Excellence in Leadership and Orphan Care with Phil Darke
b'Phil Darke is the president of Providence World, an organization that seeks to inspire and equip others to love orphaned and at-risk children and their communities with excellence. Phil lives in Folsom, CA with his wife Becca and their five children. He received his JD from Vanderbilt University School of Law and his BA in rhetoric and communication from U.C. Davis. Before coming on-board with providence as Research and Development Director in October 2008, Phil worked as an attorney with different firms in Sacramento, CA, and Atlanta, GA, and as a clerk for a federal judge in Honolulu. in 2014, Phil co-authored the book \\u201cIn Pursuit of Orphan Excellence,\\u201d a much needed and inspiring call for excellence in global orphan care and is a co-host of the ThinkOrphan podcast.Leadership insights:- Our path in leadership doesn\\u2019t always make sense- Enter into leadership with a posture of humility, realizing that you don\\u2019t have it all figured out- A lack of executive experience can keep you open to areas where growth is needed- Get mentors (even different mentors for different areas)- A key for growth: Find other leaders you admire and learn from them- Never think you\\u2019ve arrived- Empathy and listening are two key areas of growth for Phil since becoming a leader at Providence World- On building and maintaining organizational DNA in a cross-cultural organization (the leadership at La Providencia is Honduran): Identify best practices and determine how these can be applied uniquely in cultural contexts so that the organization will maintain excellence. This can\\u2019t be imposed\\u2014it needs to be developed togetherAbout La Providencia:- Focuses on the nuclear family- When the children grow up, the house parents don\\u2019t take on new children. When they have raised their children, the leave and allow - another family to begin caring for children.- There is a global movement to de-institutionalize orphan care to make it more family-centric- La Providencia represents an imperfect solution that is much closer to the ideal than it could be- Providence World exists in large measure to train and equip other organizations of individuals to do their work, better- There is a theory-practice gap that needs to be bridged, and La Providencia is helping to do thisQuestions to Inspire us Toward Action:- A lesson, saying, or experience that continues to influence your leadership to this day: Leaders are learners- Three descriptors. A leader is: Humble, a listener, a servant- A question that leaders should be asking themselves or others: How can I get better this week, and how can I someone else to do the same?- Book recommendations for leaders: Spiritual Leadership (Oswald Sanders)- A habit to start THIS week to be a better leader: Learn something about someone or something that you know absolutely that you disagree with- As a general life principle, is it better to ask \\u201cwhy?\\u201d or \\u201cwhy not?\\u201d: It depends! Typically, it would be why. When you know what you want to do, and what you\\u2019re doing, you absolutely have to know why you\\u2019re doing it. But in things that are in a dreaming-stage, why not is a critical question to ask and not be limited by the known of the world.Links:https://providenceworld.com (https://providenceworld.com)https://thinkorphan.com (https://thinkorphan.com)\\n \\nMusic credits:DJ Quads | Cruise Around | Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads/cruise-aroundDJ Quads | Smile | https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads/smileDJ Quads | It Just Makes Me Happy | Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads/it-just-makes-me-happy'