DENISE BADE | LOCKTON COMPANIES
During the course of even a short conversation with Denise Bade, you’re likely to hear one word keep cropping up: Perseverance. It’s a characteristic you’ll find in almost any successful person, she says. It’s also a trait she exhibited at an early age, demonstrating the discipline needed to become principal flutist in the Wichita Youth Symphony. These days, as senior executive vice president at Lockton Companies, the world’s largest privately owned independent insurance broker, she is consistently one of the top producers in the Kansas City office, which generates more than $100 million in annual revenues. Building a broad portfolio of clients in health care, energy and other industries, she has increased her business production by 450 percent over the past 10 years, colleagues say.
She attributes that success to persistence and vision: “Looking long-term to what you’re trying to accomplish makes it easier to get through the day-to-day tasks,” said Bade. “I like to think that success is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes a lot to persevere.” Three examples of her own perseverance are now ages 12, 8 and 5: Her children. Each time she and her husband Bill added a new member to the household, Bade stepped out of her career track for 12 weeks of maternity leave. But it’s a lot easier to step back into a work role, she’ll tell you, working with the kind of skilled insurance professionals that surround and support her.
Her early interest in music has carried over into her life as a career mom. She’s heavily involved in the music program at her church, where she often sings solo. “The key to success, in either music or business, is that you just have to keep going,” Bade said. “Sometimes, especially in an economy like this, things can seem discouraging, but you have to keep doing the things that, if you know enough to do them every day, in the long term they will get you where you want to go.”
OWEN BUCKLEY | LANE4 PROPERTY GROUP
How’s this for counterintuitive wisdom from a highly successful commercial property developer: “Setbacks,” says Owen Buckley, “have always been very inspirational for me, and almost always have led to better things in the long run.”
We should all have such setbacks. In 2006, Buckley left the R.H. Johnson Co. after 14 years—eight of them as president—to form his own company. LANE4 was built on the belief that selecting the right site for a successful retail center is only the first step—and perhaps the easiest. What makes the difference for a truly successful development is the diligence, hard work and attention to detail in planning.
Buckley’s team has experience in developing properties for more than 100 Midwestern retail operations that read like a Who’s Who of American commerce, from stand-alone restaurants up to big-box retailers. Earlier this year, principals of the firm and other investors bought three Johnson County retail icons: the Corinth Square, Prairie Village and Fairway shopping centers. Recently, Buckley and LANE4 colleagues negotiated the Wizards soccer stadium at Village West in Wyandotte County. Buckley offers this thought on what it means to be in a leadership position: “I believe each of us possesses different styles and skills, and I’ve learned a lot by watching others. I think we are all role models, whether we want to be or not.”
He cites two keys for success. First, “standing out in any field takes a lot of hard work,” Buckley said. “I have found that there is a point where the hard work pays off, and that’s when it gets exciting. That being said, for some reason it never gets easier.” Second, simple but sterling advice from his parents: “Surround yourself with quality people.” His personal circle of those people includes his wife of 28 years, Lynne, and their two grown sons, who help him strike the right balance between work and home. “Family,” says Buckley,“is everything.”
