Conferences are interesting experiences, aren’t they? They provide you with a multitude of new ideas, introduce you to new people and provide a break in your routine. But there is one big problem with attending a conference — you have to return to work!
Read MoreAs we head into a new year, I am challenging our team members to focus on what it truly means to Serve First. It’s easy to define all the ways we serve our families, our friends and our community, but it’s not always easy to define how we serve one another at work.
Read MoreEvery organization has a culture. It may not be something you or your fellow employees think about or purposely work on, but it exists — for better or worse.
Read MoreThere it was, completely helpless except for its piercing cry. In 1999, Bai Yun, a seven-year-old giant panda, gave birth to the first panda cub born in the U.S. through artificial insemination. But would the cub survive? As I watched on the closed-circuit monitor with the keeper and a researcher that night, I wondered: How could a mother panda ever sleep and not roll over on her cub?
Read MoreYesterday was our holiday party at Servant Leadership Institute. It was a wonderful time of enjoying holiday music, hearing people’s plans for the holidays, exchanging Secret Santa gifts and of course eating! Naturally, it got me thinking about dear old Santa Claus. Certainly Santa is a leader, influencing reindeer and all those elves. But is he a servant leader? Let’s examine the man as legend and you can decide.
Read MoreRecently, I have traveled through some life circumstances that have been difficult for my entire family. It has caused me to reflect quite a bit, and one of the qualities I have thought about is hope. What a beautiful word “hope” is. Even the way we say it sounds good.
Read MoreAs we entered Bakersfield, the bus driver announced we were making an unscheduled stop due to mechanical issues. Greyhound was going to have to send another bus to deliver us to our final destination. Of course, this didn’t sit well with any of the passengers, but Chris, Andrea and I were too exhausted to protest. We just wanted to get back to our campus — even if it was on a back of a donkey.
Read MoreWhen I was in college, my immediate family lived outside the U.S., so on holiday breaks, I would go with friends to celebrate with their families. One time, I went with Chris and Andrea to Northern California for Thanksgiving; we drove up together in Chris’ Honda Civic.
Read More“I like working with animals better than people.” I heard this admission from my coworkers many times during my career as a zoo veterinarian. These animal people would often say it with a measure of pride and conviction. In fact, that is exactly what I did early on as a college freshman.
Read MoreI fell in love with golf in my early 30s. It was love at first sight. I started out “worm burning” my way through the course; that’s a term used to describe a ball that hardy makes it off the ground and skims across the grass. But I believed I could be a better golfer, so I poured myself into the game. I took lessons from great teachers; I practiced, practiced, practiced, and played as much golf as possible while working full time; and I read every golf book I could get my hands on.
Read MoreAs a young veterinary manager at the San Diego Zoo, I had an opportunity to rebuild a department from the ground up. In my youthful exuberance, I thought I knew what I needed to do. So, I hired the best and the brightest professionals I could find. I wanted people with diverse talents. But I also knew many who were the best technically did not have the skills to build trusting relationships with people.
Read MoreThis week, we offer you a glimpse of Vicki Floyd Clark, who will be joining us at the Servant Leader Conference 2019 and speaking with her own brand of wisdom, warmth, and humor. Vicki is a servant leader who speaks across the country, looking to influence leaders to serve and teaching them how to increase the capacity of their organizations. She is an example of one person making an impact. After viewing this clip, I was struck by a couple things:
Read MoreIt happens every August or September — the morning rush of parents and kids returning to the school routine. It’s a frantic dance for many, culminating with a drop off at school or daycare or the mad dash for a parking spot at one of our local colleges and universities. Even those whose children are grown can feel it as the traffic takes on a whole new dimension. But for those who are parents, it makes you wonder — am I able? Can I do all this day after day, week after week, year after year.
Read MoreHave you ever daydreamed about something you might want to achieve, change or have in your life? Notice how often your mind will click through what it will take to achieve your desired goal, and then that little annoying voice in your head kicks in and asserts, “it’s too much to do — just never mind.”
Read MoreOur hospital manager knocked on my open office door. I looked up as she entered for our weekly meeting. Of all my activities and responsibilities overseeing the health of the animals at San Diego Zoo Global, few were more enjoyable and valuable than my one-on-one meetings with my managers. Each week, I would discover something of crucial importance. Our managers took to heart their huge job responsibilities; as a result, doing my job was much less demanding than it could have been.
Read MoreI heard something great the other day from cultural thought leader Erwin McManus that really resonated with me in relation to life and business: “the return is in the turns.” As we navigate through our lives at work and home, we have a vision — a path or a direction we expect things to go. But this statement challenged me to reflect and realize that many growth opportunities and the beauty of life come as that vision of a straight line is hit with bends and turns, causing us to navigate the changes.
Read MoreDo you have employees who spread negative influence within the organization? Are you experiencing employee behaviors that do not encourage others, but plant seeds of discouragement instead? You may have “little foxes” in your midst.
Read MoreI began my career as a power leader. I was trained in the corporate world to only care about short-term quarterly results, revenues and profits. For the first 20 years of my career, I found limited satisfaction in leading others. Thankfully, I’ve gone through a transformation in my leadership style and today I consider myself a servant leader.
Read MoreOpen your eyes. For the past couple months, I’ve had that sentence — or should I say “command” — enter my thoughts. Open your eyes! For some reason, I’m being asked to turn my attention to the more basic components of life.
Read MoreMy first experience with listening to understand actually came from reading, as ironic as that may sound. However, I’ve discovered through the years that books are rather good practice for learning how to interact with others.
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