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Tickets on Sale for Hope Unseen — The Launch

Hope Unseen — The Launch, featuring Phillips, Craig, and Dean, Scotty and Tiffany Smiley, Lieutenant General Robert Van Antwerp and Major Jeff Van Antwerp, Captain Edward Graham and Franklin Graham, Lisa Pratt, and Jonah Werner will be held Sep. 18th @ 6:30 in the Toyota Center (Kennewick, WA). General admission tickets are $15 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com

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Hope Unseen Featured in Tri-City Herald

The Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, WA) recently ran a great cover story on Scotty Smiley’s upcoming book: Hope Unseen. Check it out. Release date for the book is Sep. 14, 2010.

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Dear Anonymous,

This morning I received an anonymous e-mail from someone named “Old Friend.” It read, “How can you fathom mentoring leadership when, at your nation’s time of need, you decided to get out of the Army rather than lead troops in combat…sad.”

The following is my reply:

Anonymous,

During my first lesson with each new class of West Point leadership students, I would share a special quote from my time as a platoon leader at Ft. Lewis.  It was something I took from the wall of a Yakima Training Center port-a-potty during the winter of 1997. It read: “LT Crandle is a punk-a** b****.”

The first thing that ran through my mind when I processed the tribute was: “He spelled my name wrong.”  The second thing, “I wonder who wrote that?”

Likewise, this morning, I briefly wondered who sent me the anonymous e-mail. When I was a platoon leader, I had the authors narrowed down to about seventy soldiers. This morning, I figured the e-mail could have come from a thousand different people.  But I am guessing that you are someone who I hurt in the past, and someone who is still serving.  So I have two things to say. 1) I am sorry, and 2) Thank you for your service.

There are many reasons that I am not worthy to “mentor leadership,” the least of which is my decision to leave the Army during a time of war — so it would be silly to address that question directly.  Before going there, I would have to respond to: “How can you mentor leadership when your own sins and failures are so glaring?” or “How can you mentor leadership when you’re not even that good of a follower?” or “How can you mentor leadership when you can’t even control your temper at a sixth grade basketball game?”

No — it’s not the Army that stands in my way.  I was never really meant to be a Soldier. Never loved it. Never had the passion that I see in the face of a guy like Jeff Van Antwerp. Never had the commanding presence of a Chip Daniels, the toughness of a Dave Waldron, or the humility and purity of service of a Neal Mayo.  What the Army gave me — that I miss sometimes — was a chance to take care of people, and I hope I did that well.  But I am not convinced that I would have been a stellar performer in combat.  I would have been homesick — desperately homesick.  I probably would have been scared. I might have cracked under the pressure. (Let me take a second to thank some of those who I know are homesick right now: John Vest, Edward Graham, Jason Affolder, and Mike Sullivan. Let me thank every other man and woman who has boarded a plane headed east — such as my brother-in-law, Brian Johnson. Finally, let me thank some of those who never came home: Jimmy Adamouski, Hans Kurth, Shane Swanberg, Emily Perez, Dan Hyde, and Robert Lothrop.)

I’ve narrowed what I really believe about leadership down to a few things. And I truly believe that to be your best, you must pursue your passion (Jim Collins does a great job summing this up in more eloquent terms).  That’s my advice to anyone — chase what makes your heart pound. Do what you love and do it to make a positive difference in the lives of others.  If you do that, you are leading. I left in a time of war, but I also left seven years short of a 50% retirement. Many have asked how I could let go of that sort of financial security.  Whether the question is about avoiding the hardship or giving up the benefits — the answer is the same. Pursue your passion. Jake Harriman — a Special Ops Marine — left the military at a time of war…so he could start an organization committed to eradicating extreme poverty. Scotty Smiley, lost his eyesight and fought to stay in the Army. Both are heroes in my eyes.

Me, I love to teach; I love to take care of other people; and I love to write. Eighteen months ago, I was face down on my bedroom floor — depressed because I felt purposeless.  Leaving the Army ruptured my identity in a way that I had not anticipated. Since that low point, God has blessed my life immeasurably — to a point where I feel totally unworthy. He took the pathetic nature of my own self-pity and turned it into a chance to write a book (Hope Unseen).  God took my most despicable sin and turned it into a gift — a point of embarkation for relating to the prisoners who are now my students.

You’ll be happy to know — Anonymous — that I haven’t made a cent so far “mentoring leadership.” Blue Rudder has brought forth just a few opportunities — all gratis and all faith-based.  Maybe that’s what God has in store for this venture. In the meantime, I’ll pray that teaching and writing pay the bills.

Back in the Yakima port-a-potty, I obsessed a bit about the graffiti on the wall.  I was unsure of who I was as a leader. When I received your e-mail this morning, I thanked God for an opportunity to write — to reply humbly that I know exactly who I am and where my passions and gifts reside. I have been obedient to the Lord and he has blessed me in return — not financially necessarily, but with contentment and joy. I hope that your service in defense of our Country brings you the same fulfillment.

All the best,

Doug Crandall

Philippians 4:19

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“No way…” (Scotty Smiley’s First Day)

(The topic of today’s Blue Rudder blog was going to be “Why people follow…” Hope you don’t mind. I thought this was more important.)

When Tiffany Smiley asked her husband how his first day teaching leadership at West Point turned out, Scotty Smiley was typically non-descript.  “it went,” he said — just another day at the office. But Scotty Smiley could not see the reaction of the West Point cadet sitting in the right corner of his leadership classroom during C Hour in Thayer Hall.  From 0935  to 0949, cadets shuffled into the room, engaged in small talk, and pretty much ignored the officer standing at the front .  At 0950, Captain Smiley called the class to attention, received the attendance report from the section marcher, and told the cadets to “take seats.”

“Holy ****. No way.” I guess that until he saw Scotty fumble for the keyboard, he hadn’t taken his instructor seriously. The blind thing — he thought it was a joke.

And then he followed up with a bit of trivia about himself: “I’m Captain Smiley, and there’s one interesting thing you should know about me: I’m blind. I can’t see anything at all.” Scotty didn’t say why he was blind. He just followed up the statement with the deftness of humor that is sure to make him one of West Point’s most revered teachers (ever). “So because I can’t see, well, raising your hand in this class is pretty much a waste of time.” Everyone laughed — genuinely — and knowing cadets as I do, I’m pretty sure half of them were thinking: alright, this guy is going to be pretty cool. Not because he’s blind, but because he’s Scotty, and he treated the cadets with respect and authenticity — almost like he was one of them, but with a few more life experiences to share.

After the laughter ebbed, Scotty turned to his left and stepped toward the computer cabinet to advance the next slide. He moved his right foot, and then his left, and then stretched both hands out in front of himself to feel for the Dell Desktop. And that’s when the cadet in the right corner turned to his buddy and mouthed: “Holy ****. No way.” I guess that until he saw Scotty fumble for the keyboard, he hadn’t taken his instructor seriously. The blind thing — he thought it was a joke.

And it almost is. It’s almost laughable that four and a half years ago Scotty Smiley lost his eyesight and now he is teaching leadership at the #1 school in the country and the best leadership development institution in the world (forgive my admitted bias…just trust Forbes Magazine).  You know what it took for Scotty to get here? Sure, it took two years earning a Duke MBA, some help from friends, and much love from God. But it also took hours upon hours trying to figure out how to send an e-mail to his classes. He had to tear every single piece of paper out of the West Point leadership course guide and place them — one by one — on a scanner. Then he had to listen to those pieces of paper — via a talking computer program — multiple times in order to absorb the course concepts. After memorizing all of the shortcuts for Power Point 2003 during his time at Duke, Scotty landed at West Point and instantly had to do battle with the 2007 version of the program. The switch from Office 2003 to 2007 reduced my own work productivity by at least 50%. By the way –I can see.

People at West Point — understandably — wanted to see today as just another day. The guy lost his eyes. He’s in the Army. He’s teaching now. No big deal. Scotty — he too wants to see it as just another day. But it wasn’t. This was not just another day. Scotty could have thrown in the towel on life when his days became about learning computer keyboard shortcuts. His best friends are commanding infantry companies — one in Hawaii and the other deployed to Afghanistan. Scotty wanted to do that too. I’d understand a bit of self pity.  Instead, Captain Smiley stood in front of sixteen future Army officers and showed them leadership. As he fumbled for the computer, he joked aloud: “Come here computer, come here…” as if he was calling a kitty cat.

Scotty accidentally sent four e-mails to one of his sections in a technologically-challenged effort to introduce himself; he couldn’t get Dave Matthews playing on www.pandora.com before his first hour of class. At one point, he flipped a slide too far and a cadet had to help him recover.

Scotty Smiley climbed Mt. Rainier. That’s pretty amazing. But it’s not nearly as amazing as everything he’s done — every teeny, tiny obstacle he’s navigated — to get to where he stood today. I am lucky to know him. These cadets are lucky to share in the shining story that is his life. If the best college in the world was going to pick one person to teach leadership, it would be this guy. I taught it — for five years — and I taught it well. I loved it, still keep in touch with many of my students, and consider the place part of who I am. My impact will never come close to that of Scotty Smiley.

With apologies to all teachers everywhere and to any teacher at West Point — today was not just any other day. I bumped into Brigadier General Finnegan — the Dean — in the hallway after Scotty’s first class. “I saw a cadet come out of Scotty’s room,” the Dean said, “and I asked him how class went.”

First class. First day. First impression.

“Sir,” the cadet responded, “it was awesome.”

And it was.

For more on Scotty, check out the “I Can” fan page on Facebook.

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Hope Unseen

An inspirational story: coming September 14, 2010 from Simon and Schuster

by Captain Scotty Smiley with Doug Crandall

From Chapter 1: Dependence Day

Probably another half an hour went by until I found a curb and its landing.  The three-inch increase in elevation was enough to alleviate my fears of being mowed down by a sanitation truck or a spirited teen-ager with attention fixated on the sounds of Linkin Park.  I stepped up on to the sidewalk, threw my horrible stick down, and burst into tears.  Every salty drop of the last remaining fluid in my body carried with it pounds of pain.  I had lived through a car bomb, narrowly escaped the piercing death of hot bullets, and now I was going to die as a pathetic blind guy in a Silicon Valley parking lot?

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About Blue Rudder

Blue Rudder is a leader development company based in Richland, Washington. We provide pro bono consulting and teaching to assist with the development of leaders in non-profit and service-oriented organizations. Our unique niche is an ability to combine proven leadership development programs with Biblical principles.

We also manage the appearance schedule for several outstanding leaders, including Captain Scotty Smiley.

Blue Rudder is:

Doug Crandall, President

Meridith Miller, Marketing and Administration

Mariellen Johnson, Finance

Anthony Bush, Technology

Rich Ward, Coach and Teacher

Scotty Smiley, Speaker

Tiffany Smiley, Speaker

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Tiffany Smiley

Tiffany Elliott Smiley grew up in Pasco, Washington as a star on the soccer field and the basketball court. She played college soccer at Columbia Basin College and won a state, small college championship. After two years at CBC, Tiffany moved on to Whitworth where she graduated with a nursing degree in 2003. In December of that same year, she married her high school sweetheart, Scotty Smiley, and moved with him to Ft. Lewis, WA. Just fifteen months later, Tiffany Smiley received the heartbreaking news that her husband had been badly injured in Iraq.  Within a few weeks, final confirmation that he would never see again changed her life forever.  But Tiffany never blinked. She put her head down, committed herself to the man she loves, set her own dreams aside, and moved forward. Her dedication, selflessness, and optimism are the stuff true leaders are made of.  She is a shining example of a woman who has endured the crushing hammer of adversity and emerged triumphant.  Tiffany and her husband Scotty now live in West Point, NY with their sons Grady and Graham.

Contact Blue Rudder to schedule Tiffany for your event.

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Scotty Smiley

“The thing that really mattered was, Scotty cared about his Soldiers. He loved his Soldiers. And they knew it. And they knew it because he gave his time; he invested in them; he shared his feelings with them and they shared their feelings with him.”

– Jeff Van Antwerp

Serve Selflessly. Care Passionately. Pursue Inexorably.

Scotty Smiley, a Ranger and combat-diver qualified infantryman, was the Army’s first active-duty, blind officer. On April 6, 2005, he lost use of both eyes when a suicide car bomber blew himself up thirty meters in front of Scotty’s Stryker vehicle.  Since that day, Scotty Smiley has surfed in Hawaii, skied in Vail, skydived, climbed Mount Rainier, completed a triathlon, and graduated from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business with his MBA.  The Army Times named Scotty its Soldier of the Year in 2007 and in 2008 he won an ESPY as the world’s Best Outdoor Athlete. Scotty, a recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, recently taught the core course in leadership at West Point and now commands the Warrior Transition Unit at West Point’s Keller Army Medical Center. Captain Smiley is the Army’s first blind company commander.

Scotty and his wife Tiffany are both from Pasco, Washington where Scotty captained the Pasco High School Bulldogs to a Class 4A State Football Championship.  Tiffany, who played college soccer at Whitworth, is a registered nurse. Scotty Smiley and Tiffany Smiley are the proud parents of Grady Douglas and Graham Elliott.

Contact Blue Rudder to schedule Scotty Smiley for your event.

Scotty with Team USA Basketball from Doug Crandall on Vimeo.