Wheeling’s Major Gen. Renforth Talks Leadership at ‘Lunch With Leaders’ Event
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WHEELING - Retired Major Gen. Austin "Sparky" Renforth once was commanding general over Marines serving in Iraq, and he asserts the key to leadership is creating an environment where others want to both "love" and protect you and their colleagues.
Renforth, a Wheeling native, served as one of two keynote speakers at the annual "Lunch With Leaders" conference at Wheeling Park's White Palace. The second was Mitch Carmichael, West Virginia's cabinet secretary of economic development.
The event was sponsored by the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce.
Renforth said he breaks down the keys to leadership into three separate parts. The first part is giving a "clear defined role or task" to those you lead, and the second is giving them the resources to accomplish their mission.
"The third one - the most important one - is you show them that you care," Renforth continued. "That one is hard for people sometimes, because in any business you can get caught up in results. And when you are in a results-based organization, you can get really lost in how you get the results."
He noted that sometimes you can be fooled by what looks like positive results "only to find there is carnage underneath them."
"(To create) that environment where they (those you lead) don't want to let you down - you have to take an interest in their life. You have to care about the people who work for you," he explained.
Renforth said he embraces the philosophy of "LBWA" - "leadership by walking around."
"Do not sit in your office. Do not sit behind a desk. Go out and walk around and talk to everybody everyday, as many people as you can," he continued. "Ask them about their life. They don't know how much you know until they know how much you care. Be interested in everything they do in life."
Personal relationships are possible with those you lead without crossing a line, and they are needed when things "get real," he added.
"When we go into combat - when the bullets are flying and people are dying around you - do you know why Marines come out and put themselves in harm's way? Why they rush machine gun nests?" Renforth asked.
"It's not because they're afraid they are going to get yelled at. It's because they love you. They genuinely love you. And they love the man or woman to the left and right of them."
The leadership principle of creating a culture of mutual respect translates to any business, according to Renforth.
"Make them feel important, like they are part of something that is bigger than themselves," he said.
Renforth is a 1982 graduate of Wheeling Park High School, where he played football and was class president. He went on to attend the U.S. Naval Academy and have a 40-year career in the Marine Corps.
Among his many assignments were as commanding general of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and Eastern Recruiting Region; and as the commander, "Joint Operations Command-Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force, Operation Inherent Resolve."
Carmichael, of Jackson County, previously served as West Virginia Senate president. He was appointed by Gov. Jim Justice in 2021 to serve as the state's first secretary of economic development.
He spoke of the improvements to West Virginia's economy and well-being happening in recent years.
"It's the story of re-emergence, and a comeback," he told the crowd.
Carmichael spoke of the budget deficits West Virginia had a decade ago, and that there are now budget surpluses. Judicial and civil justice reform also took place in the state, which was once deemed "the number one judicial hellhole" in the U.S. by the American Tort Reform Foundation. The ATRF now considers West Virginia a "point of light" because of its efforts.
Regulatory reform also has happened in the state, making West Virginia a more attractive place for business to operate, according to Carmichael.
"Doesn't it just feel great to be on the upswing rather than the downswing?" he asked. "This is our moment. This is our time when we are perfectly poised to just ignite the growth in our state.
"The only thing holding us back is clinging sometimes to the status quo. We have to be willing to challenge every rule, and break through every barrier that faces this state," Carmichael continued.