The Softwood Forest Products Buyer is reaching out to company leaders across the industry to solicit their input on key issues that impact overall business success. In this publication, Kevin Hancock shares his insights. “Some organizations collect leadership power into the bureaucratic center, where a few people can make the majority of the decisions for […]
Leaders of Lumber: Kevin Hancock
In this article, Kevin Hancock speaks about how important company culture and sharing leadership are at Hancock Lumber. Kevin explains how his journey to Pine Ridge opened his eyes to how narrow his leadership focus was. He was the largest voice in the room and after losing his voice, he could no longer be the […]
Five Steps We Must Take To Truly Create An Inclusive, Representative, and Equitable Society
In this interview, Kevin Hancock reflects upon how traditional views of leadership have caused disruption, inequality, and misrepresentation throughout history. “Leaders of established organizations have often ‘over-reached.’ By this, I mean that those with the most power often abuse it and go too far.” He goes on to say that the quest for equality and diversity […]
COVID Response Strategies
The Wall Street Journal 8/24/2020 Article “New Thinking on Covid Lockdowns: They’re Overly Blunt and Costly” This is the most thoughtful, data driven, reflective, and objective considerations of potential strategic responses designed to achieve maximum and balanced health, economic, and social salvation from COVID that I have read. –Kevin Hancock “400 million jobs have been […]
Be the Change That You Wish to See in the World
In this interview with Thrive Global, Kevin Hancock shares the story about how he came to visit Pine Ridge for the first time and the life lessons he learned along the way. Kevin’s shared leadership and voice empowerment ideas have helped him create a new employee-centric model for Hancock Lumber. Kevin realized there are a […]
Unstoppable: How Kevin Hancock of Hancock Lumber was Able to Thrive Despite Spasmodic Dysphonia
In this interview, Kevin Hancock talks about how he was able to find positivity and strength through his diagnosis of Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD). By changing his mindset and prospective, Kevin was able to see his diagnosis as a gift which allowed him to begin listening to the ideas of others. When he began listening, he […]
Rethinking Employee Off-boarding
In this article, Kevin writes about how employee off-boarding can be a different process when the company’s culture is one that fosters personal growth and shares leadership. Human Resources professionals should rework their thoughts to maximize the well-being of those employed at the company. Instead of treating an off-boarded employee as someone to close a […]
Recent Press Updates: Featuring The Seventh Power
Hello! Just sharing the following podcast and op-ed piece that I wrote on the importance of shared leadership, dispersed power, and respect for all voices. If you like them, please share! Thank you, The Enlightenment for Change interview with Connie Whitman was one of my favorite podcasts to date! Connie was a great […]
Ninety Days in the Heart of America
In this article, Kevin Hancock writes about how the COVID pandemic showed how American citizens unified, persevered, and took control of their safety measures. Instead of chaos, America unified and was able to work together to save lives and slow the spread. Kevin also touches on how the coronavirus was not the only sickness Americans […]
A Lesson in Leadership From the CEO of One of America’s Oldest Companies
In this interview, Kevin Hancock is asked specifically about his leadership style and how it differs from others. They also speak about how important your authentic voice is and why it is important to listen without judgment. Kevin highlights the importance of hearing voices besides your own, especially as a leader. By engaging others, their […]
Managing Less, Not More
In this article, Kevin Hancock writes about the challenges of training managers and supervisors to manage and supervise less. After realizing that in nature power is dispersed, Kevin uses these experiences to change the operational strategy of Hancock Lumber. By encouraging every employee to lead, the managers and supervisors would not be managing and supervising […]
Book Review: The Seventh Power
This article is a complete review of Kevin Hancock’s newest book The Seventh Power: One CEO’s Journey into the Business of Shared Leadership. Written by Margo Kelly, this review highlights the way leadership lessons are intertwined in the narrative to create an engaging story. Margo shares how she felt Kevin’s writing stimulated her own thoughts and […]
6 Ways HR Needs to Evolve Post the COVID-19 Crisis
In this article, editor Puja Lalwani speaks to HR leaders, including Kevin Hancock, about how to evolve after the COVID crisis. In Kevin’s section of this article, they speak about the importance of communication. HR and leadership must communicate in crisis situations, but Kevin takes it one step further. “Leaders should prioritize authentic, safe, and […]
How to Make Shared Leadership a Reality
Article published in the April 2020 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review. Click to read complete article “Having found a piece of my own authentic voice, I wanted to help others do the same, and a lumber company in Maine became an unlikely platform where this could occur. The new goal: create a socially transformative […]
Business Community Building: We’re All in it Together
In the Workable article “Business Community Building: We’re All in it Together,” Kevin Hancock is interviewed among other business leaders about the importance of clarity in the COVID-19 pandemic. Kevin speaks about the need of the company to follow the lead of the people connected to it. This unification of employees creates a deep connection. The article goes […]
How to Talk to Your Boss About Your New Work-From-Home Challenges
In this article, Kevin weighs in on how to communicate with your manager about balancing work and family. During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people found themselves working from home and finding the work/life balance very difficult. Kevin highlights that no one is alone in this new struggle. Everyone is in this together and experiencing […]
Leadership Power is Meant to be Shared and Dispersed
In this article, Kevin Hancock is interviewed about how important sharing leadership power is and why he believes it was meant to be dispersed and shared among the tribe. He cautions against consolidating power, saying that “across time, those who have the most power have often gone too far. Over-reaching ultimately however collapses back upon […]
Keep Dreaming, America
In this article, Kevin Hancock reflects on the notion that the American dream is dying. Kevin breaks down the pieces that make up the American dream and evaluates them based upon the previous generation. He compares how he has felt the employees at his company, Hancock Lumber, are achieving their American dream. Finally, he leaves […]
7 Signs That Say You Have the Mindset of a Great Leader
Centralized power and decision-making control is out. Shared leadership is in. In this article, Kevin Hancock is interviewed about his story of finding the employee-centric company model. After listing the 7 signs of great leadership mindset, the article concludes with “dispersing power is not a difficult task, but creating a culture where every voice matters […]
This Family Lumber Company Has Survived 11 Major Economic Downturns. Here’s How
Hancock Lumber learned how to sell global and act local. In this article, Kevin Hancock speaks with Steve Goldberg about the challenges that Hancock Lumber has faced with economic tides since 1848. While looking at the reasons that Hancock Lumber has been able to survive these hard times, he discusses that he recently started looking […]
Seeing The Deeper Lessons of Coronavirus
In this article, Kevin Hancock writes about the lessons that the coronavirus uncovered. He writes about how during the pandemic, people were forced to slow down and begin looking at aspects of their lives that were not normally. By seeing that people are looking inward, Kevin notes that he hopes it will bring a deeper […]
An Excerpt From The Seventh Power
This article is an excerpt from Kevin Hancock’s newest book The Seventh Power: One CEO’s Journey Into the Business of Shared Leadership. It begins with his trip to Kiev, where Kevin is pensive about how millions of humans were sacrificed so that the success of the center might be advanced. It brings about a reflection into […]
In Nature, Power Is Dispersed
In this article, Kevin Hancock writes about how he came to the understanding that in nature, power is dispersed. He discusses how this simple notion changed everything he based his company around and how he sees the world. By dispersing power, everyone can become a leader. Kevin also explains how he ended up taking his […]
Culture Makes The Difference
Article by Kevin Hancock, published in March 2020 on the Young Upstarts website. Young Upstarts is an online business resource for startup entrepreneurs, small business owners, idea people, and intrapreneurs seeking change within their organization. What differentiates companies? It’s generally not products, services, facilities, or equipment. Years ago, I would have said it was people […]
Culture Makes the Difference
In this article, Kevin Hancock writes about how company culture plays a significant role in differentiating one business from another. To Kevin, culture is fostered heavily by who controls the power of the entity. If the power is consolidated at the top, employees may begin to feel unheard and easily replaced. In cultures where leadership […]
Leadership and Lumber: An Interview With Kevin Hancock
In this interview, Kevin Hancock speaks about different themes in his newest book, The Seventh Power: One CEO’s Journey Into the Business of Shared Leadership. He speaks about what the Seventh Power is, how he came to learn about it, and how he incorporates his lessons into his daily life. He also shares the best advice […]
A Butt-Kicking Project to Overcome the Drain of Talkative Leadership
This article highlights the downfalls that talkative leaders often use to justify their conversation monopoly and the negative impacts it can have on culture and engagement. It also gives an exercise that leaders can partake in to find out how often they take over entire conversations. Kevin Hancock’s story is shared through a video interview […]
Putting Work Back In It’s Place
In this article, Kevin Hancock writes about the importance of having a proper work/life balance. He highlights the difficulties of keeping work weeks to forty hours in the manufacturing industry, but admits there is no denying the benefits of having a balanced life. “Today I encourage all of the 525 people in our company to […]
Culture Makes the Difference: Great People are Everywhere, Great Cultures Aren’t
Written by Kevin Hancock, “Culture Makes the Difference” explores the differences between companies and what are the key differentials between them. “Culture makes the difference. An organization’s culture either creates an environment where great people can flourish, or an environment where people are frustrated, held back, or stymied. What makes one corporate culture different from […]
Advocating For Shared Leadership
In this interview, Kevin Hancock speaks with host Helene Stelian about the importance of sharing leadership and finding your authentic voice. Kevin’s goal is to find his own authentic voice and create a company that fosters the culture that allows others to do the same. By creating an employee-centric company, Kevin hopes to achieve this […]
How Saying Less Can Empower Others to Say More
In this article, Kevin Hancock writes about how journey to finding that by saying less, he is empowering others to speak more. By sharing the leadership responsibility with many, instead of consolidating in one place, Kevin has seen tremendous growth in those around him and the business he runs, Hancock Lumber. Once employees became engaged […]
The Age of Localism
In this article, Kevin Hancock speaks about shared leadership, employee engagement, and employee-centric company structures. “Humans will always benefit from banding together to create value and solve problems. But institutions will need to alter the ways they engage with the world. Take corporations, for example, where employees have historically existed to serve the company. This […]
True Profitability and Productivity Come From Striving for a Bigger Social Goal
This article is an excerpt from Kevin Hancock’s new book The Seventh Power: One CEO’s Journey Into the Business of Shared Leadership. “At Hancock Lumber, we grow trees, but that is not our core objective. We make lumber, but that is not our primary purpose. We manage logistics, but that is not our most important task. […]
The Age of Localism
In this article, Kevin Hancock explores the beginning of the age of localism; the idea that localized decision-making, rule-setting, and self-organizing will be the new pathways towards excellence. Kevin also discusses what will happen to larger companies in the future and the role that they play in our lives. “Take corporations, for example, where employees […]
How Losing His Voice Taught a Maine CEO to Give Workers More Say
In this article by the Bangor Daily News, Kevin Hancock shares how his journey to Pine Ridge changed the way he thinks about power, leadership, and the human spirit. By rethinking the way he led Hancock Lumber, Kevin was able to give a voice to his employees. He found that they had the answers and […]
5 Clear Signs You’re Not An Authentic Leader
In the article, Kevin Hancock’s core belief that leaders should listen more than speak is highlighted as an important indicator of being an authentic leader. Authentic leaders are naturally those who disperse and share leadership with those around them. Author Erin Hatzikostas says that when you share leadership and listen to others, “you’ll be amazed […]
Governor Mills Nominates Individuals for Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission
May 24, 2019 – PRESS RELEASE Governor Janet Mills announced today that she has nominated six people to serve on the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission. The Governor nominated John Cashwell, Robert Checkoway, James Cote, Kevin Hancock, former Senator Michael Pearson and former Senator Richard Rosen to serve on the Commission, an inter-governmental entity charged in […]
Americans Should Set Example for New Leader
In this article published by the Portland Press Herald, Kevin Hancock writes about how Americans can and should set examples for the newly elected President. As Kevin’s leadership style evolved into one of employee leadership, he mentions instances where he has become concerned with the lack of communication coming from the leaders in government. However, […]
Strengthening the Voices of Others
In this article, Kevin Hancock shares his story about losing his voice and how his leadership style adapted to this major obstacle. By listening more to others, Kevin is able to preserve his voice and create a new employee-centric culture at Hancock Lumber. “Leadership is about doing less, not more. It is about restraint. It […]
Not 4 Sale in Big Blend Magazine
In this article, Kevin Hancock’s book Not 4 Sale is introduced, giving a look into the reasons for Kevin’s journey to Pine Ridge and the ideas that began afterwards. After a series of solo trips to Pine Ridge, Kevin began to realize that we are all one tribe. This led to him rethinking the structure and […]
Life Lessons Lead to LBM Changes at Hancock Lumber
Kevin Hancock’s journey of self discovery after losing his voice is brought to life in his new book Not For Sale: Finding Center in the Land of Crazy Horse. Kevin’s quest brought him to the realization that the structure of Hancock Lumber could drastically change and improve employee engagement and job satisfaction. “I thought, what if this […]
Leading by Listening
In this article, Kevin Hancock is interviewed about his journey to finding a new leadership style by listening more to others. Kevin’s new management initiative helps bring Hancock Lumber to new highs, by creating a lean structure and maximizing employee engagement. They also talk about his new book, Not For Sale: Finding Center in the Land […]
Hancock Lumber’s Kevin Hancock on Growing After the Recession
Kevin Hancock is interviewed in this article about Hancock Lumber’s growth after the economic recession. During this time, Kevin lost his voice, which creates a new leadership style centered around listening to others more than speaking. “I learned that leadership is about doing less, not more. It was letting people who have responsibility own their […]
A Path to Change
In this article Kevin Hancock is interviewed about his new business leadership ideas and how dispersing power amongst all employees of Hancock Lumber has created a more successful company. “The more I held back and left space for others, the more everyone grabbed that space, embraced responsibility, took ownership, enjoyed making decisions, and ran with […]
A Story I Had To Tell
In this article, Kevin Hancock recalls his first trip to the Pine Ridge Reservation and how this journey opened his eyes to life in the tribe. At a time in his life where Kevin was losing the ability to speak, he stumbled upon a tribe of people who had felt that their voices had been […]