Heeding My Call

Call it divine intervention.

When I was in my 30s, facing the challenges of raising a blended family of six children and leading a struggling company, I was fortunate to be part of a vibrant church led by an inspirational rector, Ed Salmon. I envied how he had the opportunity to touch the 500 members of the congregation with his message week after week. 

As I listened to his sermon one Sunday morning, it dawned on me that I too had a congregation — a much larger one comprised of the thousands of team members in our business. And while Rector Salmon had only one hour per week to reach his audience, we have our team members 40 hours each week. 

Moreover, because we are engaged in an economic enterprise, we have a powerful opportunity. It was at that moment that I realized that my leadership of the business was a tremendous opportunity to touch the lives of those in our care.

Since that moment in the pew, we have had many experiences that embody that power. These experiences have led us to the understanding that when we focus on creating a fulfilling experience for those in our care — when we focus on making sure our team members feel empowered, validated, cared for and integral to our shared vision — there is a ripple effect in their lives. They return home each day better spouses, parents, friends, neighbors, citizens of the world.

I now feel called to spread these leadership concepts with those outside our organization, in the hope that others will be inspired to take this people-centric view of leadership into their own organizations.

This forum allows me an opportunity to reach beyond our walls to share our insights, experiences and strategies as to how organizations can use their influence to positively impact the lives of the people within them. You’ll get tips on how to grow yourself as a leader, be introduced to other leadership and cultural development authorities, and learn about the initiatives we undertook to transform the culture in our company into one through which both our team members and our business thrive through Truly Human Leadership.

Grab yourself a pew.