Episode 20: Balancing Leadership and Self-Care: Steve Guthrie’s Guide to Sustainable Success

Episode 20 Show Notes

Great leadership is about cultivating smarter teams, fostering mentorship, and embracing the richness of a variety of perspectives.

Steve Guthrie, President and CEO of Aviva and Easterseals Blake Foundation, shares his leadership philosophy and professional journey, detailing his transition from military service to social work. He emphasizes the importance of developing internal leadership through a structured curriculum and highlights the value of hiring smarter individuals to build strong, effective teams. 

Steve shares strategies for maintaining work-life balance, including morning runs and meditation. He underscores the importance of disconnecting in today’s always-connected world. Steve praises the mission-driven passion of his team at Easterseals Blake Foundation and reflects on how his military and legal backgrounds have shaped his leadership style. Additionally, he explores themes of mentorship, transparency, and morale, offering valuable insights into leadership challenges, mental health, and his favorite leadership literature.

Connect with Steve Guthrie on LinkedIn. 

Transcript

Steve Guthrie: We are in the people business, whether that is finding the right people, but more importantly, once you have them on board, developing them, training them, you know, they come here for the right reasons. Sometimes they don't frankly know that. You know? I think they'll discover their passion while they're here, and really the the challenge to help them help them fulfill that fulfill that passion, figure out, you know, what really is making them motivated, how they want to make a difference. Because everybody really kinda does. And once they discover this is really a mission focused place, we're not, you know, we're not putting widgets in boxes. That's a great thing to do, but we are actually impacting people's lives. And that takes, you know, passion. It takes knowledge.

Steve Guthrie: It takes confidence. It takes caring.

Kendra Davenport: Welcome to onboard with transparent leadership and Easterseals podcast. I'm Easterseals president and CEO, Kendra Davenport, and I am joined today by Steve Guthrie, who is president and CEO of Aviva and Easterseals Blake Foundation. Now many of our Easterseals affiliates have different names. So, Steve, talk to us a little bit before we and welcome. Before we jump in, about what a Aviva is and about the Blake Foundation.

Steve Guthrie: Sure. The Blake Foundation is, of course, one of the Easterseals affiliates here in Southern Arizona. We serve 7, Southern Arizona counties with the typical Easterseals, menu of services, services for developmental disabilities, early childhood education development, behavioral health. And Aviva is one of our subsidiaries, and Aviva's specific focus is on foster care services, for children. Some just some resources, toys, clothing, what have you. So that's particular emphasis on behavioral health. And so we provide probably the bulk of behavioral health for foster care, and, DCS removals in southern Arizona.

Kendra Davenport: And it's a pretty big area you guys cover.

Steve Guthrie: Absolutely. You know, I you know, in Arizona, I think there's about 14 counties, if I'm not mistaken. And, you know, Arizona is a a a huge state, I think, 7th largest in in in size in terms of geographic space. And so unlike some of the eastern counties or Kansas, for example, where there I think there's a 101 counties. You know, Arizona has 14 counties, and they're huge. They're the size of they're bigger than some states.

Kendra Davenport: I loved when I visited last year meeting the folks that that you work with. You manage a large team. And I think, you know, give the listeners a little bit of background. You have had quite a career. You served in the Army, the National Guard, and the Army Reserve, I think. For 10 years.

Kendra Davenport: You've been a platoon commander. You've had so much leadership experience, but that's not all you've done. You also went and got a JD, and you have a master's in social work. You work both sides of your brain clearly. But talk to me a little bit about some of the management challenges you have in the current job you are in as president and CEO, if any. Or do you just look at every day like a gift and tackle it as it comes?

Steve Guthrie: Well, it's certainly that. It's certainly a gift every day because it's a privilege, as you know, to really be able to participate and give back in in these type of organizations. But, I mean, the leadership challenge that I have, which I don't think is any different from anybody else, is finding people. It's always a people problem. And I think we are in the people business, whether that is finding the right people. But more importantly, once you have them on board, developing them, training them. You know? They come here for the right reasons. Sometimes they don't frankly know that.

Steve Guthrie: You know? I think they'll discover their passion while they're here. And, really, the challenge is to help them help them fulfill that fulfill that passion, figure out, you know, what really is making them motivated, how they want to make a difference, because everybody really kinda does. And once they discover this is really a mission focused place, we're not, you know, it we're not putting widgets and boxes. That's a great thing to do, but we are actually impacting people's lives. And that takes, you know, passion. It takes knowledge. It takes confidence. It takes caring.

Steve Guthrie: I mean, there's just there's just so many things that go along with it. So it's really a people issue. And to answer your original question, it's finding those people who want to be challenged and accept that challenge.

Kendra Davenport: I think you're so right. I think many times people think they know what they're getting into and it and sounds like it's a great cause.

Steve Guthrie: Yeah.

Kendra Davenport: And I find that if they stay, they're the right kind of person, they repeatedly tell me this is more rewarding than I ever thought it would be, and I get much more than I give.

Steve Guthrie: Yeah. I totally agree.

Kendra Davenport: What brought you to the Blake Foundation? Where did you I mean, we I joked about your career. It's incredibly impressive that you've had military service that you went on to become a lawyer and then a social work expert. So what is this an amalgamation of all those skill sets?

Steve Guthrie: It is at this point. And again, I don't think anybody plans these things because I can tell you when I was, you know, playing army as a little kid, I didn't think, well, someday I'm gonna be, you know, the CEO of a health and social services company. That's not really was not in my wheelhouse. But what I think the common denominator between military service, and the type of work that we do is it's mission focused. Right? It's people driven. You are there is a definable mission that we want to accomplish. We want to impact and make people's lives marginally better, hopefully, a lot better. Right.

Steve Guthrie: But, I really feel, you know, that there is outside of kind of a, you know, a first responder type situation or a military situation, you know, this type of work is absolutely so rewarding, and you can actually see the gains and the impact you're making in people's lives. It's no different for me than when you see the lights go on from some young private who's, like, so excited to be you know, he's 18 years old and wants to, you know, do something great. And he does something great. Right? He's impacting he's make he's moving the needle. And, the same thing happens here, you know, with our clients and with our staff. So, I can't say that it was a plan. I kinda stumbled into it. I after law school, I, I was called back to the military.

Steve Guthrie: That's how I ended up back in the reserve. I was, called out of what, you may have heard of the individual ready reserve, and that kind of, discombobulated my legal career. And when I got out of my mobilization with the reserve, after about a year, I, was casting about for jobs, and I found a job as a part time legal consultant with a place called Pantano Behavioral Health, which was, a behavioral health agency that serves the needs of children and families. And, they liked what I did, and they hired me on as their permanent COO, and I never looked back. And that's how I ended up in this.

Kendra Davenport: Did you get your master's in social work after that?

Steve Guthrie: I did. I did that with, actually, GI Bill, money, that I had, available to me. And it's about ready to expire. So I said, you know, I've always wanted to do this, so I better do it now. And, I'm very glad I did because it's just it it really kinda put everything together for me, you know, and I made it made me feel like I was part of the team. 

Kendra Davenport: You know, we've talked about it. My husband was in the military for 36 years, and, he just filled out an application because like you, he really enjoys school. So at 62, I think he's going back again. Great. And one of the questions on it was, what was the most impactful time of your life? And he said, when I was actively serving in the military, helping others. So, I think what you said, that that what you're doing today is synonymous and not so dissimilar from the mission you served while in the military. You know, Steve, we serve veterans and their families, and I consider that to be a really important part of our work, and I think it's something people don't really understand or know about Easterseals, that we've been helping vets find jobs, get gainful employment since after the Second World War for a really long time. Did you struggle when you separated from the military to find your niche? Because I think that's one of the things we try to solve for and try to help veterans with.

Steve Guthrie: Yes. I still struggle a little bit just because I miss I miss parts of that. And, you know, one of the reasons I ended up in the National Guard in 2010 is just because I missed it. But, I did that for a couple years, and I you know, the guys were just so far ahead of me at that point. I'd been out for a long time that I just I did I was trying to capture something I just couldn't recapture. But to answer your question, yes. I mean, I did struggle. I went to law school because I felt like, well, I need to get some skills to pay the bills.

Steve Guthrie: Right? Yeah. And, that was a good experience. It taught me how to help taught me how to think, how to analyze problems. It's been very, very useful, but, the whole time, it was really, really difficult, you know, seeing you know, I went to I started law school, in August of 2001. I got now the army, a month earlier, and I felt you know, it sounds ridiculous in hindsight. It's like, well, there's never gonna be a war. What in the world? This is, you know, ridiculous. I'm just gonna get out.

Steve Guthrie: And, of course, September 11th happens, like Right. The month I I start law school. And almost immediately, I was like, well, I'll try to get back in and, because, you know, the country needs and at that time, you probably remember just from your own military background that, you know, everybody thought it would be over just like that. Right? And so I, you know and it's funny, you know, having coming from a military family yourself, people don't wanna miss things. Right? Oh, I missed it. I missed it. That type of thing. I tried to get back in, but they weren't taking anybody at that point.

Steve Guthrie: So they said, call us back. We'll call you. Don't call us. And so, I just forgot about it. But in the meantime, I got married, had a baby. My wife had the baby. And, and then I graduated from law school, and that's when they came in knocking. And by that time, it was, you know, I was glad to do my part.

Steve Guthrie: I I didn't I didn't do anything heroic. I was a training company commander at Fort Bliss, Texas, but, I was proud to be part of the team again. And it's hard. You know? It's really hard to let it go because it is your identity, and you the you the friendships are just so accelerated, and they're so intense. So, but, again, I have found a new team and a new a new mission here at Easterseals, and I'm just super proud and happy to be able to pull it off.

Kendra Davenport: Mhmm. Mhmm. I think, if military service, you know, if someone enjoys it, I think it is in in their system, in their DNA forever. And, last night, my husband and I had dinner with a couple, that we met only recently. Yeah. And it was the first time my husband was meeting the, you know, the husband of my friend.

Steve Guthrie: Sure.

Kendra Davenport: And he's 82, and he served in the Navy. And he and Aaron connected immediately, and he just had such a good time, I think, discussing his military service. Now, he gone he went on to be extremely successful in the private sector. But I think if you were to ask him, and I don't know him all that well, but given the way he regarded, you know, his service last night and the way he talked about it, I think that was probably one of the most rewarding times of his career. So, you know, I just really think that aspect of our work is important. You seem and you have since I met you, seem very driven, very focused. But is there anyone, Steve, that you consider a mentor or whose advice or guidance you seek out when you're, you know, when you're stymied, when you're trying to figure out what to do, which direction to go, or maybe it's more basic at work. Is there anyone, or do you do you seek out mentorship?

Steve Guthrie: But, you know, I think that's dawned on me as I've gotten older. I when I was younger, I certainly had people who I admired and would, try to emulate from afar, you know, certain officers or NCOs. I worked my father I was a I was a military brat myself. My dad was a 30 year, army vet. And so, you know, I grew up around, you know, just all the sergeants and the first sergeants and that kind of stuff. And so I was influenced a lot by those guys. But I didn't, of course, seek them out for you know, it would have felt awkward and weird to me. But, you know, as I've gotten older, I've certainly, you know, been able to have the courage to ask people, you know, hey.

Steve Guthrie: How would you do this? I have a particular mentor who is really my first boss. I mentioned Pantheon Behavioral Health, a woman named Pat Treifel, who's actually on our board directors here at Easterseals now, she took a real a real leap of faith by hiring me as a COO, at Pantana. Really started me on this journey. I she, I mean, she obviously saw something in what I was doing on the legal side that might be useful down the road, but she didn't know I didn't know anything about behavioral health or social services at all. I regularly meet with her, you know, at least monthly and bounce ideas off her. And so I think I would identify her as somebody who just really she taught me, you know, she taught me, I think, that the mission doesn't stop just because you're out of the army. Right? The you there's more people to serve, and that's Yep. That's what that's what it yeah.

Kendra Davenport: I know from my husband's, you know, service, that morale he thinks morale is 9 tenths of getting the job done. If people are happy, they feel supported, they feel valued, the job does itself. Right? And people try harder. And I think I've I think I've taken that from him that that concept and really applied it. And I work really hard to improve, to maintain, to examine morale all the time, and morale covers a lot.

Steve Guthrie: Yeah.

Kendra Davenport: But can you talk about a difficult time where you've had to really instill or assist your team in in boosting their morale? Has there ever been a disappointment that your team or a setback has occurred that that you really had to step in?

Steve Guthrie: Yes. I you know, I think what immediately comes to mind for me there's lots of those. Right? I mean, certainly, if you are not paying attention to that, I mean, it's something that has to be it's like a garden. It has to be, you know, nurtured. Not the right word, but you understand what I'm saying. It has to be tended to daily almost.

Kendra Davenport: You can't set it and forget it. It is a living, breathing aspect of your culture. I can't believe it.

Steve Guthrie: But I took over as CEO here in, early 2021, and we were just right in the midst of COVID. And that was a I mean, you took over a very similar time, I think. It was it was a very wild time. Nobody was meeting in person. Everybody had this expectation that, you know, we'll just we're gonna go down to skeletal operations, etcetera. And I think morale was tough. It's tough to maintain.

Steve Guthrie: There was, you know, vaccines. Do we vaccine? Don't we vaccine? How we protect people? Blah blah blah. I mean, just everything was thrown at everybody, and people were really, I think, at a low point. So, really, our approach was that, hey. This is we are we are gonna do things that are client focused. We are here to move the needle for clients' lives. Yes. We wanna take care of ourselves.

Steve Guthrie: Safety is important for us. Absolutely. But why are we here? You know? Let's keep our eye on the ball, this mission driven idea. And so, you know, one of the first things I did was institute a new code of ethics that we had. We didn't really have a we a real firm code of ethics here. We had a collection of, like, 14 different, like, here's a social work code of ethics. Here's a counselor. So, you know, whatever.

Steve Guthrie: So we we simplified it into what I call the 4 c's, and the 4 c's are care, character, communication, and cooperation. And so I got everybody together, say, here's what we're gonna focus on. Care. What does care mean? It means putting the client first. Right? It's just doing everything we can possibly do to make their lives better. When in doubt, what's in the best interest of the client? And then down the line with character, you know, what does character mean? Kindness, tolerance, empathy, that's our character trait. So we're gonna we're gonna emphasize. So the point is I got us all rallied around.

Steve Guthrie: At least I attempted to rally us around, really, a new a new a new, you know, defining document for us. And, I think it I think it I think it worked. You know? We got through that pretty well. We got through that era, I think, frankly, stronger than we ever were. And, certainly, paradoxically more financially more stable than we've ever been. So, I you know, really proud of that.

Kendra Davenport: What is on the horizon for you? I mean, you know, we've talked about all you've done, and I teased you about being really a renaissance man. A renaissance man. But is there is there something still to be done that you're that you hold out there and think, well, maybe someday? Or do you just wanna grow what you're doing now?

Steve Guthrie: Well, I mean, I certainly wanna continue growing what we're doing now. I think we're on a we're on a good trajectory. I do think, you have to be aiming for something. I do think, you have to be aiming for something, at Easterseals, Blake Foundation. We have to we can't just sit on our laurels or just let things happen. We have to always have a project going. Some whether that be, you know, growing a new line of business, trying to grow a clinic in a particular new geographic area, whether it be trying to acquire, or, you know, partner with another agency or whatnot, You have to have something like that going on. And so we do.

Steve Guthrie: We have, in fact, all those things going on this time, and that gives everybody a common focus. And so that's why I think, you know, how you keep people interested, peep keep people engaged. You know, personally, I I'm I I'm very interested. I have a very minimal part time psychotherapy practice that I work at as a psychotherapist. I really love doing that work. And, like, long term, I just I'd really like to be doing that. I think that would be something that I'd like to be a real skilled therapist that, you know, continue that work. And that's the type of work, if you play your cards right, you can do, you know, for a long time.

Steve Guthrie: I don't you know, my wife and I went to a retirement adviser not too long ago. And, of course, you know, the first question they asked is, when do you wanna retire? And I was like, I don't I don't know. I mean, I didn't really give it much thought. You know? I guess I don't. You know, my wife, of course, wants to retire yesterday, but, you know, so we'll figure that out. But the point is that, I do wanna stay engaged, and I do wanna stay interested. Like your like your husband, you know, I think my wife would punch me in the face if I try to go back to school right now, but, And I came close. I would love to.

You know? So we're a little older than you, I think, and I am surprised he's going back, but, you know, I'm That's awesome. Now I wanna be supportive. So Yeah. So we'll see how that goes. Yeah. We talk in the, you know, the name of the podcast is is transparent leadership. I think today transparency in all things is critically lacking. And so I recognize it's a double edged sword.

Kendra Davenport: You know? The more you share, the more you're going to be at the pointy end of the spear, as my husband would say, and the more you're going to, you know, you're going to leave yourself open to be questioned and criticized. And it's sometimes a lot easier to keep things close. And yet, being transparent has never failed me. Do you subscribe to that, that same, or some variation of that notion? And do you find it, how do you find it in the workforce? Like, how do you find it defines or influences? Just can you talk a little bit about your philosophy on transparency as a leader?

Steve Guthrie: I think it's critical. I think, particularly if you are interested, as I know you are, in developing subordinate leaders. If, if you're not transparent and, first of all, it creates trust. Right? And, you know, of course, you know, you can't overshare sometimes. Sometimes you just have to keep some stuff close. But by and large, I have never been done wrong by sharing information, whether it'd be financial information. Here, guys, here's where our financial situation is and being very transparent down to the lowest level. Here's the deal, guys.

Steve Guthrie: Here's the here's the black and white numbers. That helps a lot. But like I said, I think it helps develop the leaders below you because they need we can't do these jobs without people helping push the power downward and helping push the message the message downward. And if you're not transparent and you're holding information, you hoard it like I've got the secret codes that nobody else has, you're get you're just gonna fail because none of us can do this alone. And, ultimately, to me, the biggest success that we can have is and I always it's morbid by, say, if I get hit by the bus, guys, you guys gotta be able to continue on without me and be even better. And so my job is to train that group. And, and your job is to train the group below you. You know? So transparency is almost the centerpiece to that.

Steve Guthrie: So I completely agree with what you're saying on that.

Kendra Davenport: Well, I think and you hit on something else I'm pretty passionate about. I think I think you always you know, a mentor of mine told me, you know, if you do nothing else, Kendra, surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, and it will distinguish you in many different ways. And he said, so few leaders actually do that out of fear that they're gonna be out shown, or somebody's gonna know more than they are, and they're not gonna look like the leader they should. And it took me a while. Right? It took me a while and some professional maturity to develop before I realized that was probably the sagest advice I ever received. And so I think that's one of another thing that that will, you know, always be a part of my Yeah. My leadership concept. Do you do you think the same way?

Steve Guthrie: A 100%. In fact, it's funny to have a little list of because I we have a, one of the things we institute here was a leadership development, curriculum that we give 2 times a year because, you know, when you're in we have 800 employees here, and there are, lots of opportunities to promote. And what I think happens in environments like these is that who gets promoted? Well, it's the person who is the best case manager or the person who is really the best direct support professional in their group home. Well, that doesn't necessarily mean that you magically come prepared to be in charge of people who are once your peers. Right?

Kendra Davenport: Right.

Steve Guthrie: And so we've instituted this this this this leadership. It's a 2 day leadership curriculum, and, I give a block of instruction. One of my rules is it's funny on that. My slides says hire people smarter than you. Don't be afraid of hiring people smarter than you. And I it absolutely, you can come up with any number of examples of people who didn't do that or who are afraid of doing that because we've seen it in our, I'm sure, our respective careers, and it is absolutely always an abysmal failure when they do that. Yeah. So, yes, you have to hire people smarter than you or else.

Steve Guthrie: Where are you at? You know? At least try.

Kendra Davenport: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Steve Guthrie: Well,

Kendra Davenport: I think they're out there.

Steve Guthrie: I think I, yeah. Yeah. Believe me. There are a lot of people smarter than me. That's for sure.

Kendra Davenport: I meant smart people everywhere. I know there's a lot of people. You.

Steve Guthrie: Yeah.

Kendra Davenport: Let's take it back to you for a second. You said and I I'm sure, you know, you're very good at it now. You'd like to, you know, maybe eventually devote your full time to back to psychotherapy being a very good psychotherapist. The first thing I think, because I have a child who's very interested in that and, and a very giving individual, is how selfless that is. But, also and I say to her frequently, it's so draining. You you're gonna need to fill your cup up. So can you talk and I don't mean to be too personal, but can you talk about what you do to replenish yourself? Because you are managing 800 people. You're managing a lot of very, very complex services and doing, you know, a minimal, in your words, psychotherapy practice on the side.

Kendra Davenport: How do you keep going? What do you do if there is anything special that you do just to keep yourself buoyant and your spirits up and yourself ready to tackle the days as they come at you.

Steve Guthrie: Well, I run-in the morning, and so that was something that was kind of...

Kendra Davenport: You were army.

Steve Guthrie: So I was yeah. We run a lot in the area.

Kendra Davenport: That's in your blood, I think.

Steve Guthrie: Yeah. So that helps a lot. I noticed when I don't run, I'm kinda like, you know, so I do that, and, you know, I also just dumb little things. Like, I like, my phone, I cannot get email, work email on my phone. I've just I purposely left that off. Right? I think for myself, that was a boundary for me. If I need to check email, I'm gonna plug in the computer. I'm gonna check it.

Steve Guthrie: But, you know, if you need to get a hold of me, I'd like you to call me. Right? Don't be and if it's not if you don't wanna call me, totally fine, but it's not it can wait. And so I have to put these little, you know, these little boundaries in there because there's any number of problems anywhere you look, as you know. And so those are, I guess, 2 things that I do, to just kinda segregate time for myself. Mhmm. Part of, you know, what I started doing the last few years is, you know, get gotten into meditation and stuff like that. That's helped me out a lot. I get a great deal out of that, and it kind of goes in line with kind of my psychotherapy modality I use, which is acceptance and commitment therapy.

Steve Guthrie: And, there's a kind of a meditative, aspect to that as well, in the mindfulness, arena. So, yeah, I think that's what works for me.

Kendra Davenport: That's great. I haven't I haven't started meditation. I pray a lot, which is, I guess, my form of meditation. Sure. Sure. But more and more, I hear people like you say that. And I think leadership today is I think it's incredibly rewarding, but I think it can be really draining. And because I think we're such a we're so connected, I I think that would be hard to do to because I think our phone my phone is like oxygen.

Kendra Davenport: So I don't know that I'd be able to unplug from work email. But I'm trying really hard to in another room.

Steve Guthrie: That's what you gotta do. 

Kendra Davenport: It's really hard to stop looking at it when I wake up at night or the first thing in the morning. I think that's that leads me to my next question. You've been a leader for in many ways for many, many years, and say similarly. And I think someone asked me this recently, and I thought it was such an interesting question. What is, something you've learned from people significantly younger than you that has impacted your leadership?

Steve Guthrie: Well, I think the young people I think of, certainly folks here at Easterseals, sir certainly some of the young folks. You know, when, you know, when you're first in the army, as you know, as a young officer, you know, you're 22, and you're not much older than any of the privates, or, you know, the e fours or whatnot, and, your platoon sergeant, who's like your kinda guy, he's much older. He seems like granddad. And so, there you're not around young people. As you get older in the military, of course, you know, you age up and whatnot. And the but one thing I've always learned just from working with, you know, the American soldiers, those guys, man, they just they're driven. They wanna do they want to do well. Right? Mhmm.

Steve Guthrie: And there's absolutely no difference between those guys and, I think the DSPs that we hire. You know, the DSPs, the direct support professionals, come from such a unique background. Some of them are, you know, from other countries, some of them who are motivated by a family member they had. And so everybody has a story, but everybody wants to do this work for a reason. Right? At least the people who stay. Right? I mean, some you folks discover this may not be for them. No harm. No foul.

Steve Guthrie: Right? But the people who stay are so motivated. Right? They want to do well. They want to make people's lives better just like those young privates who want to excel. They want to you know, they're just they're just I don't it makes me get a little bit emotional because they really are the best of the best of what this country has produced on both sides. And so, what I've learned, I guess, is, you know, kinda what your husband is gonna never stop learning, never stop striving, never stop trying to improve, because the minute you do that, you know, you're Mhmm. You're, you know, you've given up. You're just stale. You know? I just I I've for myself, I've gotta keep striving.

Steve Guthrie: I've gotta keep doing it. And my example is those people because they they're in the thick of it much more than me.

Kendra Davenport: I love that. And I think, you know, I'm somebody I like a lot going on at all times, and I'm a project person. And there's often projects that are incomplete before I move to my next project. I usually circle back and do that, but I'm trying really hard to not quite put so much on the plate. And yet, Steve, we all know people who seem to be able to put one more thing, one more thing, one more thing on their plate and do things, and it really, serves as a motivating force for me instead of a demotivating. Like, oh my god. You could never do that. I think, well, if they can do it, I can do it.

Kendra Davenport: Yeah. And a lot of the people I think that way about are former officers, former enlisted men and women, you know, who run a marathon and start a business and write a book and go into private sector. And it's just unbelievable. And they're private sector individuals too, but, I think you're right. I think they are the best. And I think this generation, you know, so different, the generation. And what I'm talking about, I guess, when I say this generation, I'm talking about folks that are brand new in their career, and I think you mentioned COVID. I think COVID, there were there was a lot of bad with COVID associated, but there was also a lot of good.

One of the things that I learned through COVID, through more junior staff, is to value, a work life balance. And I think when I started working, there was no work life balance. And, you know, as a military wife, with my husband deployed, I would never discuss the fact that I was racing to get home to get one to soccer practice and then do this or that because you just didn't talk about it. And if you did, it was somehow you were somehow less. Yeah. The youngest people on our team now definitely have a better a much healthier work life balance. And I can remember initially thinking, well, that's just wrong. Like, how are they gonna get ahead? That's lazy.

That's this. That's that. And now I've come full circle and recognized, and there's so much written about, you know, feed your mind, feed your spirit, feed your body, and Yeah. You'll be better at everything, not just work. You feel the same way or anything different?

Steve Guthrie: No. I do. I certainly, these boundaries I put in for myself, you know, I don't put my email on my phone, for example. You know? I like I like I mentioned earlier, I have to carve out time to exercise, things like that. It's funny you mentioned, you know, your experience because, you know, my wife did the same thing, you know, with kids and, you know, while I was gone, you know, deployed or whatnot. She was and it's among the among the family members, you know, you've heard it said. I think the family members have a harder life than the deployed guys, and gals just because it just, you know, we're taken care of. But it was, it was a competition sometimes. You know? And I think, I mean, the you know, nobody wants to be where you're going.

Steve Guthrie: Nobody wanted to be the person who's like, well, you know, god, I gotta do this. Well, tell me about it. Right? And so Yes. I think, I I'm hoping that's gotten better. I'm out of touch with the as much as I used to be with, you know, the, the family support groups and stuff like that. But, it was sort of sometimes, you know, who's the toughest who's the toughest spouse here? You know, that type of thing. And, I think it's important that even, you know, everybody recognize, hey. We need to, like, know when to ask for help.

Steve Guthrie: We need to know when to have the courage to say this is too much. It's okay. It's there's no there's no metal for, you know, sucking it up and suffering. And, so I think, by and large, this is a good thing that people have kinda come to this this idea of, you know, let's have some work life balance here, and that's that goes for whatever walk of life you're in.

Kendra Davenport: Well and I think you place a terrific amount of importance on mental health per se Yeah.

Steve Guthrie: For sure.

Kendra Davenport: Writ large. And I think that's another thing that COVID really uncovered was how much masking people were doing and how unhealthy it was, and then the isolation of COVID really brought it to the floor. If you were struggling, you know, going into work 5 days a week, home, you're at worse than ever.

And I think that's important too because I think we have a long way to go, but I do think mental health and issues and saying, you know, I need help has become more and more destigmatized. Is there anything that you think we can be doing? Like, I don't necessarily just mean Easter Seals, but I need people in general to normalize, you know, people saying, I need I need help, or I need to take a mental health day, or I'm gonna need to access some support.

Steve Guthrie: Well, I think, I think it's happening. I really do. I mean, the, there's been a lot of as you probably know on the news, there's, there's a lot of controversy now. You know, people coming out saying, well, this is the most mentally health served generation ever, and yet they seem to have the worst possible outcomes. Well, that might be true. You know? And I don't know that, you know, you and I can solve that problem. I'm just encouraged by the fact that we're having a conversation that it's not some...

Kendra Davenport: Then it's on the table.

Steve Guthrie: Absolutely. Complete absolute stigma. And I I I think back in the late 1997 I'm trying to remember it. Well, I was I was deployed to Bosnia for a year, and there was a officer who and I think it was Prozac back then that was the antidepressant. Somehow, it got out that this guy had this it was a major, an o four, lieutenant commander in coast guardsby. He, he was, he was on Prozac, and we and somehow, everybody in the theater knew it. Mhmm. And, he ended up getting evac for some reason, I think.

Steve Guthrie: But, again, this is all a rumor in any way. I don't even know if this is a true story. The point is that everybody seemed to know that this guy was on Prozac, and it was a a stigma and a shame and a mark. Oh, his career is over. Right? And that was, like, 97. Yeah. We can fast forward to now. I it's a lot better.

Steve Guthrie: We're having different conversations about these things. But to me, whether or not we're the most, medically, mentally health served a generation, most Medicaid, it doesn't matter we're talking about. And that, to me, was a battle. Get that out of the shadows. We'll figure this out as we go. And I just wanna continue the conversation regardless of and just continue to destroy that stigma because that is really where I think the enemy, of wellness is, is that stigma.

Kendra Davenport: I I couldn't agree more. We, we like to end all of our episodes within ask me anything segment that I'll do. So stick around for that. But before we do, I have one last question for you. Sure. People who know me know I I read. I have epilepsy, so I often find it very difficult to come down. So when I go to sleep and I can't sleep, I read.

Kendra Davenport: So I read a lot. Is there something anything can be professional, can be fiction, can be just for enjoyment that you're reading or do you read Oh, yeah. That you think our listeners would like to learn about.

Steve Guthrie: Yeah.

Kendra Davenport: Well, I think, from a leadership read, Steve. I meant, you know, do you do you make time for it? Yeah. No. No.

Steve Guthrie: I do make time for it. And, but just, like, you know, a couple just 2 books that I think, have I thought from a leadership point of view, they're both novels. And from my perspective, to be a good leader, you really have to really learn how to be a good follower, 1st. And there's the 2 books. One of them is, The K Mutiny by Herman Wouk, which as well.

Kendra Davenport: Yep.

Steve Guthrie: Great, great, great book, and i doesn't miss I don't necessarily think it's obviously a leadership book, but you've chart young and so Keith's development as a young leader and all the missteps he takes in the in the in the tragedy that happens. And I think you see him mature page by page by page. And I think at the end of that, you know, you're really like, man, that guy you know, he became a he became a leader. Right? The other book and more recent is a book called Matterhorn by Karl Merlantes, which is a book about, Vietnam War. It's a novel, and it follows this another a young lieutenant learning, trying to figure out how to do it, how to be the right person, you know, be a good leader. And I think, you could do much worse if you are an aspiring leader than to read those 2 novels and take the lessons away, to you that you undoubtedly will take away from those 2 books.

Kendra Davenport: Thank you. A really dear friend of ours wrote a book called Into the Green about his Vietnam experience. If you haven't read it, it's by Okay. Paul Swolinski. And it's a it's an amazingly powerful book, but thank you. I thank you for your time. Thank you for carving out the time because I know how busy you are. This has been an absolute pleasure, and I think you and I have more similarities than we have dissimilarities.

Kendra Davenport: So I I just really, really enjoyed speaking with you today, Steve. Thank you.

Steve Guthrie: Well, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Kendra Davenport: I love this ask me anything question. Too many leaders confuse motion with progress. How do you cut through the clutter to make sure your time is spent driving progress rather than just motion. I think there are a lot of people in the workforce who do not make that distinction and who, you know, often will tell people, I'm so busy. I'm so busy. I'm so busy. Or they associate a stacked calendar. You are just moving in place.

You know? And you're like a hamster in a wheel if your if your time is not focused on where you stand against your objectives. You know? Are you at the first part of the process? Are you at the middle? Are things working? Do you need to rechart your course or course correct? And yet, I think even when things are working, you wanna have multiple irons in the fire, so to speak. So you don't ever want to just rely on one initiative to get the job done. You ought to have multiple initiatives. I think testing, bringing as many people into the process without making it cumbersome or too laborious is a good thing. You wanna get key people around the table so that they can weigh in. Well, this is working, but this isn't. Or from my perspective, this isn't working at all, and here's why.

If you don't know that, it's often, you know, the Q4 or the proverbial game that someone says, this isn't gonna work. We should have addressed this earlier on. I do think you need to check-in with yourself. Right? And every Sunday, I look at the week ahead, and then I look at the week prior retrospectively, and think, what didn't I get to that I need to get to at the top of this new week to move forward. And I look at what progress was made. Oftentimes, I think in the nonprofit world, we look at progress. We associate progress with money. Money raised, initiatives funded, grants acquired.

And yet, we pay far less attention to the actual work that those funds fuel. And so when we look at cultivating relationships with prospective funders, we tend only to look at the end goal, instead of, you know, and that being, okay, the grant is is given. The money is acquired. But unless everything else is working very, very well, no one's gonna wanna give. And so when I think about what's progress, what's motion, progress may be early conversations, exploratory conversations with a potential funder or partner you want to work with. You might not get anything monetary out of those conversations, but that's the cornerstone of the relationship you're striving to build. Get that meeting done. That's progress.

You move to step 2. Okay? You've met. You've found some commonality. You found they support what you are doing in theory, and now you wanna have them supported in practice. So I think if you look at initiatives in bite sized pieces like that, like, where do we start, and then what are our next steps? Building. Always building on today, on what you did yesterday. And being very intentional about your work. That's how you avoid just moving in place.

Just having a meeting for the sake of a meeting. But rather wanting to do something in that meeting or with a a given project that you haven't done before. I don't think it's I don't think it's hard. I just think it requires discipline. Easter Seals empowers people with disabilities and their families to be full participants in their communities and within society. Easter Seals is where everyone can feel welcomed and people know that they aren't judged, but treated with the dignity that they deserve. Each day, we provide life changing services nationwide and advocate for policies that improve quality of life. From employment to housing services, to job training, childcare, and respite care, adult day programs, and so much more, Easterseals is making a profound impact in thousands of communities every day. You can learn more by visiting easterseals.com. That concludes our episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If you like what you heard, be sure to write a review. Like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and be sure to join us in the next episode as we discuss how we can all get on board with Transparent Leadership.