Progress Not Perfection: Interview with Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society
I recently went one on one with Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Julie: Well, growing up with the dream of becoming a lawyer, I never expected to be where I’m at today. After attending undergraduate school in Utah, I was scheduled to head to the University of Virginia School of Law when I took one last-hurrah road trip to Mexico with some friends. During the 1800-mile drive back to Salt Lake City, one person in our group convinced us to stop by Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab to visit a dog who she was sponsoring, and the rest of us reluctantly agreed. And this is where my life changed in an instant. It’s hard to describe the beauty of Angel Canyon, but more than that I remember the founders of Best Friends, how they worked together, looked for new ways to do things and never accepted the status quo when they thought there was something better. My first experience with visiting a local animal shelter was when I was a junior in college. I wanted to adopt a cat and having never stepped foot inside a shelter I was surprised to see it completely empty. Upon inquiring about wanting a cat, I was told that they had “taken care of them all” the day prior, further explaining that they had killed them all. The exception, he said, were two small kittens who he pulled out from under his desk. I immediately adopted them both and left the shelter that day agonizing over the state of the U.S. shelter system. Back then, when others thought that the only viable solution to dealing with homeless pets in shelters was to kill them, Best Friends flipped that notion in its head, and looked for viable solutions through the lens of compassion and sparked the no-kill movement. And I wanted to be part of it. I made the decision to forego law school and instead joined Best Friends as employee number 17.
Adam: What are the best leadership lessons you have learned from leading a non-profit organization?
Julie: Never underestimate how much time and attention you need to devote to connecting with your staff — the people who are driving your mission forward - and providing them with what they need. We have a team whose primary job is to be a point of personal contact and support for different segments of the organization covering all staff to make sure they have what they need. We call them our Employee Engagement team, and they work to make life easier for our staff by connecting with them individually on a regular basis and helping to navigate any potential roadblocks. Your people are your greatest assets in any organization or business.
Adam: What are your best tips for fellow leaders of non-profit organizations?
Julie: The main thing is that you always have to look above the fray. You’ve got to keep your eyes at the 30,000-foot view and not get pulled into the tactics and details of the day-to-day job. You don’t need to know how to do everyone’s job, but you do need to know what “good” looks like, and to give your team the confidence that you see the bigger picture and destination. You have to stay aligned to your North Star. If your compass is a tick or two off, after a few miles you will be leading your team off course.
Adam: In your experience, what are the keys to building a winning organizational culture?
Julie: You really need to listen to your staff at all levels because often, your culture isn’t what you’d like to think it is. The only way to create the culture that you want is to accept the reality, and with transparency and engagement of all stakeholders, set out to build that culture together as an organization. One of the most important decisions a CEO can make is who they put in charge of HR. At the end of the day, you need one of your strongest and best leaders, even if that means tapping someone from a different area of the organization versus bringing in someone from the outside who doesn’t get your culture.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Julie:
· Maximize the resources around you — particularly human resources. Paraphrasing Maya Angelou: people will not always remember what you said to them, but they will always remember how you made them feel. Our journey over the past year was an example of this. People everywhere, including our staff, were frightened and shaken as things that we had always taken for granted were turned on their head. It was my responsibility to be the point of stability for our organization. I took action to dispel staff’s anxiety over their jobs and personal lives to make sure that they had the support they needed to cope with life during the pandemic. I had to do that all day, every day for months.
· Tune into your emotional intelligence and lead with that. That means recognizing that most people are really trying to do the right thing and aren’t trying to pull the wool over your eyes. I trust my staff.
· Trust your gut. There’s science behind this but we humans don’t understand enough about it. There’s a lot of information coming at you every day that can distort your gut instinct, and it’s about remaining centered and tuning into your intuitive sense because usually it’s right.
· Risk-taking. In 2016 I announced Best Friends’ moonshot that we would end the killing of dogs and cats in our country’s shelters by 2025. It is a big, bold goal for our movement, and now we are on course to achieve it.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?
Julie:
- Don’t be afraid to follow your grand passion in life and make it a point to help those who work for you find theirs as well. Helping people find their grand passion not only makes for a better organization but a better world.
- Always listen to your staff. You can’t accomplish your goals on your own, you need a motivated team behind you to make it happen.
- Fear is the enemy, especially fear of failure. But in truth, the best teacher is failure. Don’t let fear stop you.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?
Julie: As a leader, you’re tempted to jump in because you think you see what the problems are, and you want to start making a bunch of changes to help. But really the best course of action is doing a listening tour to learn what’s happening through other people’s eyes. Listen before being listened to. And always be looking for top talent, starting within your own organization. At Best Friends, many people have worn different hats. Where they start out in the organization might not be where they end up. We look at people’s skills and potential first and foremost, and give them opportunities to grow, even if that means moving them into roles where they don’t have traditional experience. When people are working at their highest potential they will thrive, and as a result, your organization will thrive.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Julie: Focus on progress not perfection— too many people box themselves in and not knowing when to move forward because they get snagged on perfectionist details. Our world changes quickly and if you don’t adapt and evolve, you’re not going to survive by insisting on perfection today and losing sight of future goals.
Adam: What should everyone do to pay it forward?
Julie: Be kind to animals. Our organization is focused on ending the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters and treating all animals with kindness and compassion. We need more people adopting and fostering these incredible animals so we can continue to save more lives.