Wednesday Wonder Woman: Chaun Vaughn

Chaun Vaughn, Heart Forward Leadership Expert, feels that in today’s business world, there are too many leaders stuck in the traditional style leadership model, which is proving to be unproductive and ineffective for the workforce. This is why she spends her days promoting a Heart Forward Leadership style. 

Chaun’s goal for newly appointed and aspiring leaders, is to equip them with Heart Forward strategies that will:

• Reduce employee turnover
• Foster employee buy-in that drives engagement
• Promote a multi-generational culture
• Cultivate a pipeline of successful leaders

“Every great leader knows that the value of your success can only be seen through the success of your team.”

Chaun is a graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and received her Bachelors of Science degree in Human Nutrition-Dietetics. She has been in a leadership role for over 15 years within the nutrition industry which has led to her love for leadership training and speaking.

She is the author of Being Heart Forward, An Others Centered Leadership Guide and Workbook, which touches on four Heart Forward principles every leader should utilize to be successful.

Because of her leadership push within the community of women leaders, she was awarded the VIP Woman of the Year from the National Association for Professional Women, and she received a certificate of Congressional Recognition, designating February 13th, Chaun’s birthday, as Heart Forward Day in the 18th District in Texas among many other accolades.

Chaun has had the privilege of speaking and conducting trainings for Comcast Houston, The National School Nutrition Association and Wiley College to name a few.

This Wednesday Wonder Woman is on a mission to change leadership, one heart at a time.

Fancy: How would you describe your swagher? What makes Chaun, Chaun?

 

Chaun: Well, I am just a country girl from Louisiana who loves to talk and entertain. I grew up surrounded by a lot of powerful yet caring and loving women, my mom, grandmother and aunts, who all taught me to always be my authentic self and to shoot for the stars. No matter what I did and all the grand ideas I had, my family was always there to support me. I have a genuine desire to spread love, especially now when times are proving to be tumultuous. I may be living in that fairytale world thinking one day we will all love and care for one another, but my desire to help make that type of impact on people is strong.

Fancy: I see that you have a degree in Human Nutrition-Dietetics. So what was your first job within your field and how did you get into leadership? 

 

Chaun: My career in Nutrition-Dietetics began straight out of college, when I landed my first job at Kingwood Medical Center. After a short six months, I realized the medical field (in nutrition) wasn’t my calling. My “ah-ha” moment happened when I moved into the role of Area Manager for a large school district; and that‘s when I became interested in leadership, and all that it encompassed. In this role, I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I vowed I would work hard to be the best leader for my team.

Fancy: Tell us a little about Heart Forward Leadership?

 

Chaun: Heart Forward Leadership simply put, is leading from the heart. Many leaders are still using the old traditional leadership model. You know the model where “I am the leader, I know it all, do what I’ve asked you to do and don’t question me or attempt to voice your opinion. Why? Well because I won’t consider it, and if you keep pushing it, I will make your work life hard, because I am the leader and you will not outshine me”. This is the style causing employees to feel undervalued, and although they may have that great next big idea to help propel the company forward, they will never share it or will question if they are even qualified to share it. This then turns into that very valuable employee, removing themselves from the company.

Heart Forward leadership helps to prevent this demoralizing process and seeks to build up the employee through four HF principles, Transparency, Accountability, Awareness and Being Others Centered. Leaders must see that their main goal is to be of service to their team and to help the team members reach success, because when the team is successful, the leader is successful. Heart Forward Leadership makes this happen. What heart forward leadership accomplishes is reduction in employee turnover, more employees buying into the mission and vision and a multi-generational team working together as one to reach and attain the goals set for the organization. That is why my mission is to change leadership one heart at a time.

Fancy: At what point did you think to yourself, ‘hey, I can make a business’ out of this?

 

Chaun: Seeing how employees within my industry were leaving just as quickly as they came, I decided that the main factor with keeping them had to rely on management. So I created a manager training program that focused on the heart forward principles I mentioned before and also included training essential for leaders. After implementing, it was obvious there was a major shift. Employee reduction was down by 62% and the new staff was actually taking interest in the simple job of serving kids meals. It was then I knew my joy for speaking and training coupled with great statistics would make for a great business of impacting the lives of others.

Fancy: When you look back, would you say that you were always a leader or was it something that you grew into?

 

Chaun: If you ask my family, they will tell you I have always been a leader hands down. I had this uncanny way of being able to get others to follow and do as I asked with ease. Now don’t ask my cousins and my sister, because they will just say I was bossy. 🙂 So, yes, I believe from a little girl I had that leadership gene, but I definitely attribute my work experiences with helping to cultivate and nourish my skills even more.

Fancy: What does a great leader consist of to you?

Chaun: I always say that a great leader has a clear vision, but they also have the will and determination to see it through while helping those they lead succeed. A leader is selfless and is always willing to self-evaluate to ensure that what they are doing is not self-motivated but others centered and they are impacting lives.

 

Fancy: How can one evaluate their leadership style to see if it is effective?

 

Chaun: You will know if your leadership is effective by what your team is producing or not producing. If you have a team that consistently misses deadlines, is always having to go back to the drawing board or is in constant conflict, then that should speak volumes to the leader. This is when you, as a leader, must step back and take an authentic, realistic assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. This is also the time to check if you are using the various leadership styles. Are you coaching an employee when you should really be directing, or are you directing when you should actually just delegate? As a leader, you must know the correct style to use with each employee. I can go on and on about this, but just note, a team and their productivity is a direct reflection of its leader and the effectiveness of that leader.

Fancy: Can you share three tips for those stepping into leadership?

 

Chaun: 1. Be Humble. Know that as a leader you don’t know it all and that you can and will probably learn as much from your team as they will learn from you.

2. Listen first. Never go into a leadership role thinking you know exactly what needs to happen to make a change. Listen. I mean actively listen and learn before making changes.
3. Be Heart Forward. This is as simple as following the platinum rule, Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.

Fancy: Do you ever have moments when you are tired of leading? How do you handle them?

 

Chaun: Yes! But the key to sticking with it is knowing that your leadership is not about you. I am going to preach this TO DEATH! 🙂 It’s about being of service to others, whether that’s your team, customers or even your family. Being a leader, a heart forward leader, is a forever job, especially when others trust you and want to follow you. So what I do daily is pray first thing in the morning, just to get my mind centered around service and others.

Fancy: What’s one fun fact about you that most don’t know?

 

Chaun: I am a karaoke loving girl! I will make a car ride into a karaoke party in a heartbeat.

Fancy:Do you have any upcoming events or projects that you would like to share?

 

Chaun: Strategic Leadership Goal Setting Session I have an invitation only Strategic Leadership Goal Setting Session in January. For anyone who wants to request a seat at the table can visit my website and sign-up for our newsletter where we share all exclusive information there first