurer the year I was Chair of the Board. A little more than a year before that we had served on Executive Committee together when a hard decision was made to take the organization in a different direction. We then spent many hours together as part of the search committee for a new president. Not long after we had our new president in place it was discovered that some major financial malfeasance had taken place with the carry over staff. The organization was not in the financial condition that we had been led to believe. A lawsuit was filed on our behalf and the board and new President found ourselves in a very challenging situation.

It was one of the most difficult and demanding situations I have ever been in, let alone as the leader of a volunteer-driven organization. We found ourselves asking some very uncomfortable questions about the future viability of the organization and the effort it would take to turn things around.

Through it all Bill was steadfast and clear about our future. "Failure is not an option" was his mantra and he repeated it often. As our Treasurer I know how much it pained him to present our financial picture to the board each month. He didn't try to hide his angst or make as if it was something other than what it was. I admired his honest and straight forward approach to sharing information. We all felt like we were in it together -- sink or swim.

Bill was also involved in a number of other community organizations and always in a leadership role. He was our Chairman of the Board at the chamber this year and it is sad to see that his career is taking him to other places. Things have turned around there and I'm sorry Bill won't be there to take some credit and enjoy some better times. I know he'll soon be influencing others by his steady leadership, his funny stories (mostly poking fun at himself) and his easy inclusion of all those around him.

Thank you, Bill, for being a rock when the stormy seas were churning. And thank you for adding your name to the list of friends I can call truly steadfast leaders.