Articles & White Papers
Client Success Story: Lonnie Stockwell
A New Orleans Resident in Atlanta When Katrina Hits Home
All of us are deeply moved by the impact of Hurricane Katrina's destruction on the Central Gulf Coast region. Here's the first hand account of Lonnie Stockwell, CPA, CPLC, a Hurricane survivor from New Orleans who was in Atlanta attending The Effective Facilitator training course when the hurricane hit home.
"I am from New Orleans and my wife and I arrived in Atlanta for the training on August 28th, two days before Hurricane Katrina hit the Central Gulf Coast and devastated New Orleans and its surrounding parishes. Since we left prior to the call for evacuation, we departed New Orleans with enough clothes and sundries for a five day stay for the training. Little did we suspect that the hurricane would create devastation that could include our home, cars and all our personal belongings.
Because we could not get back home due to the call for mandatory evacuation from New Orleans, I decided to try to get through the training, even though I knew I would be distracted. While the course was one of the best training seminars I have ever attended (and as a CPA for over 30 years, training is a way of life), I got much more from the course than facilitator training. I got an education on what human kindness and compassion really means.
You see, this is when I learned that people really care when care is needed. My classmates constantly displayed concern for me and my wife, providing me with comfort that I knew many others who were required to leave their destroyed homes would never experience. Even though I previously knew none of other participants, several offered my wife and me the opportunity to stay with them until we found out when we could "go home". Then, on the last day of the class, my classmates announced that they were making a significant (my word, not theirs) financial contribution to the charity of my choice in my name.
I was overwhelmed. To think that people who did not know me 4 days earlier would become not just friends, but emotional supporters was beyond any expectation. They inspired me during a difficult time in my life, and for that I will forever be grateful.
In addition to being a CPA, I am a Certified Professional Life Coach, and as such it is my responsibility to help people determine their true values in life, prioritize those values, and stay focused on those values, helping them move to their desired state of excellence. At a time like this, when I could have used some of my own training to help myself, it was my classmates who kept me occupied and focused on something other than my personal tragedy. They were the true coaches, and I am a better person today for knowing them.
If this is the quality of all the individuals who choose to attend your seminars, then you are not only training great future facilitators, but are building an alumni base of great human beings.
During The Effective Facilitator course, I learned how much I didn't know about being a facilitator. The course instructor, Richard Smith, accomplished his course objective of allowing me to achieve 'conscious competence' while providing me valuable 'face time' and experience in front of my fellow classmates. This course held up to all its pre-course marketing and then added much more. I am a believer in the Michael Wilkinson way and can't wait to utilize what Richard taught at this training.
Thanks for providing a great course, a great trainer and a great class. I am not sure anyone can ever be a bigger cheerleader for you and your company than I will be from now on."
Sincerely,
Lonnie Stockwell, CPA, CPLC
Update: Leadership Strategies spoke with Lonnie on September 14th. Currently, he and his wife were pleasantly surprised when they got to see their house last Sunday. There was much flooding around them, but the water only lapped at their front door. Their house is a little higher than most around them. There was approximately 2 feet of water on their street, but none got in their house, although their front porch was pretty much mangled and the chimney separated from the roof, causing water damage to their second floor. Interestingly, they had no damage to their second story bedroom windows and their storm shutters were still in tact, but the wind forced rain into places around the windows which caused damage to the walls and floor.
About 12 of Lonnie's staff got anywhere from 6 inches to 20 feet of water in their homes. "The stories are personal and endless," Lonnie concluded, "but my wife and I feel blessed at what is truly just an inconvenience as compared to many of those less fortunate."
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