Midwest Leadership Institute

Getting it done — young

Owen’s quest to understand and implement the principles of effective organizational development and performance began with a “battlefield commission” to run a chain of community newspapers when he was only 27. The operation was beset by several years of no-growth, no-profit malaise.

The setting was rural, so good help had to be home-grown. The company’s technology was outmoded. Pay rates were low but overall compensation was nearly double the industry benchmark. And the company wasn’t profitable.

Seven years later the organization's worth had grown six-fold. Its technology was new. Pay rates were competitive, yet overall compensation no longer exceeded the industry benchmark. The company’s newspapers were consistent award-winners. And the organization was profitable. “I learned a lot in those years,” Owen says.

Two lessons stand out:

"I learned that I would have to keep on learning every day of my life to be an effective leader.”

"I learned that leaders can't do it alone — a whole organization of contributors has to be built from the ground up."

Since then, Dr. Phelps has continued to learn about the dynamics of excellence as:

an executive with a large not-for-profit organization;

a partner with his wife Jane, a CPA, in launching and operating various successful business enterprises; and,

a consultant to both for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises all across the U.S.

A chance to contribute
Owen’s organizational acumen has had an impact on organizations large and small. But a relatively small one has brought him great satisfaction. It’s a David versus Goliath story.

“Several years ago the company that published our community’s newspaper was sold to absentee owners who started laying off people and moving jobs out of town,” he recalls. “We responded by creating a publishing company and launching a competing paper that provided jobs and preserved the tradition of having a locally-owned hometown newspaper,” he explains.

More than a decade later that paper continues to serve the community.

More than experience
Personal experience is a great teacher, but by itself it is not enough.

“We also need to reflect on that experience,” says Dr. Phelps. “To learn rapidly we need to broaden our experiential base with classroom learning and methodical research.”

Dr. Phelps’ quest to understand the dynamics of organizational effectiveness eventually led him back to the classroom and the library — first as a doctoral student and later as a faculty member teaching graduate business courses.

His learning continues on a constant basis. In recent years Owen has become certified to facilitate Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People seminars, as well as a leadership program developed by best-selling business author Ken Blanchard (The One Minute Manager) and his co-author Phil Hodges (Servant Leader and Leadership by the Book).

Throughout his career, leaders of both for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises have sought to benefit from Owen’s unique insights — always delivered with candor and humor. His persistent interest led him to found the Midwest Leadership Institute for the benefit of organizations and their leaders everywhere.