The Future of your Future is Servant Leadership | Anthony Perez | TEDxColoradoSprings
Summary
TLDRThe speaker, a former Navy rescue swimmer, recounts his challenging journey of learning essential skills at a young age. He emphasizes the importance of physical fitness, mental toughness, and deliberate practice in mastering tasks. Drawing parallels to life, he discusses how we often recognize our growth opportunities through challenging circumstances. The speech advocates for servant-leadership, highlighting the need for genuine connection, active listening, and empathy in today's digital age. The speaker challenges the audience to improve their individual commitment to group efforts, suggesting that the future relies on our ability to balance new technologies with traditional human values.
Takeaways
- đââïž The importance of physical fitness, mental toughness, and swimming skills for a Navy rescue swimmer.
- đ The realization of a lack of knowledge in using dive gear and the necessity to quickly learn these skills.
- đ The need for deliberate practice to develop essential abilities for achieving goals.
- đ± Growth opportunities often arise from challenging circumstances that reveal our deficiencies.
- đïžââïž The comparison of life's challenges to physical training, emphasizing the need for targeted effort.
- đ€ The concept that individual commitment to a group effort is crucial for a team's success.
- đź The uncertainty of the future and the multitude of potential societal changes that could occur.
- đ The call to re-embrace human connection and relationships in a digital age.
- đ ïž The idea that servant-leadership is key to positive transformation in society and personal growth.
- đ The significance of active listening and empathy in leadership and personal relationships.
- đ The challenge to improve individual commitment to better support and serve others.
Q & A
What year did the speaker join the Navy?
-The speaker joined the Navy in 1990.
What was the speaker's age when he joined the Navy?
-The speaker was about 20 years old when he joined the Navy.
What was the unexpected task the speaker's chief asked him to do?
-The speaker's chief asked him to jump into the ocean and deal with bad situations without giving much detail.
What was the first realization the speaker had about the Navy rescue swimmer school?
-The speaker realized that he needed to be physically fit, mentally tough, and a great swimmer to complete the course.
What was the main deficiency the speaker identified in his swimming skills during the training?
-The speaker's main deficiency was his lack of experience with dive gear and not knowing how to properly clear his mask.
How did the speaker prepare to overcome his deficiency in using dive gear?
-The speaker spent extra time practicing with the help of his teammates to learn how to clear his mask and use the dive gear effectively.
What is the main similarity the speaker draws between the Navy rescue swimmer school and life?
-The speaker draws a similarity in that both situations present growth opportunities that become apparent only when faced with specific challenges.
What is the concept of 'servant-leadership' as discussed by the speaker?
-Servant-leadership is a long-term, transformational approach towards life and work that focuses on creating positive change, helping others achieve success, and being significant over personal success.
Why does the speaker believe society should fall in love again with the human element?
-The speaker believes society should fall in love again with the human element because of the disconnection and lack of genuine relationships in the digital age.
What is the speaker's view on the future?
-The speaker views the future as one that depends on servant-leadership and a return to valuing human connections and relationships.
What is the challenge the speaker issues at the end of the script?
-The speaker challenges the audience to improve their individual commitment to those they support and serve.
Outlines
đââïž Overcoming Challenges in Navy Rescue Swimmer School
The speaker reflects on his experience as a young sailor in 1990, when he was asked to join the Navy rescue swimmer school. Despite being physically fit and mentally tough, he faced a significant challenge in mastering the use of dive gear, particularly in mask clearing. His lack of experience with swim gear became apparent during pool conditioning exercises. The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing growth opportunities and the necessity of deliberate practice to develop essential skills. He shares how he had to spend extra time learning to clear his mask properly to meet the expectations of the training. The narrative highlights the value of individual commitment to personal development and teamwork, suggesting that these are crucial for achieving goals and moving forward in life.
đ The Future and the Importance of Servant-Leadership
In this paragraph, the speaker contemplates the future and the various uncertainties it holds, such as education reform, job creation, financial crises, and social equality. He suggests that regardless of the future's specifics, the common factor is humanity. The speaker advocates for servant-leadership as a key element for navigating the future. He discusses the ease with which one can become an 'expert' through access to information and the paradox of technological progress leading to a decline in genuine human interaction. The speaker calls for a reset in how we build relationships and establish trust, emphasizing the need for quality over quantity in connections. He defines servant-leadership as a long-term, transformational approach focused on creating positive change, giving more than receiving, and being significant rather than just successful. The speaker challenges the audience to consider how servant-leadership principles can be integrated into their lives to better serve their communities and prepare the next generation.
đ€ The Power of Influence and Active Listening in Servant Leadership
The speaker delves into the concept of servant leadership, asserting that it's not about perfection but striving for excellence and being a role model. He discusses the impact of one's environment and the importance of shaping and being shaped by positive influences. The speaker emphasizes the role of servant leadership in increasing one's influence and the qualities that define it, such as active listening and empathy. He shares the idea of moving from an 'open-door' policy to an 'open-air' policy, suggesting a more transparent and empathetic approach to relationships. The speaker also touches on the importance of being present, taking responsibility, and understanding the value of gratitude and respect in human interactions. He concludes by stressing the need for personal growth through learning and implementing servant leadership principles to inspire and support others effectively.
đȘ Commitment to Teamwork and Personal Growth
In the final paragraph, the speaker issues a challenge to the audience to improve their individual commitment to those they support and serve. He reiterates the importance of teamwork and the role of each person's dedication in achieving collective goals. The speaker reflects on his talk, hoping to have made a meaningful connection with the audience and to have inspired them to consider the principles of servant leadership in their own lives. He ends with a light-hearted reference to the Cubs, wishing the audience an enjoyable conference and weekend.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄNavy Rescue Swimmer School
đĄPhysical Fitness
đĄMental Toughness
đĄDeliberate Practice
đĄGrowth Opportunities
đĄServant-Leadership
đĄIndividual Commitment
đĄActive Listening
đĄEmpathy
đĄInfluence
đĄPersonal Growth
Highlights
The speaker joined the Navy at 20 years old in San Diego, highlighting the importance of physical fitness, mental toughness, and swimming skills.
The Navy rescue swimmer school emphasized the necessity of mastering essential skills like clearing a dive mask.
The speaker had to quickly learn to use dive gear, illustrating the steep learning curve faced by many in new challenges.
The importance of deliberate practice was underscored, as the speaker had to improve his swimming skills to meet the course requirements.
The concept of individual commitment to a group effort was introduced, highlighting the need for teamwork.
The future was discussed as uncertain, with various possibilities such as education reform, job creation, financial crises, or social equality.
The speaker advocated for servant-leadership, a leadership style that prioritizes service to others over personal success.
The need for a balance between using modern technology and maintaining traditional relationship-building skills was highlighted.
The importance of active listening and empathy in leadership was emphasized, suggesting that leaders should be good listeners and understand others' experiences.
The speaker discussed the idea of being present in the moment, suggesting that people should focus on real-life interactions rather than being distracted by devices.
The concept of servant leadership includes understanding responsibility and the necessity of sacrifice for change.
The speaker challenged the audience to improve their individual commitment to supporting and serving others.
The importance of being a student in the process of personal growth and implementing what is learned into one's life was discussed.
The speaker encouraged the audience to be examples to others and to inspire them through their actions and beliefs.
The value of being a good listener and the impact of capturing someone's heart through sincere service was highlighted.
The speaker concluded by challenging the audience to reflect on how they can improve their commitment to others in their personal and professional lives.
Transcripts
you know it was 1990 and I was stationed
in Navy I was in San Diego any Navy
people all right - all right right I was
in the Navy and I was about 20 years old
and and my chief asked me this question
he said hey Perez how would you like to
be the guy that jumps into the ocean and
bad things happen he didn't tell me much
more and I was 20 and I didn't really
ask a lot of questions I think my
response was cool so I didn't really
know what was I was getting into I I
went on to to the command to check in
for the course and I didn't know what
was expected of me I did gather that
swimming was involved right it was a
Navy rescue swimmer school and so in the
first couple days what happened was it
became very clear to me there were three
critical essential skill sets that one
needed to be able to accomplish this
this course you needed to be physically
fit which I was and he needed to be
mentally tough which I still have and
you you needed to be a great swimmer now
here's the thing I'm not saying that I
couldn't swim I was okay my big
challenge though was um I never really
used swim gear before dive gear there
was a huge learning curve for me and one
of my deficiencies my main deficiency
was brought to my attention in our
second day of training in pool
conditioning see when you get there they
take your gear they throw it at the deep
end and they say go fetch you go down
you sit on the bottom of the pool you
put your gear on correctly and then you
come up now here's the thing when you
come up you're supposed to clear your
mask and then you raise your hand pretty
simple here's a challenge have you ever
had a problem that you're trying to
solve and in order to solve it all you
do you just simply need to use a
specific tool your challenge though is
you don't know the tool
let alone know how to use it see when he
said clear your mask I didn't know what
he was talking about and let alone know
how to do it properly so he kind of took
me to the side in a very loving
nurturing way like they are and brought
it to my attention son we're starting in
the pool tomorrow morning you need to
show us you know what you're doing with
with this simple task otherwise we're
sending you on your way to your command
you're sending you home so while
everybody else was rested up I got to
hang out with a couple of my team
members and they are they taught me how
to clear my naps during the course I had
to put a lot of deliberate special time
on my own to develop the abilities that
I needed to achieve my goal so you look
back at that experience and it runs with
it it's a lot like life for us a lot of
times we're not aware of the fact that
we have growth opportunities in our
lives until we find ourselves in a
certain circumstance or a situation it's
the circumstance of the situation that
makes us aware of a certain ability or
skill or an awareness or an
understanding that we need to achieve in
order for us to move forward the other
thing is do you know how you get good at
swimming by swimming see is that about
running for miles and it's not about
doing push-ups for hours the only way
you get good at swimming is by swimming
so not only do we find ourselves in
circumstances a situation at awaken us
but sometimes we need to be very
deliberate and intentional with our time
and effort in certain areas to achieve
the abilities needed for us to achieve
our outcomes are you with me right
individual commitment to a group effort
that's what makes a team work my
individual commitment to myself at that
time was to develop the essential skills
I needed to reach my goal my commitment
to my team was to help them reach their
goal
we all have groups and individuals that
we offer our individual commitment of
support and service to in our person
our professional lives for us to move
forward into the future we need to look
at how can we improve that individual
commitment to be able to better support
and serve each other when I saw the
theme the future of the future well a
couple things stood out to me I'm not
somebody that has special powers I can't
read into the future I knew that I don't
have a really cool car to turn into a
time machine and also as I was thinking
about it I realize that there's a lot of
ideas that could be on that menu of
conversation of what the future holds
for us it really depends on who's
weighing in on the conversation is it
education reform is it is it job
creation is it another financial crisis
is it is it that maybe maybe our nation
we finally get it together and we truly
do celebrate each other's differences as
my friend chris said this morning you
know what equality really does become a
reality for us and not just a wonderful
topic piece of conversation or maybe
maybe we go the other route and we see
more and more examples of inequality and
injustice in our country is it
immigration reform is it more terror sex
I don't know if there's a right answer
but I believe there's a variable to the
equation that we as a society need to
fall in love again with the human
element whatever the future holds for us
is one common denominator us so when I
thought about it for me the future the
future is servant-leadership see we are
all given the opportunities every day we
could be experts on any given topic in
as little as a weekend we have so many
resources at our fingertips that it's
overwhelming we've seen breakthroughs in
medicine in science and education a 21st
century has afforded uni wonderful
opportunities we can hold the vast world
that we live in in the palm of our hand
and as wonderful as that is I feel we've
taken two or three steps back in how we
interact with one another
we view one another how we treat one
another right every day we're posted and
we're liking and you're tweeting and
you're making connection and somebody
just added you to their circles but are
they quality are they real perhaps we
need to hit the reset button and
evaluate how balanced we are living
between new 21st century tools that
allow us to navigate and get things done
in our new world but yet also be true
and respect the old-school ideas of how
we built relationships and establish
trust and understand that when you click
the accept button it just does not
reward you with the same benefit that a
handshake does relationships are harder
harder we see it in schools we see it in
our youth and that's why servant
leadership is so important for us as a
society to get a fundamental
understanding about so we can move
forward to understand how is it relevant
to us as individuals and in our
community how do we implement some of
those qualities into our lives so we can
train those that are coming up behind us
to prepare them for career and for life
servant leadership is about a long-term
transformational approach towards life
towards work it's about creating
positive change in your community
positive change in the lives of somebody
else it's about making a difference to
give more than you receive to help
someone else achieve success help an
organization achieve success be focused
on being significant over achieving
personal success and you know what as
elementary as those ideas are I fear
that our society is moving further and
further away from those core principles
and unfortunately we're given examples
every day of people in decision making
roles by their actions by the words we
see examples of distrust we see people
being devalued a total disregard of
people's needs and their wants and their
desires the same people that these
leaders are supposed to be serving
Robert Greenleaf taught us that good
leaders must first become good
servants in a day and age of social
media we're all given opportunity to
create a platform to join in a
conversation share our ideas our message
and the platform allows us to be seen as
experts and leaders maybe even
celebrities I find it interesting as I
go and I talk with people and I say
listen if you had the opportunity invest
time and money and you could develop
some leadership skills how many would be
on board with that and the hands go oh
leadership and when I say well what
about investing time and money to
improve how you are as a servant well
not so much and what's interesting about
that is when you study leadership when
you study great leaders what you find is
all that great leaders ever do is know
how to serve their people you can't be
one without the other every day you and
I are given opportunities to extend our
hand and help people get better to lift
them up the question is do people let
you help them because they have to or do
people let you help them because they
want to people want to let you help them
when they know you're sincere about
really wanting them to achieve success
people want to let you help them when
they see you as an example of what can
be that they see you being in alignment
with your beliefs and your values is
everybody going to want our help no but
as individuals we have to see our weed
being the very best example to those
that we do connect with that we we do
have relationships with it's not about
being perfect and living a perfect life
I fall short every day as a leader as a
dad as a husband I have childlike
tendencies but I strive for excellence
to achieve greatness and hopefully
maintain it we've all heard that we're
all products of our environment and I
strongly disagree with that I believe
that we are products of the influences
in our environment so the question is
who shaped your world and whose world
are you shaping and how are you shaping
it dr. John C max what teaches us when
you increase your influence you increase
your leadership understanding what
servant leadership is allows us to
increase our influence
with those that we support and we serve
it understanding the qualities it allows
us to understand what qualities go into
that that we can we could hold on to two
or three and say you know what these two
these two right here if I mean if I'm
intentional and deliberate in improving
those two areas in my life and I could
go from good to great in these two areas
how much better would I be for my family
how much better could I serve my
community how much better would our
future be if we all could identify two
or three areas to improve servant
leadership is about understanding how
important it is to be a great listener
you want to really know let somebody
know how much you value them how much
they mean to you we all have room for
improvement in the area of our active
listening skills I was at a training
last week and a speaker talked about the
idea of we all understand the open-door
policy but we need to embrace the open
air policy it's about empathy we all
have room for improvement in the area of
empathy myself included but it's not
just about going I know what you're
going through it's about us being humble
and vulnerable enough to say I know what
you're going through because I've gone
through something too I'm going through
something right now it's about
understanding how to extend your hand
because healing starts when two people
come together we've all been through
something and we know how powerful it is
when people come together healing starts
with that human connection it's about
being present in the moment increasing
our awareness in ourselves in others in
our community we've all been at dinner
and we've seen the family sitting at
dinner where there's no conversation
there is no dialogue because everybody's
got their face plastered in their little
devices yes everybody's so concerned
that they're missing out on something
out there somewhere else with somebody
and it's not even real and what what
they're really missing out on is the
power a conversation in the stimulation
of new ideas
creating memories sometimes it's okay
for us to be in the moment and just keep
it for ourselves we don't have to share
everything with the world it's about
understanding responsibility take
sacrifice but it's that sacrifice it's
non-negotiable for us to see the changes
that we want it's about understanding
that you know what whatever happened to
thank you and please when did we become
so entitled
and so preoccupied and where
everything's an inconvenience that we
can appreciate one another and see one
another for who we are human beings
servant leadership is understanding that
you are a student in the process and
personal growth but what's more
important and personal growth is what
you're doing with what you learn how do
you implement what you learn into your
life how are you sharing it with other
people and inspiring them and being an
example see there is a reason why people
get personal trainers and coaches and
instructors we want to be shown how to
do it the right way and we want to be
challenged to be our very best the
future depends on us understanding that
for us to increase our how we support
one another and how we connect with one
another it starts here and when you
understand what servant leadership is
that helps you understand how to connect
with somebody where it matters most it's
been said that when you capture their
heart you capture their mind and I hope
today with my small amount of time I was
able to do that today
capture your heart for a little bit in
order to capture mine I leave you with
the challenge individual commitment to a
group effort that's what makes a team
work here's my challenge folks how are
you going to improve your individual
commitment to those that you support and
that you serve in 2016 Colorado Springs
I thank you for your time I hope you
have a wonderful conference enjoy your
weekend go Cubs
you
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