(Cracking the Code with Greg Kozera - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Recently in Morgantown, Lynnda and I had dinner with Dr. T, an old dear, friend and mentor. We were there to see our granddaughter run in a college track meet the next day. She goes to college in Pennsylvania.

Dr. T and I communicate periodically by phone. We have not connected in person and had a meal together in several years. Dr. T is 86 years old and active in industry, church and community. He recently lost his wife of 68 years. It was a last-minute decision for us to come early for the track meet. An in-person visit is better than just a sympathy card.

Dr. T was born in India and got his bachelor of science in mining engineering there. In India, Dr. T was a mining engineer and on a coal mine rescue team. After an incident like a methane explosion in the mine, his team’s job was to rescue trapped miners and/or bring out the bodies.

Dr. T told me years ago, when we first met, how he cried every time he had to recover dead miners (husbands, sons and grandsons) and give their body to the family. The mine manager saw how emotional he was and called Dr. T to his office.

“You are a very smart young man. I saw how emotional you are on body recovery. Instead of just crying, why not do something?” Then his manager told him, “Go to the USA and learn how to save lives.” He went to the USA to get his Ph.D. Making mines safe became a lifelong passion for Dr. T.

Dr. T brought his young bride with him and attended Penn State University. He struggled financially to feed his family on a fellowship that gave him free tuition but little money. Eventually he was able to teach a class and made enough to pay the rent, feed his family and buy a used car. After graduation, he went to work for a large coal company.

We met in 1984 in Virginia when I was a regional manager for Halliburton. Dr. T had success in Pennsylvania coal mines with in-mine horizontal drilling to remove methane ahead of mining. Virginia has some of the highest gas content coal in the world. In-mine drilling was not sufficient. Dr. T and I worked together to develop a process of hydraulically fracturing the coal and producing the methane several years ahead of mining. The goal was to protect the miners.

It worked! Since 1984 Virginia has not had any fatalities from mine methane explosions!

Dr. T’s focus was safety but created far greater results. With methane removed, coal was mined faster and cheaper. The methane eventually was captured, put into a pipeline, and sold to energy hungry consumers during the energy crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. They are still doing it today. Methane, was previously removed from mines during the ventilation process. Capturing methane ahead of mining kept millions of tons of methane out of the atmosphere and turned it into a useful product.

In the field, Dr. T worked long hours on well sites until the job was complete. He understands the power of a team. Dr. T worked to put the best companies and people on his job sites. They kept working for him because of his work ethic, personal integrity and caring attitude. When a job was complete, he fed everyone on the job site, a rarity. Dr. T’s work has saved countless lives. His process is still being used around the world in the mining industry.

Dr. T set a leadership example we can imitate. He had a high dream and passion to achieve it. Instead of just crying, he decided to act. He prepared by educating himself. His passion, integrity, ability and people skills convinced management to invest millions of dollars in his idea.

Dr. T then put together a team of experts and allowed them to use their creativity and experience. Dr. T’s passion and encouragement were contagious. Everyone knew the short-term and ultimate goals. People were willing to work hard for long hours because they understood the opportunity to save thousands of lives.

As in any project, there were problems and short-term failures. No one quit. Dr. T’s team was paid by the companies they worked for. He fed them, an extra bonus, because he cared. Then he gave us something we were not getting from our employers, sincere praise and appreciation.

Dr. T has done very well financially. One of his goals was financial success to take care of his family. Dr. T never focused on money. The late sales expert Zig Ziglar said, “You can have anything you want if you FIRST help enough other people get what they want.” If we focus on others’ needs first, our needs will be taken care of.

It is easy to complain about what we do not like or what needs to happen. Few people are willing to do something. We all can make a positive difference if we follow Dr. Ts example.

This is the same process we used with our high school soccer team to win 20 regional and eight state championships.

I use it in business. Shale Crescent USA is busily preparing for SelectUSA, a large expo hosted by the U.S. Commerce Department in Washington, D.C., next week. We already have over 30 prescheduled meetings with companies interested in talking to us. We focus on the needs of the prospects. There are 47 other states competing against us. Our major competitors are the Carolinas, Georgia and Texas. We never bad-mouth our competition. The focus is on the benefits of locating in the Shale Crescent USA region, the only place in the world companies can locate on top of their energy and feedstock AND be in the center of 50% of the U.S. population. We have the cheapest natural gas in the industrialized world.

Dr. T’s manager told him to quit crying and go make a difference. We can do the same.

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Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com is the Director of Marketing for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a Masters in Environmental Engineering and over 40 years of experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker, author of four books and many published articles.