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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 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
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Teach People to Value Themselves
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
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.
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Fill Time With Things That Connect Us As People
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
See a Need & React to It
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
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.
Folds of Honor:
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:
Elder Clark G. Gilbert - Parable of the Slope:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/16gilbert?lang=eng
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Create a Never Ending Cycle of Great Leaders
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Make Sure Your Actions Speak as Loud as Your Words
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Recently retired Master Gunnery Sergent Samson 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. Samson 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/
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Learn to Love Learning
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Wednesday May 25, 2022
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
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Conduct a Daily Gut Check
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Don’t Linger in Artificial Harmony
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Wednesday May 11, 2022
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=
Wednesday May 04, 2022
Our Greatest Resource is Humans
Wednesday May 04, 2022
Wednesday May 04, 2022
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