Leadership Hero’s Journey

Ordinary World

My leadership journey began early. My father an avid boy scout involved me in the scouting program at the age of 8. Progressing through the program I would 10 years later achieve the rank of Eagle Scout shortly before I graduated high school.

Less than a month after graduation I went to Army Basic Training. Through my years of active service in the Army, I called upon those early leadership skills and expanded on them in the classic military style.

These two influences formed the heartbeat of my leadership journey

The Call

After leaving active service I started working in the green industry. First at a commercial orchard then later for my oldest brother's tree company. In both instances, I relied on my budding yet, conventional leadership skills and philosophy. Most of the time it worked well, but I knew I needed to be a more evolved leader, not only to others but to myself.

Through this period, working part-time I used My GI Bill benefits and put myself through school. I earned a BA in Philosophy. Through my university studies of philosophy, particularly Stoicism, Buddhism, and Environmental Ethics, my leadership journey became grounded and much more actionable. 

The heartbeat became stronger but even better more consistent

Refusal

After college, I began working at a family company full time. This held many challenges. My deployment experiences in the military also challenged me on a personal level. Many times I vowed to just quit, to stop, to not step up to the challenges, the hard physical and mental labor tree work provided. Certainly, I told myself there is an easier way to earn a living. Certainly, leadership was not for me. I relegated the rhythm to an Edgar Allen Poe telltale heartbeat.

Cross the threshold

However, I knew the family company needed me. And I needed it. I was drawn to the culture and the people in arboriculture. They were in all respects, my tribe. I decided that if I was to make tree work a career I would need to become not just a skilled technician and climber, but a leader.

Mentors

In 2007 I became formally involved in the training world. Aquaintainences I met in the industry, became friends. These friendships led to opportunities to not only learn, but to teach. These friends became mentors and my training career was launched in full.

Trials and tribulations

For over 5 years I continued on at the family company as a crew leader, general manager, and safety trainer. I actively sought out outside training opportunities and gained valuable experience. I strove to learn and teach as much as I could.

Eventually, I would turn training into a full-time occupation. Working with select companies I would travel the US and Canada, sharing knowledge, refining my instructor skills and learning. I strove to be well versed in all skills and techniques. I strove to share these far and wide.

Primal Ordeal

After over 15 years as a sub-contract trainer, I had the opportunity to cut back on my travel and active training schedule and work on a more developmental and managerial level.

I knew that while the skills and techniques I had been working to share were important, what the Arboriculture industry really needed was leadership. The women and men working in the field needed to know how to think clearly, how to decide, how to regulate and lead not only themselves but their crews, their companies.

I become an employee for a training company with the hopes of turning this tide in the industry, of developing not only tomorrow's arborists but also tomorrow's leaders.

Many of my attempts were thwarted and in the end, my leadership was not welcome where I worked. Initially, I blamed myself, but I came to see that my current position did not fit, my goals, my message. I saw an urgent need not only in arboriculture but in the world.

Pay Off

I resigned from my duties and again returned to the world of sub-contracting. This time I aimed to take the lessons from my successes and failures and develop programs and techniques that any who aspire to lead can use and prosper with. My road to leadership was long and winding, but I had learned so much.

Resurrection

I knew to share my leadership philosophy with the world I would need to reinvent myself, my worldview. I would need to hone and refine all my skills and learn new ones on the way. I actively do this daily.

Gift

Now I look forward to helping people to discover and define their values, to use these to guide their leadership journey, their lives. I look forward to helping develop and teach new and beautiful ways for people in any industry, at any point in life to reach their leadership potential. I look forward to helping others hear the heartbeat of their leadership.