Inspirations

My Core Values

An exhaustive list would be impossible and unwieldy, but allow me first and foremost to state my core values that I seek as a leader and a teammate:

• Respect

  • The most fundamental component to successful leadership and fulfilling professional relationships is mutual respect.

  • I value a work environment where people feel respected, and to that end I commit to treating my colleagues with respect.

• Honesty

  • In the long run, the truth will eventually emerge.

  • Therefore, I do believe that honesty is the best policy, even when it is difficult.

• Trustworthiness

  • I believe that trust is earned, so I endeavor to earn the trust of those I work with by demonstrating my professionalism and work ethic to them over time.

• Finesse

  • Perhaps the most peculiar value in this list, "finesse" means being detail oriented and understanding that the world is full of nuance.

  • Sometimes, the lines between right and wrong can be blurred and difficult to detect.

  • Part of being an adult means recognizing this reality and learning to live with some level of ambiguity.

  • We must be attentive to details, while also recognizing that there may not be an exact answer to every problem.

• Community Collaboration

  • Building a community among those you work with is essential to producing meaningful, quality work.

  • I believe that a good leader should foster a collaborative spirit in a team by encouraging members to work with one another and share ideas.

• Humility

  • No one is an expert in all disciplines. We are all flawed and imperfect human beings.

  • I value those who recognize their own weaknesses and who are capable of following others as necessary.

• Growth Mindset

  • I value a growth mindset because we never stop learning. There is always something new to discover, a different perspective to examine, and a better way to accomplish a goal.

  • Openness and critical thinking go hand-in-hand

• Creativity

  • Be bold! Try something new!

  • I value those who have the courage to think outside the box, and I especially value those who have the foresight to foster an environment that allows others to do the same.

• Dedication

  • It's challenging for a leader to motivate someone to do something they do not want to do.

  • I believe that those who are dedicated to their mission will have the drive to succeed.

How I think about the world around me

I've been told that I have a logic-driven brain.

No, this is not exclusive to thinking in numbers—in fact, over the years, I've had a mixed relationship with math.

Rather, I think about the world in terms of cause and effect, diagrams, models, systems, incentives, decisions, responses, interactions, measurements, spatial orientation, and patterns. This "economist style" mindset requires an unconventional approach to critical thinking. This analytical framework—coupled with the scientific method—allows me to examine and dissect the world in an unusual way that I have come to appreciate.

I am flush with curiosity and have always been the one to ask big questions. These questions began as simple wonders of the world around me, but naturally, they have grown significantly more complex over time. Similarly, I am never afraid to dream big. It's pretty difficult to get into trouble just from dreaming big.

On Teaching

• I believe in leading by example and leading by action.

• I believe that teaching and leading go hand-in-hand. I have seen this as a public school teacher.

• Leaders use the EDGE method--Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, and Enable--to teach others a new skill

• Teaching requires an unfathomable amount of patience. Those who lead and teach must recognize that everyone learns at a different pace, and that the student, by definition, does not have the same knowledge as the teacher.

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other" —John F. Kennedy

On Teamwork

• Leading requires teamwork, and recognizing that teams develop in stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing.

• Teamwork makes the dream work!

• I believe that fostering a strong community spirit among colleagues or teammates will pay hefty dividends when you have a challenge to tackle or a tight deadline to meet.

"In life, you can't always get where you want—when you're alone. But collaborating with others unlocks magnificent potential that is greater than the sum of its parts… This, I believe, is how we get where we want to go." —Nick DeMassi, You Can't Always Get Where You Want

"Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." —Colin Powell

On Change & Adaptation

• The only constant in the world is change. We must be ready to adapt at a moment's notice. We saw this play out chaotically during the early stages of the pandemic.

• I do not believe in privileging the status quo.

  • Those who grumble the words, "This is the way we've always done it" may not necessarily be wrong--but they will have to continuously prove that their answer stands up to new ideas and ways of doing things.

• It's important to get comfortable as a leader--but not too comfortable.

  • Things will inevitably evolve around you in ways you cannot predict.

  • Henry Ford once said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

  • Nobody could have possibly predicted the changes the country was about to see at the turn of the century.

"The status quo shall not be privileged. It shall be judged equally among its peers." —Nick DeMassi

On Listening

• Good leaders listen with an open mind and an open heart.

• They may not always agree with what another person is saying, but there is no harm in listening. Listening does not imply agreement or acceptance.

"Good leaders must be good listeners; and good leaders know that listening means you seek to understand, not necessarily that you agree with what you hear." —Nick DeMassi

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you." —Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood."—Stephen Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

"The less you talk, the more you are listened to." —Nick DeMassi

On Humility

• Being a good leader means… knowing when to follow.

• Leaders aren't always the "smartest" person in the room. They surround themselves with talented people to achieve their vision.

• Leaders don't answer questions; they ASK them.

• Leaders empower others by allowing their strengths to shine and giving them opportunities to succeed.

"He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander." —Aristotle

"In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him." —Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." —Theodore Roosevelt

On Facing Challenges/Difficulty

• Leaders face setbacks, pushbacks, and difficult decisions.

• Withstanding these roadblocks requires resiliency, determination, and honest reflection.

• Resiliency and problem solving skills make or break leadership in these situations.

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." – Dale Carnegie

"We live in a society obsessed with public opinion. But leadership has never been about popularity." —Marco Rubio