The Giveback Gene

If I'm hearing you correctly, you have this give back gene, you want to be of service to your community. How would you describe the values that guided you to make that decision? And have you discussed these values with your team and is having that conversation important with your team?

So, my parents really did raise me with these values. I'm Jewish and part of our religion is something called Sadaka, which is charity. And they're all different forms of charity. The highest form is when you give anonymously, just as an example. So this was something that I learned in Hebrew school, it was something that my parents reinforced and something that I learned over the years, that when you give back, when you give a gift of time or money, or in our case, blood, you are really giving yourself a gift. You just feel so good about yourself when you give back.

And people that are on my leadership team, many, I think almost all of them had for-profit experience and they are there right now for the psychic reward of making a difference. And it is so alluring. It just attracts people. And they're not just thinking with their head, they're giving with their heart. And it makes such a difference waking up in the morning and knowing that you have a life-saving mission that truly makes a difference. And I'm coming up on 13 years, I've never held a job that long. I mean, I had 24 years at AT&T, but I had 15 different jobs while I was there. It's a good addiction to have knowing that you're making a difference.