Lake Mead National Park
Lake Mead National Recreation Area Success Story - How Lake Mead National Recreation Area Used the Power of The 7 Habits® to Improve Communication and Unify Efforts
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A short drive from Las Vegas, one of the world's most popular destinations, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, receives more visitors per year than even Yellowstone. Unfortunately, it receives more trash, traffic, and troubles as well. "There's a huge trend in people wanting to reconnect with their families and with nature," says Alan O'Neill, an employee of the Park Service. "It's tremendous for the park. But with national restructuring and downsizing, our budgets had flat-lined, and our staff members were burning out in the face of GPRA's [Government Performance and Results Act] greater expectations."
The challenge for Lake Mead was obvious: how to create a clean, safe, enjoyable recreation spot for millions upon millions of people. The underlying challenge was less clear: how to do it amidst rapid changes in doing business, competitive management, and parameters demanded by the GPRA.
Getting Their Hands Dirty
Prompted by previous training with FranklinCovey, O'Neill knew he needed to help his people flow through the challenges that were ahead. He began by introducing FranklinCovey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® workshop. "We knew, however, this was just the beginning," says Bobbie Antonich, Park Service employee. "Teaching people isn't a matter of simple training. It is a process-and a challenging one, at that." More than 200 employees joined the initial workshops-with a tremendous response. Lake Mead went on to organize training for several other FranklinCovey offerings, including The 4 Roles of Leadership®, First Things First® (now FOCUS: Achieving Your Highest Priorities), Building TrustTM, and Getting to SynergyTM. The resulting changes in attitude were remarkable. "Communication in the park had been at an all-time low," remembers Antonich. "But by learning and implementing new principles, we refocused our efforts on interdependent problem solving." And they have put those problem-solving skills to the test.
Talking Trash
Lake Mead was struggling to unify the efforts of six divisions within the park. Rather than taking a proactive approach of individual responsibility, Park Service employees relegated tasks down the ranks, and finger pointing was common. "We had always been activity-oriented, not outcome-oriented," explains Antonich. "Changing 60 years of traditional, independent management isn't easy."
A change came, however, during one of the management training sessions. Upon entering The 4 Roles of Leadership® workshop, each park manager walked by an empty cigarette pack lying on the floor. Only after every person had taken a seat did the FranklinCovey facilitator pick up the litter and hold it in the air. The cigarette pack instantly became a metaphor for the team relationships Lake Mead so desperately needed. If management was not willing to fulfill basic tasks-such as picking up a piece of trash, there was little reason or incentive for the rest of the staff to do the same. The idea stuck. Before the conference's end, managers were signing a written commitment to be part of a cooperative, whole-team approach to running the park. But the real commitment presented itself on the roads outside the conference center. Immediately after the workshop, every manager was on the side of the highway picking up trash-and showing how the leadership skills they had learned literally worked from the ground up.
Results that Really Come Clean
Today, Lake Mead has introduced dozens of cultural and operational improvements into their organization. A refined mission statement for the park is not only incorporated into each employee's performance review, it is printed on pocket cards, memo pads, and decals for commonly used tools. A newly structured hiring process has enabled management to recruit and employ individuals whose philosophies match Lake Mead's values-and who have proved to be invaluable in helping the park achieve new successes. Lake Mead has also set a course to build relationships both inside and outside the recreation area.
Enacting the concept of "Win-Win" learned through FranklinCovey, Lake Mead jumped in to assist Clark County, the neighboring metro area experiencing a growth explosion. Together, they reached an agreement over adjacent land use in which the county received 400,000 acres to be used as habitat for the desert tortoise, and Lake Mead received base funding for many of its projects.
"Unlike the private sector," says O'Neil, "we have a moral responsibility to respond in a proactive way to what the public asks. We are public servants. We have been given actions for improvement [through GPRA], and we believe in measuring their outcomes and being responsible for them."
The federal accounting office currently uses Lake Mead as a model government agency achieving results in line with GPRA. In fact, the processes implemented by FranklinCovey and Lake Mead Recreational Area are being duplicated by other National Parks such as Yellowstone and Harpers Ferry. Proving that transformation in the face of competition and downsizing truly can be a day in the park.
