IMPACT

In this episode of a Totally warranted Podcast, Chief D shares how the IMPACT you make on others can happen out of the blue and encourages others to focus on the IMPACT they are having and the Legacy they leave behind. Additionally she shares several stories of IMPACT in her life. After the credits Chief D shares a personal story of how she managed to have an impact on Procedures which made something amazing possible for people in the same situation.

To stay in the know make sure you subscribe to the podcast and follow us on FB and IG.

https://www.facebook.com/totallywarranted
https://www.instagram.com/totallywarranted

Visit the Blog at:
https://www.totallywarranted.com/blogs/a-totally-warranted-blog

Shop the Store at:
https://www.totallywarranted.com/collections/all

Transcript

Title:  IMPACT

Show Intro: 

Hi, I’m Chief D, and you’re listening to a Totally Warranted Podcast. A Podcast where we discuss all things Chief. From how to become one, to when to retire and everything in between. In this podcast we’ll discuss topics surrounding your board packet, attending school, life as a warrant officer and beyond. So grab your favorite beverage, and sit back as I take you on the journey of life as a Chief.

Introduction:

Hello Hello Hello, and Welcome back to another Episode of a Totally Warranted Podcast, I’m your host Chief D! 

In case you missed it, I’m going to share this week’s affirmation of the week with you. If you’d like to catch these live on Monday’s you need to follow us on Facebook or Instagram so you receive these notifications. Links in the show notes.

This week's affirmation is: My dedication and commitment to my profession is unwavering. I am constantly striving to improve myself and inspire those around me to reach their full potential. As subject matter experts we should always strive to improve ourselves and our skills and as we improve, we should be doing our best to bring those around us forward with us. 

We are still running our reflective journaling stories for the entire month of August. If you would like to follow them for the opportunity to reflect on your career, you can catch them on Facebook and Instagram. If you miss a day, don’t worry the full feed is saved on Instagram in the Highlight Folder marked Self Reflect.

Last week we discussed WO burn out prevention and recovery where we highlighted tips and tools to help you prevent and recover from the epidemic of burnout. If you haven’t listened to that podcast make sure you check it out. 

After really sitting down and thinking about the affirmation of the week I realized what I had to make this week's episode about…. So today we are talking about IMPACT. The dictionary defines impact as having a strong effect on someone or something. The impact we have as people is one of the biggest things that leads to what people would call our legacy.

So what legacy are you leaving behind? With your soldiers, in your organization, in life…. Legacy, is what lives on after we’ve separated from a person, location, or organization. It’s even what lives on after we’ve taken our final breath. So I ask you again…. What kind of legacy are you leaving?

All too often we don’t see the impact that we’re having in the moment we are currently in, until years later, conversations, confessions later. But I encourage you when you find those moments where you’re informed or reminded of that impact, and hold on to and cherish them. Use them as the fuel that keeps you pressing forward to accomplish your goals.

This month I will hit 18 years in service and along that time-line I have always hoped to make an impact on people, places, and processes. My goal has always been to leave things better than what I found it and in coming up, I realized complaining about things doesn’t get us anywhere. But the small act of leading by example and being the change I wanted to see in the world has surely made me who I am today. 

My very first mentor was a Warrant Officer. I don’t know if I’ve ever spoken about her in the podcast but she is currently a CW4 and still active duty, but when I met her Chief WIliams was the person who set me on the path to where I am today. Meeting her was one of the most confusing times of my little private life. There we are in Korea and I’m asking ALL of the questions, trying to figure out why we call her “Ms”, how she has a drill sergeant badge if Officers can’t be drill sergeants, finding out she used to be an SFC. It was all mind-blowing. 

No matter the question, the Chief always had the answer. She was always calm and poised (but I remember her telling someone where they could go one time. lol) She always made time for my questions, and she was the first one to tell it like it is. I remember one day when I was in her office she told me “PVT D, you’re slipping” ok what she said was I was all jacked up and it was like a knife through my heart. 

But in that conversation which I can still hear playing in my head she didn’t just list my flaws, she told me about my strengths and how to improve myself. She gave me a road map to which I would steer my career around… Leaving her office that day, I vowed to be and Do better. What she did was leave an impact of me that would last at this point, just about 18 years.

Over the years I’ve found that I too have managed to leave an impact on the people around me. Never intentionally and never did I know it in the moment but they say hindsight is 20/20.. 

Back when I was stationed in El Paso (Have you guys ever been there, Freedom Crossing (the PX there is amazing! I don't understand why the Army hasn’t made EVERY PX like that!) Anyway, back in El Paso I was in an Infantry Battalion. I was actually one of the first 11 females down there. We were prepping to deploy to Afghanistan when I got there and were on the road to NTC. 

My shop is 95% male (yup just me for the majority of the time). Then after NTC we got a Female Soldier and during the deployment a female OIC. Anyway after our deployment I went to ALC in January of I want to say 2014, in October of the same year I went to SLC. 

Between that time back at Bliss I had gotten focused on basic Soldier skills, DnC and just making sure my soldiers were straight. I was a hands-on NCO. Taught my Soldiers how to do taxes on deployment, showed the the proper way to pay off credit card debt all of it, but every time I left town someone got married. I just assume they knew what I would have said if I was there but regardless. 

At some point the Soldiers began to complain to my OIC about me, which confused me but I’m a firm believer that I can’t get better if I don’t know what's wrong so I was very open to sitting down and talking about it with them. So after PT one day my OIC told the soldiers we were going to address their concerns. I opened up and let them know they could say anything they needed to and nothing would leave the parking lot where we stood, and to let me know what's going on because I can’t fix problems I don't know about. Well go figure, no one had anything to say. So being fed up my OIC started rattling off all of the complaints. The Soldiers then began to explain away their own issues.

It went something like this: “PVT such and such, you said SSG D yells at you” to which the group looks on and the PVT responds “well, I mean she doesn’t ever really yell. And if there is a problem she tells you what it is, and why its important to fix, and how not to make the mistake again”. It literally was pretty impressive to see them be honest. Little did they know we would soon be getting a new NCOIC. 

That day. I explained to the Soldiers that I don’t want them to think I’m punishing them for anything and that the things I’m doing like dnc is to help them because I’ve already been to the courses they have to go to and I know they aren’t ready. I closed out with I’m sorry If you feel like I’ve been hard on your, but I’m hard because I see your potential and I know you’re capable. You will not meet many NCOs like me, I promise you I’m far from mean, and the grass isn’t a;ways greener on the other side.

A week later the new NCOIC came in. Can you guess what happened? The Soldiers hated it, they came to me complaining, they were telling me how things weren’t like they used to be etc. I let them know that although I empathize with them, change was bound to come. That same week I announced my departure from the unit.

The Soldiers were heart broken. I still spoke with them but I moved to Brigade from Battalion and I certainly couldn’t change the climate there now. Well, a few months ago one of those Soldiers ETS’d out of the Army. He invited me to his unit farewell where I was pretty much “the random chief”. I broke bread with his unit, heard them tell amazing stories about him and his leadership that warmed my heart and in his speech he pointed out that the CW2 that no one knows at the table is actually his first NCO. Talkabout an impactful moment. He shared a few stories of the olden days and he and his wife thanked me for always looking after him.

I'm sure you have your own story of impacting a Soldier deeply without your knowledge. How many years later did you find out? For me this was about 8 years later. 

The impact you have on the world around you can sometimes be outside your scope of understanding at the moment. Like the time my 7 year old daughter and I took on IMCOM to get an ETP for her to attend daycare… Little did we know that one action would change the way the Army does business. To this day I am amazed at how big of an action one Drill Sergeant and her strongly worded emails could accomplish. If you’d like to hear that story, stick around after the outro and I’ll tell if to you but for now. I want you to focus on what impact you are leaving as your navigate your path.

Remember the impact you leave on people isn’t always a positive thing. But if you focus on improving people and organizations you can ensure it is. So that’s today’s episode… Impact over intention… If you’d like to show your support we are selling our Acrylic Eagle Rising Keychains at $5 ea with the proceeds going to support podcasting expenses. 

Thanks for listening all the way through this episode, as I close I need you to remember to Stay motivated, keep pushing forward, and that your dedication as a warrant officer is totally warranted! Don’t forget if you want to hear about the Army policy we changed, stick around after the closing music.

Outro: 

You’re listening to a totally warranted podcast. A podcast by chief for chief. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard, would you mind leaving a review. A review lets others know that this podcast is worth their time and will help them on their journey to embodying Chief. We’ll see you next time.

Oh, good, you're still here… 

Did I ever tell you I was a Drill Sergeant before? Lot’s of stories there but the one I’m gonna share with you is not what you would think. You see, when I was on the trail going into my second year and my first as Senior Drill Sergeant. My youngest daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It was a shocker for everyone, it was right before her 7th birthday and it hit us all hard. To start, I found out after taking her to the doctor at the request of her then school nurse who noticed a weird pattern of thirst and stomach aches around meals. Well when we were finally able to get her blood drawn (which was quite a task with her little baby arms) I got her back off to CYS to finish my day and I got a call from the doctor on my cell phone.

He asked me if she was with me. I let him know I’d just dropped her off. His next words to me were, pick her up right now and take her to the children’s emergency room at this hospital. He sent me the information via text and said, they are waiting for you. Hurry. 

So now I’m a bit panicked. I go inside and relay the message to my commander and 1SG and jump back in the car leaving my platoon and my unit in the dust. Getting to the hospital I tell them her name and they walk us straight to the back. They have a full room waiting for her and they begin explaining what's going on. Her blood sugar is 745. For those of you with no reference for her age the target is about 120. So 745 is well beyond the danger zone. They begin to run tests, and give her what would be her first of many insulin dosages. The hospital staff was amazing. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a children's hospital but they were well prepared to keep her spirits up while teaching us what we needed to know. 

Realizing I will have to stay at the hospital overnight, I called my battle. He used to be a senior in our company but had recently moved to become a 1SG in another. I asked if him and his wife would mind taking my older daughter for a few days. Our children went to the same school and were friends so it made sense. And like the family we had become in our time on the trail they said of course. They grabbed my keys, took her home to get some stuff and got her ready for a few days with them. The impact that they made on my family at that moment is still unforgettable. 

The next day after spending the whole day prior and night in my duty uniform (remember I came straight from work) my battle brooke (now a 1SG) brought gym bag from my locker with a change of clothes and some other items for me over to the hospital. But not only that, she stayed with my daughter watching teen titans so I could go shower, eat and take a nap. To this day, if ever she calls I will drop anything… The IMPACT she still has on my family will never be forgotten.

Now I’m going to speed the story up a little. After we finally got out of the hospital (side note, I had to take a test to get my daughter released from the hospital. They needed to know I could manage her diabetes. They told me about the test on the first full day we were there. We were cleared to go home the afternoon of the next day. One of the shortest initial diagnosis stays for a diabetic child to a non diabetic parent. 

Anyway, getting back to what I assumed would be normal was impossible. Not only did I now have to wake up in the middle of the night and check her blood sugar as she slept but I was informed that there had to be accommodations made for her to attend CYS again. 

During our meeting to discuss what could be done, I felt like I was only hearing everything that couldn’t be done and how no one was actually prepared to help me with anything. I was discouraged and defeated, but in that moment I decided to fight. I let the meeting with the understanding that I would need to come to the CYs at EVERY TIME she was to eat a meal to give her her insulin or shouldn’t be able to attend. Luckily for me my chain of command and my team at the time were extremely family focused and supportive. I left 5 times a day during the weekends, 2 during week days and 9 during school days off and overnight care. My team supporting me in this journey is how I made it through.

Now let's talk about what effect this was having on me. Your girl was tired, frustrated, and frankly I was mad. I didn’t understand how a Federal Daycare wasn’t ADA compliant and I was ready to fight. I contacted IMCOM via the daycare inspectors who just so happen to be there the week after my not so helpful accommodation meeting. 

That step of speaking up really got the ball moving. Fast forward 7 months, 2 emails a month, and 2 phone calls a month to IMCOM. I finally got a response to my ETP. The response was, we’re going to get your daughter a nurse in the center. I was pretty excited, but realized I’d be PCSing and was starting to get sad that all of that progress was for nothing. 

I was assured that the nurse would just be requested at my new duty stations. Fast fwd through my PCS and I arrive to check in at the CYS in my new location. I sat down with the director of the center and let her know my daughter's situation. She's a sweet woman and is trying to figure out how they can help when I tell her “well IMCOM said you were going to get a nurse” to which she replied “yea that sounds like something we’ve been told before'' so I slowly lids my printed email which confirms we would be receiving a nurse over to her. She’s a little mind blown…. 

I still didn't know what the big deal was. I gave her the POC’s information and let her get to work. Before my daughter could start at the center all of the staff was required to attend diabetes training, I also attended the training with my daughter. This is when I realized this was a big deal. There were about 7 Army Public Health Nurses from around the globe in the room with us, to watch.. 

I was intrigued but still didn’t get it…. Until I heard we were the first to do it… We were the first ones to successfully stick out the ETP process to get a Nurse. Now let’s be clear. The center didn’t get a nurse, my daughter got a nurse! Her whole job was to make sure my daughter was good. She was contracted, and we even got a second nurse so the first one could have days off. We went through 2 main nurses before we found “the one”. Erica. She is amazing btw, and we still keep in contact to this day!

Anyway, the work we did with one child caused a ripple effect in the way the Army does business, with this process being replicable everywhere now…. So, how to I repay an organization that does right by my babies? I volunteer for them. So I’m actually the Parent Advisory Board president for the CYS here at the Great Place. It’s an elected role where I get to help other parents advocate for themselves, help the staff make improvements for our children and overall be a part of the team that guarantees I am able to do my job effectively everyday.

Links:

Emails: ChiefD@totallywarranted.com

Support the Podcast purchase a keychain: https://www.totallywarranted.com/products/signature-eagle-rising-acrylic-keychain