5. Alignment with Tammy Dillard Steels

Are you ready to align your personal values with your professional life? In this episode of Humans of Authenticity - the CEO special edition, Vy Le interviews Tammy Dillard-Steels, the former* Executive Director of the National Dental Association (NDA), for an engaging discussion on leadership, authenticity, and navigating challenges while staying true to yourself in a demanding role. Tammy’s journey from safety and health to a trailblazing Executive Director will inspire association executives and changemakers looking to lead with purpose. What You’ll Learn from Tammy’s Journey 🔥 Key Lesson #1: Align with a Mission Tammy reveals why connecting with an organization’s mission is essential for professional fulfillment, saying, “When you can’t show up authentically, you’re out of alignment.” 🔥 Key Lesson #2: Adapt Without Losing Yourself Tammy shares how to balance authenticity with adaptability, reflecting, “Coming to work as your authentic self is different because your audience is different.” 🔥 Key Lesson #3: Use Strategic Planning to Align Teams Discover Tammy’s secret to uniting boards, staff, and members under one vision: “A strategic plan keeps everyone growing in the same direction and prevents the goalposts from moving.” Her stories of overcoming misalignment and her actionable advice for staying true to your values will leave you reflecting on your own leadership journey. 👉 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more inspiring interviews!

“If you’re out of alignment, you can’t be authentic in your professional world. Alignment allows your core values to shine through in everything you do as a leader.” – Tammy Dillard-Steels, MPH, MBA, CAE

The latest episode of Humans of Authenticity - the CEO special edition is here, and my DELP-colleague Tammy Dillard-Steels is joining us this week. There are some great pieces as we unpack #alignment in our conversation.

As leaders, we often find ourselves balancing the expectations of our boards, staff, members, and the communities we serve. How do we maintain our commitment to the work without losing sight of our core values?

This is the perfect teaser for our session at the Association Forum's Holiday Showcase next week. We'll be discussing practical strategies on how to align core values with organizations to amplify impacts. Get ready to put these insights into action!

How do you maintain alignment in your role? Share your thoughts after you've had a chance to listen to this episode. Thank you, and enjoy your Tuesday 🍀

*This interview was conducted earlier this year while Tammy was serving as the Executive Director at NDA.