Frame your story with Leadership
If identity is important to leadership, then I was first a farmerʻs son, helping my Dad with all aspects of planning, planting, maintaining, operating, harvesting and distributing, both ground crops and animal products. My formative childhood years were spent immersed that ancient agricultural cycle, morning to night—in Nature, working with animals and gardens to produce human benefits. I learned from childhood how to collaborate with these cycles.
Alun Bollinger, renowned New Zealand Photographer, and Rob Kinslow, Assistant Camera, ArriFlex 35mm, on the set.
I learned about conservation of energy, bio-mimicry, less-is-more, footprint, responsibility—important behaviors and practices in sustainability. I learned to nurture that which you have planted. And then, to plant more seeds, in our children’s consciousness. My values, visions, practice and message are fundamentally built on my early connections with Nature.
After graduating from high school, I attended the local community college, followed by the University of Maryland. Five part time jobs and five years later, I was awarded a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering. Why aerospace?
You see, as a child I was incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by books that transported me to other worlds and lit a fire under my imagination. My childhood reading led me to want to become either an anthropologist or a rocket scientist. And, since my high school friend Scott, was studying aerospace engineering, I chose to join his team and received an excellent high-tech education at the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland.
Between Scott and other Naval Academy friends, we all immersed ourselves in aero-machine history, dreams, theory, math and engineering. Some of the amigos choose to focus on aerodynamic flow analysis, others design engineering, and for myself, I focused on systems design integration, using special materials and structures. Then, suddenly I was a graduate and the job search began.
Well, when I joined Northrop-Grumman, the first project I worked on was a program investigating the development of these special materials on the flight characteristics of a prototype military aircraft—part of an advanced fighter design competition. Therefore as a systems engineering specialist, I was responsible to produce a 35mm film, a project deliverable. On the fly, with a keen ear to my professional team, who helped hone my production skills, I learned from experienced filmmakers about the art of celluloid storytelling.
I then produced a second film about my stealth systems work. Yet, it was to be my third film project emerging just after I had left NGC, because I chose to be of service to humans, that would show me the value of framing. In another post, I’ll share more on the Ballona Wetlands Land Trust and the struggle with DreamWorks and Poltergeists.
I’ve designed, analyzed, built and tested many of the operational aircraft flying today: F-18E/F, F-22, F-35 and others. Those were heady days with the US military build-up in full swing, yet near the turn of the century, I began my body of work as a filmmaker. But, why if one were an systems engineer would one be a filmmaker?
Share your story, speak authentically
Now, after my years—4 semesters and 2 summers in the Global Leadership and Sustainable Development program, at Hawaii Pacific University. I’ve learned to integrate the frames, film-making and leadership perspectives. I’ve discovered that an important aspect of leadership is about telling your story, using a compelling and authentic voice, in a way to which others will relate and sense the essence of the person one has become.
Personal storytelling is exactly like making a film, a series of frames or scenes, and presenting it to your team, community, or network, as the authentic revealing of your field of experiences and truths. That’s just as important in leadership development as it is on sprucing up your LinkedIn profile for an upcoming interview or coaching budding entrepreneurs at the Hogan Entrepreneurial program, at Chaminade University.
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