Written by Cindy Nowack
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Leadership: The Influential Side of your Purpose
Travis Hardin
Travis Hardin, a John Maxwell Certified Speaker and Trainer, begins today by asking what is leadership? In one word, it’s influence. Travis remembered his colleague and friend, Jennifer Riordan, who lost her life earlier in the week on a Southwest flight. She leaves behind a legacy of influence through her leadership at Wells Fargo and at March of Dimes events.
Travis then asked us to raise our hand if we know our purpose. Looking around, only a handful of people raised their hands. On average, only about 30% of people know their purpose. Most people only go so far in life because they usually retreat when life gets tough or challenges are in their path.
In 1519, Hernán Cortés, a Spanish military leader and explorer, landed on the coast of Mexico. He told his men to burn the ships. The first man to question him was shot, so then everyone else burned the ships, those same ships that were their way back. Without a retreat option, Cortés and his men had to handle whatever challenges arose.
We need to do the same in our lives to find our purpose. The challenges and obstacles from family, career and life are our wake up calls for creativity and getting things done. If we keep our retreat (the ships in our life), we won’t push ourselves to find our purpose.
Travis then told a shocking story about eating lunch at a Scottsdale restaurant in 2016 where the waiter said he would not serve any n*****s that day. Travis and his friends were ready to explode. Travis knew he needed to diffuse the situation. He called the restaurant owner, who said he would fire the server. Travis wanted to do something more. He offered to do developmental training with the restaurant’s 72 employees. He led 8 weeks of extensive diversity training, which yielded a positive customer service experience for the restaurant’s patrons.
Travis used this incident to create an opportunity to provide training and hopefully prevent this from happening again. How you see and how you seize opportunities around you provides a roadmap toward your purpose. Travis tapped into his influence to lead the restaurant’s employees toward a positive result.
We all want opportunities, but what creates those opportunities? These three bi-products of influence can create opportunities in your life:
– Ask questions
– Be open
– Take action
Three things that can help you influence others through your leadership:
1. Imagine opportunities are everywhere. Strike up conversations with people at gas stations, grocery stores, doctor’s office. Live in the land of possibilities and prepare to say yes to every possibility.
2. Prepare for the opportunity. Don’t get ready, stay ready! Whether Travis is speaking to 1 person or 110,000 people, he is ready for the opportunity.
3. Seize and activate the opportunity. Create success momentum, which is getting something going until it has the fuel to feed itself. Put your purpose in that success momentum.
And as an added value to his keynote today: Build your mentorship team.
Identify the important values in your life, and interview potential mentors for a minimum of 30 minutes to see if they are like-valued, not like-minded. Travis’ four core values in his life are faith, family, finances and fun. Mentors in your life need to share your core values.
Travis knows his purpose in life and uses his influence to create opportunities and positive results. He hopes one person will hear something in a way that has not been heard before. Is it you? What is your purpose? How are you using your influence?
Travis Hardin is on LinkedIn, and his website is www.johncmaxwellgroup.com/travishardin.
HIRING COMPANIES
CSAA Insurance Group (AAA)
Jamie Kurec, Recruiter
Belinda Armour, IT Recruiter
Once a part of AAA, CSAA Insurance Group remains AAA’s preferred insurer. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA (near San Francisco), they offer insurance for auto, home and more. CSAA is in 23 states and the District of Columbia.
CSAA wants to hire fearless risk-takers who challenge and push the boundaries. Their office is located near 55th Ave and Bell. They are an organization that gives back to communities across the country, as demonstrated with their VTO (Volunteering Time Off) of up to 24 hours annually. They also offer a free AAA membership, car seat reimbursement, fitness and wellness classes, standing desks and three weeks of PTO the first year of employment in addition to a generous benefits and 401K package.
They are currently hiring for these positions:
– Customer Service reps – helping AAA members (starting salary $37-39k)
– Operations Manager
– IT Manager with CRM experience
– ServiceNow Leader
– VMware Professional
– ETL Developer
– Guidewire Professional
– Two contract-to-hire IT help desk positions
To learn more about current openings, visit their website.
Sun Health
Susan Lauretti, Director of Human Resources
Yelitza Silva, Human Resources Manager
Sun Health champions healthy living, research and superior health care. Sun Health began in 1966 when the first meeting of Sun City Community Hospital was held to rally support for a local hospital. Eventually, the company sold off the hospitals to focus on senior care.
Today, Sun Health Senior Living has three properties: Grandview Terrace in Sun City West, La Loma Village in Litchfield Park, and The Colonnade in Surprise. A few years ago in 2016, the company began offering Sun Health at Home, a new service for those who want to age at home.
There are job openings at each of the three properties including RN, CNA, LPN, certified caregiver, driver/security, cook, housekeeper, and more. Openings are also listed on jobing.com and indeed.com.
Kaleidoscope Education Solutions
Suly Rieman, Lead Recruiter
Kaleidoscope Education Solutions, founded in 1989, is a nationwide staffing leader in school-based therapy and special education recruitment solutions. Kaleidoscope works on filling the “tough to fill” positions in all types of schools, educations centers and school programs.
Kaleidoscope’s current openings are:
Phoenix:
– Speech Language Pathologist
– Special education Teacher
– School Psychologist
– Occupational Therapist
– Physical Therapist
Tucson:
– Special Education Teacher
– Teacher of the Hearing Impaired
Kaleidoscope has even recently had General Education Teacher openings. This gives teachers the option of working for Kaleidoscope and receiving competitive wages, rather than being in a contract directly with the school district. Current job listings can be found here.
Send your resume directly to Suly Reiman at sreiman@kesgroup.net. She will follow up on every resume received. She is beginning to plan now for the 2018-2019 school year.
CLOSING
Thank you to all of our partners, including Goodwill Career Services and WozU, who are both here with representatives available to talk with you.
Our next event is Tuesday, April 24 in Gilbert when Vered Kogan will present “Master Your Mind to Land Your Next Job.”
On Thursday, May 3rd in Phoenix, technology companies will participate in our Technology Panel, and a few weeks later, on Thursday, May 17, there will be a West Valley Healthcare Expo at the Avondale Sports Complex. Look for additional details on our website at www.careerconnectors.org.