Danny's Desk

Inspiration on Veteran's Day

First, I want to thank all the veterans and current members of the military who make such extraordinary sacrifices for our freedom. Today at Woodmen of the World's Home Office, we observed a moment of silence at 11:00. We will be eternally grateful for all our veterans have done for our great country.

Second, I want to tell you about my morning. I am going to be honest with you and tell you it did not start out very good. I woke up before my alarm went off and tried to convince myself to go back to bed and skip the gym. Fortunately, the gym won and I got my exercise in. Then I was scheduled to be at a breakfast for the American Heart Association at 7:30 a.m. and I did not really want to go. I do not like having my routine disrupted and this was going to put a kink in it. However, I had made a commitment and I went to the breakfast even though I did not want to.

What a mistake I would have made if I had not kept my commitment. The guest speaker was Trev Alberts, the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Athletic Director. Not being from Nebraska, I did not know he was a great football player for the Huskers back in the early 90s and played professionally for the Indianapolis Colts for a few years. Being a sports fan, this got my attention. His message got my attention even more.

He began his message by saying, "Whatever we do, we must believe in the cause." You see, everyone's cause and what motivates you is different. Your cause could be your spiritual belief, your family and friends, your wanting to help others, or to be the best at whatever you do. I hope you all have a cause or reason for what you do to keep you motivated everyday. 

Second, you must have a plan of action to fulfill the vision you have. His statement was "Vision with action can change the world." We are all in a position to make a difference in people's worlds. We at Woodmen of the World have an opportunity to give everyone a chance to take care of their families financially. Many times they just have to be asked, and what an priviledge it is to represent Woodmen of the World and to be able to be in that position for our members.

Third, and I really hope this hits home with you, "If we do not believe in our cause, how can we get others to believe?" We must believe in our cause, whatever it may be. Here at Woodmen of the World, we believe in caring for our members like family. And our goal is to grow our membership, to spread fraternalism throughout our neighborhoods and communities.

We have a cause, a vision and a plan. It is time to execute. Without execution, there are no results. We must take the first step to get to the top.

Okay, we have our cause or goal, our vision, our plan, and we have taken the action to get results. It is now time to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of what we are doing and if the results are not what it should be, take corrective action to make it work.

I sent this message to all our Home Office associates this morning. I think it is important because I almost let my attitude keep me from having a great morning. How many times do we let that happen?

I hope you start every day with the right attitude and if it is not, remember your cause and do not let anything stand in your way.

 

Make A Difference Day

 
Tomorrow is Make A Difference Day. Held on the fourth Saturday of every year, it's the largest single day of volunteering in America. Millions of people will be participating, including thousands of Woodmen of the World members. Thank you to all members who have organized a project or who will be volunteering tomorrow! For more information on Make A Difference Day, visit www.makeadifferenceday.com.

Do Not Adjust Your Monitor

Yes, that's me with green hair, and Larry King with red hair. In between us is Marsha Graesser from the Talent Management Department at the Home Office. Larry and I had a sales contest -- we divided our Field Associates into two teams, and which ever team won, we agreed the other would dye his hair. But if the teams performed at an even greater level, we would both dye our hair. Well, we have an awesome team of more than 1,000 Field associates all over the nation, and we both had to dye our hair. We debuted our new hair at the Leadership Conference here in Omaha last week. It was a great conference with all our Area and State Managers. We emphasized recruiting with them, so I encourage you to check out the career section of our Web site to find out how great it is to work at Woodmen of the World.

In Honor and Remembrance

I have been traveling a lot during the month of September, but I wanted to give a belated thanks to all our members who participated in an In Honor and Remembrance ceremony on Sept. 11. It's important that we never forget the victims and heroes of that day, and to thank our local service men and women, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and other first responders who protect our lives every day. Woodmen of the World lodges were involved in more than 500 ceremonies across the nation, and I'm very proud of our members who support their communities in this meaningful way.

Financial Strength in Uncertain Times

The economy is still in a state of flux and it seems like every time it shows signs of stabilization, something else happens to erode consumer confidence. It's because of these uncertain times that I take every chance I get to reassure our members of Woodmen of the World's financial strength. We are in great shape as an organization, and we work every day to be worthy of our members' trust. We take our mission very seriously, and we are proud of our performance, especially in these troubled economic times. I have written a letter to our members that has more details on our financial situation as of the first half of the year. It's available from our home page, too. I encourage all our members, and our potential members, to read it and be confident in Woodmen of the World's ability to be with you through LIFE.

National Convention DVDs

Some of the most popular things from the National Convention were the videos we showed. I heard over and over again how nice these videos were and what an impact they made. I'm proud to announce that three of the videos are now available for purchase at the Woodmen Store. The three videos are: the 50th Anniversary Celebration, which was filmed in 1940 in Omaha; the Woodmen Way, which showcases three different Woodmen of the World families and tells how our organization made a difference in their lives; and the Dash to Dash Memorial, which is a tribute to the distinctive Woodmen of the World grave markers. These videos would be perfect to show at your next lodge meeting, and I look forward to your comments about them.

Deep in the Heart of Woodmen

We're back from the National Convention, and I heard nothing but good things from the delegates I spoke with. It was a real pleasure to get to know more of you, and I hope you had as an enjoyable time as I did. All in all, I think it was the best one ever. Special thanks to our guest speakers and entertainers, and I want to give special recognition to the youth that attended our first-ever Youth Forum. Pictured above is Mike Rowlands, who was chosen by his peers to speak on behalf of the Youth Forum. He represented the group very well, and the entire Convention gave him a standing ovation. We look forward to hearing more from this group in the months and years ahead!

Again, thanks to all the delegates, and to all our members for their continued trust in Woodmen.

Gearing Up for National Convention

Here at the Home Office we are getting ready for the National Convention, and delegates from all over the nation are getting ready, too. We're all meeting this weekend in Austin for several days of meetings, socializing and sharing new ideas. I'm leaving tomorrow for our Board meeting prior to the Convention. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in Austin. Our National Convention happens just every four years, so it's an important opportunity for us to make decisions and continue to plan for the future. I'll try to post updates from Austin, but for more regular updates be sure to visit our National Convention blog, and our Twitter page.  

Happy 4th of July!

  

I want to wish everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend. I think it's important to spend holidays with family, so Kathy and I are going to visit our extended families in Kentucky. We're excited to see everyone. The Fourth of July is also a time to be thankful for our nation's freedom, so I want to extend a special thanks to the current and former members of the military. God bless America!

Field Trip

 

This week we're off to Field Trip, our annual reward for our top associates in our Field Force. This year we're going to San Diego, and then for our Cabinet level achievers, we're headed to Lake Tahoe. It should be a great trip, and it's always fun to see old friends and meet new Field Representatives who are there for the first time. The trip is a great motivator throughout the year. Our Field Representatives have an extremely important role at Woodmen of the World, especially in these economic times. Families turn to them for professional advice and sound guidance. And when budgets are stretched thin, organizations like ours become more important than ever. Every single one of our members matter, and I'm grateful that we have such an incredible Field Force to guide and help them.