Highlights from the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Annual International Conference

By Gloria Bailey

I had the honor to attend the “Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Annual International Conference” in Indianapolis, IN, last week.  I want to share some of my many highlights of the conference:

1. In one of the sessions I attended, we learned about collaboration (individuals working together for a common goal).  The self-inventory we took indicated that I scored high on ‘accommodating’ (which the instructor said is very common with support staff); I learned that I need to work more on ‘collaborating’.  We did a group exercise involving a long rope and blindfolds.  We formed a circle, put the rope in our hands, placed on the blindfolds, then had to verbally communicate how to move from the circle into a square.  That is not as easy as you might think!
2. In another session, I heard a man speak about his company who took the extra mile in caring for an employee who contracted HIV/AIDS.  The company helped the man long after the man was no longer physically able to work.  It was a very touching story.
3. In a different session, I heard a man speak about his church having a soup kitchen.  In short, his concept is to not only serve the needy but tap into their talents.  He found that one needy lady had good cooking skills.  He asked her to be the cook for the soup kitchen and, later, she ended up running a catering business.  Moral to the story: Don’t just serve, but help others be needed and successful.
4. I could not help myself, I had to listen to Ann McGee-Cooper’s presentation on Life/Work Balance even though I had heard it before!  Ann, who recently had breast cancer, was again full of energy.  She did an amazing job with her presentation and, yes, she tap danced!  I was reminded to take time for myself…joy breaks along the way…do things that make me happy…be child-like, not childish.  In the end, I will be more productive at home and work.
5. Lastly, and probably my favorite, was a man who had a 1.8 GPA as a junior in high school.  He had a mentor that called him into her office on the first day of his senior year of high school.  She asked him where he wanted to go to college.  He said that he smarted off that he wanted to attend USC, Yale, or Harvard.  Long story short, she saw more in him than he saw in himself.  She inspired him to go to a local community college for two years then transfer to a university.  He did just that and he now teaches at the private college where he did his undergrad studies.  And that’s not all…he later went to Harvard.  He also taught at Columbine High School when the shootings happened in April 1999.  He had many stories to share about the caring spirit the students that were “trouble-makers” showed the injured…he told those moving stories with tears in his eyes.  He also owns a coffee company in Washington.  He told some wonderful stories about how his coffee company was struggling in the beginning when his focus was bottom line; he changed his focus to servant leadership and respectful treatment of his employees and his company is now growing and successful.  And he is also a current state representative in Washington.  I could have listened to him all three day of the conference.
6. And the icing on the cake…Bob did a presentation with Matt Kosec.  As you can imagine, they had the room engaged and entertained!  Bob represented our department very well.  I was so proud of him.  🙂

Our department offers many opportunities for servant leadership training.  I hope you will join me in attending and learning.