My professional mission statement borrows from Dunbar and Winston’s book, An Occupational Perspective on Leadership, Theoretical and Practical Dimensions (2015). They advise that every leader is competent in the following:

• Cultural Humility & Critical Reflexivity – Living in Tension

I am working on “living in the tension.” This was how one occupational therapist described the uncomfortable but vital acknowledgement of both the shadow side of our own intent, as well as the light side. We can’t ignore either, but rather live in the balance.

• Interprofessional Value

This is a professional way of emphasizing respect. By respecting each person, group, or larger organization we are communicating that we value their input and perspective. Talking to people from across disciplines is not just a matter of respect, but also a matter of necessity – by learning about other perspectives (e.g. climate change, social analysis with a botanist), we can turn around and reflect on our own profession

• Effective Communication

I find this most often comes as listening with intent, to which empathy is a pre-requisite. If I work to understand where another person is coming from, without any pre-conceived notions, I am more genuinely interested in what they have to say. I will try to walk into each conversation as a blank slate. I can work on this by actively remembering what I am grateful for in my relationships with others.

• Ethical Decision Making

In every decision, I will work to step outside of myself. I will remind myself of the principles and values of our profession, as well as my own moral code.

• Perspective Thinking

When I am struggling the most with work, it is often related to being stuck inside my own head. I have forgotten that I am simply one human with one task who is located at one geographical point in the world. As soon as I go outside and take a breath of fresh air, I begin to re-center myself as a microscopic point in a much bigger picture. One year, my dad gave me a book called Air. The massive 15” x 11” tome contains pictures by Vincent Laforet, taken while hanging out of a helicopter thousands of feet above major cities across the world. When I crack open this book, I remind myself of my relative insignificance. Suddenly, my worries don’t seem as insurmountable as before.

To me, “competency” is not the goal. Rather, these are traits I hope to attend to with intention every day.