The Great Escape - Ingenuity & Determination

Editor's Note: This blog post also appears on LinkedIn.

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posted on www.breitbart.com

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word Ingenuity as “skill or cleverness that allows someone to solve problems.” 

As the World War II allies celebrated the 70^th anniversary of the D-Day invasion that started the liberation of France over the weekend, an 89 year-old British D Day Veteran living in a care home that was told he could not go to the celebrations used his gift of ingenuity and simply walked away.

His story, now being billed as the “great escape,” speaks volumes about his determination to reunite with his fellow D-Day veterans, and to honor those who gave the ultimate price for freedom. Telling care givers that he was just going for a walk, while accurate, did not convey the totality of his walk about, as Britons would say. He simply didn’t mention he was going to walk to a specific location to catch a bus, and then a ferry, to attend the ceremonies on the beaches of Normandy because “it was the right thing to do.”

I have always been awed by the Greatest Generation, and found myself awed once again while watching Queen Elizabeth II placing a wreath at the Commonwealth War Graves ceremony on Friday, when I realized that most of those attending the event were most likely small children or had not even been born yet when D-Day took place. She, on the other hand, was training and serving as a driver in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II. Even as sheltered as she was as a Royal, she wanted to do her part because “it was the right thing to do.”

What does “the great escape” and Queen Elizabeth’s services during World War II have to do with business, you ask? 

Simply this: at times, true leadership requires ingenuity and determination to motivate a team, enlighten those who don’t yet see the vision clearly, and lead the charge onto the metaphorical business beach their organization is charged with taking to achieve their goals. 

It also requires leading with courage and valor like that shown by the Allied soldiers who participated in the D-Day event, because "it is the right thing to do."

Reflecting once again on the enormity of the ultimate price paid by those on the beaches of Normandy in 1944, I am thankful for not only the freedom their sacrifice provided, but also for the examples of ingenuity and determination that generation still exhibits 70 years on.

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected project management and administrative operations professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is a contributor on LinkedIn, the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree living.