First, I need to take a moment to honor the incredible acts of service we witnessed this week in Las Vegas. I find myself grieving not only this incident, but the times we are living in. Just when I think my heart can’t hurt more, another piece of it breaks. The only thing that brings me solace are the stories of service that come out of each of these events. When it comes down to it, human beings are good and we do good.
This week, I’m writing to you about an interesting project I’ve been working on. Exactly one week ago, I celebrated the 2nd anniversary of leaving GE. While I had a general idea of what the next phase in my career might look like, so much of the form was not shaped at all. This was both exciting and terrifying. There is one thread that connects them all, and that is of service.
Today, I am a part of an extraordinary team that is producing a summit on service – specifically Servant Leadership. As you can imagine, this is a full circle moment for me. I never thought, when I started Be Here and Serve over 4 years ago, that I would have the opportunity to work on such a momentous event! The team behind this summit is one of the most dedicated and service-minded teams I’ve ever encountered in my career. As we’ve worked to produce the 36+ trainings that are included in the summit, we have all been transformed by the teachings ourselves. We are about 2 weeks away from going live with the summit. As I was reflecting on it this week, I realized it was a huge disservice that I hadn’t shared it here for you! I apologize for not writing about it sooner, and I promise to share more of the exciting projects going on.
You can find more info on the summit HERE. Ken Blanchard, author of The 1 Minute Manager, is one of the co-producers and is featured with over 40 other speakers – including Liz Wiseman the author of Multipliers, Marshall Goldsmith, Peter Senge, and so many more. I believe leaders are not just those at the top of an organization, but they are all members of an organization that are committed to influencing others to serve in their highest capacity. I’m incredibly proud of the volume of teachings we are producing with this summit, and I know it will change you for the better as it has me!
One of my favorite talks in the summit is by Rico Maranto. I hadn’t heard of Rico before the summit, and in the process of producing the summit we got to be very familiar with him because Rico is based in the Houston office of his company, Waste Connections. When Harvey happened, it wreaked havoc on the schedule we had laid out for producing his training. We honestly didn’t know if he was still going to be able to join the summit, and our team was trying to figure out how to best support him. However, through these challenges an incredible story unfolded. You see, the leadership at Waste Connections was not able to participate because they were all hands on deck, taking care of hundreds of employees impacted by Hurricane Harvey. It gives me chills just thinking about it. Make sure you tune in to hear the story from their perspective! I hope you will join me for this and many more interviews that give a renewed purpose to the little things we do for each other every day – whether it’s in the office, in your community, or at home.
I know you are all service junkies like me, so thank you for geeking out with me on this incredible event. I hope to see you there! If you have any questions about this free event, please let me know.
What is the biggest act of service someone has shown you this week? Comment below, or find me on Instagram and Facebook and tell me! We all need a lift from each other’s stories this week.
P.S. If you are looking for a space to find more news on the good happening out there, I highly recommend my friends at the Good Newspaper. They have a weekly newsletter that sends out 5 well researched stories of GOOD NEWS, an excellent Podcast, and you can even order their paper newspaper! I have no affiliation with them. I just greatly enjoy their services.
Photo by Lina Trochez