Joan Heminway – Rick Rose Distinguished Professor of Law

Carson Blakely – 2023-24 Hardwick Fellow

“ . . . The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny – it is the light that guides your way.”

— Heraclitus

2024 has started off with a bang and promises to be a year of personal and professional transitions for many.  It is a presidential election year—with all that brings.  Capricious weather patterns have brought record snow here in Knoxville and other challenges locally and around the globe. Leading through all of this—exercising sustained leadership—will require an adherence to values-based decision making that is, well, the very heart of integrity.  As an exercise in candor and self-leadership, we share below a leadership maxim chosen by each of us to help guide our personal journey in 2024, together with a brief explanation of what the maxim means to us.  We hope you enjoy reading about our inspirations as we use them to influence our leadership in the coming months.

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Joan Heminway

“Blessed are the flexible, for they will not be bent out of shape.”
― Robert Ludlum, The Janson Directive

The author of the introductory quote above, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, is also credited with the popular observation that the only constant in life Is change.  With that in mind, I have set out this year to emphasize flexibility. Flexibility will help me to address challenges with an open and creative mind.  It encourages belief in a constructive path to a better future, and that positive attitude should enable me to avoid—or at least minimize—anger, disappointment, and distress.  As an anchoring principle for my mindfulness, flexibility will foster patience and keep me focused in achieving my goals.

The Robert Ludlum quote conveys a truth about flexibility to which I naturally gravitate because of its humor.  By expressing flexibility as a function of the idiomatic phrase “bent out of shape,” Ludlum conjures amusing visual references (at least for me).  The smile his words put on my face as I read them offers me encouragement to press on with my flexibility mission!

Carson Blakely

“Once you bid farewell to discipline you say goodbye to success.”
― Sir Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson, renowned for his tenure at Manchester United, encapsulated a fundamental truth about leadership and success through the above-quoted maxim. This profound statement resonates with the essence of achieving and sustaining success in any field. As I step into this year, I am inspired to implement this maxim as the cornerstone of my leadership philosophy.

Discipline, as Sir Alex emphasized, is more than just rules; it is the core of achieving consistency, resilience, and excellence. It is about prioritizing long-term success over immediate satisfaction, a key aspect of effective leadership. As a leader, I aim to nurture an environment where discipline is valued and encouraged, not enforced. This means setting clear goals, promoting a culture of accountability, and leading by example to guide my team toward our shared objectives while fostering personal growth.

Practically, adopting Ferguson’s advice involves setting clear, achievable targets that offer direction and motivate us to stay focused on our vision. Regularly evaluating our progress towards these goals ensures that discipline remains a central part of our journey. Additionally, cultivating a culture that sees challenges as opportunities for growth and that values continuous learning is crucial. This approach helps transform setbacks into progress, embedding discipline as a collective effort towards excellence. By implementing these strategies, discipline becomes the foundation of the pursuit of success, shaping a path where continuous improvement and accountability lead to achieving your goals.