Peer to Peer Magazine

P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 5 Like many, I first moved into a leadership role based on my experience and knowledge of a particular topic. Servant leadership wasn't a skill that I was trained on; in fact, I think I first heard of it while reading an HBR article. Many parts of servant leadership bleed over into what is required of me as a process manager and what many of us do as technologists. Qualities of empathy, listening, and awareness are skills we all need to be successful. My goal here at the firm is to be a partner. I want everyone I work with to feel like I'm a part of their team. Sometimes they find this annoying, other times it's a saving grace. I feel that I really learned how to be a servant leader from my prior boss, and our CFO, Jim Acuff. In every meeting with me, he would ask 'what can I do to help you with this'. I never had an answer for this question, I would never ask our CFO to help me with a tech ticket; but, the feeling that seemingly silly question creates is powerful. It's a feeling of support and I hope that I can invoke these reactions in my dealings with others too. My journey to becoming a servant leader has developed by providing a safe space to get to know my team members. While our company is all about providing high value products and services to our clients, I also recognize that I'm in a unique position to serve employees by giving grace during life's challenges and cheering them on from the sidelines when they are doing great things….We celebrate together, we grieve together. These situations are our greatest opportunities to truly unite and serve others. Servant leadership is a unique blend of seeing the potential in others, providing new and challenging opportunities, accountability, tough conversations, encouragement and celebrations. I call it doing life together. One of the many reasons I love being a part of the ILTA community is that servant leadership is evident on a daily basis. From the helm with Joy as a wonderful example of servant leadership to the many volunteers serving our communities, we are ILTA. And ILTAns serve each other like no other organization or group of like-minded professionals I've ever seen. I have always felt compelled to help others… It may have come from being a big sister or from having a family who have servant hearts as well, but regardless it has been a lifelong passion of mine to serve others. My servant's heart extends far beyond my career path, though. I have always been involved in volunteer roles that allow me to help children and my community. I feel so fortunate to work for ILTA, -an organization that I was proud to serve as a volunteer. I have learned so much from ILTA over the years that I was always happy and proud to serve in several ways over the last dozen years. This organization is ideal for servant leaders because it encourages the concept of servant leadership. I look forward to many more years of servant leadership in my role with ILTA and in my community. To paraphrase a quote by the great Martin Luther King, Jr., "Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love." I LTA S TA F F B U S I N E S S P A R T N E R I LTA M E M B E R Brittany Ivy Business Process Supervisor, Wilson & Associates Gina Buser CEO and Founder, Traveling Coaches Denise Ash Events Education Coordinator, ILTA Becoming a servant leader takes commitment. Here are the stories from some recently nominated peers. Read more online at iltanet.org/slstories

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