Next Level Blog
Simple, practical, applicable
How To Keep Them Talking About You February 4 2011
My oldest son, Andy, is a senior at James Madison University. A couple of weeks ago, he told me a story about Ron Carrier who was president of JMU from 1971 to 1998. In other words, Carrier retired as president of JMU nine years before Andy arrived as a freshman. More than a decade after he retired, JMU students are still telling Ron Carrier stories.
There’s a leadership lesson in there.
Andy told me that a few times a year Carrier would walk up to a student on campus and ask them about their GPA. If it was solid, Carrier would tell the student to take the next day off from their classes. Carrier would attend their classes for them with the promise of taking excellent notes that he would pass on to them.
How brilliant was that? In one gesture, Carrier made a student happy, created an opportunity to personally check on the quality of JMU instruction, meet a bunch of students when he attended the classes and generate a lot of positive word of mouth buzz throughout the campus. Buzz that was so strong that students like Andy are still talking about President Carrier thirteen years later.
Simple yet elegant. What are the easy to do, likely to be remembered things that you could do as a leader to learn more about your organization and build connections at the same time? (Here’s a hint – anyone seen an episode of Undercover Boss lately?)
Scott Eblin is an executive coach, speaker and author of 
Scott,
Phenomenal article! As one who works in higher ed, it easy to see how much this would communicate a heart of caring to students. It's outside the box, communicates value, and poses zero cost to the institution. In reality, it actually boosts retention and probably quality control (which saves thousands of dollars!).
What a story! Thanks!
Noah Lomax http://www.noahlomax.com
Scott,
Great blog on Ron Carrier. Without question, Dr. Carrier was responsible for elevating JMU to top-tier status as a Virginia college. Like all great leaders do, he put his customer first, and he knew who his customer was – it was the student attending JMU.
I was working at Marriott at the time of Carrier's tenure. I can remember a key manager of our education food services division telling me of a meeting with Dr. Carrier. He said he asked Dr. Carrier how Marriott could best retain JMU as it's client? According to my colleague, Dr. Carrier said, "It's really simple. Assume every single meal you serve is for your own son or daughter." Wow!
What I've also come to learn is that Dr. Carrier's influence transcended his tenure at JMU. I've heard that Dr. Merten at GMU admired Carrier and modeled his behavior and approach at Mason. Giving all due credit to the job Dr. Merten has done himself, if you consider how GMU has also risen to be a top tier state university and the manner it has done so, I think you'll find hint's of Ron Carrier's influence as well.
Hey Noah and Paul
Wow, you guys have some really unique perspectives that make me want to meet Dr. Carrier. What a leader. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and stories.
Cheers
Scott