1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. I’ve been married to the same guy – my business partner, Bob – for 36 years. We’ve worked together for the past 25 years. I took a brief hiatus from the workforce when our two sons were born. We now have also have one daughter-in-law and a nine-month-old granddaughter – very exciting! I love what I do – helping companies build successful cultures and strong leadership teams is great work.

2. How did you become interested in your profession? I was a math major as an undergrad and moved to sociology in graduate school. Systems, especially organizations, were always interesting to me, and I specialized in Organization Sociology. Bob is a licensed psychologist, so we decided to put our two different “lenses” – individual and organizational – together to form a consulting firm. I find business fascinating – from strategy to the way leaders keep that strategy current by being where the cash registers ring. No business succeeds without an intimate connection to customers and front line employees. I’ve also always loved figuring things out, and I love going into a new organization and trying to understand the whole – the business model, the culture, human assets and liabilities, etc.

3. What was your first year like? We moved into consulting in 1987 from a private practice, and formed an alliance with a firm, Hagberg Consulting Group, in California to get needed knowledge and tools. I’d suggest that strategy to anyone. We were entering a field that was at the time very new, and finding someone who had been in the space for a few years was very helpful. That doesn’t mean, however, that the transition was painless. We were very dependent on one small but rapidly growing client in the early years - something that became a real problem when the company was sold.

4. What were/are some of the obstacles you have encountered (overcome)? One big one – our oldest son, who was very computer savvy, went off to college in 1990. We use computerized (now online) assessments in our work, and when we moved into this business in 1987 we didn’t even have a computer in the office. Rob, our son, helped us set up our first computer and helped me learn the basics in 1989 when we began doing the analysis and reporting onsite. In some ways the fact that he left for college the next year was a blessing. I’m a relatively savvy user now, and at least know enough to hire good IT support, something that’s critical in today’s business environment.

Reliance on a few great customers is a continuing challenge in a small company. Many consulting firms rely only on consultants to bring in business, but one of the things we did early on (in 1992) was hire someone specifically focused on business development and client relations. That doesn’t mean that we all don’t feel responsible for sales (we believe in the old adage: “there are only two kinds of people - those who know they are in sales, and those who don’t”), but we’ve found it very valuable to have someone whose attention is focused only on client attention and future revenue.

5. On your website, it states that “Turknett Leadership Group specializes in the assessment and development of executive leadership and organization effectiveness.” Can you tell us how you do that?
We believe development first requires awareness. We assess to hold a mirror to an individual executive, to a team or to an organization. Business skills are easy to self-assess – we know whether we can read a balance sheet or not. Interpersonal skills (sensitivity, social judgment), Intrapersonal skills (self confidence, self-discipline), and leadership skills (the ability to influence others) are not. Character – what we believe to be the foundation of leadership – is not easy to self assess or easy to build.

Growth begins with accurate assessment. We use a variety of tools – personality assessments, 360-degree feedback ratings, structured interviews, team assessments, culture surveys, etc. - to help people and organizations see themselves. We help our clients step back and look at the data objectively in a supportive setting. The greatest impetus to change is a positive view of the future – human beings are excited by the prospect of creation. Through looking at the data we help people find strengths to build on, help them take an honest look at things they want to change, and work with them over to create the new attitudes, new behaviors, new groups norms, etc. that will take them to that positive, successful future.

6. Your website is a great source of information. How do people find you online? In other words, how do you market your site? For starters, we list our website on everything we print – business cards, marketing materials, and workshop handouts. We try to keep our site updated with informational content – articles and news that will be helpful to others. That’s a win-win, since good information on a site makes it more likely that others will link to your site, and those links raise your sites rating in Google and other search engines. We also pay for a few listings in professional organization sites or online directory pages. We’ve experimented with paid Google ad-words, but don’t feel we’ve found the right mix yet. We intend to keep trying, though.

7. With regards to establishing a website filled with resources you offer your clients, what’s the best advice you have ever received about website development?
Two things: One piece of advice - pay attention to both design and underlying structure. The second thing – remember that a website should be a living thing. Those two pieces of advice are interrelated.

Our first simple site was built in 1996, but we did our first major design in 1998. Looking back, we realize that the site was created by good designers who had limited programming experience. New content is the life blood of any website, but ease of updating depends on the structure and the underlying code. Our site looked good but the underlying code was often a mess, making adding and updating difficult. We are now in the midst of another site redesign, and are working hard to consider both look (good design) and underlying structure. The best site building practices now separate design and content. We’re trying also to add more interactivity to our site.

We have three major websites right now – our main site at www.turknett.com, our Leadership Character site at www.leadershipcharacter.com, and our book site at www.decentpeopledecentcompany.com.

8. You co-authored "Decent People, Decent Company – How to lead with Character in Work and in Life." What was the inspiration/motivation for writing the book and can you tell us a little bit about it?
The motivation for writing the book was to share our Leadership Character model – a framework for describing the kind of character we believe is the foundation for successful leadership. We developed the model over ten years ago, and have used it in our work since that time. We began writing the book in the fall of 1995. The motivation for finally finishing the book was that we were simply too embarrassed to keep telling people we were still working on it.

We visualize the character needed for leadership as a scale, where integrity is the strong, solid base and the two sides of the scale represent the needed balance between qualities needed for Respect (Empathy, Humility, Emotional Mastery, and Lack of Blame) and the qualities needed for Responsibility (Accountability, Self Confidence, Courage, and Focus on the Whole). We believe that all of us now need Leadership Character. In today’s world we are all called to lead. The original title for our book was Going First: Quit Waiting for Leadership. We tried to distill from years of experience those qualities that (1) helped people, wherever they were, take up the mantle of leadership – to go first to try to solve problems or go in a new direction and (2) that helped people get others to follow them on the new path. We ask people to change the key question in their life from “Why don’t they…?” to “What can I do?”

The book is filled with stories and examples – many from the excellent leaders we’ve worked with over the years. We believe that people think in stories, and that narratives and metaphors are the best ways for people to learn. We also believe that building character is the most important thing any of us do. As Heraclitis said 3000 years ago, “Character is Destiny.” Karl Kuhnert, a professor at the University of Georgia with whom we work, adds, “and personality is not destiny.” Our personalities may be formed by the time we’re in our early twenties, but if we’re not working on our character every day of our lives we aren’t growing, we aren’t learning, we aren’t living.

9. What significant partnerships have played a role in your success? The most significant partnership is the one mentioned above – our early and continuing partnership with Hagberg Consulting Group and its founder, Dr. Rich Hagberg.

We have worked hard over the years to build relationships and partnerships in our professional circles and in the community. We have been enriched by our recent partnership with Dr. Karl Kuhnert and the extraordinary professionals who have worked with us over the years. An important recent alliance is our partnership with the Kennesaw University Institute for Leadership, Character and Ethics. We have joined forces with the Institute for present our yearly Leadership Character awards, awards that honor Georgia individuals and companies that exemplify the best in leadership character.

10. What do you enjoy most about what you do? On a personal note, what do you enjoy doing most outside of work? I’m a big-picture person, and I love new problems and new challenges, so I am particularly excited when we have the opportunity to learn about the business of a new client. I enjoy interviewing people, understanding their world, and working to understand their business model and what leads to success in their industry. I like getting the “big picture” of a business I’m totally unfamiliar with.

The term “outside work” doesn’t quite work for me. Perhaps it’s owning my own business, perhaps it’s age, but there’s just not a clear distinction between work and non-work for me. I am devoted to my work with United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, and believe so strongly in the power of a community coming together to do what none of us can do alone.

On a strictly personal note, the most fun in my life comes from spending time with my nine-month-old granddaughter, Jules. She is a joy.

You can learn more about Lyn Turknett by visiting www.turknett.com and www.leadershipcharacter.com. To learn more about "Decent People, Decent Company – How to lead with Character in Work and in Life." visit www.decentpeopledecentcompany.com.