City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/925395
MFI Canada 2017 sparked a personal and profes- sional journey that I couldn't have imagined, a life-altering journey. MFI was more than building leadership—it was about networking, making friendships to last a lifetime, and a teaching cadre who cared enough to take time out of their busy schedules to invest in me both personally and professionally. I walked into this week-long course thinking that I knew a good deal about leadership, but leadership goes beyond a title or a managerial approach. Leadership is about con- necting with people and finding out who you are and what passions drive you. Halfway through this course I had that "a-ha!" moment that sent me into a tailspin and rethinking my career path. My big change came within a week of being home and it was nerve-wracking; however, it lines up with the thought that "leadership is a state of mind." I loved my job, my staff, and the relationships I made through communi- ty and government, but I realized that for me it wasn't enough to continue to advocate for the urban forest through being a foreman. I got fully in touch with a desire to grow beyond where my position took me—and then came an opportunity to be challenged and take on a new role as a Parks Manager with a different organization. So as I sit here and type this, I am also faced with having to type up my letter of resignation and leave an organization that I have come to love—but realizing that everything comes to an end. Everything I have learned is because of the relationships I have made to this point in my career. It is now time to allow for promotion from within, for some- one new to carry the torch at my level and fight for the urban forest for generations to come. And that means that my scope of influence will change. I am looking forward to taking myself to the edge and discovering what I can do to be the best for the world we live in today. I want to thank the MFI teaching cadre for taking me on a journey over a week that I will never forget. I will always be able to look back and say with certainty where that big career-altering moment started! If you are thinking of attending MFI, if you have been looking for that defining moment to challenge you, to change you—then look no further than MFI. Will you be the advocate for change in your own organi- zation? We need good people to advocate for growth and challenge those who are coming after us to create a legacy through preservation and conservatorship of what is one our greatest blessings in life—our URBAN FORESTS! —Timothy Yeaman, Parks Manager, City of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada (top) Timothy Yeaman meets with his peer learning group at the first-ever MFI Canada. Photo by Owen Croy (top right - from left) Winnipeg City Forester Martha Barwinsky, Consulting Arborist Walt Warriner, Hong Kong Conservancy Association Conservation Manager Angie Ng, SMA Executive Director Jerri LaHaie, McNeil Urban Forestry Inc. Managing Principal John McNeil, UBC Faculty of Forestry Owen Croy. (below) Rosa Linda Perez of RLP Communications. Photo by Owen Croy 38