LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

• Finding, Hiring & Keeping Top Employees
   

• Building Upon Strengths and Maximizing Personal Performance -learning what we can do to continue and improve team efforts
   

• Advanced Communication Skills - how to listen well, correct fairly and find solutions to daily challenges
   

• Building a Championship Team

EDCON'S LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY

As is typically the case, the content of training seminars offered by consulting companies is often a combination of: (1) landmark concepts advanced by world renowned theorists and researchers; and (2) the learnings from life experiences of a consulting company's principals.  Such is the case with the Leadership programs offered by The Edcon Group.  We lean heavily into the ideas of three giants in the world of management effectiveness:  Robert Greenleaf, Peter Drucker, and Thomas Gordon.

Robert Greenleaf's landmark 1970 essay, The Servant As Leader, introduced the now common term "Servant Leadership" to the world.  He defines it as:

A practical philosophy which supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions.  Servant Leaders may or may not hold formal leadership positions.  Servant Leadership encourages collaboration, trust, foresight, listening, and the ethical use of power and empowerment.

Servant leadership, simply put, is creating an environment in which leaders see their roles as supporting front line workers, helping them achieve, feel good about their work, and know that they are the ones to whom the entire organization turns for suggestions on how to improve.

Using this mindset, the role of Administrators, Directors of Nursing, Managers of Food Service, etc. is to support the efforts of those who directly care for residents with one primary goal: to keep elders and their needs at the very center of everything we do.

We have used this philosophy to build a series of seminars to help servant leaders change patterns of directing or expecting to supporting and shaping.  Obviously, to do this, we need information.  We must learn from residents themselves, family members, and especially direct care professionals who interact daily with elders.  Anything and everything we do must pass one test: Is it good for our elders?

Peter Drucker is described as the Founding Father of the Study of Management.  He has written 35 books (among them The Effective Executive), hundreds of articles and received the Presidential Metal of Freedom.  He studied and carefully documented the differences between organizations that simply measured productivity with those which monitored effectiveness.  He was the first to write about the difference in responding to breakdowns in performance with designing outcomes.

Applying his concepts to elder care, we have decided that teams (staff and their leaders) perform best when four basic questions can be answered by all:

1. What am I supposed to do?

2. Why should I do it?

3. How good is good?

4. How am I doing?

There's an interesting quote from the book Alice In Wonderland that captures the essence of Drucker's thoughts about the importance of team members having a sense of direction:

You see, Alice was lost and had come to a fork in the road.  At this fork was a big tree with a Cheshire cat sitting up high.  She said to the cat, "Would you tell me please which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to go to," said the cat.

"I don't much care where," said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you walk," said the cat.

"...so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the cat, "if you only walk long enough!"
 

Outstanding care of elders seldom happens by only walking long enough.

Thomas Gordon was a clinical psychologist who spent most of his life working with children and their parents, teaching them how to communicate effectively and fairly.  When he turned his attention to business leaders, the result was his powerful book Leader Effectiveness Training.  It was his belief that good communication among team members is the glue that holds everything together.

The best plans in the world can be decimated by the absence of good listening, hurtful accusing corrective messages, and the inability to quickly address and solve day-to-day obstacles to performance.

Our leadership programs address the issues of finding out what is good for the elders who live in your home and building support systems to assure that the desired outcome is achieved.  We also teach how to make facility growth and improvement a team matter - one in which everyone understands the importance of needed change.  And, all of this is done in an environment in which every team member feels appreciated, listened to, and gently guided to performance improvement.

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FINDING, HIRING AND KEEPING TOP EMPLOYEES

This is a leadership seminar for owners, administrators and supervisors.

Truthfully, it is "hard to get good help."  It's often a challenge to get staff members to do the little "extras" that make the difference between ORDINARY and EXTRAORDINARY care.  First, is the problem of finding good people.  Most leaders need help on learning where to look.

Next, every administrator and supervisor wants to be a motivator...but many don't realize they accidentally de-motivate employees through things they say and do every day.  You'll learn how to turn your team into HIGH PERFORMANCE WINNERS who consistently provide superior service.  This program is a highly condensed overview of essential "people" management skills.  You will learn how to find, hire, compensate, coach and motivate a team of self-starters...and you will take home a solid set of reference materials and ready to use forms.

 PROGRAM OUTLINE:

• Why hire who's "available"?  You'll learn how to: (1) find more places to look for quality employees, (2) not waste time interviewing prospective staff members who have low potential to meet the needs of your facility, (3) conduct solid, legal interviews that get the information you need to make good hiring decisions

•  Break the "I might as well do it myself" syndrome.  Learn how to get staff to do their work...right...the first time

•  Simple techniques you can use every day to get your staff to contribute ideas for improvement instead of grumbling about "dumb things the administrator keeps coming up with for us to do"

•  Why paying for performance saves money and improves the environment for residents

•  How to become a strong coach who teaches staff how to perform better, feel appreciated, and enjoy the work they do

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BUILDING UPON STRENGTHS AND MAXIMIZING PERSONAL PERFORMANCE

This workshop is for leadership personnel who have others directly reporting to them.  It is a full day of receiving highly specific and confidentially presented information about the native management strengths each participant possesses along with ways to build upon those characteristics.  The workshop requires gathering data before the program so that meaningful information can be given to each participant.

Two assessment instruments are used to gather highly objective data.  One is the LEADERSHIP CLIMATE SURVEY; the other is THE ATTENTIONAL AND INTERPERSONAL STYLES INVENTORY (or TAIS -pronounced like Tace).

The Leadership Climate Survey

Building strong work teams requires that everyone knows four things:

1. What am I supposed to do?

2. Why should I do it?

3. How good is good?

4. How am I doing?

The LEADERSHIP CLIMATE SURVEY was developed about 30 years ago and has been completed by thousand of administrators, supervisors and the people they supervise.  As you read through the questions, you will quickly see that the survey isn't designed to determine whether leaders are nice or smart or friendly or other such evaluations.

It is designed to find out if there are any differences between what leaders think they are doing and what their staff thinks they're doing.  For example, leaders might say, Oh, I've told them that several times.  Those they supervise might say, She has never told us that.  Then the survey asks staff members to indicate whether they want their leader to do more...or less...or if they are happy with the way things are now.

This means it is possible (and often happens) that a leader may not be doing something, but its just fine with those who report to him or her.  And, we would say, If it ain't broke...

Maximizing Your Personal Performance

The TAIS Inventory was originally designed for Olympic and World Class athletes...super high performance people who simply cant afford mental errors. It has subsequently been used in elite military units, law enforcement, professional sports, bank personnel, and now health care leaders. The inventory measures 19 critical ways in which we react to the environment and/or situations.  It predicts which situations will cause us stress and the likely ways we will react to those stressors. It explains the kinds of mental mistakes we are likely to make.

We can all benefit from training, coaching and development.  However, no two individuals need the exact same coaching interventions to optimize performance. TAIS provides leaders with important insights into where the pressure points and/or development opportunities are. Equipped with the information, skills can be developed and plans can be made that enable individuals (and teams) to capitalize on their strengths and minimize their vulnerabilities.

Main Things Participants Will Learn

• What situations and/or tasks cause discomfort/stress for them.

• How to avoid costly errors by knowing their likely reaction to pressure.

• The kinds of things which are most likely to cause distractions.

• Whether they sometimes over talk an issue (give far too much information for a simple question).

• Likelihood of taking too much for face value/not asking enough questions

• Do they sometimes leave the impression with staff members and family that they don't believe in themselves and/or the service they are providing to residents?

This is not a psychological evaluation that describes what kind of person you are (Amiable, Expressive...High D, Low S).  It cant tell whether you are a good wife (husband), mother (father)...or things like that.  It measures the way you process information and react to your environment.  Some of us are good at reading a room and some aren't.  Some make decisions very fast, others are very cautious.  Some have the native ability to stick with detailed tasks, others go nuts without several breaks.

There are no right or wrong answers, no good or bad positions.  We each have unique strengths and vulnerabilities. These differences impact our work. We can't do everything equally well. Knowing our tendencies and preferences allows us to make appropriate adjustments.

The results are highly confidential. Each individual gets the only copy of their report.  However, many people enjoy showing their reports to others. It is especially helpful when various leaders compare their results.

The workshop in which the survey results are given is a highly interactive, hands-on program.  Participants will experience how they pay attention to their world as well as discover their native strengths and vulnerabilities.

Management Climate Survey Sample

Leaders complete a questionnaire with questions like these

Staff members complete a questionnaire with questions like these

TAIS Sample

This is a picture of the first page of the questionnaire showing the nature of questions asked. There are a total of 144 questions measuring 19 different attentional and interpersonal styles.

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ADVANCED COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Leaders face a number of challenges daily.  But, by far, the most important is communicating effectively with staff, family members, and residents.

Needless to say, leaders want happy staff members; it's not only more pleasant and enjoyable to work with people who are positive, enthusiastic, and contented, it's also conducive to harmony.  Family members who are upset, troubled, worried or angry simply cannot focus their attention and energy on things you might be trying to explain about care of a loved one.  So, it's generally in the self-interest of leaders to attempt to aid, counsel, or otherwise offer some form of relief to people who are upset or distracted; because, usually, not much progress will take place until others sufficiently resolve their personal issues.

Participants in this seminar will learn three distinctly different elements of effective communication advanced listening skills; how to deliver corrective messages and say no with care and diplomacy; skills for creatively settling conflicts, resolving obstacles to performance, and solving small day-to-day problems.

(1) Listening skill -- Some of us are gifted, some aren't

When it comes to helping people who are unhappy, some of us just seem to have a gifted way of listening, responding and helping.  For most of us, this gift is limited or not there at all.  This is where the advanced listening skills designed by Dr. Thomas Gordon can make the difference in resolving upsets and distractions.

Most of us do not have a natural instinct for helpful communication.  All too often we take approaches to helping that prove to be hurtful, even when our intentions are positive and caring.  We have dubbed these unhelpful approaches as communication roadblocks," since they often do just that - throw up a roadblock or barrier in front of a person who is upset - and discourage further communication, sometimes shutting it down entirely.

One set of skills participants learn is how to listen so that others can talk through and resolve problems that are causing distractions.  Participants learn how to be accepting, genuine and empathetic in day-to-day communications.

(2) Assertive communication -- Informing others prevents problems

Next, most of us have learned the wisdom of taking steps to make our homes safe, healthy, and comfortable before accidents or misery can happen.  We weatherproof before the snow starts flying; we set up lines of defense before the flies and mosquitoes stage their annual assault.

The time-worn saying that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" applies equally to relationships leaders have with staff and families.  Why wait until you are in the middle of a major event (i.e., a holiday meal) to tell a person that preparation has not been adequate.  And, have you ever found yourself agreeing to some request by a family member when you really didn't think it was in your best interest?

All too often we end up feeling upset or resentful toward others because we fail to let them know that their requests are placing stress on us and perhaps the organization.  It's like setting a trap for ourselves by not acting preventively.  The results can be actions others take that make it difficult for you to function.

The key to fixing relationship problems is assertive self-disclosure: knowing what you value, need, and want and expressing those thoughts and feelings to others.  Assertiveness is important because most of our needs must be met through our relationships.  Indeed, we often must gain the cooperation of co-workers, and others to get what we want to meet our goals.

(3) Converting problems to solutions

Finally, this powerful program for problem solving focuses on problem solving.

Although the most potent skill a supervisor can use to help others when they are upset is great listening skills, listening alone may not be sufficient to bring about a solution to a problem.  Finding good solutions to problems (or apparent impasses) depends on many factors, the most important of which are:

the listening skills of the leader

the willingness and openness of staff or
family members to communicate

the nature of the problem itself

We can often help others find solutions to problems by guiding them through an effective problem solving process.  Variations of this process are used in the scientific, business, and educational communities and usually cover the following six steps:

Step 1.  Identify the Problem

Step 2.  Generate Alternative Solutions

Step 3.  Evaluate Alternatives

Step 4.  Choose a Solution

Step  5.  Implement the Solution

Step 6.  Evaluate Results

This is a highly interactive program that teaches vitally important skills for increasing productivity and ways to create a harmonious environment.  It is the best known, most used management communication skills program in the world.

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BUILDING A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM

Following is an interesting perspective on Leadership.

A Leader Has Nothing To Do...Except:

To decide what is to be done;

To tell somebody to do it;

To listen to reasons why it should not be done,

Why it should be done by someone else,

Or why it should be done a different way;

 

To follow up to see if the thing has been done;

To discover that it has not been done;

To inquire why it has not been done;

To listen to excuses from the person
who should have done it

And did not do it;

 

To follow up again to see if the thing has been done;

To discover it has been done, but done incorrectly;

To point out how it should be done;

To conclude that as long as it has been done,

It might as well be left as is, even though it's not right;

To wonder if it's time to get rid of a person
who cannot do a thing right;

To reflect that any successor would probably
be just as bad, and maybe worse;

 

To consider how much simpler and better
things would have been done

If one had done it oneself in the first place;

To reflect sadly if one had done it oneself it
could have been done in twenty minutes;

To realize that as things turned out one has spent two days trying to find out why It has taken
someone else three weeks to do it wrong;

But, to do it oneself would strike at the very foundation of the belief that a Leader has nothing to do!

-         Anonymous     

If leaders truly have beliefs about their staff similar to those above, it will become a self-fulfilling prophesy. 

Staff learns to perform in line with expectations.
 

Delegation is not dumping

Delegation is an often used and misunderstood term by leaders. We pay lip service to delegation because we are aware it's something expected of us. Many believe and acknowledge it is one of the key skills needed. In spite of this, many have a very limited view of delegation. One might even say it is completely erroneous.

Many leaders see delegation as merely assigning tasks or responsibilities to others. They believe delegating is telling someone else to do something. In reality, telling someone to do something is assigning, directing, or ordering, but it is not delegating.

The literal meaning of delegate is to entrust to another. This implies a relationship where the leader believes the staff member will achieve the expected results. It further implies constant checking will be unnecessary.

The other side of the coin is the attitude or the mind set of the staff member. She must also believe she can get the job done and trust that her leader will give space to do it her way unless she requests or needs assistance.

In this program we study the issues surrounding the currently popular term empowerment and participants learn how to live the definition of management: GETTING THINGS DONE THROUGH OTHER PEOPLE.
 

Team building through goal setting

Another key responsibility of management is shaping and guiding a group of people to achieve some kind of common purpose.  The frustration arises when those people either do not want to accomplish the task or put a great deal of effort into accomplishing another (unnecessary or unimportant) thing.

The glue which holds an employee team together is staff owning part of the action in the goal setting and decision making process.  Staff members opinions and suggestions are respected.  Leaders who seek and honor the input of their staff understand the synergistic effect it has on groups - they simply work harder on projects if they are key players in deciding what things need to be done.

Most employees actually want a voice in decisions about group productivity. They want to view it as my job, my input, my output, my decisions, etc.  When staff has a sense of responsibility for meeting group objectives and getting things done...the job will get done better, faster, in a far more harmonious environment.

An often mentioned possibility for leaders is to use a democratic work group model - everyone is essentially equal in determining the direction of the organization.  Many large experiments with the concept show that it consistently produces discontent and disorganization.  Groups need a leader.

But, the leader can be authoritarian or can be one who builds a team of people who have a sense of ownership of the work to be done.  That's what the second part of this program is about.  Participants learn how to set organizational goals and build consensus for accomplishing them.

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