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We are here to illustrate that servant leadership comes in many variations and discuss how we can all help ourselves and other people on their path to becoming a servant leader so that ALL people from every walk of life can benefit. Studies show that people and organizations benefit from servant leadership, but too often people lack an understanding of what servant leadership truly looks like or they think it is only for niche groups. The goal of this podcast is to discuss servant leadership with servant leaders from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and leadership levels to help every person think more deeply about how they can become a servant leader and foster more servant leadership in their organization, communities, and social circles.
Episodes
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Shared Ownership Empowers Individuals
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
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)
Karlos Hill & Soraya Field Fiorio - What is Juneteenth and why is it so important TED-Ed (YouTube)
Wednesday Jun 07, 2023
It’s ALL About Relationships
Wednesday Jun 07, 2023
Wednesday Jun 07, 2023
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/
Wednesday May 24, 2023
Nurture Abilities to Cultivate Confidence
Wednesday May 24, 2023
Wednesday May 24, 2023
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
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?
Michelle Obama explains imposter syndrome
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Everyday is an Opportunity to do Great Things
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Wednesday May 10, 2023
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
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Care, Compassion, Affection, & Tenderness Produce Amazing Outcomes
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
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
Richard Boyatzis, & Kleio Akrivou - The ideal self as the driver of intentional change
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
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Listen With an Open Heart & an Open Mind
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
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)
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
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Servant Leadership Creates Limitless Possibilities
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
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
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
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Strive To Do Better Things
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
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
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
(YouTube Version) https://youtu.be/njbdOCBeOc0
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Embrace the Strengths & Gifts of Those Around You
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
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
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Acknowledge People for their Special & Unique Spirits
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Wednesday Feb 15, 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