Choose to Be Extraordinary by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

How Nido Qubein Turned Life Lessons, Relationships, and Business Experience into an Extraordinary University

 

There is something especially powerful about transforming a place that once helped transform you. Long before Nido Qubein became president of High Point University, he was a student walking its campus, trying to build a future for himself in a new country. His journey began at another small North Carolina college, Mount Olive, where an act of generosity there would influence the rest of his life.

 

From Mount Olive to High Point: Nido arrived in America in 1966 as a seventeen-year-old immigrant from the Middle East. His mother had borrowed money to purchase his one-way ticket. Despite having a fourth-grade education herself, she understood the power of education. His father had died when he was 6, and his mother, a seamstress, raised Nido and his four older siblings herself.

He arrived with $50 in his pocket, struggled with English and was terribly homesick. He worked while attending school to help pay his tuition and living expenses. (Highpoint education Nido Qubein HPY President Extraordinary Life)

 

His first stop was Mount Olive College in eastern North Carolina. Imagine being seventeen years old, thousands of miles from your mother, trying to understand a new language, culture and educational system while simultaneously figuring out how to pay your bills. For 5 years, he and his Mother wrote letters. She did not have a telephone and it was before the internet. Yet Nido kept moving forward.

 

Near the end of his second year at Mount Olive, he decided to continue his education at High Point University. Before he left, Mount Olive President Dr. W. Burkette Raper approached him. Nido knew he had worked hard and believed he had paid his way through school. But Dr. Raper “explained that there had actually been a gap between what his education cost and what Nido had been able to pay.”

Nido's said, “My heart sank. I was worried that I might owe additional money before Mount Olive would release my records to continue my education.” Instead, the President of Mount Oliver College, Dr. W. Burkette Raper told him something Nido would never forget. “An anonymous physician had quietly paid the difference.” Nido immediately wanted to thank the doctor. He couldn't. The donor “wished to remain anonymous.”

 

Think about the significance of that moment. Someone who didn't need recognition believed enough in this young man to help him take the next step in his life. And that next step was High Point University. Nido transferred from Mount Olive to High Point, where he continued his education and graduated in 1970. He later earned a Master of Science in Business Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. But he carried something more important than credits from Mount Olive to High Point.

 

He carried a lesson about significance. The anonymous donor's generosity caused Nido to make a commitment: if he ever became financially successful, he would help other young people receive an education. When he began his business career and had very little money himself, he took his first $500 and started a scholarship. That commitment eventually grew into hundreds of scholarships for North Carolina students. Nido later described that experience as a moment of transformation: “There is more to life than success. There's something called significance, impact, caring.”  That distinction is essential to understanding everything that came afterward.

 

Mount Olive taught him that someone else's generosity could change the direction of a life. High Point gave him the opportunity to continue building that life. Decades later, he would have the opportunity to do the same thing for thousands of students.

 

From Student to Business Leader: After graduating from High Point, Nido spent decades building a very different kind of education. Business became his classroom. Beginning in the 1970s, he built a successful career as an entrepreneur, professional speaker, corporate trainer and consultant. His areas of expertise included sales, persuasion, leadership, communication, customer service, organizational culture, branding and marketing.

 

He also accumulated extensive corporate governance experience, including service on boards such as BB&T—later part of Truist—and La-Z-Boy. Think about what decades of those experiences produced. He sat in boardrooms with CEOs, bankers, investors and entrepreneurs. He advised businesses. He spoke before thousands of business leaders. He learned how successful organizations build culture, differentiate themselves, communicate value, develop relationships and persuade people to believe in a vision. 

 

Over time, he developed a powerful philosophy: Create an extraordinary experience. Communicate its value. Continually improve it. Reinvest in it. Then repeat the process. Then, in 2005, something remarkable happened. The student returned to his alma mater with more than three decades of business experience and was given the opportunity to put those ideas into practice. High Point University became the ultimate real-world application of everything Nido had learned.

 

From Student to Steward: That's why I believe the sequence of Nido Qubein's life matters so much. Mount Olive → High Point → Business → High Point again. At Mount Olive, he experienced generosity and learned the difference between success and significance. At High Point, he received the education and opportunity his mother had dreamed about when she borrowed money for his one-way ticket to America.

 

In business, he learned leadership, sales, communication, branding, customer experience, organizational culture and the extraordinary power of relationships. Then he returned to High Point. But he didn't return empty-handed. He brought everything with him. He brought his mother's values. He brought the anonymous donor's lesson about generosity. He brought his experience as a High Point student. He brought decades of business knowledge. He brought his communication abilities. He brought an enormous network of relationships. And most of all he brought a vision of what an Extraordinary University would look like. “Choose to be extraordinary.” (P.117)

 

He Once Walked These Same Sidewalks:  When I think about Nido becoming president of High Point University in 2005, I don't picture him initially sitting behind the president's desk.

I picture him walking. Because he had walked this campus before as a student. He had walked to class here. He had sat in classrooms here. He had studied here. He had formed relationships here. High Point wasn't simply another university he had been hired to manage. It was his university.

 

Now imagine returning more than three decades later. The young immigrant who had arrived at High Point from Mount Olive searching for opportunity was now walking those same grounds as its president. But this time, he was seeing the campus through very different eyes. He saw rusty showers. He saw an aging building that students called the “Hot Box.” He saw overgrown trees obscuring the library. He said, “Now there was a bit of irony. There we were an institute of higher learning and the library was completely obscured. We needed to limb up those trees so that people would be able to see all the way up and down the walkway. A simple thing, but it would completely change the view of the campus.”  It would “make the campus a safer, more inviting and welcoming place at night.” (P.23)

 

He saw narrow sidewalks forcing students to walk single file. He saw areas students considered uninviting and unsafe. But perhaps because he had once been one of those students himself, he didn't simply see buildings, landscaping and sidewalks. He saw the student experience. He had a vision in his mind of what an extraordinary university could look like, and began to take that first step to building his “Vision”.

 

He began asking a fundamentally different question: “What should a student feel when he or she walks across this campus?”

 

He Didn't Just Widen Sidewalks: One of my favorite examples of Qubein's leadership is something most of us wouldn't give a second thought: A sidewalk. He noticed that High Point's sidewalks were so narrow that students often had to walk single file. His solution was to make them twelve feet wide. But his reasoning had almost nothing to do with concrete.

 

Nido explained: “I wanted them walking side by side, talking to each other, getting to know one another and possibly building relationships that could last a lifetime.” Think about the connection.

 

 Years earlier, he had been the student walking those grounds.

And long before that, his mother had taught him: “If you want to be a great person, Nido, you must first walk side by side, hand in hand with great people.” She also told him: “Who you spend time with is who you become.” 

 

Nido said, “Build stronger bridges between our school and our city. We wanted to do that immediately.” He built fountains, new sidewalks that are 12-foot-wide, new showers (no rust), cut overgrown trees by the library, removed ugly buildings and put beautiful ones in their place. 

 

 Thoughts he lived by: His Mother said to him, “The choices you make determine the person you become.” “Choose to be extraordinary.”  “Be a solution finder.”   “Having

 a to do list and having a to be list.” “Do not prejudice anyone; treat people gently because you do not know their troubles.” He created a beautiful campus where students wanted to learn and grow. “Never let the child inside you die.” Choose to be extraordinary.” (p. 16, P.23, p.117, p.118, p.119, p.153, p.246)

 

Developing a world class culture. Nido’s thoughts:

“Culture building.” (P.159) “They thanked us for the experience, the carrying culture.” p.160 “Planting seeds of greatness wherever you go.” P.166 “Extraordinary, Inspiring, Caring.” P.167 “Building bridges of understanding.” (p.221)“Always building bridges.” (P.228)

 

Nido, “We installed speakers atop a section of the promenade lamp posts to play classical music softly throughout the day, from 7:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night. No student, we believe, should graduate from college having not been exposed to the finest arts of all time: music and dance, sculpture, poetry, and art.” (P.153)

 

He continued, “We populated the walkways with the giants of history, creating life size and strikingly lifelike bronze statues of great men and women. We placed them, one by one, on these iron benches from the promenade to the Congdon Hall of Health Sciences and Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy: John Wesley, Thomas Jefferson, Aristotle, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mark Twain, Mother Teresa, Ronald Reagan, and dozens more.”

 

“With the strains of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms in their ears, our students would now stroll down the brick pathway and settle onto a bench to study their history text- with Mahatma Gandhi or Rosa Parks sitting companionably next to them.” (P. 153) “I’ve told our students, “You may not care about Mark Twain, but you need to know who he was and what he did. And you may not be in love with Chopin- we’re not saying you have to go out and buy his music. But as citizens of the world, though, it should at least be familiar to you.” (“Extraordinary Transformation” by Nido Qubein, p.153)

 

Nido Qubein, “had the brightest visit, speak, and inspire his students.” Dr. Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State, former First Lady Laura Bush, 43^rd United States President George W. Bush, Queen Noor of Jordan, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Bill Gates, co- founder of Micro Soft, General Colin Powell, and many others. They visited the campus, spoke at commencements, taught, and inspired the students.

 

General Colin Powell: (p.158) “When Colin Powell visited our campus to talk with the students he said that every time he parked in the garage at work, the attendant always parked his car up front, so he could hop in and be off quickly when he left. One day, he asked the guy on duty why that was?"

“You want to know why your car’s always up front? The man said, “Listen. Every day, when you come in the morning, you roll down your window and ask me, “Jorge, how was your weekend? How are your sons doing? You enjoying this beautiful day? Every day. That’s why we park your car in front.”

“And that is why Colin Powell had such a stunning career. It’s not simply because he was smart (although he certainly was that) , nor is it purely because he was ambitious ( though that’s certainly true too). It’s because he created relationships. He cared. Whether you’re a dishwasher or a billionaire, here is the secret to success: You create relationships, and you take care of those relationships.” (P.158)

 

Values Became the Strategy: This is what makes Nido's transformation of High Point so interesting to me. He didn't separate values from results. His values helped create the results. His mother's lesson about relationships became wider sidewalks and a relationship-centered campus. His belief in education became an environment filled with history, music, art and great ideas. His experience receiving generosity became a lifelong commitment to scholarships and service. His business experience became an extraordinary student experience. His speaking career became the ability to communicate the university's vision.

 

His relationships became access for students to remarkable leaders and executives. And his ability to sell belief helped attract enormous philanthropic investment to the university. Under Qubein, High Point reported attracting approximately $500 million in philanthropic investment, while net assets grew from approximately $56 million to nearly $1 billion. Those are impressive numbers. But the numbers aren't the entire story.

 

The story is what happens when values, experience, relationships and vision all begin moving in the same direction.

 

The Full Circle: There is something wonderfully full-circle about Nido Qubein's life. A struggling young immigrant arrives at Mount Olive College. Someone he never meets helps pay for his education. He transfers to High Point University. He walks its campus. He graduates. He builds businesses. He develops relationships. He becomes a successful speaker, entrepreneur and corporate leader. And then, decades later, he walks back onto that same High Point campus as president.

 

Only now, instead of asking what the university can do for him, he is asking: What can we do for the students who come after me? That may be the greatest lesson of his story.

Nido's mother told him: “The choices you make determine the person you become.” His life demonstrates something else: The person you choose to become determines what you are eventually capable of doing for others.

 

Mount Olive gave Nido an opportunity. High Point gave him an education. Business gave him experience. Life gave him relationships. His mother gave him values. And eventually, Nido Qubein brought all of them back to High Point University. He once walked that campus as a student imagining what his own future might become. Decades later, he walked it as president imagining what thousands of other students might become. That is the difference between success and significance. And it leaves each of us with a question worth considering:

 

What values, experiences and relationships have shaped your life—and how can you use them to create something extraordinary for the people who come after you?

 

Nido Qubein is the longest serving college President in North Carolina. He started in January of 2005. He has built the following schools at High Point University: Wanek School of Natural Sciences with the state of the art  Culp Planetarium; The Cain Conservatory; Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy; Congdon School of Health Sciences; School of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Facilities; School of Nursing; School of Optometry; Student Life Facility; School of Law; Student Houses and Residence Halls; Hospitality Management Kahn Hotel; Tubby and Donna Smith Court; Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena Conference Center and Hotel.

 

Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker or video speaker contact Madeline at:  mfrankviola@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

Secrets for a Long Happy Marriage! by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

Reverend Chalfant tells the story of a couple in his church celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary”, 50 years of being happily married. Reverend Chalfont asked his parishioner, “What is the secret of your long happy marriage?” (“The Small Gift” retold by Marilyn K. McAuley from Morris Chalfant, The Lutheran Journal, p. 130, from "Stories for the Heart", Collection 1, compiled by Alice Gray)

His parishioner replied, “Sarah, was the only girl I ever dated. I grew up in an orphanage and worked hard for everything I had. I never had time to date until Sarah swept me off my feet. Before I knew it, she had managed to get me to ask her to marry her. After we said our vows on our wedding day, Sarah’s father took me aside and handed me a small wrapped gift.”

Sarah’s father said to me, his new son in law, “Within this gift is all you really need to know to have a happy marriage.”

The son in law said, “I nervously opened the beautifully wrapped gift. Within the box lay a large gold watch. With great care I picked it up. Upon close examination I saw etched across the face of the watch, “Say something nice to Sarah”.

He said, “I made a point of saying something nice to my beloved wife, just as the watch reminded me to each morning for 50 years. That’s the secret of my long and happy marriage.”

It’s all about focusing on the “good”, not the bad things.

If every morning you said something nice to your spouse, wouldn’t you both enjoy a happier day?  Over time, you would begin to build the mindset/habit of gratitude for your spouse and it would become second nature to you.  

 

Every morning begin your day by saying something nice to your spouse and smile as you are saying something nice! It’s all about starting your day with kindness and love!

Far too many people turn to their phones in the morning instead of looking at their spouse. Whatever world events and demands on your attention will be there later in the day. There will come a time when you or your spouse will have passed, and I promise you that the moments of sincere gratitude you invest in your spouse each morning will feed your soul a lot more than chasing a dopamine high of scrolling. 

My parents and grandparents were happily married for more than 50 years. When I was growing up, I often heard my parents and grandparents discussing everything and asking each other questions. They wanted their spouse’s opinion and thoughts. They cared and loved each other.

My husband, Allan and I will have been married for 48 years in September 2026. We have been following this advice each morning by starting the day with a smile, a kiss, a hug, and saying something nice. Growth happens when one of us has something else on our minds and we need to pause and focus on what is right in front of us. Even for a moment, it creates compounding growth. 

When problems arise, we listen to each other’s thoughts and discuss possible solutions together.  We never go to bed mad at each other. By listening to each other vent about an issue, we can enjoy a better night of sleep. 

We always find something to laugh about; something silly or something funny from a movie we have seen. 

When one of us is unhappy the other encourages the other. We help each other. We care!

There will be arguments and problems. Knowing how to handle disagreements through discussion is just as important as knowing how to compliment. Quietly ask questions in a low voice. Do not yell or get angry. It is about discussing the problem and finding a solution. Let the spouse tell the story. 

Marriage is tough, but so worth it. You can work through most problems and come out the other side stronger. Of course, if there is abuse, get out. Find whatever help you need to leave and support system necessary to begin again. You are too precious of a gift to be treated with abuse, cruelty, or disrespect. 

Before our children married we took them to the local jewelry store with their fiancés and had them each pick out watches that they liked and had the jeweler write as close to the face of the watch “Say something nice to “bride name” or “grooms name” on each watch so they could begin their morning right! We gave them the watches right after the wedding ceremonies! One couple has been married for 14 years and the other couple for 9 years.

 If you said something nice to your children, your family members, your friends and your team members at work wouldn’t you connect better and have a happier day?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “When a thoughtless or unkind word is spoken, best to tune it out. Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one’s ability to persuade.” 

She recalled, “I followed that advice assiduously, and not only at home. Fight for the things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you. My Mother told me to be a lady. And to her that meant be your own person, be independent.”

What do you do to nourish, energize, and strengthen your marriage?

 

 

Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker or video speaker contact Madeline at:  mfrankviola@gmail.com

  

Quietly, Quickly Walk Away from A Snake by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

 

It was a beautiful, blue sky day in Virginia Beach. The high was going to be 80 degrees, in early June. This was the ideal day for my husband, Allan and I to go for a boat ride. 

Allan eagerly walked out to our 22-foot boat to warm up the engine for our first boat ride of the summer. I was making some snacks and packing supplies for what would surely be the ideal day on the water. I saw him lift the battery hatch to get ready to start the engine. He quietly and carefully closes the hatch and comes running into the house.

 

Once he is in the house, he yells to me, “There are several large black snakes in the battery hatch! How are we going to get them out?”

 

Madeline: (I am tall, statuesque, with dark brown hair and eyes.) “I say to him, “Call Jay, he’s an expert on boats and snakes – the one legged and two legged kind (variety).”

 

Our friend Jay is a man of many talents. He is rugged, yet polished. He didn’t say much, but when he talked…you should listen. 

 

Allan said, “Remember a month ago, we opened the battery hatch and a mother bird and her babies were sitting inside the hatch by the battery. Well, they finally left the hatch and we cleaned it out with disinfectant and put in mothballs to keep them from returning.”

 

Jay, “Well, the snakes smelled the birds eggs and slithered in! Mothballs do not stop Snakes. Open the hatch and let the sun get in and they will most likely leave. When they leave, close the hole where they entered.”

 

 “Thanks Jay”. 

 

That’s as long as it took for Jay to advise us on our problem. 

 

We found a product called “Snake –A-Way” that gets snakes to leave any area.

 

Meanwhile I spoke to, on the telephone, to the local snake removal service in Virginia Beach. Then collected from our garage our boat gaff, a long rake, long shovel, all just under 6 feet.

 

I despise snakes, but I love boating with my husband. I wanted no part of being around a 6 foot long soon to be homeless slithering creature, but I decided that the rewards exceeded the risks. 

 

“We took the Snake –A-Way, the long rake, long shovel, and gaff, all under 6 feet and walked back to the boat. 

 

I opened the cabinet on the boat with the gaff, then push the long rake in turning the rake upside down to hold the cabinet open and put the required Snake –A-Way amount on the shovel and dropped it into the cabinet with the snakes by turning the shovel over in the cabinet.

Two days later, we carefully checked the battery hatch and the black snakes were gone. We added, with our long shovel, more Snake –A-Way and closed the hatch. Later, we cleaned out the hatch, sterilized it, closed the hole where the snakes were entering through and called all of you to go on our boat ride.

 

What 3 things did you and I learn about snakes?

1)  If you see or hear a snake make a hissing, sizzling, growling, and spiting sound quietly and quickly walk away. Snakes are not aggressive the sounds are to warn predators away.  (Snakes are attracted to a food source keep all hatches clean and free of holes to enter in to cabinets!)

 

2)   If bitten call 911. Expert, Lawrence Paul says, “do not apply pressure or suck fluid, or use ice.   Keep the effected snake bite extremely below the heart.”.

 

 3) Do not attempt to kill or capture a snake. Paul says, “80 percent of snake bites occur when people attempt to capture or kill snakes. Very often alcohol is involved.”   If you want to know what kind of snake it is, “from a safe distance” take a picture of it “and upload it to the Facebook wall of the Virginia Herpetological Society” for identification.

 

Snake areas (April- Oct.): In areas where grass is high with logs, marshes, or holes on the ground wear long pants, socks, long sleeve shirts and real shoes. At night use a flashlight.

 

Look and listen carefully!

So, the next time you see or hear a snake walk away quietly!  © 2026 Madeline Frank

 

 

 

 

 Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. 

If you need a speaker or video speaker contact Madeline at:  mfrankviola@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

The Benefits of Tactful Termination by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

 

Dale Carnegie said, “Let the other person save face.” (p. 177, Chapter 21, Dale Carnegie’s “How to Enjoy Your Life and your Job”)

 

Dale Carnegie, “Years ago the General Electric Company was faced with the delicate task of removing Charles Steinmetz from the head of a department. Steinmetz was a genius when it came to electricity. He was a washout as the head of the calculating department. Yet the company didn’t dare offend the man. He was indispensable- and highly sensitive.”

 

He offered great value…just not in his current position. They created a position that played perfectly to his strengths and gave him the title of “Consulting Engineer of the General Electric Company—a new title for work he was already doing—and let someone else head up the department."

 

He was thrilled. 

 

"So were the officers of the General Electric Company. They had gently maneuvered their most temperamental star, and they had done it without a storm—by letting him save his face."

Being considerate of other people’s feelings and allowing them to preserve their ego can pay huge dividends. Oftentimes, Carnegie says, “we ride roughshod over the feelings of others, getting our own way, finding fault, issuing threats, criticizing a child or an employee in front of others, without even considering the hurt to the other person’s pride!  Whereas a few minutes’ thought, a considerate word or two, a genuine understanding of the other person’s attitude would go so far toward alleviating the sting!”

 

Carnegie Continues, “Firing employees is not much fun. Getting fired is even less fun.” (I’m quoting now from a letter written me by Marshall A. Granger, a certified public accountant.) “Our business is mostly seasonal. Therefore, we have to let a lot of men go in March.”

“It’s a byword in our profession that no one enjoys wielding the axe. Consequently, the custom has developed of getting it over as soon as possible, and usually in the following way: ‘Sit down, Mr. Smith. The season’s over, and we don’t seem to see any more assignments for you. Of course, you understand that you were only employed for the busy season anyhow, etc., etc.’

 

“The effect on the men was one of disappointment, and a feeling of being ‘let down’. Most of them were in the accounting field for life, and they retained no particular love for the firm that dropped them so casually.”

“I recently decided to let our extra men go with a little more tact and consideration. So, I have called each man in only after carefully thinking over his work during the winter. And I’ve said something like this: ‘Mr. Smith, you’ve done a fine job (if he has). That time we sent you over to Newark, you had a tough assignment. You were on the spot, but you came through with flying colors, and we want you to know the firm is proud of you. You’ve got the stuff—you’re going a long way, wherever you’re working. This firm believes in you, and is rooting for you, and we don’t want you to forget it!’

 

While we look at temporary work as commonplace today, back when this was written, people viewed it as a stepping stone toward a more permanent position. 

Marshall Granger, “Effect? The men go away feeling a lot better about being fired. They don’t feel ‘let down’. They know if we had work for them, we’d keep them on. And when we need them again, they come to us with a keen personal affection.”

 

Dale Carnegie said, "The late Dwight Morrow possessed an uncanny ability to reconcile belligerents who wanted to fly at each other’s throats. How? He scrupulously sought what was right and just on both sides—he praised it, emphasized it, brought it carefully to the light—and no matter what the settlement, he never placed any man in the wrong."

 

"That’s what every arbitrator knows—let men save their faces."

 

 “Even if we are right and the other person is definitely wrong, we only destroy ego by causing someone to lose face. The legendary French aviation pioneer and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote: “I have no right to say or do anything that diminishes a man in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him, but what he thinks of himself. Hurting a man in his dignity is a crime.”

 

― Dale Carnegie, "How to Enjoy Your Life And Your Job”, P. 179.

Dale Carnegie continues, "A real leader will always…Let the other person save face.” 

 

  

 Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker or video speaker contact Madeline at: 

 mfrankviola@gmail.com

 

 

 

Law School Homework at 8 Years Old by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

How to live your dream and get your children to do their homework?

My Momma always wanted to be a lawyer like her Daddy, my Grandpa Leader. Year after year my Daddy said, “I’m sorry we just don’t have the money for you to go to law school maybe next year.” 

My Daddy was a medical doctor, a surgeon, and his patients were fishermen and farmers so they paid him in vegetables or fresh fish. We always had plenty to eat just no money for law school. 

My Momma had waited over eight years to go to law school and one day she made an appointment with the Dean of the local law school. The Dean said “If you can get A’s in both of these Law classes you will be given a scholarship to attend law school. 

Momma got A’s in both classes. She studied really hard. She had gotten into Harvard Law School years before, but my parents didn’t have the money for both of them to go to school at the time.

Momma arranged her law classes so she would be home when my older brother and I got home from elementary school. She’d have milk and cookies on the dining room table for my brother and I and she would join us with her coffee. 

We would all study together every day after school. Momma had her law books to study and my brother and I had our homework from elementary school to study. If you had a question Momma would say very softly, “How about opening your book and looking for the answer?” 

As a child of 8, I remember thinking that it didn’t feel quite so lonely and awful anymore to sit and do our homework because Momma was right there with us doing her home work too. We worked together for three years until Momma finished law school at the top of her class. 

My Momma, Romayne Leader Frank, was one of the first women to graduate Law School at the College of William & Mary Law School. She practiced Family Law & Real Estate Law for 38 years helping others.

Strong lessons learned: My Momma dreamed of being a lawyer and though she didn’t have the money for law school she found a way to have her dream. She was willing to study hard to prove she was worthy of a Law scholarship. 

My Momma believed in education and because she was sitting down to do her homework we would do ours too! Just by Momma being there you were encouraged to do your best because you knew Momma was doing her best.

My Momma taught us to never give up on living your dream of becoming a lawyer and on inspiring your children to do their homework. Momma taught us to keep looking and thinking and you will find a way to solve your problems and if you want something badly enough you will study and work hard enough to get it.

Momma was our role model. She was willing to lead us by example and show is how to study, how to learn, how to think, and how to reason out our problems. 

My Momma never gave up on anything and neither should you! (C) 2026, 2009 Madeline Frank

  Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker or video speaker contact Madeline at:  mfrankviola@gmail.com

 

Leadership Means Nothing If You Can’t Trust & Inspire, Part 2 by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

Every business owner wants their business to thrive. When starting a business, the owner(s) are usually involved in every aspect of the business and exert a terrific amount of control. As the business scales, however, that same Command and Control mentality can cripple the business.  While it is essential to always inspect what you expect, top down leadership does little to empower or grow the team. 

That change in mentality in business, away from constant control, was heavily influenced by Peter Drucker’s management philosophies being implemented in the 1960-1970s. 

Trust & Inspire leader

Stephen M.R. Covey says, “The beliefs of a Trust & Inspire leader are.. like a lens; they enhance our vision. They bring people and things into focus. They help us see the world in a new way. And with that clear vision, we are better able to perform, serve, contribute, and learn. We see people not only as they truly are, but as what they could be.”

Mr. Covey says, “Each of us can become a Trust & Inspire leader through understanding and acting on the following 5 Fundamental Beliefs:"

1)   “People have greatness inside them…so my job as a leader is to unleash their potential, not control them.”

2)   “People are whole people…so my job as a teacher is to inspire, not merely motivate”

3) “There is enough for everyone…so my job as a leader is to elevate caring above competing.”

   4) “Leadership is stewardship…so my job as a leader is to put service above self-interest.”

   5) “Enduring influence is creating from the inside out…so my job as a leader is to go first.”      (Stephen M.R. Covey, “Trust & Inspire”, 2022, p. 81)

A Trust and Inspire leader models trust, honesty, respect, and are accountable.  They ask questions, (asking others for their opinion), and listen to understand their thoughts. It’s about inspiring, motivating, empowering, and developing their employee’s potential. It’s all about recognizing people’s potential, connecting with them, caring about them, complimenting their contributions, and helping them grow and improve to be their best selves. Trust and Inspire leaders develop people! They value others. They create a culture of caring. 

They also hold others accountable. When it comes to leadership, to be unclear is to be unkind. People want to grow and they tend to thrive when given feedback. The great leaders are not afraid to offer course correction when things are not going well. (I’m sure you can think of a boss who had a tough conversation with you at some time in your life…it may have been unpleasant at that time, but it helped you grow). 

Campbell’s Soup Company:

In 2001, Campbell Soup Company was in trouble. Stock prices had fallen, performance had hit rock bottom, and morale inside the company was collapsing. To stabilize the organization, the board hired Douglas Conant as President and CEO.

Within days of arriving, Conant realized the company’s biggest problem was not its products—it was its culture. The workplace atmosphere had become toxic. Distrust was high, engagement was low, and talented people were leaving the company in droves.

Conant later observed:

“You can’t expect a company to perform at high levels unless people are personally engaged. And they won’t be personally engaged unless they believe their leader is personally engaged in trying to make their lives better.”

He understood that organizational performance is inseparable from leadership style. If leaders create fear, disengagement follows. But if leaders create trust and respect, performance improves.

When Conant first walked through the doors of the corporate headquarters, he noticed rusty barbed wire surrounding the campus—a physical symbol of the emotional barriers that existed within the organization. Suspicion and frustration had replaced pride and collaboration.

Conant set out to reverse the culture.

Instead of a traditional top-down command-and-control structure, he vowed to build an inverted pyramid, where leadership exists to support the people doing the work. Employees would no longer be treated as expendable labor but as the company’s most valuable asset.

He formalized this commitment through what became known as “The Campbell Promise.” The pledge was simple but powerful: every person in the organization would be treated with dignity, respect, and integrity.

Conant believed that toxic culture usually begins with toxic leadership. If the environment is broken, leadership must change first. During his first three years as CEO, he replaced 300 of the company’s 350 senior leaders—an unprecedented move in the food industry. Half were promoted from within and half were hired externally, all chosen for their ability to lead with humility and respect.

But Conant didn’t attempt to change the culture from behind a desk.

He wore a pedometer, laced up his walking shoes, and spent hours each day walking through offices and production facilities—from corporate headquarters in New Jersey to plants across Europe and Asia. His goal was to log 10,000 steps a day while engaging directly with employees.

These daily interactions allowed him to ask questions, listen, and stay connected to the realities of the organization. He called these interactions “touchpoints.”

Conant also practiced a simple but powerful habit: handwritten recognition. Each day he wrote about twenty notes thanking employees for their contributions.

Doug Conant explained:

“I was trained to find the busted number in a spreadsheet and identify what’s going wrong. Most cultures don’t do a good job celebrating contributions. So I developed the practice of writing notes to our employees.”

Over ten years, he wrote more than 30,000 handwritten notes—even though the company had only about 20,000 employees. Around the world, employees proudly displayed those notes in their cubicles and offices.

The impact was profound. Employees valued those handwritten messages far more than a routine email because they represented authentic recognition from leadership.

As the workplace atmosphere improved, something remarkable happened: innovation returned.

Campbell’s employees began developing new retail display systems, such as gravity-feed shelving and clearly labeled soup racks now used in stores worldwide. They also introduced new product innovations, including soups designed specifically for microwave preparation.

Conant often said that the true transformation at Campbell’s was not about products—it was about people.

“The magic was on the inside.”

By 2009, the results were clear. Under Conant’s leadership, Campbell’s financial performance outpaced both the S&P 500and the S&P Food Products Index. Sales and earnings were rising, and employee engagement had reached world-class levels.

At the center of the turnaround was Conant’s simple leadership framework for everyday interactions: “Listen, Frame, Advance.”

His three-step “Touchpoints” approach worked like this:

1. Listen
Listen intently to understand what is really happening and what people need. Listening demonstrates respect and shows employees that their voices matter.

2. Frame
Clarify the issue so everyone involved has a shared understanding of the challenge.

3. Advance
Agree on the next step and who is responsible for taking action.

This approach changed the communication dynamic from “It’s all about me” to “It’s all about us.”

Every year Campbell’s surveyed employees to measure whether leaders were living the company’s leadership model—one centered on trust, respect, and engagement. Leaders who could not or would not adapt to this culture were replaced with those committed to a more civil and collaborative approach.

The transformation of Campbell’s Soup demonstrates a timeless leadership principle:

The atmosphere of a workplace is created by the behavior of its leaders.

When leaders cultivate civility, trust, and respect, employees engage more deeply, innovation accelerates, and performance follows.

Culture is not changed by slogans on the wall.

It is changed one interaction at a time.

How do you treat people?   You treat them with curtesy and respect, and ask them questions.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen:

When Cheryl Bachelder became the new CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen “she walked into a mess”. (Stephen M.R. Covey) In 7 years she was the 5th CEO. She said, “I walked into a burning building.”

In her book, Dare to Serve, "profits had fallen, the number of customers had declined, morale and performance were down, product development was sagging. Its stock had gone from “$34 per share down to $11 on the day had walked through the door.” 

“The relationship between the company and its franchisees as Cheryl described it, was “on the rocks.” Her franchisees “didn’t trust the company, and the company didn’t trust them. No one had trust and no one was thriving.”

Cheryl Bachelder’s top priority as CEO “was to establish trust with franchisees, modeling the belief that leaders go first. She asked her team to think about whether they were partners the franchisees could trust.” (pp.120- 121)  

She focused “on her relationship with her franchisees. She and her team demonstrated humility, courage, and vulnerability by listening deeply to and empathizing with the needs and concerns of their franchisees. In her first thirty days, she recalls, “the most important thing I did was keep my mouth shut, and I went on the road for a listening tour.”

Who did she meet with?

 “She met with and listened to franchise owners, restaurant general managers, and Popeyes customers. And let them all tell her what was wrong.” 

 She said, “the answers were usually in the room; everybody knew what was wrong. Nobody was fixing it.”

 Cheryl Bachelder “listened and responded with authenticity, showing her character and desire to help franchisees succeed.” She then “fixed it” by implementing “solutions to every problem she heard. She recognized that in addition to building a high-trust relationship with the home office, what the franchisees needed to see from her and the company were results. She needed to demonstrate to everyone a way forward” by performing.”

“She even told Wall Street the exact thing she had told her board: that her franchisees, not her shareholders, were her first priority.” This was “a courageous statement from a CEO to her investors and board. And in the end, she met the needs of all stakeholders, including shareholders.”

After eight years, “unit sales per restaurant grew by 45 percent. Restaurant profitability soared, doubling in terms of real dollars. Popeyes’ market share overall grew from 14 to 27 percent. The stock price went from $11 to $79 at the end of Cheryl’s ten years as CEO, when the company was acquired by Restaurant Brands International.” (Covey, p.120)

Cheryl said, “The franchisees… a favorite of lenders… a favorite of investors…and a case study in serving up superior performance results. The secret to Popeyes’ turnaround per performance? We dared to serve.”

Cheryl Bachelder, CEO of Popeyes, “Leadership is not about your ambition. It is about bringing out the ambitions of your team…The leader must have both the courage to take people to a daring destination and the humility to selflessly serve others on the journey.”

Here are three thought-provoking questions that invite reflection on the stories of Campbell’s Soup Company and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen?

1.   How does seeing people as “whole human beings” rather than roles or titles fundamentally change motivation, loyalty, and long-term performance?

 (What happens to culture when leaders lead with empathy instead of authority?)

2.   If trust and inspiration can transform failing companies, what fears or beliefs most often stop leaders from choosing this approach—and what does it cost them when they don’t?

3.   What can listening to your franchisees, employees, and stakeholders do for you? What questions should you ask? How can I help? (Send handwritten notes to employees celebrating their successes and contributions.)



-- Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker or video speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com

DON’T LET ADVERSITY KNOCK YOU DOWN! by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

Walt Disney, “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” 

 Walt Disney with his friend and collaborator, Ub Iwerks created “a new character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.” (1926)   The Oswald cartoons were being turned out rapid-fire by Disney’s studio. They became very successful. “The hand drawn animation for Oswald was a labor-intensive process requiring many hours of painstaking work by Walt’s skilled artists. Skilled artists cost money.” He decided it was “time to negotiate a little more money for his product.” 

Walt Disney, 25, went to New York to see Charles Mintz, the film distributor for Universal. “Mintz offered him substantially less than he was currently earning.” Minz said, “The Oswald character was owned by Universal, not Disney and most of Disney’s animators had already been quietly hired away.” (Jason Liller, 2013,“Walt Disney: Dreams Really Do Come True” (pp. 11-13) 

Lesson: Always read the fine print on a contract. 

Walt Disney was devastated. His business was “pulled out from under him… His investment of time, money, and talent was taken from him in a blink of an eye.” At this point he could have given up in defeat and returned home to Missouri, but that was not his nature. 

While returning by train to Hollywood with his wife, Lillian, who worked as an ink artist at Walt Disney Animated Studio, he immediately thought about creating a new character to replace Oswald.

He said, “I was all alone and had nothing. Mrs. Disney and I were coming back on the train and I had to have something. I can’t tell them I’ve lost Oswald. So I had this mouse in the back of my head,,,”

With "input from his wife, Lillian, and a design revamp by" his friend and collaborator, Ub Iwerks, they created the character they believed "would secure their studio’s survival: Mickey Mouse." (Walt Disney: Dreams Really Do Come True, 2013, Jason Liller, p.15)

Walt Disney felt "bullied and betrayed" by Charles Mintz. Instead of tucking his tail between his legs and returning home, he decided his best response was to create something that would become wildly popular. 

Walt Disney, “I function better when things are going badly than when they’re as smooth as whipped cream.”

When adversity knocks you down, get right back up, and visualize a new picture just like Walt Disney did!

Walt Disney, “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” 

Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker or video speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com