I was fortunate to speak with Trennis Jones this week. Trennis is the Vice President of Community Impact for Austin FC and firmly believes that the best leaders look to serve first. He spoke at length about the need for people to be honest with themselves and why we should listen to understand rather than to understand. After playing college basketball at Colorado University, he was an agent at Octagon, and then worked for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns as a basketball ops special assistant.

Before his current role, Trennis spent six years as the Texas Regional Director of the Positive Coaching Alliance. During those stops, he’s learned that organizations can’t be successful without great teamwork. His basic formula: Communication + Principle-based decision-making = strong coalitions.

I love how he describes that equity is serving people in a way that they need to be served and it requires us to pay attention to where the needs are. And his “dig your well before you’re thirsty” ethos is one we should all emulate.