Say It Skillfully® – Vince Buggs—Power of Service, Your Best Self

Say It Skillfully® is a show that helps you to benefit from Molly Tschang’s expert guidance on the best possible ways to speak your mind at work in a positive and productive manner. In Episode 136, Molly is joined by 30 year high-ranking U.S. Army veteran Vince Buggs shares his journey to a career of service— building on decades of military experience to help people fulfill their aspirations and live meaningful lives. Vince admits he was never quite the academic scholar, but from a young age he excelled in situational awareness and always paid attention to the wisdom from his mother (who ended generations of being broke, and even got her PhD at age 73!). She made sure he understood things such as laws, rights, and what was happening in the world around him. This instilled within him a work ethic to always try to be the best at whatever his job was. Vince shares lessons learned from his parents and grandmother, who was a little girl during slavery, including the power and necessity of teaching others and serving the community. Vince was born in Louisiana in a time when remnants of segregation were still present. While he was young, his parents took a military assignment and moved to Germany to escape racism, civil rights issues and lack of good education in the south. He talks about how growing up outside of the U.S. allowed him to be a “normal kid” without biases. Vince shares his first experience with racism when moving back to the U.S. for college in 1985, and how he remained calm by embracing his grandfather's way of “hitting things with a pillow instead of a hammer”. Vince talks about military life: what it’s like to live on a military base, and how being “stuck” in the reserves for 5 years working civilian jobs helped him learn more about people and contributed greatly to his success in becoming a leader later in his career. He speaks about the challenges on his first active duty tour, and often being the only African-American in the room. Vince opens up about how being on a tour in the Army changed the way he looks at everything, and how it helped him focus on “the good”. Always staying busy, Vince talks about his post-military life including teaching history, starting his company—Embrace The Power—and being a father of 5 girls. Don’t miss Vince and Molly discuss what to do in situations in which you feel left out of the inner circle and your ideas are constantly shot down. Also, he talks about seeing things that don’t go your way in a positive light. Vince inspires us to help all be safe, seen and heard, and be our true and best selves. Molly’s thoughts for the week: “Care.” (Thank you Vince). Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. —Muhammad Ali. More ways to help you #sayitskillfully! https://sayitskillfully.com