Hello, my name is Frank De Seno I have been a PanCAN volunteer for 10-plus years with the PanCAN Chicago Affiliate where I held a number of roles. In December my wife and I moved to the Phoenix area where I accepted the role of Phoenix Affiliate Chair.

Throughout my personal and professional career, I always had the belief of treating everyone I meet with respect, courtesy and politeness. My theory is I want to be treated the same way from people I meet and associate within my life. This also helps in getting a person to feel more comfortable to have a conversation, open up more easily and develop a relationship, either on a personal or professional level.

This may sound difficult to do if you are on the shy or quite side, but it is much easier than you may think. When I first meet a person, be it a celebrity, a president of a Fortune 500 company, or just someone I meet on the street, I use this thought in my mind to overcome any nervousness or fear. Each person I meet is just that, a person that was raised from a child, went to school, eats and sleeps just like me. The only difference is they are in a different situation than me.

As I have done my entire life, I use this belief in my PanCAN life as well when meeting new members to our affiliate, affiliate team members, survivors, caregivers, volunteers and PanCAN leadership. By doing this since I started to volunteer for PanCAN, I have had the opportunity, and pleasure of meeting many extremely important and wonderful people. And guess what? We treat each other with mutual respect and are working toward helping or supporting one another in the fight to end pancreatic cancer.

Having this openness and respect helps when you are in a leadership role, doing an interview, or just meeting volunteers. This can and will go a long way in gaining trust and respect in whatever role that you are filling. Another piece of the puzzle to help you be a good leader, is to always keep your promise whenever you can, and always follow up with the person or group that you are working with for that issue.

I have found that this works for me in all areas my life and helps make me the person that I am today. This may not hold true for everyone but try it and see what happens.
 

• Written by Frank De Seno, VAC Member