Rotary Recap 8.10.2016

 
The Dog Days of Summer are definitely here, so thank you for coming in out of the heat to hear from Christy Levings about some of her thoughts on leadership.
 
Christy, her husband Dave and their cattle live on 50 acres in Miami County, south east of Paola. The humans have resided there for 32 years and for three of those Christy has been retired from education. She taught for 41 years and was a fourth grade teacher at Louisburg's Circle Grove Elementary School in the 1980s. 
 
Now she is a leadership consultant and her focus is on helping communities uncover the issues that move them. She helps business owners and organizations like ours determine how best to serve our communities. She shared the philosophies of three authors who have helped shape who she is: Stephen Covey, John Maxwell & Jim Collins.
 
Covey was best known for his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. His book The 8th Habit was the one that really resonated with Christy, as it focused on introspection. Covey likened the relationships that we have to bank accounts - you make deposits and withdraws and both are very important. He also focused on what he called our four intelligences: physical - treat your health as though you've just experienced a heart attack; spiritual - live and act as though you have a one-on-one conversation with your creator quarterly; mental - live and act as though you only have two years left; and heart - everything you say about another person you should say as though they can hear you.
 
Maxwell focuses on servant leadership, stressing the need to help others and worry less about losing our own positions or power. He also emphasizes the importance of growth and change, saying that change isn't always better, but better always comes with change. Strong leaders feed each others' self worth and most work gets done by groups that have a very clear and strong purpose.
 
What she enjoys the most about Jim Collins is his focus on self reflection. He says that leaders are not afraid to look in the mirror instead of out the window because they truly want to know what they are doing or not doing to help build success around them.
 
At the end of the day, we are invested as a group and we need to consider how we unite to serve our communities. The most successful organizations are directed and purposeful with an established mission and the members do not deviate from the values set forth.
 
Happy Do$$ars were requested!
  • Andy is just glad that his son Jake couldn't 'eat the whole thing'
  • Janet has been working on her golfing skills since the Spring Hill Rotary golf tournament and is glad she is now able to find more golf balls than she loses
  • Sandy is proud to report that his son Patrick (a Rotary Scholarship recipient) is now gainfully employed at Overland Park Regional Medical Center
  • George is a first-time GRANDPA to little Emma
  • Chris made sure we understood his was an OKAY DO$$AR. As a grumpy German he finally found the research that backs up why it is so important to be a pessimist - you earn more, live longer and have a better marriage...and there was a lot more that he read us from his research, so 
  • Jim & Doug both gave Happy Do$$ars that Chris finally stopped reading
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NEXT WEEK:
  • Please attend, as we need to pass the 2016-17 budget
  • Superintendent Brian Biermann will introduce the new teachers in the district