 This is Stink Tech, Hawaii. Community matters here. Oha, welcome. I'm your host, Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Tenacity is defined as the ability to persevere in the face of obstacles. Whether you are a millennial or generation ex-supervisor, the characteristics of leadership are the same self-confidence. Our topic for this segment, lessons in effective leadership. Today, one of our Sister Power VIP guests, Elgin Cooper, is a service disabled veteran with more than 24 years of experience in management and leadership. He retired as a rank of lieutenant colonel. Mr. Cooper is an author of The Tenacity of a Soldier. Sister Power's second VIP guest is Kimberley K. Laboux. She is a published author, international speaker, and certified life coach. She is also at the helm as CEO and founder of Laboux Publishing Enterprise. Elgin and Kimberley, welcome to Sister Power. Thank you. I'm so glad, so happy to have you. And before we forget, Laboux, Ms. Kimberley, happy belated birthday. Oh, thank you so much. Absolutely. And I also want to thank you for bringing us Elgin Cooper, Think Tech or Sister Power. We have no idea about this wonderful young man that's written this book, The Tenacity of a Soldier. And we're gonna talk about lessons and effective leadership. And one of my first questions is, what is the difference between presence, executive presence, and leadership? The difference, I would say, with presence is the fact that you have a charisma that indicates that you are in charge. Leadership is that it's an attitude that a person takes who wants something different, who's looking for something different. By that, they are forming a, they are thinking in terms of looking for something extra. They are committed to achieving a goal. With that goal, their conviction is managed by their ability to transmit and to move people and think along the same lines. Okay, so this is the book right here. This is the book is The Tenacity of a Soldier. So it's a book that's right on the screen. And I'm sorry I didn't mean to cut you off because I really like that picture that captures the soldiers, not only in leadership, but getting ready for war. And ready for war. Why didn't you write this book? I wrote this book because first aid was dedicated to my parents for instilling tenacity in me, which again is the ability to persevere in the face of obstacles. It was also dedicated to my wife because of her continuing support of me. For several years after I retired from the Pentagon, my wife encouraged me to write my life story in terms of my military experience, experiences as well as the lessons that were learned from that. And we are from Maryland. We moved to Everbeach. She met, my wife met Ms. Laboux. Oh, that's what I wanted to know, the connection there, but she'll tell us later. She met her and they became friends and an informational briefing was set up for me to discuss the possibility of me putting my thoughts in black and white. At the conclusion of the meeting, I decided that I would in fact put my thoughts in writing. It gave me a chance to explore my life experiences, the lessons learned from that as well as provide them with a self-development timeline. And again, it also gave me an opportunity to improve and enhance my mentoring and coaching skills. Well, Kimberly, what inspired you to know that this was a worthy story for Mr. Cooper to share with the world? Well, as Elgin just said, his wife and I became friends here. And when I was talking to her about launching Laboux Publishing Enterprise, we started down this conversation of all of the knowledge that Elgin has behind his military experience and leadership abilities and the fact that it would be wonderful if he would put that to paper. And so you know what happens with the whole sister power thing, right? Yeah, that's right, keep it moving. We got to talking and then, yeah, and then Elgin was for it. And so it just turned out to be a really beautiful project and I'm just so honored to have been able to work with Elgin to create such a phenomenal book. That's wonderful. What are the benefits of this book, Elgin? The benefits of this book would be the fact that it affords a young man an opportunity to benefit without having to experience it. The life lessons that I've learned that I've transferred to paper are real and authentic. There's that they offer a timeline again for self development, but it also affords an individual a chance to actually learn what are the pitfalls of leadership. Well, you're talking about that. How do you define leadership? Again, leadership is the ability to coerce people and force people in a coercive manner to trust and care for their subordinates as well as to leave them with a common goal in mind. Okay. Well, what advice would you give to aspiring leaders? The advice I would give to aspiring leaders would be that I would encourage them to continue their education, in essence to be a continuous learner, to also dedicate themselves to self development. Because again, if you master those two skills, then mentors will seek you out for the purpose of giving you additional professional development as well as career opportunities. All right. Well, Kimberly, throughout your life, who have been your heroes? My heroes have been people closest to me. One, my mother. She is my hero. My mom is a quiet strength. And so I learned a lot of my own leadership skills from her. And then beyond that, people that I've met in my journey through life that I can look up to, I've met some fairly strong women in business. And those are the people that I can touch are my role models. So not so much the people that you can't get next to, but people that have been right along my path that have been willing to help me along the way that have been willing to impart knowledge into me. And as Elgin said, teaching me about the pitfalls so I didn't have to hit so many of them myself. So those would be my heroes. I like that. People you can touch. As a leader, Elgin, what do you most value when things are going well and why? What I most value when things are going well is the contributions that my team is willing to make. The fact that they are willing to learn. Additionally, we are always continuously learning and we're looking for opportunities to improve. Even though things may be going well, there's always things that we can improve. So we're always looking for education. Well, you know, I read an article in your book and I want you to expand on it. And it says it's about the anger and anguish of black men. Tell us about that. I'll give you one example without telling the whole book, releasing the whole book. In high school, I worked at a nightclub. And I was a server. And again, black men growing up in the deep South at the end of the Jim Crow era, those men were angry. Angry because they had been subjected to racism and harassment each and every day that they went to work. And those cafes, taverns or nightclubs served as an opening for them to vent their frustrations. And with the taste of brown liquor in their systems, they tended to release their frustrations. And that's probably the best way to say it. It also taught me that I did not want to drink because of that. Okay. Wow. Well, Kimberley, if you were writing your autobiography, which period in your life would be the most exciting chapter? I believe the chapter that I'm in right now is the most exciting chapter. I've been through many, many trials in my life, but where God has now placed me, it's just phenomenal. I prayed for peace and God sent me to one of the most peaceful places on the island. And also since I've been here, being able to launch this publishing company is a very exciting time for me. So I think this time that I'm in right now with my kids grown and they're doing their own thing and flourishing, this is about the most exciting time that I have had in my life. That's good. I call Honolulu, Hawaii the bus stop to heaven. Oh yeah. So I feel you. I definitely feel you. Well, Elgin, what are the effects of good leadership? The effects of good leadership are the fact that you show compassion, you trust. Trust is probably the biggest element that we're looking for because again, you are trained at an early age in the military that you have to trust your subordinates. In trusting them, you're giving them a buy-in on what you're doing because no, none of your work is going to be accomplished without them buying into what you're attempting to accomplish, your vision is never going to be realized without their buy-in. Their buy-in. All right. On my Facebook page I have, I am not impressed by money, followers, degrees or titles. What impresses me is honesty, kindness, generosity, integrity and humility. And the question I have for you Elgin is, which is more useful in leadership? Intelligence or wisdom? Wisdom. Wisdom is most intelligent because you understand and you're compassionate. And again, you must realize that each individual has their own opinion of things, but you need to have a buy-in from them in order to progress. You don't progress if you're dictating because they are going to resent what you're doing and they aren't going to be willing to give you 100%. Okay, I'm excited about continuing this conversation and we're gonna take a quick break and we're gonna come back and talk about your book, The Tenacity of a Soldier and our segment, Lessons in Effective Leadership. This is Think Tech Hawaii, Raising Public Awareness. When I was growing up, I was among the one in six American kids who struggled with hunger and hungry mornings make tired days. Grumpy days. That kind of days. But with the power of breakfast, the kids in your neighborhood can think big and be more. When we're not hungry for breakfast, we're hungry for more. More ideas. More dreams. More fun. When kids aren't hungry for breakfast, they can be hungry for more. Go to hungarees.org and lend your time or your voice to make breakfast happen for kids in your neighborhood. Aloha, I'm Marcia Joyner, inviting you to come visit with us on Cannabis Chronicles, a 10,000-year odyssey where we explore and examine the plant that the muse has given us. And stay with us as we explore all the facets of this planet on Wednesdays at noon. Please join us alone. Welcome back to Sister Power. I'm your host Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. And we are here with two phenomenal guests. And we have Elgin Cooper here, who's the author of The Tenacity of a Soldier. And the name of our segment is Lessons of Effective Leadership. And we have Kimberley LeBoo. This is her second time here on Sister Power. So we're excited about that. And she's the CEO of LeBoo Publishing Enterprise. So let's get back to Lessons and Effective Leadership. What mission do leaders take on to be successful? The most important lesson that a leader takes on is the lesson of knowledge. He or she must be read in on what the mission is, the who, what, where, and when, and why, in order to be able to communicate that to his or her subordinates. That's necessary. That is the mission that we are faced with every day, being able to communicate to our subordinates what our intent is and what the vision is. I love that. And before we go any further, you sent me a wonderful collage of 25 courageous women. And we have to acknowledge that you are one of the 25 courageous women. We have a collage on that. And we're gonna show that. Tell us a little bit, Kimberley, the courageous 2018 woman, top 25 women in business. Yes, I'm so excited to be a part of this issue. This is the Courageous Woman magazine. They're located in Los Angeles, California. And so they did a call and you had to submit your businesses and give a synopsis of your business and your background. And you would be selected based on their criteria of reading through all the women that submitted. And so I'm really honored and excited to be a part of the top 25 women in business, especially with the launch of Labou Publishing Enterprise. I've been in business for a really long time. So I have that background and that expertise, but to be able to be recognized for now launching this business and it's been flowing beautifully ever since the launch happened. And so I'm just very honored to be recognized in that way for the Courageous Woman, top 25 women in business. Well, congratulations and I do expect my copy. You will have your copy. And I'm excited that you and I are working on a project and everything takes time. Absolutely. She's a perfectionist. I'm a perfectionist. Just look how people is coming. Stop it, stop it, stop it. So Elgin, back to you in this wonderful book, The Tenacity of a Soldier. How do you want to treat people to get the best from them? You want to treat people with compassion because again, the hardships of being a soldier and being deployed are always an issue that they are leaving their loved ones, they're leaving problems behind supposedly. So you have to be compassionate of each and every soldier, but again, you must show compassion in terms of the fact that you still have a mission that has to be accomplished. You have to be able to communicate that to them, but yet showing them the fact that you understand the hardships. And if there is an opportunity to reward them, you reward them too as well. Oh, I like that. Because I think that when men and women leave their families, that we're not feeling, we meaning the civilians at home, feeling the pain and the anguish that the people who are leaving to fight for us, you know, to keep us safe. So you explained it so very, very well, that having the compassion for each other really, that's what it's all about. And what we're going through right now, we need some compassion, right? You know what I might say. So, Elgin, how important is mentoring in the leadership process? Mentoring in the leadership process is extremely important because again, what you're doing is it's a gift of sharing knowledge and leadership. And you're developing a leader, you're also giving that individual an opportunity that they have demonstrated through their past performance that they are ready. Again, everyone is not willing and nor are they ready. Again, you have to be professionally ready through your professional education as well as your civilian education. You have to demonstrate through your various assignments that you are mature enough to handle those and excel at those. And I'm glad you brought that up. It was an article, it's chapter nine on page 53, weapons of distraction, explain that. Again, weapons of distraction, one of those, one of the key ones would be that failure to complete your professional education. That's probably the easiest one that each and every soldier can do, going to school and advancing. But again, some of us don't find it necessary that we procrastinate. And again, that's always an inhibitor towards promotions. The fact that you did not meet the requirement of getting your professional education completed. Wow. Well, Kimberley, has there been any single event or moment that has changed the course of your life? Absolutely. Wow, I don't know if we have enough time for that one. Okay, let's just give us a snippet. Snippet, one of the biggest moments that changed my life was when we had a home invasion, when I lived in Maryland. And it was when my son was 14 years old and he was home by himself and he was attacked. And so living through that experience, you wanna talk about leadership, how to be strong when that adversity arises and lead your child through that experience. That was a life-changing moment for me. And it was also a life-changing moment for my family, especially my son. But it made him stronger and he is going on to thrive and look at where we all are now. So that, I would say, was one of the biggest moments. One of the biggest moments. Yeah, that was life-changing. Life-changing. Let's talk about delegating authority. In your 24 years, what has been the hardest task for you when you're delegating authority to that individual? What are you looking for? What I'm looking for is I'm looking for what I would turn independent thinkers. I need people that understand what the mission is, what the vision is, but yet they're able to go out and make a decision whether they are civilians or soldiers. They need to be able to represent me and what my philosophy is without me having to stand over them as to supervise them. Again, that's important to ensure that they are fully aware. Again, the army believes in the fact of be no, do no. Say that again. Be no and do no. Be no and do no. My problem was in the army. Yes, yes, yes. And we expect you to be there doing your job at all times in the right place, at the right time in the proper uniform. And that surmises all of it. Oh, my goodness. That said it all, didn't it? All right. So, a question for you. Yes, ma'am. What was the most exciting phone call or letter you have received? The most exciting phone call or letter. In the moment, it was two days ago. Oh, tell us about it. When I knew that Elgin's book hit amazon.com and we met our deadline for publishing. Oh, my goodness. The kind of things that excite me. Yeah, but that's exciting because it's called accomplishment. Yes, yes, for the both of us. For the both of you, for the both of us. It was a win-win situation. Yes. My goodness, there's so much in here and this is a book that I think that everyone should have in their library because let's talk about integrity and ethics. Yes. That's a big one. Yes, yes. Let's talk about that. I'll try to paraphrase a lot of it because it's an extended story. But what I'll tell you is that I had an in-senior enlisted person and he asked questions of his superior. The superior didn't like the fact that he was asking the questions in a meeting. And in essence, after the meeting, he walked up to him to say something but in the process of walking in his haste to get there, he slipped and fell and he assumed that the enlisted person had pushed him down. The issue came up as to, as an officer, you are supposed to be able to tell the truth at all times. Again, the dilemma is that do I tell the truth or do I exaggerate the truth? That was the dilemma that I was faced with. My answer is to always tell the truth and let the pieces fall where they may and they fell. I received a poor evaluation for that particular period of time but over the course of time, it was removed because I performed extremely well. I like that. Well, Kimberly, what do you most admire about the person to your right? His tenacity. I just admire Elgin for one taking on this task and being dedicated to pushing through even when sometimes got frustrating because he was not familiar with this process at all and the fact that he trusted me enough to be able to guide him through that and he stuck with the process and is now on the other side of it and able to celebrate it. That took a lot of courage for him to be able to step up to the plate to do this so I really, really admire that about Elgin and I'm so happy that he did it. Well, Elgin, what do you most admire about the person to your left? Her patience. Oh, yes. Her patience. She's patient with me. You hit it on the nose. Her patience with me, the fact, as she said, this was my initial try at writing a book again and it took a lot of pushing for me and prodding me to want to do this because again, as my wife would say, I've got a lot of information I needed to share with the world and I've got a lot of ideas but again, but me having the patience and again, I think that's the biggest problem that most people have, patience. They don't have a lot of patience and I for one don't. I don't either. My husband is, he is so patient, thank goodness. And that is so valuable, patience. Tell us, where can we purchase your book? The book can be purchased at www.elgincooper.com or it can be purchased on Amazon. All right, and the name of the book again is Tenacity of a Soldier, Lessons in Effective Leadership and definitely I think this is a book that parents need to take home to their children. I think teachers need to pick this book up and this should be a class lesson because in your book speaks of so many valuable lessons that we need in life itself. So what has been the most important or rewarding job you have held? The most rewarding job that I've had was that TAC officer. That's Teach, Advise and Counsel students. Those were students that wanted to become officers so you actually have a chance to actually mold that career. You're that role model that they are looking at and you're the one who works with them every day and you have an opportunity to watch them grow in their leadership skills and their physical ability to perform under stress. And again, my thing is that I'm going to place as much stress on you as possible because I need you to stand and be that bright shining star to those subordinates. Well, this has been most wonderful and most enlightening in Elgin Cooper. I want to thank you so much for coming on Sister Power and thank you, Kimberly, Labou for coming on again. And finally, when we all vote, we can change the world. If we really want our voices to be heard, vote at the general election on Tuesday, November 6th, 2018. Starting today, we have exactly 34 days to vote. When we all vote, we determine our future. Tune into Sister Power on Thursdays at 4 p.m. I'm Sharon Tomajaro. Thank you for watching Sister Power.