CorePurpose - Joan Koerber-Walker's Blog

Why is Leadership Sooo Sexy?

Leaders.  We admire them, look up to them, wonder what it is to be them, take classes so that we can emulate them, at times we even envy them.  After all, leadership is sexy, right.  The power, the money, the prestige, the glamor, the lifestyle.  They strut in, serious and focused, each morning and end each day with a smile of success, jacket slung over their shoulder and a spring in their step.  They have the life!

Or maybe it just seems that way. 

I remember a meeting years ago that a group of us had with one of President Clinton’s top advisors.  It was not the discussion on the economy and world affairs that made the lasting impact with me. It was a comment made as an aside describing the President’s day or specifically his evening. For at 10 PM each night, President Clinton was presented with a big thick briefing book outlining the key information that had been prepared for him so that he would be ready for the meetings scheduled the next day.  Before he turned in for the night, he would read it through cover to cover.  Presidents have long days and lots of homework. It’s not all applause, handshakes and Hail to the Chief.

Whether you are President of the United States, or a team leader at a fast food restaurant, leaders have responsibilities and good leaders understand that the day is not ever over until the priorities are handled and responsibilities are met. It’s when leaders forget this that their leadership falters or is subject to question. 

A leader’s priorities and responsibilities

Leaders live by their word.

If you want to be chosen to lead, be ready to show that you can be trusted.  Leaders don’t lie, “forget” to tell the truth, let untrue assumptions stand or otherwise intentionally mislead. Leadership is not granted, it is earned by not only saying the right words, but by doing the right thing.  Your word is your promise and keeping your promises is a hallmark of leadership.  Broken promises lead to broken teams and opportunities missed by all.

Leaders finish what they start, even when it is inconvenient.

There’s a reason that the captain is the last one to leave a troubled ship.  Simply stated, the captain is responsible for the ship and every member of the crew.  Leaders who bail are not leaders and sooner or later they meet the censure of their peers.  Whether you are on the high seas, or walking the shop floor, a leader understands that taking care of the team and the people they serve is an obligation, not a slogan on a motivational poster you plaster on the lunch room wall to build up morale.

Leaders don’t ask of others what they will not do personally.

True leaders don’t have hatchet men, clean up crews, fall guys, or someone to delegate damage control to.  Dealing with, and taking responsibility for, failure is as much the leader’s role as are the accolades of success.  Throwing someone under the bus or letting a teammate take the hit is not leadership, it’s cowardice.  And that is a trait you are unlikely to find on anyone’s list of leadership character traits, LinkedIn profile, or a CEO’s resume.

Leaders make it look easy. 

Great leaders make it look effortless when the reality is anything but.  We don’t want to listen to our leaders telling us how hard it is.  Leaders don’t whine. We look to them to inspire us, to guide us, and to foster the belief that together “we can” do what we have set out to do. 

Leaders are admired for who they are as much as for what they do.

In the end,  leaders stand out for what they have inside of them and how they let it out.  The trappings of success may look great from afar, but the pinnacle of leadership is reached one step at a time and it is always an up hill climb to get there… and stay there.

Maybe leadership is not so sexy in real life after all. 

As a matter of fact, it’s a wonder that leaders have any energy left at all by the end of the day.  But somehow they do.  You see, for real leaders, the privilege of leadership itself is energizing…not just for the leader, but for everyone around them.

So, are YOU ready to make the climb?

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay tuned....

Joan Koerber-Walker

Oh, and if you are curious about the young man in the picture, he is already making the climb.  As an athlete, he led his teams to championships, and now as an entrepreneur he is putting the skills he practiced on the ice to play in his business, putting his team mates first, watching their back, fighting for his team, pouring the passion and dedication that once drove him down the ice into achieving new goals.  I’d definitely call him a leader – but I’ll pass on calling him sexy, after all, I’m his Mom and that would just be weird.   

About the Joan:

An entrepreneur, author, speaker and corporate advisor, Joan Koerber-Walker's journey has spanned from corporate America to entrepreneurship and non-profits, as well as to community leadership and into the halls of Washington D.C.   To learn more about how CorePurpose and the CoreAlliance can help you grow your business in 2011, you can contact her by clicking here.

CorePurpose  is a registered trademark of CorePurpose, Inc.  CoreAlliance is a  service mark of CorePurpose Inc.  All rights reserved

Technorati Tags: Leaders,Leadership,Leadership Responsbilities,Leadership Qualities,Joan Koerber-Walker,CorePurpose

Entrepreneurs, What Would YOU Risk?

It was 30 years ago, that Summer between my Junior and Senior years of college.  I was living with my parents in Danbury, Connecticut and had started dating the boy across the cul-de-sac.  One Sunday afternoon,  we went out on our boat - Me and my Dad - and that boy and his Dad.  We were cruising around Candlewood Lake and anchored across from  "Chicken Rock".  

"So, who's ready to risk it?" - my Dad joked. 

Everyone was laughing but I was game.  I dove off the bow, swam to shore and started to climb.  I was game - but not crazy. I climbed to the mid point - about 15 feet up - and jumped into the lake.  As I was swimming back to the boat, my Dad started yelling and pointing at the rock.  I looked back just in time to see that boy.  He had climbed to the highest point - and dove in head first.  Dad even caught it with his camera.

Ya gotta love a guy that's willing to risk it all.

I did. Five years later, I married him.

What, you may be asking, does this have to do with entrepreneurship?  Well, it's not that different.  Many will tell you, at one point or another - you have to calculate the risk and take that leap.

Entrepreneurs are a rare breed.  We...

• assess risk
• weigh outcomes
• institute a plan
• execute it

And when we do it well - we reap the reward.

Sometimes when you take that risk - you end up building a really great business...

and sometimes when you take the leap - you get the girl.  :0)

Thanks for stopping by. Stay Tuned...

Joan Koerber-Walker

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Times They are a Changin' - A day of GM GoodByes

This morning - October 1, 2009, a reminder popped up on my calendar.  Today was the day my brother Rick retired officially from General Motors after 30 years.  He started in the Newark, Delaware plant at the age of 18, the day after his birthday.  Over the past three decades, he saw many changes, slow downs, strikes, and lay offs; but, he also saw innovations in manufacturing and new automotive technologies evolve. 

He started at GM in a time when working as a GM employee was a safe bet for the future and retires in a time when many have to wonder what comes next.  But, through it all, he was a hard working and dedicated employee, who delivered value, and through his working years at GM, bought a home, raised a family, and now in his 'retirement' years plans to focus his energies on building another business - his own. 

I'm proud of him.  He's a great example of what it means to grow up in a GM Family.  And I know that his own business will prosper because he brings to it a dedication to customer service and quality  that will make his customers keep coming back and even more important - tell their friends about him.

Also today, I saw an article pop up from AdAge with another footnote to the GM Story.  This one too was another goodbye - After Talks to Sell Fall Through, GM Says Goodbye to Saturn.  The story chronicles Saturn's story through it's ads.  It's dedication to innovation and service, the commitment it had to its customers and in many ways the feeling of engagement it's employees, dealers and customers had in turn with Saturn. Now with the Penske deal falling through, soon Saturn will be no more.

Saturn was once the shining star of General Motors, yet through years of corporate in-fighting and internal politics between the GM car divisions and the resulting challenges created for Sayurn, the fledgling brand could not grow to fulfill its promise.  Now Saturn is becoming 'GM's orphaned child' - with no opportunity for a new homecoming on the horizon. 

Saturn employees and dealers put together a valiant fight to save something they believed in - a quality product, a new way of doing business, and commitment to giving the customer what they want through partnerships as shown in this - one of the last Saturn commercials.  Unfortunately, it looks like this time, they could not win the battle.

In kind of an odd twist -

the last car my brother ever built at the GM Newark Delaware plant,

was a Saturn SKY. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay tuned...

Joan Koerber-Walker

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Missing the Innovation Train

Innovation - doing something in a new way to make life better for the people who matter - is a wonderful thing - unless you happen to be the one who missed the train when it pulled out from the station.

That's what happened to a once great family business, Koerber's Beer.

Hey - you may be thinking - that name sounds familiar.  Yes, Koerber's was once our family business run by my grandfather William G. (Bill) Koerber and his brothers.

Koerber's Beer and the other brands, including Friar's Ale and later a new innovation, Malt Liquor led the brand portfolio.

Grandpa's brother, Clarence "Click" Koerber, invented malt liquor and began production at the Grand Valley Brewing Company in Ionia, Michigan some time around 1937. Great  Uncle Click named his magic brew Clix Malt Liquor.

The family business managed to survive through two World Wars, Prohibition, and the Great Depression.  Instead, it was an innovation in the brew master's art that led to it's demise.

That change was the practice of increasing the preservative content in beer and ale.  By adding additional preservatives, competing breweries were able to ship their beers for greater distances, store the product for longer periods of time, and increase shelf life for distributors and retailers taking advantage of major economies of scale. 

There was only one problem, it affected the taste of the beer.  Koerber's brand was associated with Age, Strength, and Purity.  Grandpa, as brew master was sure that no one would buy let alone want to drink the lesser product.   And Grandpa was wrong!

By 1949, the last bottle of Koerber's beer was crated and shipped from the plant in  Toledo, Ohio.  The factory was closed.  What today we would call a series of micro breweries, Koerber's, and it's sister company Grand Valley Brewing could not compete with the mega brewers who had emerged.

By the time I came along, in 1960, the only Koerber's beer that was still in production came from the mini brewery that was hidden behind the secret wall in the Dutch Room off the boat well in Grandpa's home at Grayhaven on the Detroit River. But that's a story for another day.

So when you hear the whistle blow and see the innovation train pull into the  station, be sure to have your ticket ready so you can board.  You don't want to be left behind!

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay Tuned...

Joan Koerber-Walker

Technorati Tags: Joan Koerber-Walker,CorePurpose,Innovation,beer,brewing,history of brewing,Koerber's Beer,Friar's Ale,Clix Malt Liquor

What's more important, effort or results?

Is it the effort or the result that matters most?  As adults and business owners, we tend to focus more on results while as parents we tend to place the emphasis on the effort as it relates to the activities of our children.

Yesterday,  my friend Michele Mathews (@Tymlee) sent out this funny video from YouTube. (You might want to mute your computer or turn the sound down, it is a little shrill.)

It can be argued that the baby is definitely making an effort - but from an adult's perspective - we might say the baby failed because the hula hoop is not spinning.

   But wait - maybe we're not applying the right metric.

Fitness experts recommend hula hoops for children and adults to improve balance (check one - the baby does not fall), for exercise (check two - that's some cardio work out on baby's part), and for enjoyment (check three for the baby - did you see that smile!)  So even though the hoop's not spinning, three major goals were achieved.

With my children, I have never required straight A's or that they be the star player on the team.  Instead, all I asked is that they always did their best.  When they did,  they got lavish praise, just like in the video with the baby. Often the results were mixed, but it was the learning process and the effort that the measurements and praise were based on.  In the long run, I could not be more proud of what my boys have achieved so far in their lives.

In the workplace as a leader, I have always focused on results.  I've even based my own business, CorePurpose, on results orientation.  It's what investors and owners are expected to do.  But now, I am wondering if some of the things that we accomplish and learn along the journey may not  be as important if not more important than the arbitrary and often short term metrics we set as adults and business people to measure success. 

Hmm, maybe, just maybe, it's time I start thinking more like a parent - all the time.

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay tuned...

Joan Koerber-Walker

Technorati Tags: Joan Koerber-Walker,CorePurpose,parenting,business,results,measuring effort,metrics,success.

Heading Back to School

It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating high school graduations, ramping up for fun in the sun, and celebrating not having to make an early morning run to the bank or Safeway at the crack of dawn for the weekly lunch money! But before too long, it will be time to head back to school.

Whether you are sending your first grader off to his first big adventure, sending out a senior with dreams of diplomas dancing in her head, or making the journey yourself, the first day of school is a big deal. Heading back to school brings changes - new experiences and friends, new challenges and successes. How you achieve success is up to you – a little planning can make all the difference. Are you ready?

So as you prepare for the 2009/2010 school year, here are 7 tips to help you through whether you are a parent coaching a first grader, a seasoned veteran of the homework wars, or a returning life long learner:

1. Set a goal

Ask yourself or your student – “What do you want to get out of school this year?” This gives you a ruler you can use to measure your success. A friend of mine likes to say that “What gets measured gets done.” Good grades of course are a common goal, but that is not all you might shoot for. Get creative with your goals – something like – “learn something new every day” – keep it in a journal so you can look back at it at the end of the year. Another goal might be to get involved in a club, a sport, or a study group so that you add a little spice to your regular learning diet. .

2. Create a system

The next step in making the most of your back to school adventure is to create a system to help you achieve your goals. It would be nice if all we had to do was dream it and it was so, but usually it takes a little more than that. Even Itzhak Perlman, one of the greatest violinists of our time still has to practice – carefully – everyday. Being great takes more than just luck or talent, it takes planning and hard work. Ask yourself…

3. “Who do I want to be at the end of this journey and who can help me get there?”

Will you be a scholar – embracing knowledge for the love of it - or perhaps, you wish to be a teacher or tutor, sharing your knowledge with other students.- or maybe your goal is just to get through – gaining enough knowledge to meet the requirements for moving on to the next level while you focus your energies in other areas. It could be all of the above, or none of the above, the choice is up to you. The trick is – make it part of your goal and your plan to choose.

4. “What tools can I use to achieve my goals?”

There are many tools you can use to help you achieve your learning goals. Some are simple – a notebook, a pencil, a compass, or perhaps an eraser. (Nobody’s perfect.) Perhaps your phone can be a tool. Use a smart phone like the Motorola Q^® or a Blackberry or PDA to manage your schedule of assignments or even use your camera phone to capture a blackboard full of notes. Phones today have everything from the cameras to calendars, and calculators to the Internet.

Fill a backpack with the tools you need, from snacks to keep up your energy, to reference books, or a planner if you choose a lower tech solution to keep things organized. But beware the bottomless back pack. It’s the nemesis of every helpful parent and erstwhile student. Bottomless backpacks eat notes and assignments. Backpacks are useful for carrying things, but if it all goes in – to never again see the light of day – they can be more hindrance than help! Use your tools wisely along your journey.

5. “Where will I go to focus?”

Get the lay of the land. Find your learning place. When I went back to get my MBA after 20 years, I knew that my study skills and lifestyle had changed. Now I had so many distractions – work, family, dumb things I needed to do. I needed a place where I could focus without any distractions. I tried setting up a place at home, but that did not work and even if I went into the office early – the day to day distractions followed me there. Finally I found a Burger King^® around the corner from my office. They opened at 5 AM and were more than happy to let me study at a corner table. I had my breakfast and did my school work until 7AM before packing up and heading to work. The staff all thought it was funny and even became part of the plan – bringing me refills as I worked through my text books and even flowers when I finally graduated! Where will your learning place be? Find a quiet corner in your home, at the library, or anyplace where you can set yourself up, stay quiet and focus on what you need to do to learn. If you are a parent working with a young student – help them set aside their special place. Let them know that it is their little corner of the world. You are just around the corner if they need you, but it is their place!

6. “How will I focus in on achieving my goals?”

How we get in focus works differently for everyone. Some of us may use music to tune out the rest of the world’s distractions, others may need perfect quiet. If you are a fan of The Secret set up a Vision Board to help keep the positive thoughts around your learning goals in focus. A vision board is a simple tool. It can be a framed collage of the positive things you want to achieve – a picture of a report card will high marks, a diploma, or the college you want to go... Perhaps on your vision board you also have a picture of what you will do after school is through – a dream job or a get away location. If your learning place is outside of your home, use the front of your notebook or binder to make a portable Vision Board you can carry with you. Look at your Vision Board every day – see yourself achieving your goals, then buckle down and do what you need to do to get there.

7. “Whose job is my success?”

The answer is you. Each student must accept responsibility for achieving their goals. It is not the teacher’s job or a parent’s role force study or get necessary assignments in on time. YOU must make the commitment to your learning and to your goals. If you are coaching your children through the learning process, help them understand why what they are doing is important for them – not for you. “Do it because I said so” is not a learning motivator. Help them understand how what they are learning will help them get what THEY want. The job of a parent as learning coach then gets 100 times easier! Never nag a child about homework – it turns learning into a chore and defeats the purpose. You get frustrated, they get frustrated and you head into the homework death spiral. Instead – create a No Nag Contract with your student (or yourself). Come to an agreement where if “A”, “B” and “C” get done correctly and on time – then NO Nagging! This gives your student a chance to control their destiny and makes your home life a whole lot more pleasant!

Celebrate Success

Last but not least – as you are learning and achieving you goals – take time out to celebrate your little successes along the way. What is the point if you are not having some fun as part of the process? Reward yourself or your student with a movie, a walk in the mountains, or even a hot fudge sundae (my personal favorite!) Interim goals and the small successes that you celebrate generate the energy you need to succeed in making your long term learning goals a reality. So take a minute – chill out – look at your vision board – or just imagine what it will be like next May – when summer vacation rolls around again.

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay Tuned...

Joan Koerber-Walker

Technorati Tags: Joan Koerber-Walker,CorePurpose,Goal Setting,Achievement,Back to school,Success

Learned Leadership

I've heard it said that leaders are born and I've heard it said that leadership is learned. It's probably a little of both. 

But whether it comes from your genetic make up or your environment, I owe whatever leadership qualities I have to my Dad.

Great leaders lead by example and here are a few things he's showed me.

Great leaders...

Listen and Learn

Leadership starts with conversations.  If you listen to the other person, and really hear what they are telling you - you can learn something about them and about yourself.  The more you know about each other - the more you can accomplish together. I've listened as he talks with people many times.  And he really talks WITH them.  Never at them. He listens to what they have to say and shares his ideas.

Embrace Challenges Calmly

Challenge your thinking and challenge yourself.  Be open to new ideas while staying true to your principles.  No life is always easy.  And I'm sure raising five kids who were six years apart in age was not always a piece of cake.  (I can not imagine a house with FIVE teenagers.  I have all I can handle with two.) But what ever challenges he faced, my Dad kept his cool and did what had to be done. And he still does to this day.

Live their principles

Talking about something is easy.  Doing something about it can be an entirely different story.  True leaders don't just talk about something.  They get involved and take action.  My Dad does not stay on the sidelines.  Even though he is retired, he's busier than ever.  Whether it is creating a neighborhood park, getting a road repaired, volunteering at church, or helping a neighbor, he walks his talk.

Sing Out

Dad's not afraid to raise his voice and say what needs to be said,  He shares with his children and grandchildren the stories of the past and talks with them about the events of our day.  By his example he has taught us to be aware, be informed, and express our opinions... even when we don't agree with him.  :-)

Don't have to be famous to be effective.

My Dad didn't have to be the President of the United States, the Chairman of the Board (OK, GM might have done better of he was) or a celebrity to make a lasting impact as a leader. He just needed to be who he is, do what he believes is right, and set a great example for his children.

But most of all, truly great leaders are loved.

And he is.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

 

And as my Daddy always says...

"Make it a Great Day."

Thanks for stopping by...Stay Tuned.

Joan Koerber-Walker

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Twenty-four years ago today

I married Chris Walker on June 8, 1985.  Now for some that may seem like a long time ago, but to me it feels like yesterday.  

There were some that probably wondered about us.  We're very different people in some ways. But where it really counts, we're a lot alike.  We share the same values, the same love for family, and most of all, over the years we've learned to work together to build something we both believe in, a great family of our own.

We both came from families of five kids and were blessed with great parents.  If you think 24 years is impressive, both my parent's and Chris' will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this year in August!

I was talking to some friends over the weekend about marriages. 

No everyone has been as lucky as I have in picking partners.  And that is what it has to be, a partnership.  Just as in in business, picking the right partner makes all the difference.  No partnership or marriage is always neat and easy.  Sometimes things get messy.  But every time changes came, whether it's packing up at a moment's notice so that I could take on a challenging new opportunity on the other side of the country far from family and friends, doing it again a few years later for another one, carrying the extra load at home with the kids while I worked and went to grad school, putting up with the ridiculous hours I tend to work when I get caught up in a project, or  supporting my decision to leave the corporate world and take the leap into starting my own business, his answer was always the same.  "If that's what you want to do - go for it."

Together, we've raised two great kids and built built a life where we can pursue very different interests while celebrating each other's successes.  Most importantly of all -  at the end of the day, we have someone we love to share it all with.

I've heard it said that hindsight is 20/20.  Well looking back, I have to say, for me, picking Chris Walker to be my partner was a great decision.  Wouldn't you?

Thanks for stopping by... Stay Tuned

- Joan Koerber-Walker

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Ethics, Integrity, Leadership, and Change

We live in times of change.  In good times and in bad, change is the one true constant.  But in any era and any economy, there are some  human characteristics that, when we hold true to them, form a solid foundation that we can build on. 

Business challenges fill the Twitter streams, the papers and the airwaves today along with the fears these changes bring to the people living through them. 

As I read about and experience the changes of our times, I draw on the lessons my grandparents taught me in times long past.

The first lesson was learned from my Grandpa Carmichael when I was probably about five years old.  We were looking at a picture book and I asked him what a word  meant.  He took me by the hand, walked me down to his home office, and pulled a Webster's dictionary from the shelf.  Opening the book, he said "let's look it up and then we can talk about it."  And so we did.  The word that day was dromedary.  A bit easier to define than complex issues like ethics, integrity, and leadership.  But the lesson still holds.

 Ethics: definitions from Merriam-Webster Online

1. the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation
2. a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values 
3. the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group
4. a guiding philosophy
5. a consciousness of moral importance
6. a set of moral issues or aspects (as rightness)

Integrity: definitions From Merriam-Webster Online

1. firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values
2. an unimpaired condition
3. the quality or state of being complete or undivided

Leadership: definitions  from Merriam-Webster Online

1. the office or position of a leader
2. capacity to lead
3. the act or an instance of leading

Later that evening, we visited my other grandparents at their home on Port Drive in Detroit.   Sitting in Grandpa Koerber's lap,  I held out my favoite picture book.  Pointing to the picture, I asked.  "Grandpa - what's this?" "A camel" he told me.  "No Grandpa, it's a dromedary - see only one hump."  "Why you are right, Miss Smarty Pants, it is a dromedary after all."

Grandma told me, a few years later when we went back for his funeral, that Grandpa told that story to all his friends.  He would laugh and brag about how amazed he was to be learning lessons about dromedaries from a five year old girl.  But what stuck with me from that long ago night was what both Grandma and Grandpa had explained to me.  "It's not just what you know that is important.  It's what you do  with it."

So as we look at the definitions above, we know what the words mean.  The question is not what we know - but what we do with it.

As I look at the definitions above and think about my own experiences and what's changing in the world around me, I still draw on the skills my grandparents taught me. 

Studying the the words, as defined by Merriam-Webster, a definite and interrelated pattern emerges that allows me to synthesize my own understanding and beliefs.

Ethics becomes simply knowing what is right.  Integrity is the act of then doing what is right - even when it is inconvenient or uncomfortable.   Thus, leadership is taking the personal responsibility to step out in front while basing your decisions on your own ethics and integrity as you move forward. 

My grandparents must have also known this.  For during their lives, each was a living example.  They taught these values to their children and their grandchildren. Just as I am trying to pass them on to mine.   I guess some things don't change that much after all.

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay Tuned...

- Joan Koerber-Walker

Technorati Tags: Joan Koerber-Walker,CorePurpose,Ethics,Integrity,Leadership,Change

A Family Affair - a personal GM perspective

Today was a momentous day - the official announcement of GM's historic bankruptcy.  It's been covered by every imaginable news medium from print, to air, to online.  Articles and bit.ly links propagated across twitter.  A quick search on Google brought back a staggering reply"  "Results 1 - 10 of about 3,370,000 for "gm+bankruptcy".   You see, for me, GM was more than just a car company.  It has been an integral part of family conversations all of my life. 

When I was a child, GM meant Gonna Move.  My Dad worked for Buick Motor Division, and in those days you moved - a lot.  During the first 6 years of my life we lived in 6 different places.  One of the first songs I learned was a jingle. "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick?"

I remember going with my Dad to dealership grand openings or to visit dealers during Christmas vacation. (I wonder today if some of those dealers are on the list of over 2,600 that will get a call in the next few days telling them that their family business is no more. )

I remember my Dad quoting "Engine Charlie" Wilson with the now famous quote

"...because for years I thought what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa."."

My Dad's job at GM allowed him to support our family.  He worked hard and was proud of what he did and the company he worked at for over 40 years.  He invested what he earned in a home, what his family needed, and in helping his children through college.

Out of the five kids, three of us worked at GM  at one time or another.  I was the short timer - spending a summer at the plant in Wilmington painting Chevettes while studying economics at the University of Delaware.   (That's me in white at the far right of the family picture.)  My brother Rick and sister Susan (standing between me and my Mom) have spent  their entire careers at GM.  Rick as a member of the UAW in the Wilmington plant while Susan followed Dad into the management side.  Rick was planning to celebrate his 30th anniversary with the company this year.  I wonder what will happen now that it has been announced that his plant will close in July.  Susan is out in Michigan this week.  She and other GM mangers will be speaking to the many dealers across the country and helping them understand how these changes affect them.   And Dad?  Well, as a retired management employee, he lost his health insurance benefits earlier this year and now wonders what will happen with his pension.

As I was listening to President Obama announce the bankruptcy of GM to the world live, I was reading an article in the New York Times that said "

"And now it (GM) is filing for bankruptcy, something that would have been unfathomable even a few years ago, much less decades ago, when it was a dominant force in the American economy."

Maybe, Maybe not.  For me, GM was not a career, just a summer job.  Even in college, my focus was innovation and growth.  As an economics major in 1981, my senior thesis paper was titled - Industry in Crisis - the affects of government intervention on the U.S. Auto Industry.  I chose not to follow Daddy into GM, but rather to pursue a career in the then fledgling technology industry.  (It's a bit ironic.  GM leaves the Dow with this bankruptcy filing to be replaced by Cisco on June 8th.  DeVry a school know for technology, will take its place on the S&P.)

Almost two decades later, while in graduate school, I recall listening to my finance professors warn of two impending crises.  One, the Dot.com Bubble, was to implode a short time later.  The second - GM's bankruptcy due to the constant escalation of its employee and pension obligation was temporarily averted by selling bonds and shifting investments in EDS and later Hughes into the under-funded pension trust.

So no, maybe we should not have been taken by surprise. GM's foundation has had serious cracks for a while.  When the global credit markets collapsed, the challenges it faced were akin to a building with a cracked foundation that is rattled by an earthquake. It's structure could not withstand the financial shake up. 

The company that in 2008 was number 4 on the Fortune 500 fell to number 6 by 2009, and on June 1, 2009, the 'unthinkable' became reality,

Now, after 100 years, GM must start anew. 

The world is watching, and I expect that there will be some really interesting family discussions when all of us come together for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary on August 1st.  As we gather round the piano in my family's Rochester, Michigan home to sing the old tunes, I am not expecting to hear the sweet refrains of "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick" but then you never know.

Thanks for stopping by - Stay Tuned...

- Joan Koerber-Walker

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