Bob got together with Jason Elissalde this month to discuss organizational culture and finding your “why”. Jason has 20 years’ experience in training development and leadership, which ranged from Target to the Willamalane Parks and Recreation District. He now has a consulting company, Celebrate Your Why Consulting, where he can pursue his passion, which is to ensure young professionals entering public service understand the impact they can make on their community and that they find their purpose.
Bob and Jason drew the comparison between the fire service and parks and recreation, in that both provide a service to the community and can bring the community together. Staff for both have the opportunity to impact their community at no cost, by creating memorable experiences through interaction. They also discuss their shared experience of attending the Disney Leadership Institute. What has drawn them both to the company is the combination of attention to logistics while creating magical customer experiences.
A big message in this episode is the importance of fostering an “I can” versus and “I can’t” attitude I your organization and valuing mission above task. The “I can” mindset comes from how you visualize opportunities. You can either look at the situation from a solution-oriented perspective and find the ways you can say, “Yes, we can do this.”, or you can automatically say you can’t make it work. In valuing mission above task, a task is something you do, the mission is why you do it. Tasks should enhance the mission but never define it. The tasks that help you best meet the mission are the tasks you should focus on more.
We hope you enjoy this episode and listening to all the advice Jason has for consideration in your leadership journey. You can find Jason on his LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-elissalde-cprp-323556124/. If you have any questions or comments, you can reach us on www.AssumingCommand.comor at impact@upstreamabi.com. If you have any topics or individuals you would like to hear on Assuming Command, let us know. And of course, please subscribe and share our podcast.
