That ALL Might Be Edified: Discussions on Servant Leadership

In this episode, we had the privilege of hosting Darius Lahoutifard, the visionary behind MEDDIC Academy, a best-selling author, serial entrepreneur, and former executive at PTC and Oracle. Darius shared insights from his extensive career, including his leadership course focused on recruitment, empowerment, and optimization. He discussed common pitfalls leaders face, especially when dealing with underperformance or unexpected challenges, and provided a crucial self-reflection question for leaders to consider. Darius also delved into how he applies Aristotle's framework to develop quality metrics and the principles behind this approach. Throughout our conversation, Darius emphasized the importance of diagnosing problems accurately and shared lifelong leadership insights. We explored insights gained during his journey from robotics engineer to tech startup enthusiast, highlighting his remarkable achievements, including leading PTC's French unit to outcompete Dassault Systèmes on their home turf and the creation of the MEDDIC and MEDDPICC sales methodologies.  This episode is packed with valuable lessons for anyone looking to refine their leadership skills and optimize team performance. Resources: MEDDIC Academy - Infinite Sales Leadership https://meddic.academy/infinite-sales-leadership/ Darius Lahoutifard - Aristotle Walks into a Sales Meeting https://meddic.academy/aristotle-the-salesperson/ MEDDIC Acadamy https://meddic.academy/ Darius Lahoutifard - MEDDIC Academy - Infinite Sales Leadership YouTube https://youtu.be/_1yPNGfK46g?si=xeyaTIwnNXP5T4CH Darius Lahoutifard - Always Be Qualifying: M.E.D.D.I.C. ALWAYS BE QUALIFYING: M.E.D.D.I.C.  Darius Lahoutifard - Leadership by Cyrus the Great Leadership by Cyrus the Great: Unlocking Xenophon's Cyropaedia 

In this episode, we sit down with Stephen Bor, a seasoned leader with deep insights into navigating the complexities of leadership in challenging times. Stephen emphasizes the importance of taking the time to truly get to know people, reminding us that not every problem needs an immediate fix. He highlights the significance of understanding where we may be making assumptions, and how this awareness can transform our approach to leadership. We dive into the nuances of leading through disfunction, tragedy, ambiguity, and crisis. Stephen shares his experiences and strategies for guiding teams and organizations when the path forward isn't always clear. Whether you're facing a crisis or simply looking to refine your leadership skills, this episode offers valuable lessons on patience, empathy, and the power of thoughtful decision-making. CDR Stephen Bor is an operational leader, legal advisor, father and husband that served in the Coast Guard for more than 20 years. He currently serves as the Deputy Chief of the Coast Guard Office of Information and Intelligence Law. He's served in various operational leadership positions at Coast Guard units in Los Angeles – Long Beach, Corpus Christi, and San Francisco. In his capacity as a Coast Guard JAG, he served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, and as a senior staff attorney for the Coast Guard's Thirteenth District in Seattle, WA. CDR Bor received the 2021 Coast Guard Captain David H. Jarvis Inspirational Leadership Award, and the 2016 DHS Office of General Counsel Rising Star Award. Stephen is a huge Seattle Sounders fan (professional soccer). He speaks fluent Mandarin and Spanish.  Resources:  Long Beach Current - College Student Pre-Commissioning Article:  https://daily49er.com/artslife/2021/03/01/from-school-to-the-service-cspi-program-offers-students-a-path-to-the-coast-guard/ The Rafu Shimpo - Seventy Years Later, The Coast Guard Honors One of Its Own:  https://rafu.com/2022/07/seventy-years-later-coast-guard-honors-one-of-its-own/ Coast Guard Academy - Fouled Anchor Timeline & Resources; https://www.cgaalumni.org/s/1043/21/interior.aspx?sid=1043&gid=1&pgid=7020&appealcode=OFA How the CNN Coast Guard Academy Investigation Came Together: https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/11/politics/coast-guard-investigation-what-matters/index.html

After a long hiatus we are back with an amazing guest. David Peter Stroh joins as the guest on this episode to help illustrate the art of systems thinking. We start by discussing why it is so important to begin with the individual as the protagonist of the story so they can see how they are involved in, impacted by , and impacting the system. This leads to some great discourse on the power of reflection and recognizing that systems have time delays.  David uses this to highlight the importance of patience and persistence along with providing various examples to show us how we can take action now to begin to be systems thinkers. David shares a high level synopsis of his four stage approach to system thinking and reminds everyone that they can all do a lot!  David Peter Stroh is a founding partner of Bridgeway Partners (https://bridgewaypartners.com), a consulting firm that partners with mission-centered organizational leaders committed to advancing social and environmental transformation. He is internationally recognized for his work in enabling leaders to apply systems thinking to achieve breakthroughs around chronic, complex problems and to develop strategies which improve system-wide performance over time. David has been described as “a magician” and “the master at providing interesting and useful ways to look at the complexity of systems thinking”, who “helped us tremendously in getting to the core issues” with “the mind of a scientist and the heart of a healer.”  He is the author of the highly regarded book Systems Thinking for Social Change: A Practical Guide for Solving Complex Problems, Avoiding Unintended Consequences, and Achieving Lasting Results, a #1 Best-Seller in Non-Governmental Organization Policy which readers praise as "an essential - and long overdue - guide to applied systems thinking" that "shows you how to enlist others in the effort" by "masterfully weaving metaphor, story, and practical tools" using "down-to-earth language." Resources: David is Founding Director of Applied Systems Thinking:  AppliedSystemsThinking.com   David Peter Stroh - Systems Thinking for Social Change Systems Thinking for Social Change: A Practical Guide to Solving Complex Problems, Avoiding Unintended Consequences, and Achieving Lasting Results    Robert Lupton - Toxic Charity  Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It) 

I had the such an incredible conversation with recently retired Admiral Mike Studeman from the U.S. Navy. His most recent position was as Commanding Officer of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). Mike started the conversation by encouraging me to ask him all my hard questions. I began by asking him how we could get better using the Coast Guard to compliment our other Maritime Forces around the world which led to some great dialogue about how to engage with the world around us in more meaningful ways. Mike had some inspiring tips for how to prepare for a life in foreign and/or international affairs which could help many of us just be more sensitive to the many cultures we interact with. Mike provided powerful inspiration on using your voice, empowerment, and the importance of character among several other insightful commentaries. Mike described the passion behind his recently compiled manuscript on leadership and shared some highlights from it. Mike points out that the U.S. is facing a leadership crisis and this episode is a must listen to contemplate what we can each do to tackle that in our own spheres of influence with our individual voices. All throughout the episode, Mike illustrates tangible examples while expressing the time to act is now for each of us to start to make a difference in the world around us with these great recommendations!  Mike is an executive leader of major organizations with geostrategic impact and National security expert and intelligence professional with global expertise. He has deep knowledge of the Indo-Pacific and is an inspiring leader  who is able to maximize team performance and achieve results while sustaining high morale. Admiral Studeman had a very distinguished Naval career serving as Commanding Officer of multiple Commandant Commands.  Admiral Michael Studeman is the son of a career naval officer and a 1988 graduate of the College of William and Mary. He is a distinguished graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School, a distinguished graduate of the National War College, and an honors graduate in Mandarin Chinese from the Defense Language Institute. Resources: Nicholas Carr - The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing How We Think, Read, and Remember: The Shallows: How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember  Ancient Greek Quotes to Strengthen Character:  https://youtu.be/SXeObg8UEcg?si=KCRbkmMeLUCrwY-D  Media Bias Chart: https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-chart U.S. Coast Guard Recruitment Website:  https://www.gocoastguard.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAsIGrBhAAEiwAEzMlCwigXY7sQLLmYBV-XG_XGToFg9rh-gAOTwaPyRPgGUOpQYsF0lun7xoCFmEQAvD_BwE Department of State - Careers in Foreign Service:  Foreign Service - Careers - State DepartmentU.S. Department of State (.gov)https://careers.state.gov › career-paths › foreign-service U.S. Navy Foreign Area Officer Career Information:  https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Career-Management/Detailing/Officer/FAO/      

The guest on this episode is Frank Cespedes, who is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. Frank starts off by describing his definition of leadership and how it is connected to servant leadership. We have a great conversation about acknowledging and closing the C-suite gap. How to ask better questions to use AI to drive the decisions in our organizations. Frank helps us understand that as we rise in an organization we lose touch with what is going on around us inside those organizaitons and does a great job really illustrating what that means. Frank gives a good example of the pitfalls of bringing in an outsider who is a star in a given industry.  Frank highlights why timely training technology supported by good learning processes can and should be utilized in our organizations. There is no such thing as performance in the abstract, so asking really good questions that will help us get our data guiding our organizations in more informed ways to create better strategies. Good Leadership is crucial for the success of our organizations.  Frank has run a business, served on boards for start-ups and corporations, and consulted to many companies around the world. He is the author of six books and many articles in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, California Management Review, and other publications. His most recent book is "Aligning Strategy and Sales," & Frank has a master's degree from MIT and a Ph.D from Cornell University.  At Harvard, he has developed and taught a variety of MBA and executive courses, led the Strategic Marketing Management program for senior executives, was co-lead of the Sustainable Market Leadership program for CEOs and their teams. He currently teaches Entrepreneurial Marketing in the MBA program, in the Owner President Management (OPM) executive program, and he heads the executive program on Aligning Strategy and Sales. Resources: Frank Cespedes Website: https://frankcespedes.com/ Peter Drucker - The Manager and the Moron https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-manager-and-the-moron Frank Cespedes - Sales Management that Works Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World that Never Stops Changing  Alfred P. Sloan - My Years With General Motors My Years With General Motors     

The guest on this episode is Erika Andersen who is the founding partner of Proteus. Erika teaches us how our history creates resistance to change and provides some great tools for overcoming barriers to transformation. We have a great discussion about approaches to leading organizational change, developing "change-capable" cultures, and avoiding common change missteps. Authentic servant leadership includes aligning practical strategies with human values and Erika helps us understand how to become more curious to do this. As we increase in curiosity, we can face the people around us with insightful questions and increased active listening that will strengthen our teams.  Erika Andersen empowers executives to drive change. She's also an accomplished author with several bestselling books, including "Change from the Inside Out" and "Leading So People Will Follow." Erika brings a unique blend of expertise to the discussion, focusing on practical insights for effective leadership, change management, and fostering a culture of growth. Erika Andersen and her colleagues at Proteus International, a coaching, consulting and leadership development training firm, focus on leader readiness, supporting leaders at all levels to get ready and stay ready to meet whatever the future might bring. She advises senior executives in organizations such as Spotify, Amazon, Spectrum, Novartis, Revolt Media, CBS Sports, and the Yale School of Public Health. Resources: Erika Andersen - Change from the Inside Out Change from the Inside Out: Making You, Your Team, and Your Organization Change-Capable  Proteus website:  https://proteus-international.com/ Erika Andersen website: https://erikaandersen.com/ Prosci Change Management website: https://www.prosci.com/  

Admiral Cedric Pringle is the guest on this episode. Admiral Pringle serves as the 25th President of the National Naval Officers Association (NNOA). NNOA is an organization dedicated to supporting the Sea Services in recruiting, professional development, and retention of a diverse officer corps that reflects the demographics of our nation. Cedric talks about the amazing work that NNOA is doing with bringing STEM to school children and we discuss how impactful it would be if more positive role models would get involved in bringing STEM to middle schools and high schools around the country to provide more opportunities for people to see diverse paths to use these fields in their lives. Cedric shares some amazing insights from his prestigious Naval career and although he prided himself on being by the the book, he liked to remind people that when the book was wrong there is a recourse to change the book. Cedric gave us some good examples of creating a space where you could make mistakes and take risks to grow as individuals, but he also hinted at some steps that helped build the trust of the team if you listen closely. He reminds us that excellence is a journey. Admiral Pringle models a great example of an appropriate way to resist a challenge from someone senior to us in a personal story in his humanitarian work in Haiti. Each story Cedric shares is done so to help build us all up the same way he has built many of his sailors and marines over the years!  Cedric Pringle is a retired rear admiral following a 34-and-a-half-year career in the U.S. Navy. His service culminated as the 31st commandant of National War College at National Defense University. During his distinguished career, he led joint, combined, multinational, and interagency organizations, both at sea and ashore, across all aspects of defense, including full spectrum operations, strategic planning, crisis management, and congressional affairs.  Admiral Pringle earned a BS in Economics from the University of South Carolina, an MS in Financial Management from the Naval Postgraduate School, and an MA in National Security Strategy from the Naval War College. He also completed executive courses in Strategic Thinking at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School, Leading Innovation at the Naval Postgraduate School, and the Leadership University for Humanity course with Korn Ferry.  Resources: National Naval Officers Associations - Navy, Marines, & Coast Guard  https://nnoa.org/ Center for Oceanographic Research in the South Pacific - University of Concepcion, Chile  http://www.copas.cl/eng/       

This episode features Vikrant Shaurya who is the Founder & CEO of Authors On Mission (formerly BestsellingBook.com) and bestselling author of the book “How to Write a Bestseller” where we talk about how you too can tap into your potential to find your own ideas and write a bestseller of your own. Vikrant and his amazing team at Authors on Mission help match people to those that will help them find their authentic voice and we had some great dialogue about this in a way that will get you thinking about ways to do this in your own organizations because Vikrant truly models the way on how to do this throughout his organization. Virkant talks a lot about the power of credibility and trust and how that starts with letting his team know they have his trust and ensuring that his credibility is intact. We discussed how to approach the AI tools in the light of trust and ensuring that you keep your brand reputation as a central focus to all that you do as an individual and an organization. Vikrant was generous to share some of his insights into how he obtains so much of his success but it is clear that much of that success comes from the way he empowers the individuals on his team and has helped them to to develop a mindset that they have ownership in the company. This concept has created an environment where everyone acts to take care of each other and the clients fostering powerful servant leadership concepts.  Vikrant Shaurya is a publishing entrepreneur with a laser-like focus on his own life, who has transformed it and built a company that has become a global success story. He is a businessman and a bestselling author who has devoted his life to helping Entrepreneurs, coaches, experts, and thought leaders reach their fullest potential in business and their brand by writing a bestselling book. This young, inspiring and tenaciously focused book publisher is on a mission to help 10,000 people turn their ideas into bestselling books by 2025. Resources: Vikrant Shaurya - How to Write a Bestseller: How to Write a Bestseller: Become a Bestselling Author, Attract High-Value Clients, and Skyrocket Your Authority    Authors on Mission - Website: http://authorsonmission.com/   Join the Authors on Mission Community - FREE Book Outline Quadrant: https://www.skool.com/authorsonmission/about   Vikrant Shaurya - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Vikrant_Shaurya   Simon Sinek - Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't:  Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't    Simon Sinek - Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action:  Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action    Listen Notes - Podcast Search Engine  https://www.listennotes.com/  

It was a humbling opportunity to have Coast Guard, Captain Taylor Lam as the guest on this episode. Taylor models powerful servant leadership describing how the Sector San Francisco Command Philosophy was developed in collaboration with those he has been called to lead. He also illustrates some powerful examples on the importance of connection that highlight how vital that is today for keeping top talent and engaging the people we have. We dialogue about communication and provide some great food for thought for ALL to consider on how effective communications really are at every level in our organizations. Taylor inspires people to take on challenges from a safe place because he models that behavior and shares some insights on how we can do that too.  Captain Lam assumed command of Sector San Francisco in June 2021. Prior to this assignment, he completed an assignment as a national security fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.  While in command, he recently completed a one-year Executive Leadership Program at the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) in Monterey, CA.  Captain Lam is a native of Riverside, CA and enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in 1996 through the College Student Pre-commissioning Initiative (CSPI) and graduated from Basic Training in Cape May, NJ. Upon completion of his undergraduate studies, he graduated from Officer Candidate School.   His previous operational units include service as Deputy Commander of Sector Boston, Commanding Officer of Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) Los Angeles – Long Beach, Command Center and Enforcement Chief at Sector Miami, Detachment Officer-in-Charge (OIC) and plank owner of MSST Seattle, Law Enforcement Detachment OIC at Tactical Law Enforcement Team North, and Deck Watch Officer on the Cutter MUNRO in Alameda, CA.  Captain Lam's previous staff and advanced education assignments include service as Special Assistant to the 30th Vice Commandant, Coast Guard Fellow in the late U.S. Senator Thad Cochran's personal staff addressing homeland security appropriations, the Atlantic Area Commander's staff managing six MSSTs, and attending a fully-funded advanced education program in Williamsburg, VA.  He is a graduate from the University of California, Riverside, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, a graduate from Boston University's Master of Arts program in criminal justice, and a graduate from the College of William and Mary's Master's program in public policy.  Resources: Brené Brown - Video on Empathy  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw Bryce Ward - Washington Post Opinion - Americans are spending more time alone. Here's why we should reverse that.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/23/americans-alone-thanksgiving-friends/ Naval Postgraduate School - Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) Leadership Programs  https://www.chds.us/c/ Admiral William H. McRaven - he Wisdom of the Bullfrog:  Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy)  The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy)   Leonard J. Marcus, Eric J. McNulty, Joseph M. Henderson, & Barry C. Dorn - You're It:  Crisis, Change, and How To Lead When it Matters Most You're It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most 

I have the distinct pleasure of having the President and CEO of FFI Systems, Benjamin Huntsman, as a guest on this episode. Ben uses his and his family's challenges along with their life's changes to highlight various aspects of servant leadership in multigenerational, multicultural, and familial settings. All throughout the episode the servant leadership characteristic of awareness is used to frame and pull in other insights encouraging new servant leader practices from these lessons. Ben reminds everyone that change is a good thing and that complacency is not. There is insight in this episode that will awaken and disturb all who come with a servant leader awareness in a way that prepares them to become an even better leader who is more prepared to think deeply about how to engage with people they encounter.  Prior to starting FFI Systems, Benjamin Huntsman was the Global Business Director for the Houjyouji Group where he lead a team of Contract/Program Mangers in managing contracts with the US Government throughout Japan with value over $500 million. Ben was also the owner of Family Fun Immersion where he taught programming and other IT related topics, as well as, LEGO robotics in the evenings and on weekends while working on his own projects. Ben was a professor at Fukuyama University where he taught technical English to Engineering, Computer Science, and Medial students. Ben was a senior language analyst in the United States Air Force and has language skills in Arabic, English, and Japanese. Ben is married to Akari, they have 11 children, and live in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan.  Resources: Ben Huntsman - FFI Systems (Japanese)  https://ffi-systems.com/ Larry Spears - Ten Characteristics of a Servant-Leader https://www.spearscenter.org/46-uncategorised/136-ten-characteristics-of-servant-leadership Larry Spears & Michele Lawrence - Practice Servant-Leadership: Succeeding Through Trust, Bravery, and Forgiveness  Practicing Servant-Leadership: Succeeding Through Trust, Bravery, and Forgiveness     

I had the wonderful privilege to have Rock Ete as the guest for this episode. Rock is the Business Development Manager for Entergy Louisiana, the largest electric utility in Louisiana. Rock starts off the episode by giving us some great background on growing up in Samoa and describes some of the pros and cons of the council system they use on his native island. He talks about how he learned humility, listening carefully, and how to discern what is meant. Rock teaches a powerful lesson by talking about his dad's oratory skill in contrast to some of his life's struggles. We discuss some of the ways to be more inclusive with more diverse faith groups and also take on some of the pitfalls of servant leadership. Rock emphasizes the importance of every voice being heard, making sure that people know their purpose, and working hard to build a consensus. Rock closes out the episode going back to his Samoan roots and sharing a great Samoan proverb with us that helps us reconsider going too long in meetings and prepares us to step up when it is time to make a decision because as he reminds us: every leader must be prepared to make a decision.  At the age of 13 (8th grade), Rock sat and passed a government high school entrance exam program designed to help Samoan school children to continue their education at a high school of their choice in New Zealand. His high school of choice was based on living arrangements with distant cousins/relatives willing to become Rock's guardian during his high school years in New Zealand. He graduated from Avondale College (High School) in 1989. Rock played rugby during and after high school with my aspiration to play professional rugby for the New Zealand All Blacks. At 22 years old, Rock chose to serve a two-year LDS Mission in the Hawaiian Islands, Nov. 1993 – Nov. 1995 and put aside his dream to play for the All Blacks.  After his mission, Rock moved to Salt Lake City Utah, started school at Ensign College (formerly LDS Business College) January 1996. Here, Rock met his future wife Jennifer Ferrell. Rock graduated with an Associates June of 1998 and continued undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Phoenix, and completing a MBA, December 2009. Rock's professional background has been in B2B Sales and eventually to high level and complex business development roles. Rock has been married to Jennifer for almost 27 years and they  have four children: Hana (24), Connor (22), Nick (21), Ian (20). They live in Denham Springs, Louisiana. and are active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Resources: Rock Ete - LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rockete/ Simon Sinek - A Bit of Optimism "Trust with Jimmy Wales" https://simonsinek.com/podcast/episodes/trust-with-jimmy-wales/ Elder M. Russell Ballard - Blessed by Councils https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2011/06/blessed-by-councils?lang=eng Elder M. Russell Ballard - Counseling with Our Councils  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1994/04/counseling-with-our-councils?lang=eng

The guest on this episode is U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Rebecca Ore. I have benefitted from her mentorship over the years, so it was such an honor to have her on the podcast to amplify her voice and wisdom. Rebecca Ore talks to us about the phenomenon of third culture kids, her international experience, and developing her guiding principles. We talk more about the power of those guiding principles, how to foster psychological safety, attract and retain the right talent. We further explore the idea of dissecting career development from leadership development that Adam Gierlach presented on a previous episode. Rebecca illustrates powerful leadership lessons all throughout the episode and models her first guiding principle of people first with a continual focus on feedback, creating curiosity, and constant learning. She closes with emphasizing that it is important to be excellent where you are at and to be authentically yourself.  Rear Admiral Ore assumed the duties of Assistant Commandant for Intelligence (CG-2), in August 2022. As Head of Intelligence Community Element and Service Cryptologic Component Commander, she  provides strategic leadership for the Coast Guard Intelligence Program encompassing collection activities, analysis and production,  information technology and security functions for geospatial, signals and human intelligence. In her previous assignment as Commanding Officer and Captain of the Port at Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, she facilitated regional partnerships and led a team of 550 active duty, reserve and civilian personnel, and a 1,200 member volunteer Auxiliary workforce. Her team was responsible for safeguarding the marine transportation system flowing through the vital ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. As the Federal On-Scene Coordinator for the Pipeline 00547 Response in October 2021, she led a team of 1,800 personnel to mitigate oil affecting northern Mexico and the counties of Orange and San Diego. Rear Admiral Ore holds a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a Masters of Public Administration from Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a National Security Affairs Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and a German Marshall Fund Marshall Memorial Fellow. RDML Ore is certified as a Type 1 Incident Commander in the National Incident Management System. Resources: German Marshall Fund Fellowship https://www.gmfus.org/leadership-development/fellowships Dr. Kyoung Mi Choi - Third Culture Kids: Individuals in Global Transition  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/courageously-and-boldly/202203/third-culture-kids-individuals-in-global-transition Kim Scott - Radical Candor Radical Candor [Paperback] [Jan 01, 2018] KIM SCOTT Albert O. Hirschman - Exit Voice and Loyalty  Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States  

It was my esteemed privilege to talk to Marcus Canady from the Canady Leadership Group about his newly released book on this episode. We had an amazing discussion about some of his amazing insights on caring for the whole individual, building trust equity, and a style of leadership he has become deeply passionate about - intrusive leadership. Marcus shares his definition on intrusive leadership and an insights he got from an interaction with Simon Sinek on the term. He also illustrates how this leadership style  challenges the leader to get to know people on a deep level to push each person beyond their own comfort zone. We discuss how intrusive leadership combines well with servant leadership as it focuses on the needs and characteristics of each individual while digging even deeper. Marcus has a gift for teaching tough topics with an ability to reach the masses in a way that sinks in. After you listen to this episode you will realize why his new book is a must have for every leader!  Marcus Canady is a proven and tested leader that has impacted the lives of hundreds of individuals in the public and private sector. Having personally benefitted from engaged mentorship and dedicated leadership, he has researched and presented on various leadership topics across the country. Through his designed training sessions,  featured keynote addresses, and his participation on numerous discussion panels, Marcus Canady has reached thousands. Well known for his expertise on Intrusive Leadership, he has published the first-ever leadership book solely dedicated to this impactful leadership style. In Intrusive Leadership: How to become THAT Leader, he defines, dissects, and discusses the impacts of what he often describes as “the most critical leadership style for the future.” This book has received great reviews from senior military and corporate leaders. Marcus Canady, raised in Savannah, GA, graduated the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2000 and spent over two decades on active duty. He mainly served as a MH-65 helicopter pilot and completed lifesaving missions on the high seas as well as responding to significant weather catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina. He also successfully completed counter-narcotics missions, helping to interdict over $250 million of illegal contraband and arresting numerous narco-terrorists. His last aviation assignment was at Coast Guard Air Station Houston, TX where he served as the Commanding Officer. Marcus Canady has earned advanced degrees from Duquesne University, Syracuse University, and the prestigious National War College in Washington, DC. In 2023, Marcus Canady founded the Canady Leadership Group. This leadership consulting firm specializes in leadership development and coaching for first line managers to senior executives, creating impactful leaders that people trust and admire. He is happily married to Angelisse Canady and has three amazing children. Resources:  Marcus A. Canady - Intrusive Leadership: How to become THAT Leader https://store.currybrotherspublishing.com/intrusive-leadership Canady Leadership Group https://www.canadyleadershipgroup.com  Donate the book to military members (all branches) sponsored by Coast Guard Alumni Association https://www.cgaalumni.org/s/1043/21/interior.aspx?sid=1043&gid=1&pgid=6893  Marcus A. Canady - Racial Tension in America Requires Intrusive Military Leadership https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/june/racial-tension-america-requires-intrusive-military-leadership    

The guest on this episode is Kevin Cador who is a Senior Partner at Ingram Barge Company  in Marine Regulatory, Compliance/Audit. Kevin talks about the rich culture of New Orleans and why so many people want to stay or come back after they have been exposed to it. We consider how we can infuse our organizations with a soul like this iconic city. Kevin and I also use the timeliness of the holidays of Juneteenth and Independence Day to dive a little deeper into the meaning of these holidays to start a wider dialogue on the topics of freedom and independence in hopes that we can create organizations, teams, and groups that look to share ownership. Kevin elaborates on the power of sharing ownership and how this powerful concept can help us create unity among diverse groups to have more meaningful collaboration. Kevin reminds us that we can't achieve most things alone and does a great job showing us how to support the people around us. Kevin and I tried to open a dialogue that allows for more individual expression and knowledge transfer so that we can continue this dialogue even further and truly take advantage of the gifts of diversity that we have bestowed upon us. This is just a starting point and we hope to hear from you on this.  For the last 21 years, Kevin worked in the U.S. Coast Guard as a Marine Safety Specialist, focusing on safety compliance, casualty investigations, pollution response, and waterway management. In addition to an Associate Degree in Business Administration, Kevin also has a certificate in Fire Science, and is a Senior at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), pursuing a Bachelors in Fire Protection Engineering and Safety Technology. In his new role, he will provide leadership and oversight of Ingram's vessels and facilities within the gulf coast region for internal and external regulatory inspections, third-party audits, and post incident visits by various regulatory agencies or other entities.  A New Orleans native, Kevin began and ended his military service there, and feels right at home with the support of our industry's colleagues whom he has worked with in the past. Outside of work, Kevin loves spending time with his wife and two kids, completing home improvement projects and volunteering in his community. He's also an avid Louisiana sports fan and regularly attends/watches New Orleans Saints, LSU Tigers Football, and New Orleans Pelicans games. Resources: The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth - Smithsonian Institution   https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth  Juneteenth: What you need to know - History Channel (YouTube)  https://youtu.be/MR3WqYI6wco  Karlos Hill & Soraya Field Fiorio - What is Juneteenth and why is it so important TED-Ed (YouTube)  https://youtu.be/lq8TNKZVEWs 

I am excited to announce the guest on this episode is Jennifer Ete - Investment Advisor who has been in financial services for 18 years and in leadership roles for over 40 years. Jen shared some experiences regarding some great volunteer work she did to bring the affordable advanced educational opportunities of  BYU pathway to Louisiana and how she works with families to expand their financial resources. You will notice a theme in everything Jen does - she is always trying to help people become better. Jen also talks about how she has observed how people have stopped dreaming and she teaches us ways that we can take individual steps to help people reignite their dreams and lead them towards success. We talk about creating a culture that allows us to learn from our mistakes and create increased curiosity with ourselves and others so we can approach the world around us with more authenticity to get and give the help we all need. This episode is sure to spark some creativity in each of us that gets us thinking more deeply about how we approach the people around us and how we encourage or diminish their capacity to dream great dreams.    Jen has always been different. As a teen, her classmates were focused on grades, sports, scholarships and the next party. Her heart gravitated towards learning how to help people feel important. She has always been passionate about protecting those that don't know how to protect themselves...yet.   Jen chose a profession in financial services because she felt that the best way she could help families stay together and be happy was to teach them how to be self-sufficient and take care of themselves. She learned that when people have money; their bills are being paid on time, and there's extra in the budget, there's not too much to stress about in life. The families who are most interested in getting to that point are Jen's favorite to work with. Jen is often recognized at every company convention and asked to speak in training meetings, because, so often, she is number one in multiple categories in multiple states. Jen attributes this success to her trust in the Lord and not because of anything special she does.    Jen has a deep conviction that this level of success comes to her only because she seeks the Lord's help before, during, and after every single appointment. Jen figures that if the Lord wants families to be self-sufficient and happy, then He'll gladly guide her to know how to best help each individual in the way that's best for them if she simply asks. Jen's family from Louisiana, but she spent her teen and young adult years in Pennsylvania due to dad's work. Jen served a mission in Tokyo, Japan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is the mother to four and wife to Rock Ete.    Resources:   Jennifer Ete - Primerica  jenniferete&origin=customStandard   BYU Pathway  https://www.byupathway.org/    Steve Harvey - Write Your Vision  https://youtu.be/DlMAIYd7-J4 

I am excited to finally have the final member of my doctoral research team on this episode of the podcast. Christine has a phenomenal background in education and walks us through some of the lessons we have learned during our journey in our research to discover why it is so important to strive towards building a learning organization. She continually connects to the essence of servant leadership by reminding us that it is all about the people and the relationships we make. Christine uses some great examples to teach the building blocks of a learning organization (supportive learning environment, concrete learning practices, & leadership that reinforces learning), illustrates the value of establishing a community of practice, and emphasizes the value of doing one thing with precision.  Don't get too focused on the forest that you forget to see the trees as you listen. There are some great insights provided throughout this episode from our research and experience that are applicable across many disciplines and organizations that can transform a reactive training organization into a proactive learning organization. You can build processes that recognize the value of the individuals. on your teams and build practices that reinforce the ability of everyone to learn from one another.  Christine Kresge is the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Montrose Area School District where she is responsible for K-12 curriculum, Federal Programs, and grant writing. Prior to her nine years as a curriculum director, Christine was a middle school reading specialist, a fourth-grade teacher, and a seventh-grade teacher. She also spent time as a social worker working in a therapeutic capacity with children diagnosed with behavior disorders. Christine holds a bachelor's degree in Social Work, a Master of Art in Teaching degree, a Principal K-12 certificate, and a Reading Specialist certificate. She is currently a third-year student at the University of Miami where she is pursuing her doctorate in Applied Learning Sciences. Resources: David Garvin, Amy Edmondson, & Francesca Gino - Is Yours a Learning Organization?  is-yours-a-learning-organization Mary Winkler & Saunji Fyffe - Strategies for Cultivating an Organizational Learning Culture strategies_for_cultivating_an_organizational_learning_culture_2.pdf Etienne & Beverly Wegner-Trayner - Introduction to communities of practice  https://www.wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/  

It is such an honor to have retired U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Major Mike Lanpolsaen on this episode. Mike is currently working with an incredible servant leadership organization - the Warrior Scholar Project - they introduce participants to analytical reading, writing, and other academic and everyday skills crucial to success in higher education and help them become informed consumers of higher education and it is offered at no cost to veterans and enlisted service members. Mike highlights aspects of this organization that we can look to as servant leaders, and he also gives us many other things to reflect upon as we think about our leadership journey. We discuss ways to think deeper about how to connect to every level of our organization, while Mike models the astute confidence building of the Warrior Scholar Project that many of us could look to replicate in other aspects. Mike models the way and illustrates his own vulnerability, discussing Imposter Syndrome and how we need to build connections to strengthen our ability to learn to believe in ourselves. Mike discusses how 100% of past participants want to give back and how the professors donate their time and talents. Mike is giving us a formula to build confidence in our team members in a way that their abilities will be nurtured to dream great dreams and they too will give back and serve others.  Mike Lanpolsaen was born in Thailand and immigrated to the USA at the age of 11. He comes from a large family of 5 brothers and 5 sisters. After graduating from Murphy High School NC, he enlisted into the United States Marine Corps on October 1989 and attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC. As Sergeant Major, he was the command senior enlisted leader of 3d Intelligence Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 3, Inspector General of the Marine Corps, and Marine Corps Recruiting Command.  Mike Lanpolsaen personal awards includes the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with combat “V”, Meritorious Service Medal with a gold star, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with two gold stars, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with a gold star, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, and Combat Action Ribbon with a gold star in lieu of second award.  Mike retired in November 2019 with 30 years of active-duty service and joined the Warrior Scholar Project in January 2020. He is proud to be a part of this awesome national non-profit organization that strive to provide inclusive support and skill-bridge programming to ensure the success of veterans in higher education. Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, General Studies (Summa Cum Laude) from American Military University.  Resources:  Warrior Scholar Project  https://www.warrior-scholar.org/ Jay Price - For Veterans Starting College 'Academic Boot Camps' Ease The Transition To The Classroom https://americanhomefront.wunc.org/news/2021-08-16/for-veterans-starting-college-academic-boot-camps-ease-the-transition-to-the-classroom Larry Spears - Ten Characteristics of Servant Leadership https://www.spearscenter.org/46-uncategorised/136-ten-characteristics-of-servant-leadership Leslie Jamison - Why Everyone Feels Like They're Faking It https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/13/the-dubious-rise-of-impostor-syndrome Elizabeth Cox - What is imposter syndrome and how you combat it? https://youtu.be/ZQUxL4Jm1Lo Michelle Obama explains imposter syndrome https://youtu.be/dumm_XfHkmY   

This episode got to highlight the principle of Semper Fidelis with the perfect guest, Len Houston, who has the Marine Corps woven into the fabric of his soul and strives to be always faithful in everything he does. Len embodies this tradition throughout the episode and you will be able to see ways to weave that great Marine Corps motto into your organizations as you listen and look for ways to incorporate aspects of what you hear. Len believes deeply in being a part of something bigger than himself, building up those around him, and sharing as much knowledge as he can with the rising generation. This is eloquently described in a philosophy he describes that might challenge your perceptions about what you think a Marine should act like. Len also educates us that we need to innovate and adapt to the changing world. He shares a personal story of how he found his way back to the Marines after retiring from active duty which is a great model for all us in clear communications. Len joins us from Okinawa where he shares with us his deep love for the Japanese people, their culture and we discuss the wonderful principle Kaizen. Len reminds us to never forget where we came from and that we have a responsibility to step up - no matter how uncomfortable the situation because just like the Marines - ALL of us can all be a leader. Len was born in Ohio and raised in Western Pennsylvania. Raised in a single parent household from the age of 8, he was heavily influenced by his grandmother, who grew up during The Great Depression. Following the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon in October 1983, Len enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in June 1984 as a part of the Delayed Entry Program. In June 1985, he attended boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, SC and attending multiple MOS or Military Occupational Specialty schools before entering the Fleet Marine Force in May 1986 with III Marine Expeditionary Force on Okinawa, Japan. Len served 21 years across multiple duty stations until he retired from the United States Marine Corps in 2006. Since retirement, he has worked in leadership/management positions across four companies, where he currently works in support of the Marine Corps.  Len has been married to his wife of nearly 36 years, they have two adult sons, and a grandchild.  Semper Fidelis - Marines  https://www.marines.com/about-the-marine-corps/who-are-the-marines/semper-fidelis.html Thomas E. Ricks - Making the Corps  Making the Corps: 10th Anniversary Edition with a New Afterword by the Author  Larry Spears - Ten Characteristics of a Servant Leader https://www.spearscenter.org/46-uncategorised/136-ten-characteristics-of-servant-leadership Kaizen Institute  https://kaizen.com/what-is-kaizen/

It was a true joy and a great privilege to have former Division I NCAA basketball coach, current leadership coach and Gonzaga doctoral student, Adam Gierlach on this episode of the podcast. Adam and I share a passion for servant leadership which connected us together. Adam highlighted the importance of nurturing the attributes of care and curiosity to foster connections and relationships as servant leaders and shared a portion of his story of how he transitioned from basketball coach to leadership coach.  He reminds us that leadership doesn't need to have anything to do with one's status in a hierarchy, and that as a servant leader it should be more about one's focus on commitment to the growth of others. Adam illustrates the importance of decoupling career growth programs from leadership development and creating a dedicated path to focus on servant first instead of leader first mentalities. This means we are coaching those around us and helping them achieve their ideal self. Adam educates us on the powerful concepts of emotional contagions in organizations and highlights profound research that emphasize the importance of being in tune with the emotions in our teams. The research shows that the lowest performing teams are often characterized as focus on self and as having the lowest emotional range, whereas the highest performing teams have the highest emotional range. This highlights that the case could be made for emotions as one of the most important thing to study in organizations. Adam also teaches the profound implications of negative emotions and even worse the numbing reaction of indifference. Leaders who listen to this material will be better prepared to build a positive community with the real individuals on their teams.   Adam operates his own leadership coaching practice, Adam Gierlach Coaching, where he primarily works with athletic coaches and student-athletes, while also serving as a leadership coach for the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University, and the coaching company Ama La Vida, where he serves executives and leaders across a variety of organizations. He holds a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential from the International Coaching Federation (ICF), and is a certified leadership coach through Rice University's Doerr Institute for New Leaders. As a leadership coach, Adam helps leaders to become servant-leaders, and increase the capacity of individuals to lead. His work with others is a co-creative partnership that provides the time, space, and opportunity for you to learn about yourself, so you can serve others in more life-giving ways and act with greater impact. He transitioned into leadership coaching after nearly a decade in men's college basketball, serving as an Assistant Coach at Rice University and Cornell University. During his time at Cornell University, the program achieved their most successful season in eight years.  Adam is a doctoral student in Gonzaga University's School of Leadership Studies, where he studies servant-leadership and leader development. Adam earned his M.A. in Organizational Leadership with a concentration in Servant-Leadership from Gonzaga University, and a B.A. in History from Rice University. He resides in Spokane, Washington.  Resources: Adam Gierlach - Love in Basketball: Transforming Inappropriate Power in Men's College Coaching through a Servant-Led Response and Companionate Love https://ijsl.press.gonzaga.edu/articles/10.33972/ijsl.348 https://storage.googleapis.com/jnl-gl-j-ijsl-files/journals/1/articles/348/6398ce65c90fb.pdf Adam Gierlach - Love in Basketball Podcast  https://open.spotify.com/show/1eR6O5ydcNfChKnKAFL3jx?si=1851f0a78393416c Sigal Barsade and Olivia A. O'Neill - Manage Your Emotional Culture https://www.emcleaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Manage-Your-Emotional-Culture.pdf Marcus A. Canady (USCG) - Racial Tension in America Requires Intrusive Military Leadership https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/june/racial-tension-america-requires-intrusive-military-leadership  Richard Boyatzis, & Kleio Akrivou - The ideal self as the driver of intentional change https://kempstreetpartners.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Boyatzis-Akrivou-2006-The-Ideal-Self-as-the-Driver-of-Intentional-Change.pdf His Holiness the Dalai Lama & ArchBishop Desmond Tutu - The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World The Book of Joy : Lasting Happiness in a Changing World   

The guest on this episode is the acclaimed author AJ Crabill who has made quite a career leading educational improvement. AJ starts off by explaining the purpose of a school board is to represent the vision and values of a community and to do that they need as much diversity as possible so they can represent the entire vision and value of the the whole community. AJ boldly declares that once you take on the mantle of leadership you have to represent everyone, not just the people who agree with you. He shared a memory of a time when he didn't think he was measuring up that helped him catch the vision of what needed to be done and helped him learn more. A good leader surrounds themselves with great people who are willing to push them to be better than they think they can be. AJ talks about the needs of students and how student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change. He then teaches us the three powerful drivers for adult change: knowledge, skill, and mindset; with the most powerful being mindset. A change in mindset can free up knowledge and skills that are not being used to their fullest capacity. This leads us to a better process to be more reflective and introspective to assess our mindset and what can change and how we can better use our skills and knowledge. AJ uses some great stories to help illustrate how to learn to go beyond listening to the issues and listen for the values in ways that limit divisiveness and create more holistic and unifying outcomes. We can't please everyone, and he expects healthy debate. When a decision is made if we have employed the proper listening and mindset we should be able to move forward in unity to support the decision.  Airick Journey AJ Crabill serves as Conservator at DeSoto Independent School District, where during his guidance, DeSoto improved from F ratings in academics, finance, and governance to B ratings -- and as Governance Director at Council of the Great City School. He served as Deputy Commissioner at Texas' Education Agency and Board Chair of Kansas City Public Schools. He authored a chapter on Scholl board leadership to improve student outcome in On Leadership an Interdisciplinary Approach edited by Denver Fowler and Meghan Raehll and AJ's book "Great on Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours can Become More Effective" just released in March of 2023.  AJ believes that Student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change. AJ affirms Changing adult behaviors requires new mindsets, new knowledge, and/or new skills. AJ's intention is to transform student outcomes through the transformation of adult mindsets, knowledge, and skills -- starting with his own. Resources: Airick Journey (AJ) Crabill - Website (book links, bio, blog) https://www.ajc7.com/ Airick Journey (AJ) Crabill - Great on Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours can Become More Effective Great on Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective  Marcus A. Canady (USCG) - Racial Tension in America Requires Intrusive Military Leadership https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/june/racial-tension-america-requires-intrusive-military-leadership 

I am honored to have the founder of Integrate Well Coaching, Alicia Wolfe, as my guest for this episode. Alicia shares some great insight on how she brings levity through possibility and helps people face hard things by focusing on what is truly possible. This helps honor the challenges people face by recognizing that each of us has our own summit and definition of what success means. We talk about the power of possibility and how focusing on that brings levity because words and thoughts have power. By thinking about things in the proper framework we can harness that power in new ways. Alicia guides us through the inspiring principle of self-leadership and champions it as a foundational leadership trait to leading others. In her own path to leading self, she had to overcome limiting beliefs and voices. We discuss some of these and describe the pitfall of comparison while highlighting the power of self-improvement as a motivational tool. Alicia illustrates the power of establishing core values, vision, and cultivating curiosity to prevent being distracted by other peoples comparisons and limiting voices. She distinguishes courage comes before confidence and shares a personal experience of when a company took a chance on her. We all need someone to believe in us and we can look for opportunities to believe in others when they don't quite believe in themselves. Every person is valuable and can be the solution to a problem our organization has if we help them rise to that occasion. We just have learn to look to for the possibilities like Alicia and appreciate the world for what it could be.  Alicia is a life & leadership coach, a mother of 2 young girls, a wife, an entrepreneur, a speaker, and a full-time traveler! Alicia studied Organizational Leadership at Gonzaga University and continued her education in Women's Leadership after that. She has supported hundreds of female (and male) leaders step into the best versions of themselves, both professionally and personally. In the past 5 years, Alicia has learned (and unlearned) what truly matters to her and has built a life that lives into that. Alicia is a HECK YES to the things that matter to her and let the rest slide. She is a visionary and one of Alicia's core values is possibility, but she is also known as "the Queen of Practicality" because Alicia can take a bold vision or goal and help her clients create a clear pathway to success through little shifts and practical steps. Alicia knows living a BIG life doesn't just come from daydreaming and vision boards. And her clients get clear, simple, practical tools to help them create the life they love. Alicia puts the "ha!" in hard work. She knows that development, self-discovery, and personal growth can be really challenging, but slightly less challenging when you can laugh your way through it! Resources: Alicia Wolfe - Integrate Well https://www.integratewell.co/blog  James Kouzes & Barry Posner - The Leadership Challenge The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations (J-B Leadership Challenge: Kouzes/Posner)  Parker J. Palmer - The Courage to Teach The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life, 20th Anniversary Edition  Gonzaga University - Leadership and Hardiness  https://www.gonzaga.edu/online-graduate-programs/online-programs/m-a-organizational-leadership/domestic-immersions/leadership-and-hardiness

I had the esteem privilege to have Mike Oliver as the guest on this episode who makes a bold declaration that the quality of our life is only equal to the degree of the challenges we are willing to take on. He backs that up by taking on the challenge to recreate the entire High School experience. He is working to give students access to a community of leaders, maximizing seat time flexibility, inviting learning by inquiry and creating shared leadership among many other things. Mike teaches us that the collection of people we have in the room is the smartest aspect of our environment and not just one person. It is paramount that we create an environment of psychological safety and that we see people for who they can become, believing them into that. Celebrating our approximations each step of the way and making adjustments as needed to adapt to the needs of the learners. Mike helps us believe that we can be a part of this educational revolution, that he describes as a civil rights movement, that students deserve to give them more of an educational experience they deserve. He goes on to teach us about Culture Bound Theory and the need to disrupt our way of thinking so we can expose ourselves to our own biases. This will open our mind to new ways of thinking and seeing the world around us. We can continue to do things the same old way and look for ways to do it better or we can begin to do better things.  Mike Oliver is the progressive principal of Mountain View High School in Mesa, Arizona. He is passionate about teaching and learning and has taken a stand with innovation in public education.  Mike was the founding principal of Zaharis Elementary School, recognized as one of the “25 most innovative, inspiring and coolest schools in America” and the “exemplary school for literacy development in the US” by Scholastic.  Mike has a doctorate degree in Leadership and Innovation from Arizona State University and has committed to working alongside the Mountain View staff and community in reimagining what school can be.  He has boldly declared that Mountain View will become the premiere high school in all of America and welcomes the accountability associated with such a grand expectation.  Mike's priority is his faith and his family.  He is happily married to his wife, Trish, and they have four children and two grandchildren.  Mike is passionate about running, having run over 30 marathons and several ultramarathons, including a 100-mile race.    Resources: ABC News - Team Teaching is Breaking the Mold of High School Education https://www.abc15.com/news/national/team-teaching-is-breaking-the-mold-of-high-school-education Michael A. Oliver - Disrupting Culture Bound Realities: A Parent Perspective of Zaharis Elementary School  https://keep.lib.asu.edu/_flysystem/fedora/c7/Oliver_asu_0010E_21150.pdf Linda Darling-Hammond & Channa M. Cook-Harvey (2018) - Educating the Whole Child: Improving School Climate to Support Student Success https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED606462.pdf Sam Foss - The Calf Path (poem) https://poets.org/poem/calf-path (YouTube version) https://youtu.be/PQ9crN_hH6o Walter D. Wintle - The Man Who Thinks He Can (Poem) https://rainydaypoems.com/poems-for-kids/inspirational-poems/the-man-who-thinks-he-can-walter-d-wintle/ (YouTube Version) https://youtu.be/njbdOCBeOc0 

The guest of this episode is Northwestern State University Professor Matt DeFord who talks about the value of being present with the people around you and in the environment you are in. Matt talks about the importance of setting healthy boundaries and how that can help us be present and also set the tone to empower others. This also set the stage to talk about the importance for us as Servant Leaders to help those around us set healthy boundaries. Matt talked about leadership in hurricane response, at the University, in his Church responsibilities and in his personal life while displaying the power of getting to know the people around him and learning their unique strengths and gifts. This allows him to find the appropriate ways to delegate, appreciate, and congratulate the people around him to harness their potential and help them grow. He teaches us that we can set a vision and allow the people around us to use their individual processes to complete the tasks in ways that can amaze us. Just because the process is different than our own doesn't mean it is wrong and often we can learn from the way other's do things differently. He discusses ways that his creativity is thwarted while displaying avenues where we can improve creativity in our organizations. Challenges are the opportunities that life gives us and balance really is a myth, so it is up to us to choose where to focus our priorities at a given time. When we learn to harness the complete team, we can expand our ability to meet our organization's priorities through delegation and empowerment. We can all be a leader wherever we are when we are willing to serve each other and build one another up!  Matt DeFord is the son of hippie converts. They met each other hitchhiking, then found religion after crossing the plains with their thumbs out. He grew up in the Midwest and Texas. After serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the South Africa Johannesburg mission, he met and married Canadian Julie Heggie while attending Ricks College (BYU-Idaho). They have seven children and live in Natchitoches, Louisiana where he is a professor of Art at Northwestern State University. He was Chair of the Department of Fine and Graphic Arts for twelve years and has served in the church as bishop and stake president while also fulfilling his professional and familial responsibilities. Matt has never sought out leadership or considered himself much of a leader, but the opportunities have presented themselves to him and he has worked to serve those around him. Resources: NSU professors bonded for life after kidney donation - KSLA News https://www.ksla.com/2021/08/26/nsu-professors-bonded-life-after-one-donates-kidney-another/ DeFord Designs Cinco de Mayo Pen - Natchitoches Times https://www.natchitochestimes.com/2022/05/03/deford-designs-cinco-de-mayo-pen/ Ensign College Devotional with Elder David A. Bednar - Living in Revelation  https://www.ensign.edu/devotional/elder-david-a-bednar-and-jeff-simpson-01-2023

It is an honor to have Alex Mestres as the guest on this episode. She uses her vast experience working with the deaf and hard of hearing community to talk about the importance of being present in all communication, both in what you say and in how you listen. We expose you to some content that is probably new to many of you, but that can expand and potenitally reframe the way you view communication in all of your organizations, teams, and many other settings. Using her expertise with the deaf and hard of hearing community we discuss the Servant Leadership attributes of listening, empathy, and community building. This episode will get you thinking about how much noise is in your environment that blocks good communication, what positive communication practice you put in the drawer for use later on, and how we allow others to process. One communication method will never reach everyone in our organization and it is only as we learn to communicate in a language that is authentic to all the members on our team that we truly can achieve great results. There is so many applications for the information contained in this episode if we open our ears and hearts to hear the full message.  Alex Mestres was born and raised in Miami, Florida. Out of highschool she attended Miami Dade Community College where she focused on Early Childhood Education and American Sign Language. Alex then went on to  receiv a Bachelor's Degree at Flagler College in Elementary Education and Education of the Hearing-Impaired K-12. She began her career at the Debbie School, a program specifically geared towards support children with hearing loss. She was the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teacher in the total communication classroom, a environment where content is presented in both spoken language as well as American Sign Language. After a few years at the school, Alex moved onto the public school system in Miami-Dade County . After the arrival of her second son, Alex went into administration at a local early learning center. She worked within a small church school then moved on to work with the Homestead Family YMCA. She eventually led there early childhood center and camp programs. After leaving the YMCA, she continued her career in early childhood, working as a curriculum coordinator and teacher at a large church school. As her boys grew she decided to go back into public school education and became the chairperson for Miami-Dade County Public Schools Deaf and Hard of Hearing Department. She spent time working with students and teachers as well as training on best practices for the profession. After leaving the public school, Alex opened her own consulting business specifically working with charter schools on supporting the deaf and hard of hearing students in their mainstream classrooms. She also works part-time for the University of Miami Children's Hearing Program as their education specialist. Her role is to counsel families on navigating their educational options when they have a child diagnosed with hearing loss. Alex presents locally and nationally on topics centered around working with this population. She also works with the boards of AGBell Florida as a member and AGBell National as a consultant. Alex also recently completed her Master's degree in the Applied Learning Sciences. Alex has been married to a City of Miami Firefighter for the past 29 years and they have two sons. Her oldest is married and they have a beautiful 1 ½ year old little girl. Her youngest is engaged to be married in December. Resources: Larry Spears - Ten Characteristics of a Servant Leader https://www.spearscenter.org/46-uncategorised/136-ten-characteristics-of-servant-leadership Bryce Ward - Washington Post Opinion - Americans are spending more time alone. Here's why we should reverse that.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/23/americans-alone-thanksgiving-friends/ Coda IMDb Movie Page  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10366460/

We are privileged to have The Director of Sports Science of The New Orleans Saints, Matt Rhea, as the guest on this episode where he shares some of his personal experiences with high performing athletes to talk about how we can approach life and leadership. He mentions a few names you might recognize in his stories and shares some great lessons and philosophies he has learned from these profound examples. He talks about how being humble and not being content with just being good leads to becoming better and greater satisfaction. Matt shares some great examples that highlight the importance of owning our mistakes, and being vulnerable so we can get better. He also talks about how we as leaders need to build trust in those around us so they are willing to be vulnerable. We can set a high bar for those around us when they know that we care about them if we are willing to take the time to build relationships with our people and build an environment where they can shine and even surpass us.  Matt Rhea just completed his first season as the Director of Sports Science for the New Orleans Saints. He served in the same position with the University of Alabama football for two years prior and Indiana University for two years before that.  Prior to his work in football, he worked as a professor of exercise and sport science, a performance consultant for MLB, NBA, international soccer, and Olympic teams, and owned and operated an athlete development facility. He completed a PhD at Arizona State University in Exercise Science, Master's Degrees at Arizona State (Exercise Science) and American Public University (Sports Management), and a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education at Southern Utah University.  He grew up in Tooele, Utah and served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Chicago.  He and his wife, Kellie, have 5 sons ages 16-26 years and now have 2 daughters-in-law and 2 grandchildren.  

We have the amazing privilege to have Chris Marohn on this episode where he shares a valuable story from early in his career to remind us to surround ourselves with smart people who are willing to disagree with us. Chris illustrates the value of meeting people where they are while taking the time to communicate to people that they are important and that their voices are heard. He advocates for mental health awareness and reminds us that there is a lot of work trauma in many of our past experiences. He shares that we aren't the person that can reach everyone, but we can show them enough love to get them moving in a positive direction. We don't have to do things the way they have always been done and we need to work harder to recognize our own implicit biases. Many don't want to face or even overcome their biases because it would force them to change or leave their comfort zone. We can lead others even those we don't have authority over by showing interest in them and by asking for their sincere help because people want to feel needed and connected and that is why we need to take the time to get to know them and pay attention to the members on our teams so we can help offer them right opportunities to grow at the most opportune time.    Chris started his career in politics. He was encouraged by all those around him to get involved and make the changes he wanted to see in the world. During his high school and undergraduate years, he worked with various political and policy organizations to help farmworkers in the Sacramento Valley. He continued his passion for elimination of bias and anti-racism during his time working at various levels of political campaigning and government. He has served in posts from Washington DC to local city government in the pursuit of equity under the law.   Currently, Chris is working with The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law as the Director of Employer Relations in the Office of Career and Employment Services. Previously, he was the Director of the Continuing Legal Education program at ASU Law. In his current role, Chris, is responsible for Diversity Summer Clerkship hiring and advising. He meets with students of diverse backgrounds encouraging and mentoring them into achieving their legal career goals, while trying to diversify the legal profession. Chris has recently been tasked with overseeing the pipeline to law school program with Phoenix Unified School District, with the focus of helping underserved communities get the tools needed to be successful in law school.   Chris graduated in 2012 from Monterey College of Law in Monterey, California. During this time we worked full time, campaigned for members of congress and local office, was president of the Student Bar Association and local chapter of Delta Theta Phi.   Chris and his wife, Megan, have been married for ten years and are passionate about advocacy in ending Breed Specific Legislation, as they have a loving American Staffordshire Terrier, and coaching Special Olympics Baseball.   Resources & Links: Take Tests on Implicit Bias - Implicit Association Tests https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html    Christopher Marohn - Building Bridges: Tim Overton  https://jrcls.org/articles/building-bridges-tim-overton   Carl Hanson - Something About Mental Health https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/carl-l-hanson/something-about-mental-health/         

Happy New Year and welcome to season two. We start off with a phenomenal guest but I warn you that it can be an emotional roller coaster ride that isn't for the faint of heart. Join with us to hear Rocky Sickmann's story and how he has harnessed adversity to become a great example of servant leadership. Rocky resonates his theme of "love of family, love of faith, and love of country" throughout the episode. He teaches us how he uses his tragic experience as a hostage in Iran and the example of all those around him, especially those who lost their life as motivation to be a help to others each day of his life, looking for ways to encounter people in their moments of crisis and help them move forward by using all that life has taught him in such a profound servant leader mindset. He teaches us how to have a great mindset to harness the adversity in our lives but also how to honor the people in our lives that have made sacrifices for us.  Rodney “Rocky” Sickmann: United States Marine Corps Sergeant and P.O.W., Iranian Hostage Crisis Author, Iranian Hostage: A Personal Diary of 444 Days in Captivity Retired U.S. Director, Military and Industry Affairs, Anheuser-Busch InBev. Senior Vice President of Budweiser Accounts, Folds of Honor Rocky Sickmann graduated from Washington High School in 1976 and immediately entered the U.S. Marine Corps. in 1979, just 28 days into his tour of duty at the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran, He became a player in one of the most terrifying events in U.S. history where he was held hostage for 444 days.  After the military Rocky went on to be the National Director for Military and Industry Affairs at Anheuser-Busch InBev, where he oversaw all military special events, military and industry trade media publications, and national industry trade shows. In August 2016, Rocky's military and professional experience coupled with his passion for our armed forces, led him to pursue an opportunity with his favorite non-profit organization: Folds of Honor. In his new role, he helps advance the Folds mission: To stand in the financial gap of the more than one million dependents adversely affected by war, providing educational scholarships to the children and spouses of those killed or disabled while serving our nation.  Resources and links: Folds of Honor: https://foldsofhonor.org/ Rocky Sickmann - Iranian Hostage: A Personal Diary of 444 Days in Captivity: https://www.amazon.com/Iranian-Hostage-Personal-Diary-Captivity/dp/0881030007 Mark Bowden - Guests of the Ayatollah:  https://www.amazon.com/Guests-Ayatollah-Hostage-Americas-Militant-ebook/dp/B008UX8GH8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IOK38GGY1YOH&keywords=guests+of+the+ayatollah&qid=1672929279&sprefix=guests+of+t%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-1 Elder Clark G. Gilbert - Parable of the Slope: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/16gilbert?lang=eng          

This episode's guest is Tua Bayden Va'ai and is joining us all the way from New Zealand. Tua shares a Samoan proverb with us that teaches that the pathway to leadership is through service and how the legacy of his school taught him to value that philosophy. We talk about ways to let the spotlight shine on others and how to be mindful of cultural influences, especially dominant cultures to ensure that minimized cultures can shine more brightly. Tua is an example of someone who works to uplift, encourage, and support the people around him and shared some ways he served the people of his community during the COVID pandemic and lessons he has learned from Rugby along the way.    Tua was born and raised in Wellington, NZ. Youngest of 3 boys and went to Rongotai College.  His favourite sport is Rugby

Recently retired Master Gunnery Sergent Sampson Cantu is the guest of this episode. Master Gunnery Sergeant Cantu is a 25 year Marine, wrapping up his Military Career - recently accepting an Internship with NASA Space Center, pursuing new opportunities in the Space Industry. He shares his story about how he was introduced to the U.S. Marine Corps and the example of his father to highlight how important it is to do what you say you are going to do. Sampson shares some life long lessons that will help us build and retain credibility while sharing his love of teamwork. Master Gunz teaches about the value of team dynamics and provides some thoughts on how to put people in the right placed bases on their personality and preferences. A true mentor who has many examples to share with each of us!  Master Gunz Cantu is a Texas native and is the fourth of six children. In search of challenge, travel and adventure, Master Gunz Cantu enlisted in the Marines after graduating from Alvin High School. Master Gunz Cantu would serve in all elements of the Marine Air Ground Task Force, including Marine Expeditionary Unit / Special Operations Capable, sea duty, aboard the USS Peleliu, multiple deployments to Iraq, as well as special duty as a Marine Recruiter and Inspector-Instructor. Samson married his high school sweetheart, Miss Alyssa Renee Perez. Together, their family would grow in size, spirit and build life-long memories & friendships throughout the journey. Along with daughters, Natalie, Samantha, Brooke & Penelope; the Cantu family would travel and serve stateside and overseas, in both I & III Marine Expeditionary Forces & two tours within the Marine Forces Reserve. Assignments consisted of Yuma AZ, Houston TX, Camp Pendleton CA, Kane'ohe Bay HI, Aurora CO, Okinawa Japan (x2), & finally, New Orleans Louisiana. Resources: Ray Dalio - Creators vs Refiners vs Advancers vs Executors vs Flexors https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/principle-44e-creators-vs-refiners-advancers-executors-ray-dalio/  Team Dimensions 2.0: Discover Your Workplace Role https://internalchange.com/order-profiles-training-materials/non-disc-products/team-dimensions-profile/team-dimensions-profile-2-0-online/   

Robert Duran, a great shipmate and one of my first roommates from my earliest Navy training is the guest on this episode. Robert shares some great insight in developing an improvement mindset and fostering a fun environment. Even when challenges arise, Robert's philosophy is to go in with an open mind, learn from it, and work to improve the area you're in and when you do this you can't go wrong. Robert talks about how his mentors have impacted him and how he works to mentor others, always committing others to return the favor and help others because people are the most important ingredient in any organization. Robert shares how he has learned that nothing worthwhile comes easy. Sometimes you have to drop before you can rise and somethings don't sound like they will benefit you, but when you work to follow Robert's example, any situation and experience can be benefit you.  Robert is a Tucson, AZ native. I lived in Tucson until he was 17 years old when he joined the United States Navy (USN) as an Electronics Technician. His first assignment out of Navy training was to work on navigational radars on the USS John C Stennis (CVN74). His next command was the White House Communication Agency where he supported the United States (US) President, US Vice President, US First Lady, US Second Lady, and US Secret Service in communications. He completed 7 years in the USN and then  moved back to Tucson where he worked for the City of Tucson as a fire sprinkler inspector for about a year. Then he started a new adventure at Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS) as a Configuration Manager (CM). He worked for Raytheon for 13 years before joining Arete' Associates as a CM in January 2022. He is married to his wife Johanna and they have three children. They also have two dogs, (Australian Shepherds). Resources: Daniel Goleman - Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Intelligence-Matter-More-Than/dp/055338371X/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1575A2TQG2C5F&keywords=emotional+intelligence&qid=1653451421&sprefix=emotional+intelligence%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-5  

This week's guest is a great friend who I look up to like a big brother, Darren Lifferth. Darren teaches us through words, stories, and examples how important it is to be open to opportunities when they arise, even if the timing might feel off according to our plans. Darren highlights the importance of doing a gut check everyday to make sure you are moving in the right direction and focusing on the the right priorities. Darren shares some personal stories that illustrate how examples from his life have helped him become the servant leader he is today and how holding people accountable can be vital to serving them. We talked about an inspirational address from Elder Alvin Meredith III about how to look down the road to center ourselves and it showed even deeper how we are more connected than we realize. Darren shared his reason for choosing the path of international business so that he could help people become more connected and reliant on one another so there would be less conflict in the world.    Darren Lifferth is the Cat Card Business Excellence and International Business Development Manager for Cat Financial based in Nashville, Tennessee. He leads a cross functional team of project leaders, data scientists, and strategy experts on developing new business opportunities internationally. Darren has worked for Caterpillar for almost 20 years in a variety of positions and locations globally. He joined Caterpillar as a Credit Analyst after earning his bachelors degree in International Business Management from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. While in Nashville he took on additional responsibilities as a Customer Service Representative handling collections, loan modifications, repossessions, and reporting. Next he moved into a Documentation Analyst role followed by a Transaction Coordinator role supporting loan documentation creation, negotiation, and government filing of title documents. During these roles Darren spent considerable time working in Brazil. In 2007 he earned his MBA from Auburn University with an emphasis in Finance. From 2007 through 2013 he held sales roles in Florida as an International Account Manager and in Louisiana as a Senior International Account Manager. In 2013 he relocated his family to Singapore to lead the sales efforts as the Asia Pacific Sales Manager. In 2016 he transitioned into the Asia Pacific Marketing Manager. In both of these roles Darren was able to travel extensively throughout Asia to support customers and Caterpillar Dealers. In 2018 he moved his family to Bangkok, Thailand to become the Managing Director for Thailand managing all company operations for sales, credit, customer service, legal, compliance, HR, and reporting. During the start of the pandemic he moved his family back to Nashville, Tennessee where he transitioned in to the Business Excellence Manager for Cat Financial responsible for strategy development and governance, project management, 6 Sigma, Lean, data strategy development and governance, and company resource allocation. Darren's current responsibilities as the Cat Card Business Excellence and International Development Manager focus on growing business opportunities internationally.    Darren and Sarah were the first couple ever married at the Nashville Tennessee Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in May 2000 and they now have six children ranging in age from 6 to 20 years old. He loves all things outdoors like running, sports, hiking, canoeing, rock climbing, fishing, hunting, mountain biking, and sitting around a camp fire. Hobbies include cheering for UT, Auburn, TN Titans, and the New Orleans Saints, sewing outdoor gear like hammocks and backpacks, ham radios, 4x4 offroading, timing the stock market, keeping up with current events, traveling, and eating delicious food. Most of the time he's with his family on some adventure when he's not working.   Resources: Elder Alvin F. Meredith III - Look Down the Road https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/57meredith?lang=eng  

The guest on this episode is one of my professors and mentors in Servant Leadership, Dr. Josh Armstrong, who shares with us the importance of creating a psychologically safe space where we can have real conversations and make meaningful connections with the people around us. We talk about some of the experiences I had in his classes and he talks about how he is trying to become an emotional scientist to recognize personal feelings while encountering the feelings of others in healthy ways. Josh believes people long to connect and that we all have expectations for the teams we are on that we too often don't vocalize. We have some great discussion on how to approach conflict and to resist avoiding uncomfortable conversations. Dr. Armstrong shares some great book recommendations and one is a recent book he read on the importance of creating rituals and we share some of our own personal rituals. As we create real meaningful connections and help people feel safe and present, we can create real harmony in our teams, but in order to do so we have to resist staying in the artificial harmony we too often settle for.  Dr. Josh Armstrong is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Leadership and Faculty Director of the Comprehensive Leadership Program for undergraduate students at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. He holds a Ph.D. in education and leadership from Michigan State University, a master's degree in higher education and student affairs from the University of Vermont, and an undergraduate degree in psychology from Whitworth College. Dr. Armstrong's research interests include development of intercultural competency, servant leadership, experiential education and adaptative leadership. In addition to teaching, Dr. Armstrong provides leadership training for student leaders at Gonzaga, and provides vision and student learning opportunities for a campus community of 5,300 students at Gonzaga. For the past fifteen summers, Josh has lead a summer program in Zambia, Africa with undergraduate students at Gonzaga and it always changes his life. Resources: Marc Brackett - Permission to Feel: The Power of Emotional Intelligence to Achieve Well-being and Success https://www.amazon.com/Permission-Feel-Emotional-Intelligence-Well-Being/dp/1250212839/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2VJL3E8HCELAW&keywords=marc+brackett&qid=1652248292&s=books&sprefix=marc+brac%2Cstripbooks%2C97&sr=1-1 Erica Keswin - Rituals Roadmap: The Human Way to Transform Everyday Routines into Workplace Magic https://www.amazon.com/Rituals-Roadmap-Transform-Everyday-Workplace/dp/1260461890/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3AWKY5SPJ0SY3&keywords=erica+keswin&qid=1652248356&s=books&sprefix=erica+keswin%2Cstripbooks%2C79&sr=1-3 Patrick Lencioni - Conflict Continuum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VZERZyY198 Josh Armstrong & Larry Spears - The Accompanying Servant Leadership: Facilitating Change that Builds Engaged Partnerships https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C19&q=The+Accompanying+Servant+Leadership%3A+Facilitating+Change+that+Builds+Engaged+Partnerships%C2%A0&btnG=  

The guest of this episode is Andrea Davis, who is the founder and CEO of the Resiliency Initiative. Andrea shares some powerful examples from many years in crisis managmenet on how to expand the capacity of the world by focusing on the individuals and creating an environment where people take care of their families and then the company. Andrea strives to be culturally relevant to each of the individuals she works with and for by striving to be a leader who knows what is important to each of the members on every team she is a part of. Andrea teaches us that our team's success is our success and that we should constantly ask who's missing to make sure that we are working to help everyone have a seat at the table and have their voices heard.  Andrea has been in the field of crisis management since 1999, starting in the non-profit sector developing Y2K crisis response plans. Andrea went on to serve at the City and County of San Francisco and in the US Federal Government as the Emergency Manager for the 12th District Federal Reserve Bank and as the External Affairs Director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Louisiana Recovery Office for Hurricane Katrina. While at FEMA, Andrea oversaw all media, intergovernmental and congressional activities for one of the U.S.' largest disaster recovery efforts, with a total recovery portfolio of over $25 billion.  For the past ten years, Andrea has led global, enterprise-wide crisis management departments for multi-national, Fortune 50 companies-The Walt Disney Company and the Walmart Corporation. Currently, she is the Founder and CEO of an SBA-certified, woman-owned, crisis management consulting firm, The Resiliency Initiative. Andrea's passion is volunteer service which led to her selection as the Inaugural Emergency Manager of the Year by the International Association of Emergency Managers in 2018 and her induction into the Women's Hall of Fame for Emergency Management in 2013. Andrea is currently serving as the Board Chair for the NW Arkansas American Red Cross and a founding member of the Arkansas Tiffany Circle. Links: The Resiliency Initiative - Resiliency, Continuity, Crisis Management https://theresiliencyinitiative.com  

The guest on this episode is the Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team Executive Officer, Kasey Arguelles. We talk about getting fulfillment out of creating order out of chaos and how helping people manage the stresses of life is a big factor in success. Kasey embodies a true servant leader, vocalizing that regardless of her path in life, her focus will be helping people. Kasey shares some great insight and examples about getting help from those around you to make sure that you can be the best version of yourself. Kasey provides some thought provoking material for those on the quest for work-life balance and we talk about the power of representation. Knowing what is important to you and others will help us all help one another juggle the balls that are most important to each of us.  Kasey Arguelles is an active-duty Lieutenant Commander in the USCG. She currently serves as the Executive Officer of the Pacific Strike Team, where she leads a unique, highly trained cadre of Coast Guard professionals who are recognized worldwide as an expert authority in the preparation for and response to oil discharges, hazardous substance releases, weapons of mass destruction events, and other emergencies on behalf of the American public.  Prior to this assignment, Kasey served at the Safety & Environmental Health Division of the Health, Safety, and Work-Life Service Center in Norfolk, Virginia, responsible for the execution of industrial hygiene and environmental health services across the Coast Guard including safety support services during contingency responses nation-wide. Other assignments include Assistant Chief of the Incident Management Division at Sector New Orleans from 2012 to 2015 and Deck Watch Officer aboard USCGC JARVIS (now decommissioned) in Honolulu, Hawaii from 2010 to 2012. Kasey graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Environmental Science from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2010. She received her Master of Science in Work Environment with two concentrations (Occupational and Environmental Health / Ergonomics and Safety) from the University of Massachusetts and was the recipient of the Department of Public Health's Dean's Award in 2017. Her capstone research centered on an analysis of psychosocial hazards encountered by responders during contingency responses. LCDR Arguelles earned her Registered Environmental Health Specialist credential from the National Environmental Health Association in 2018 and her Certified Emergency Manager certification from the International Association of Emergency Managers in 2019.  Kasey grew-up on the South Shore in Marshfield, Massachusetts. She currently resides in Novato, California, with her husband, Steve, who is also an active-duty USCG LCDR, and their three daughters, Kennedy (7), Taylor (5), and Madison (2).

Marcus Boyd is the guest on this episode. Marcus shares some great insight on having challenging and crucial conversations while displaying his nature as a servant leader in his examples. Marcus talks about the power of being aware and especially self aware and we discuss how important this attribute is to servant leadership. He talks about one of his leadership mentors and how he learned the value of communication. Throughout the episode, Marcus displays his philosophy to start with heart in his discussion, example, and insights. He reminds us that if we are passionate about something we will find a way to do it and he is passionate about creating an environment that makes it hard for people to want to leave his organization. Marcus Boyd is an active duty Coast Guard Officer currently serving in the Los Angeles – Long Beach area. His role is Assistant Chief of Waterways Management and Diversity and Inclusion Change Agent.   He enlisted in the Coast Guard in 2006 as his father praised their missions and ability to pay for college. His favorite assignments include BASE New Orleans where he was awarded Enlisted Person of the Year in 2013 and Recruiting Office Tampa where he was awarded Active Duty Recruiter of the Year in 2018. His passion in recruiting came from noticing the lack of credibility for the Coast Guard in under privileged communities. He aimed to build relationships to ensure as many people as possible were educated on the unique opportunities of joining the CG. These assignments provided a greater desire to serve and he eventually accepted a commission at Officer Candidate School where he was awarded the Commandant Leadership Award upon graduating in March of 2020.  He spent much of his childhood moving to new cities due to being raised in a military family. These cities include, Monterey, CA, Jacksonville, AR, Fort Hood, TX, and Rochester, MN. This is where he gained a love of travel, seeing live sporting events, good food, and meeting new people. Constantly being the “new kid” gave him a greater sense of humility to survive in changing environments and a desire to take care of those around him. In 2015, he fulfilled his initial goal when joining by receiving a Bachelor's Degree from Loyola University New Orleans. He's married to his beautiful wife, Ellen and they have two children, Myla and Mars. Resources:  Larry Spears - The Ten Characteristics of a Servant Leader https://www.spearscenter.org/46-uncategorised/136-ten-characteristics-of-servant-leadership Kim Scott - Radical Candor https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-KIM-SCOTT/dp/1509845380/ref=sr_1_4?crid=39ZA03NIH700E&keywords=radical+candor&qid=1650427787&s=books&sprefix=radical+cand%2Cstripbooks%2C101&sr=1-4 Joseph Grenny & et al. - Crucial Conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Tools-Talking-Stakes/dp/1260474186/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1C6PZ488FVLOG&keywords=crucial+conversations+book&qid=1650427914&s=books&sprefix=cru%2Cstripbooks%2C89&sr=1-1 Michael A. Dunn - One Percent Better https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/54dunn?lang=eng      

I am joined on this episode by Abraham DeWeese, who true to the title of this episode helped me believe in myself enough to start this podcast and has been instrumental in helping me believe that I should keep it going. We talk about some of the historical influences of servant leadership while slipping in some conversation about sports and its applicability to servant leadership. We even managed to make a couple of nautical references while pulling some stories from our past. Abraham is an individual who is dedicated to helping others and is someone who really walks the walk when it comes to putting people first. Abraham gives us some great insight into why servant leadership is a great model to institute in any organization and lifestyle to help more people believe in themselves.    Abraham DeWeese; he is a cool hep cat. By day he helps k-12 educators learn how to use Microsoft Products to solve problems in the classroom via the Learn Educator Center:  Educator Center Overview - Microsoft Learn Educator Center | Microsoft Docs and by night he is a sports podcast presenter for the Seattle Sports Union: Seattle Sports Union – United in support of Seattle sports.    Abraham has a couple decades of technical communications and project management under his hat, but gets a perverse thrill out of helping out others with personal projects including helping friends launch a psychic radio program, a photography studio, a web app for bars, and even gave a slight push to get this podcast started. Abraham says "slight" but I say a major push and some personalized training and coaching.    Resources & Links: Microsoft Learn Education Center - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/educator-center/  Seattle Sports Union - https://www.seattlesportsunion.com   

President/CEO of United Way of Pueblo County, Shanna Farmer shares some experiences from her life to highlight the need to start with leading self and discovering the leader within and then working to see the leader within all the people you encounter. Shanna is a true servant leader who has dedicated her life to the community of Pueblo, Colorado and has worked to create opportunities for others to grow in their leadership ability. She highlights the need to build trust and not just rely on brand recognition, but always be working to be better by being willing to learn. The idea of humility is so important to servant leadership and Shanna reminds us of the need to seek out experts, but also to look at every person and experience as someone or something that we can learn from, learn to be a better leader and a better human. She eloquently states that there is not enough money in the world to address every need, so we need to focus on building the capacity of people, our community, and organizations. We begin by leading self, then leading others, then hopefully leading in our communities and organizations.  Shanna M. Farmer has served as President/CEO of United Way of Pueblo County since 2019 and has extensive experience working in Southern Colorado and has dedicated her career to this community. She was born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado and has served as a board member for several nonprofit organizations and has volunteered thousands of hours to local and statewide nonprofit organizations. Shanna has a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University. During graduate school, she earned a Servant Leadership Certificate from research in service-learning and studies in service-based leadership practices. She received her undergraduate degree from CSU-Pueblo in Political Science with minors in Mass Communication and Leadership Studies.  Since 2015, Shanna has been an Adjunct Faculty member at CSU-Pueblo in the President's Leadership Program. Prior to joining United Way of Pueblo County, Shanna worked as the Director of Advancement at Catholic Charities – Pueblo's Family Resource Center, where she oversaw all fundraising, grants/contracts, marketing, and public relations for the agency. Previously, Shanna was employed at Colorado College as the Community Partnerships Program Coordinator in the Collaborative for Community Engagement. The majority of her work was spent advising students and developing mutually beneficial partnerships between community partners and the campus. Prior to joining Colorado College, Shanna worked at CSU-Pueblo as the Community-Based Research Coordinator for a program aimed at increasing access to and success in graduate school, and she focused on developing partnerships between the University and Southern Colorado nonprofits, businesses, and governmental entities. Before entering the world of higher education, Shanna served as a Regional Representative for the United States Congress, Third Congressional District. This district spanned twenty-nine diverse Colorado counties, which included Pueblo, many rural communities in Southeastern Colorado, the San Luis Valley, and the Western Slope. During her tenure there, she supported constituents and organizations to address issues of concern and helped them navigate the federal government. She specialized in casework related to healthcare, immigration, taxes, education, and Social Security and assisted with several legislative issue areas. Shanna is married to Sean T. Wolff, and they are the proud parents of several rescued special needs dogs and cats. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, bike riding, photography, and traveling. Resources: United Way of Pueblo County - Mission and Values Statements https://www.pueblounitedway.org/about-us Dr. Christa Kirsch & Dr. Janet Peters - Leadership from the Inside Out: Student Leadership Development within Authentic Leadership and Servant Leadership Frameworks https://journalofleadershiped.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/16_1_peters.pdf Colorado State University at Pueblo - President's Leadership Program https://www.csupueblo.edu/center-for-honors-and-leadership/presidents-leadership-program/index.html     

Rulon McKay joins with me on this episode to talk about the power of listening and change management. Rulon expands upon the power listening by discussing a week-long course he had on this characteristic of servant leadership and by highlighting a story about one of his first dates with his wife and the way she displayed true listening. Rulon also sheds light on what some would consider the "dark art" of change management by talking about the need for leaders to be dissatisfied with the current state in order to welcome new and innovative ideas. Rulon gives us some great perspective on recognizing people, illustrating some ways we can do this while also empowering them to show greater trust in them. Rulon compares servant leadership to parenting; reminding us that we should want people to surpass us and it is our role to help them become more competent than us. We should look at the individuals around us and ask ourselves what they need and what it is that qualifies them just enough to get more opportunities and responsibility. Rulon also displays a natural tendency to want to keep learning that helps him work to get even better while reminding us that we need to be focused on the future and the people that will take over our organizations after us.  Rulon McKay is a Senior Consultant with PeopleCore, a firm based in Pennsylvania. He spent the bulk of his career with Shell Oil Company as a Human Resource Manager. He has a Masters in Human Resources Management, and a Bachelor's degree in Human Resource Development. Rulon has trained and coached thousands of leaders over the courses of his career--from front line supervisors to Senior Executives. He also served as a member of leadership teams and, for two years, as the Chairman of the Contra Costa County Workforce development board in California. He and his wife Martha are the parents of five children and 11 grandchildren.           

Michael Lavoie emphasizes the importance of knowing the skills that you need and putting the right people in the right place while being adaptable enough to make required changes along the way. He teaches us that It is important to empower people so you can prepare for the future and a failure to empower the people around you robs them of opportunities. We owe it to the members of our teams to build an environment that brings out the best in them and when we don't do that, we are essentially stealing from their potential. Michael reminds us that a servant leader's number one goal Is helping people grow. A good leader needs to be okay letting others around them shine and get the praise for good work. Michael shares an analogy about parenting to display how when someone doesn't perform up to an expectation, a good leader looks inward to question whether they contributed to the unmet expectation. We both share our love for serving others and how that helps us learn greater empathy.  Michael Lavoie is a Regional Vice President of Sales at Uniti Fiber specializing in telecom sales management, strategy development, and organizational execution with team development. He is a business professional with strong interpersonal skills that builds high-performing teams over the last 25 years. A demonstrated sales leader, with a strong focus on delivering consistent award-winning results aligned with key business initiatives. He has a precise understanding of solution selling in the competitive business environment and possesses an in-depth understanding of emerging strategic technologies along with their commercial applications which results in delivering mission-critical results. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Central Florida and an Master of Business Administration from Western Governors University. He also serves in a volunteer capacity as an Area Welfare Specialist focusing on Disaster Relief for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and has over 20 years of experiencing in organization disaster relief following hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding.  For the past 20 years, assisted in organizing disaster relief after hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding. Organizing command center staff to direct work teams in the crisis area, formulating plans to assist the public cleanup physically and spiritually after a major disaster. Ongoing contributor and developer of an amazing tool created by Aaron Titus called Crisis Cleanup (www.crisiscleanup.org) to assist charitable organizations become more organized to clean up after a major disaster. Resources: Tony Dungy - Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams that Win Consistently https://www.amazon.com/Mentor-Leader-Secrets-Building-Consistently/dp/1414338066/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Q5PANNMSJUIE&keywords=Tony+dungy+servant+leadership&qid=1646111679&s=books&sprefix=tony+dungy+servant+leadership%2Cstripbooks%2C36&sr=1-1  

Nailah Blades Wylie is the guest on this week's episode and we reminisce about our experience in Dr. Adrian Popa's class "Leadership and Hardiness" when we were at graduate school at Gonzaga University. Nailah expands upon the lessons we learned from that class with great insight and examples to illustrate how important it is to create a safe space where people can be their authentic selves. She runs an incredible organization to help women of color rediscover their joy through activities in the outdoors in a way that she describes as "coming home to ourselves" that highlights the need for each of us to create a space to understand our own authentic selves as we work to help others bring their full selves to our organizations. We had a great example from Dr. Popa who showed us what an impact you can have on people when you create a safe space that challenges them in a way they never thought possible. This invites curiosity and experimentation and although sometimes you might fail at an initial goal, the outcome will be far more profound and it shows people that they can do hard things and are more resilient than they realize.  Nailah Blades Wylie is a Life & Leadership coach who helps leaders tap into their power to build personal and professional lives that are whole, good, and full of possibility. Through high touch coaching that integrates the outdoors, Nailah teaches her clients how to go from feeling invisible to imitable in every area of their lives. She also consults with brands and organizations on how to create inclusive organizational cultures that allow all individuals to shine authentically at work and facilitates professional development programs for Black, Indigenous, and people of color employees. Nailah began her career in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry, which gave her invaluable experience in marketing and strategic planning. She then went on to start and run a digital marketing agency that focused on creating impactful, inclusive content for lifestyle brands. She earned her Master's in Communication and Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University and holds a Bachelor's in Communication from the University of Southern California. Her work centers on the belief that when we stand in the truth of our authentic selves, we can live and lead in a way that creates real change in our world. When she's not coaching or speaking you can find her hiking with her husband or playing intense games of hide-n-go seek with her two tiny kids. Resources: Nailah Blades Wylie - Color Outside: https://coloroutside.org Nailah Blades - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nailahblades/ Gonzaga University - Leadership and Hardiness: https://www.gonzaga.edu/online-graduate-programs/online-programs/m-a-organizational-leadership/domestic-immersions/leadership-and-hardiness 

Acclaimed leader and author, Ben Beckhart is the guest on this episode of the podcast. Ben discusses some of the attributes of leading with character and provides some great examples from his many years in leadership roles. Ben has explored the idea of leading with character deeply and wrote a book about it for those who want to learn even more of these principles. Ben declares that the challenges we are seeing in "The Great Resignation" is a void in leadership and invites us to think more about how we can use this opportunity to step up and fill this void. To be a good leader, people need to be courageous and curious, so we discuss how those two attributes can be fostered in us and in the people around us in a way that allows them to feed on one another in a positive way.  Ben Beckhart is a Bi-cultural, bi-lingual entrepreneurial CEO with strategic and operational leadership competencies, and experience in Consumer Product Goods industry. Ben builds and transforms businesses through brand development, distribution expansion, innovation and high performance individuals particularly in challenging market & competitive situations. He has a diverse 20+ years of Profit & Loss management experience and is motivated by a culture that emphasizes growth, competition and spirited leadership. Ben seeks to contribute growth, transformation and make a difference and has had leadership roles in Sabritos, Frito Lay, Disney, General Mills, Wm Wrigley Jr, the Hunger Project and many others spanning multiple countries. He is the current Chief Engender Officer at Beckhart Engendra. Ben has a B.S. in Economics & Finance from the Wharton School, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Ben is also the author of the book Lead with Character: Build a Better Future. Ben reminds us that people who lead with character leave a positive example that transcends beyond their sphere of influence.  Resources:  Benjamin Beckhart - Lead With Character: Build a Better Future https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Character-Build-Better-Future-ebook/dp/B07RGRLD9M/ref=sr_1_1?crid=323C9WYP2B7OG&keywords=lead+with+character+ben+beckhart&qid=1644899099&sprefix=lead+with+character+ben+beckhart%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1 Benjamin Beckhart discusses Social Civility https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-beckhart-34a7aa5/   

Captain Thomas Berchtold references Stephen Covey's idea of investing in people's emotional bank account and provides several examples about how he focuses on the people on his team  to build a strong servant leader minded community. He points out that it is far better to postpone important conversations with people until you can give them your full attention or risk missing the mark and even creating an atmosphere of distrust. He shares a time when he failed as a leader because he wasn't being authentic and uses it to emphasize the need for each person to be true to themselves and use their strengths in their leadership opportunities. He looks for chances to help others along their path and provide them with recommendations that will help advance their journey and highlights the importance of having open and honest conversations early and often.  Captain Thomas E. Berchtold hails from Brigham City, Utah and attended Utah State University. He was commissioned as an Ensign, United States Navy through the Health Professions Scholarship Program and he attended Virginia Commonwealth University where he graduated magna cum laude and earned his D.D.S.  After graduation from dental school he attended an Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency in Jacksonville, Florida. After being in Florida 1 year, he was transferred to Port Hueneme, CA to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Three (Seabees) for a tour as Dental Department Head.  The battalion had a six-month deployment to Guam during this time where he successfully led the dental department with multiple battalion detachments being all over the world from the main body of personnel. Upon completing his tour with the Seabees, he was transferred to Naval Medical Center San Diego.  While in San Diego, his main duty was the division officer for the dental department at the Naval Submarine Base at Point Loma. He attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry in the Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics for three years of advanced training.  There he served as the Chief Resident for the Department during his last year of residency.  He received a Masters Degree in Clinical Dentistry as well as a Certificate in Orthodontics. After residency, CAPT Berchtold was stationed at 13 area dental clinic at Naval Dental Center Camp Pendleton (NDC CPEN).  He set up the inaugural orthodontic practice at Camp Pendleton and served as the orthodontic department head. He was then assigned to Naval Base San Diego Branch Health Clinic.  He was chosen as the assistant department head at Naval Base San Diego Branch Health and Dental Clinic.  His next orders were at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton where he was selected and served as the Director of Dental Services and served on the board of directors for the hospital until his transfer to Naval Hospital Yokosuka.  At Naval Hospital Yokosuka, he was appointed as Associate Director for Dental Services, the Dental Corp Career Development Board manager as well as working as a staff orthodontist.  He received his board certification from the American Board of Orthodontics during this time. From Japan, he was stationed at the Naval Medical Readiness Command San Diego as a member of the craniofacial team for the hospital and worked as an orthodontist to supplement the surgical treatment of patients for the oral surgery residency program.   Dr. Berchtold has been married to Julie Berchtold for 25 years and has four children.  Miranda, Jentry, Tate and Riley.  His oldest is married and will attend graduate school this summer and his youngest is still in elementary school.  He enjoys road bicycling, golfing, swimming, fitness, and eating good food and a little well known fact is that he has completed 5 half iron man triathlons and 3 marathons.  Resources:  Global Servant Leadership: Wisdom, Love, and Legitimate Power in the Age of Chaos - Philip Mathew, Jiying Song, Shann Ray Ferch, & Larry Spears https://books.google.com.mx/books?hl=es&lr=&id=ATQGEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=global+servant+leadership&ots=JvavIOHVQR&sig=JG6qdV4hOBhdTAiNYOEjBXofs6o&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=global%20servant%20leadership&f=false The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey https://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Powerful/dp/1982137274/ref=sr_1_1?crid=XZWQQGHJJ3F6&keywords=seven+habits+of+highly+effective+people&qid=1644205239&s=books&sprefix=seven+has%2Cstripbooks%2C191&sr=1-1 Start With Why - Simon Sinek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ss78LfY3nE  

Tamrat Negera joins the podcast on this episode; proclaims that everyone can be a leader and that being a servant leader is the most accomplishing thing we can do. Tamrat invites us to think about the comparisons of Nelson Mandela & Robert Mugabe and King Benjamin & King Noah to highlight the differences in a person espousing servant leadership and a leader who priorities their own progress over others. Tamrat also calls upon experiences growing up in Ethiopia and living in Kenya and the United States to emphasize his message that true fulfillment comes when you serve other people and when you help bring people to wherever you are or to an even better outcome. At a young age he was put in a leadership role, which he uses to display how important it is to become a part of your team and to encourage everyone to contribute based on their strengths. Tamrat became an engineer to help the people of his community in Ethiopia and works diligently to stay connected to his community while working hard to serve the community he belongs to in Louisiana and all that he has encountered along the way.  Tamrat Negera is originally from Ethiopia and moved to United states in 2012 to pursue higher education at BYU-Idaho where he graduated with bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. While attending university, he worked for the campus as a team lead on a project that created a GIS (Geographic information system) for BYU-Idaho electrical department. With the GIS technology, the electrical department could locate all campus street lights, transformers and breakers with a GPS enabled mobile phone application. After graduation, Tamrat worked at APR Energy; a company based in Jacksonville Florida as a global inventory engineer. he was on a team that enabled the company to create visibility on their material assets in USA, Panama, and Dubai. In 2016 he started at working at his current employer, Solar Turbines, a Caterpillar company, as a Field Service Engineer. His office covers 8 southern states, from Texas all the way to North Carolina. As a field service engineer, Tamrat travels around to commission, upgrade and maintain industrial gas turbines, generators and compressors for Hospitals, universities, offshore oil rigs, natural gas transmission pipelines, chemical plants, waste treatment plants. Tamrat speak 4 languages: English, Amharic, Oromic and Swahili. During his off hours, he volunteers as the LDS church English to Amharic translator and interpreter. In this capacity, he works on semi-annual general conferences, publishing materials and was also one of the ecclesiastical reviewers of triple combination translation to the Amharic language before it was published. As a young man, Tamrat volunteered to serve in the Kenya Nairobi Mission between 2010 and 2012 that included Kenya and Tanzania. Other volunteer church leadership positions include Young Men's President in Ethiopia, Elder's Quorum president at BYU-Idaho, Sunday school teacher and youth leader, and is currently serving as a High Councilor in the Slidell Stake High Council of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tamrat married Donnya Negera in 2015 in Salt Lake temple and they have 2 children. Abigail 4 years old and Amaan just turned 3 in January. Resources:  Nelson Mandela - UN Nelson Mandela International Day Information https://www.un.org/es/events/mandeladay/legacy.shtml  International Journal of Servant Leadership - Gonzaga University https://www.gonzaga.edu/school-of-leadership-studies/community/scholarship-publications/international-journal-of-servant-leadership  King Benjamin Addresses His People - Based on Mosiah Chapter 1-5 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/mosiah-1-5/2020-03-0100-king-benjamin-addresses-his-people-mosiah-1-5-1080p?lang=eng  King Benjamin - Benjamin the Great King by Eugene England https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1976/12/benjamin-the-great-king?lang=eng  

This week the Chief Experience Officer and Research Scientist of the Lastinger Center for Learning at the University of Florida, Dr. Cathy Cavanaugh joins me to discuss how she works to bring a diverse team together focusing on expanding educational opportunities to more people while focusing on the teachers they support. She emphasizes the importance of partnerships and collaboration at every level by sharing some great experiences from her rich background. She uses her teaching experience to relate to the need to scaffold people along and develop micro-milestones while working to create a space where ideas flourish and that invites great dialogue.  Dr. Cavanaugh previously she held roles at Microsoft leading Professional Development and Analytics in the education products group, and working with education leaders and organizations around the world to transform learning and teaching. Cathy's experience includes leading a statewide education transformation initiative and launching a virtual school in Western Australia; higher education leadership and research in the Middle East during a national mobile learning program; and work as a professor and researcher in educational technology in US universities; as well as school teaching and leadership. She was a Fulbright Senior Scholar advancing e-learning in Nepal. She has developed successful and innovative online degree and professional development programs, and blended learning programs for K-12 students. She also directed professional development centers in the US and was a STEM classroom teacher in the US and Caribbean. Dr. Cavanaugh's research and her 150 publications focus on technology-empowered teaching and learning in virtual schools, online and blended learning, teacher development, and mobile learning. Her work has been recognized for its impact with international awards including a 2016 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Making IT Happen award, as well an innovation awards for research focused on virtual schooling. Cathy is a frequent speaker at education events, and she has consulted on educational technology with national and state governments, universities, schools, and organizations. Her education includes a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, a Master of Education, and a Bachelor of Education. Resources: The University of Florida Lastinger Center, LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lastingercenter/ The University of Florida Lastinger Center Webpage: https://lastinger.center.ufl.edu Claude Steele - Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do (Issues of Our Time) https://www.amazon.com/Whistling-Vivaldi-Stereotypes-Affect-Issues/dp/0393339726/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1PRTDHN10RRZY&keywords=whistling+vivaldi&qid=1643065548&sprefix=whistling+vi%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-1 Blair Hodges Fireside Podcast - with John Swinton: Slow Down https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fireside-with-blair-hodges/id1559678265?i=1000547527182 John Swinton - Becoming Friends of Time: Disability, Timefullness, and Gentle Discipleship https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Friends-Time-Timefullness-Discipleship/dp/1481304097?crid=3I2TXGO2ZT2CZ&keywords=john+swinton+friends&qid=1642119746&s=books&sprefix=john+swinton+friend,stripbooks,109&sr=1-1&linkCode=sl1&tag=bycomcon-20&linkId=7b33cc9afa4aa645b291039b6025e202&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl  

Thero Mitchell joins as the special guest this week. He uses a story about his son's path towards becoming more devoted to his soccer ability to highlight the virtuous cycle of recognizing a talent or skill, which leads to a desire to practice or refine that gift, which leads to success which then starts the cycle over again, ultimately leading to greater success. He reminds us of the need to boost others up by focusing on the positive three times more than the negative while trying to catch people doing the right things and proclaims that everyone benefits when more people are successful. His word for the year is invest, trying to be more deliberate in how he invests his energy and time and we talk about how our dreams can be broader to focus more on others and not just ourselves. His wife taught him from her organization to always start with care and he encourages us that people are often able to perform beyond their current capabilities when they have a leader who believes in them and who sets high expectations. We hope that we can inspire others as they go throughout this week that started with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to be more intentional about including others and expanding opportunities to others especially those who have been marginalized in the past so we can stop playing injured and reach our full potential.  Thero is currently Director of Client Services at Intermedia, a Software as a Service company that helps over 124,000 businesses connect better with their portfolio of communications and collaboration solutions delivered through one highly reliable and secure platform. Intermedia's Client Services Organization has been named  JD Power Certified Assisted Technical Support (C.A.T.S.) + TSIA rated outstanding: 6 years in a row, 2016-2021. He leads a Technical Services Department of thirty professionals focused on helping customers and partner implement Intermedia's cloud solutions.  This department has maintained average Customer Satisfaction surveys scores of over 9.5 for the last 5 years. He holds an Executive MBA from Pepperdine University, and is PMP Certified by the Project Management Institute. Resources: Martin Luther King Jr - I Have A Dream speech full transcript on NPR https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-entirety Fireside with Blair Hodges - Slow Down with John Swinton https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fireside-with-blair-hodges/id1559678265?i=1000547527182 Dr. Christa Kirsch & Dr. Janet Peters - Leadership from Inside Out: Student Leadership Development within Authentic Leadership and Servant Leadership Frameworks https://journalofleadershiped.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/16_1_peters.pdf John Swinton - Becoming Friends of Time https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Friends-Time-Timefullness-Discipleship/dp/1481304097?crid=3I2TXGO2ZT2CZ&keywords=john+swinton+friends&qid=1642119746&s=books&sprefix=john+swinton+friend,stripbooks,109&sr=1-1&linkCode=sl1&tag=bycomcon-20&linkId=7b33cc9afa4aa645b291039b6025e202&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl  

This episode features two members of the BYU Hawaii faculty, Ann and Scott Springer. Ann and Scott discuss how their roles at BYU Hawaii have uniquely situated them to focus more on leadership studies while helping the rising generation to grow as leaders in many different endeavors. They discuss and model the words on the sign outside the university "Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve" while looking for ways to help bridge the gaps between generations, countries, cultures, and any other place the world would create division. They discuss some of the positive attributes of Generation Z and highlight the ways we can all learn from one another. Their message exemplifies how we can expand our worldview and learn to harness the good attributes of other people. They were both successful in the private sector prior to accepting their current roles at BYU Hawaii and they show us how servant leaders look to build others up.  Ann Springer teaches courses in marketing and communications at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. She started BYU-Hawaii's first student-led digital marketing agency. She is the co-advisor for the BYU Management Society's BYUH student chapter which helps over 100 students from diverse majors and countries to develop ethical leadership skills. Prior to teaching full-time, Ann has worked in business development, marketing, and public relations for two decades in both the private and public sectors. Her experience and education crosses multiple industries, including health care, corporate communications, non-profits, and leadership. She holds an MBA in healthcare management and leadership.  Dr. Scott Springer is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Leadership at Brigham Young University—Hawaii in Laie, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. His current research interests include leadership education, the experiences of first-time managers, and leadership communication. Prior to joining the BYU-Hawaii faculty, Dr. Springer worked for 15 years as a global director in the academic publishing industry. Resources:  Sen Sendjaya, Nathan Eva, Ivan Butar Butar, Mulyadi Robin, & Samantha Castles - SLBS-6: Validation of a Short Form of the Servant Leadership Behavior Scale https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-017-3594-3  BYU Hawaii Mission Statement - https://about.byuh.edu/about-byuh/mission-and-vision  Elder Gerrit W. Gong - Room in the Inn https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2021/05/16gong?lang= BYU Management Society Moral & Ethical Leadership Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moral-ethical-leadership/id1462330188      

Regan Howell, the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Monroe Energy, LLC, a refining, pipeline and terminal company headquartered near Philadelphia Pennsylvania, is the guest on this episode. Regan explains how every encounter we face each day is an chance to reinforce our organizational culture or to allow it to continue to deteriorate. Regan uses The Law of Entropy to illustrate that we must continually put energy into our organizations and our culture or they will naturally move from an organized to a disorganized state. Regan recommits to being more intentional about the way he reinforces his organizational culture as he displays one of the aspects of servant leadership, to model the way, and reminds us that focusing on serving to lead and focusing on the individuals or the ones is very important for every aspiring servant leader.  Regan is a chemical engineer who has spent nearly 30 years working for oil companies, large and small, around the world. He is a proven leader with over thirty years of business experience, primarily in refining and fuels manufacturing.  A ‘culture hawk' whose record demonstrates that value-based decisions lead to better business results.  Entrusted with increasing levels of responsibility and has continually demonstrated integrity; technical, business, interpersonal acumen; and teamwork skills. He feels he experiences his greatest success when part of a properly led, motivated, and rewarded team. He has a life-long fascination with leadership; both studies and practice. He is married to Jen and they have 5 children and 5 grandchildren Resources:  Dr. D. Brent Smith, Rice University https://onlinebusiness.rice.edu/mba/faculty/d-brent-smith/ Viktor E. Frankl - Man's Search for Meaning https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36069536-man-s-search-for-meaning?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=rKFenqPivr&rank=7 Yvon Chouinard - Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22155.Let_My_People_Go_Surfing?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=TdsqDcalwl&rank=1

Marine Science Technician Master Chief Petty Officer, Trevor Hughes joins as the guest on this week's episode to help us understand why allowing ourselves to be vulnerable is a necessary step that prepares us for future growth. He also helps us understand how important it is to create a space of trust that allows people to be comfortable, emphasizes the importance of receiving and giving positive endorsements, and discusses leading self, leading others, leading change, & leading service as it relates to the cycle of leadership.  Master Chief Hughes is currently the Assistant Branch Chief for the Facilities, Containers, and Explosive Handling Division at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound in Seattle, Washington, is the Chief of the Mess for the Greater Seattle Area Chief's Mess, and coordinates military outloads managing explosive handling details supporting Army 833rd Transportation Brigade and Navy Indian Island Weapons Depot.  Master Chief Hughes is a native of South Portland, Maine where he spent most of his youth sailing the waters and exploring the islands of Casco Bay.  He began his military service in 2002 after working as a contractor for the Atlantic Strike Team during the World Trade Center Recovery operation following the event of 9/11. During his 19 years of service, he has served in the Coast Guard's incident command structure during response operations for Deepwater Horizon, Hurricane Sandy and was the Coast Guard's Safety Officer during the response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. On occasion, he has also traveled overseas to provide incident management training to our partners within the international maritime community.  Master Chief Hughes previous tours include CGC Healy, Sector San Francisco, MSST San Francisco, Sector Boston, MSU Cleveland, and TRACEN Yorktown. He is a proud graduate of the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Academy class 206 and the Coast Guard Senior Enlisted Leadership Course class 02-17 where he earned the Donald Horsley Selfless Leadership Award. He holds a Master's degree from the Duke University in Environmental Management with a focus on Environmental Leadership. He lives in Bainbridge Island, WA with his wife Annika and three children. Resources: Jennifer Brown - How To Be An Inclusive Leader https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45356172-how-to-be-an-inclusive-leader Henry Rollins - 200 lbs https://youtu.be/iSsCR8wjWYk  The Story of You - Ian Morgan https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57637421-the-story-of-you Typology with Ian Morgan Cron (S05-010) Amy Porterfield on the Gifts of Self-Awareness https://www.podbean.com/ei/dir-bq5m9-10663528          

Assistant Fire Chief Clint Ory from Louisiana's St. Tammany Parish Fire District No. 4 joins on this episode to talk about how important showing respect is to servant leadership and shares a powerful vision of how we could change the world if we had more respect for one another. We welcome in the holiday season with some great insights in how spirituality is a vital aspect of servant leadership and discuss how many of these holidays are routed in the principles of servant leadership. A great discussion on the importance of discovering your own truth while respecting other peoples truth helps to illustrate how we can build from our similarities and learn from our differences.  Clint has been a firefighter for over 30 years and also is certified as a Hazardous Material Technician, Fire Investigator, Executive Fire Officer, and as a Paramedic. He has serve in numerous leadership positions throughout his career and also dedicates his off time to serving in his community and surrounding states after natural disasters.  Clint is a certified ACE Peer Fitness Trainer and helped create the St. Tammany Parish Hospital Firefighter Wellness Program including the design and validation of the Firefighter Advanced Fit for Duty assessment. He serves as the subject matter expert for St. Tammany Parish Hospital on NFPA 1582 -Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Programs for Fire Departments. Clint voluntarily works with Firefighters who need assistance in meeting the essential job functions after returning from extended absences due to injury or illness.  Clint serves on several public safety associations and committees including the Parish Emergency Management Advisory Committee. Clint has served as a Boy Scouts of America Scout Master for many years, and earned the BSA Wood Badge from the Sam Houston Area Council in 2011/2012, he has worked with youth for most of his adult life through his church service and other programs. Clint was awarded First Responder of the Year in 1996 by OLL Knights of Columbus, The Louisiana Distinguished Civilian Service Medal from The Louisiana National Guard in 2001, the Friends of the Military Award  from the Mayor's Military Advisory Committee of Greater New Orleans in 2002 and the YMCA Northshore Heroes Award in 2018. Clint graduated from the 10-month Leadership St. Tammany program for emerging and existing leaders in June 2019. As part of his volunteer church service, he was assigned in July 2017 to serve pastorally as the Bishop for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Covington. Clint currently serves as First Counselor in the Slidell Stake Presidency for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, serving 8 congregations across South Eastern Louisiana and South West Mississippi. Clint and his wife Danelle Danos Ory have been happily married since October 1994, they have three adult children Logan, Hannah and Elisabeth and a daughter in law Lindsay.  Resources: James Kouzes & Barry Posner: Credibility https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/643449.Credibility Josephson Institute Six Pillars of Character: https://josephsononbusinessethics.com/2017/01/principled-reasoning-decision-making/  Sen Sendjaya, Nathan Eva, Ivan Butar Butar, Mulyadi Robin, & Samantha Castles: SLBS-6: Validation of a Short Form of the Servant Leadership Behavior Scale: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-017-3594-3        

April Rice joins with me to illustrate how she has embraced the challenges that life throws at her to encourage greatness in those around her as she embraces the arena of life. For the past 10 years April was the Director of of a college access and persistence program for potential first-generation high school students at Tulane University in New Orleans. During her time with his program, whose participants live below poverty level, they consistently achieved a 100% college enrollment and a 73% college graduation rate, which is almost four times higher than the national average for students with socio-economic barriers.  April talks with us about the importance to meet people where they are while envisioning the potential each individual embodies, finding ways to look past the barriers in front of us, how to serve others, listen deeper, and really realize that the individuals all around us connect a web to create a master piece. April Rice is an educator by profession, but a teacher by heart. She likes to say that teaching is in her DNA. Her passion and love for others has motivated her through the last 20 years in education. She has a deep love to help the individual achieve their unique path toward education and life, regardless of circumstances, has blessed hundreds of people she has worked with over the years. April received her bachelors in Heath Science Education at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, and a Master's degree in Higher Education Administration at Mississippi College along with certification in Life Coaching with an emphasis on trauma-induced coaching. Her education career began in a Level 6 juvenile correctional facility in central Florida where she developed a love for marginalized and underserved students. Throughout her career, April has taught special education, science, STEM and engineering classes, developed dropout prevention programs, trained teachers, and served in administration capacities in the K-12 sector.   

Stanford University's Hoover Institution U.S. Coast Guard National Security Fellow, Captain Lushan Hannah explains why we have never arrived as a leader by helping us understand the importance of investing in ourselves, empowering others, and paying it forward to all those who will come after us. Captain Hannah shares a powerful story of when a mentor helped him recognize his own potential and invites us to help others recognize their own potential. He quotes Simon Sinek with "you can easily judge the character of a man by the way he treats those who can do nothing for him" and invites us all to be the change we want to see.  Captain Hannah's 23-year Coast Guard career includes operational experience in Southern California, New Orleans, and throughout the Pacific Rim where he had the privilege to build partnerships with public and private sector teams to bolster maritime security, clean up pollution, conduct search and rescue, and respond to natural disasters. He was also the military aid to the Vice President of the U.S. He reports to the Hoover Institution following a tour as Commanding Officer of the Pacific Strike Team, responsible for mitigating hazardous material incidents for the Western United States, Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Territories. He earned his commission from Officer Candidate School and holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management from the University of Maryland - UC, a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. Acronyms: LDAC - Leadership Diversity Advisory Council Pro Dev - professional development OER - Officer Evaluation Report   You can find an article that Captain Hannah wrote in the book Profiles of character: Black Excellence and the Coast Guard - https://www.amazon.com/Profiles-Character-Black-Excellence-Coast/dp/173579371X  The Coast Guard Learning the Ropes Guide Book - https://www.cglearningtheropes.com CG Learning the Ropes Podcast - https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=1492767003 Resources: Simon Sink - Leaders Eat Last https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16144853