John Wayne Mullins by Benjamin Rubenstein
If he closed his eyes and forgot where he was, John Mullins, 34, could think he was at a concert performed by Julliard prodigies. Mullins recalls the musicians between ages 7 and 18 playing their hand-crafted instruments as their maestro guided them. The performance was so mesmerizing, he and many other members of the audience forgot to eat their dinners sitting before them.
The youths were part of the Recycled Orchestra. One violin was made from a baking tray, a woodwind made from a sewer pipe, their components were discovered and repurposed from one of the largest landfills in South America. A native Paraguayan started Recycled Orchestra to keep kids off the streets. The young performers, who have now played internationally and with bands like Metallica, were brought in and performed at a special event just for Mullins and his team.
Mullins had arrived in Asunción, Paraguay, with about 250 others from around the world on Jan. 30 to work some 15 hours a day for five days. Mullins, a management and program analyst in the Office of Human Capital and Training, put in annual leave and took the trip as a personal journey. He went as part of a delegation through leadership guru John C. Maxwell to conduct a not-for-profit leadership education project to transform Paraguay’s leaders.
Beginning at 5 a.m., Mullins and his peers visited banks, hospitals, community centers and universities to conduct three-hour leadership workshops. Mullins says the sessions taught Paraguayan leaders values-based leadership and how to improve their cultural values in an effort to transform their country.
Even more than Mullins gave to others on his trip, he got back. He and some peers delivered a workshop to a bank. After the session, one of the bank managers brought them to the top floor that had a barbecue pit. The manager explained that every day his team lunched together out there. “Having that time set aside to break bread together and be a family at work – they value that,” Mullins says. “They want their staff to really know each other.”
Mullins has embraced a positive attitude to helping others and promoting leadership throughout his life. He grew up in Mansfield, Ohio, rooting for the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturdays and attending church on Sundays. Mullins says the latter is where he gained his values, though watching young men give everything they have in physical competition probably helped, too.
Right after high school at 18, Mullins joined the Coast Guard. Mullins says the Coast Guard embodies the same values he gained in his childhood: family, service, and caring for others. There, he learned about personal development and leadership, which Mullins says is influence, nothing more, nothing less. Mullins says he saw all kinds of leaders and that the ones with positive attitudes inspired him the most.
After 16 years in the Coast Guard, he joined USCIS and the Coast Guard Reserve in 2014. Mullins also began a graduate program for organizational leadership in coaching and mentoring at Regent University.
Mullins is inspired to share positivity and good leadership practices at USCIS. In fact, he already has. “If you don’t have intentional conversations about values and skills, you’ll never grow. I try to have those conversations on a weekly basis. I meet with my team and set aside 30 minutes to discuss ways to improve.”
Mullins will earn his master’s degree this May. What will he do with all that time no longer spent studying? He says he’s taking a week off to vacation with his family at their beach house on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. He adds, “I’m really looking forward to this next chapter of my life and the great things that are to come.”
Whatever Mullins does, he will bring a positive attitude.
BENJAMIN RUBENSTEIN IS THE AUTHOR OF THE CANCER-SLAYING SUPER MAN BOOKS. CONNECT WITH HIM ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK. ALSO, SUBSCRIBE TO CANCERSLAYERBLOG.He writes about health and extraordinary people, and he intentionally positions himself around positive people like John Mullins.
