Post by Lori Hebert on Jun 8, 2021 20:31:46 GMT
1. Are you more of a Why, a What, or a How person?
Wow that ted talk was awesome! From all the work I have done with the state of New Hampshire I am now a “why” person. However, I will share prior to coming to social/human services I was more of a “how to” person. This came from a decade of working in the for-profit arena where inquisition into improving services was stifled, which ultimately led to the loss of business and expansion opportunities.
I am someone who practices self-awareness, I check motives, my own and those around me, personally and professionally. Why am I doing this? Why does it matter to me? To others? These are questions I use daily as a parent and as a program leader.
Where do YOU begin when "selling" your vision?
I think for me selling an idea, a dream or a vision starts with the above, checking my motives and self-reflecting on my thinking before it becomes action. I am also one to include other viewpoints in all discovery phases, whether it be changing a process, expanding services and/or pursuing new opportunity. There is value in bringing individuals into the conversations that bring different professional and education backgrounds as well as lived experiences when processing through improving practice and/or growing it.
2. How do you help your team (or your colleagues) "see the vision, live it, and breathe it"? (See Chapter 5 Winning)
During COVID, the Strength to Succeed program was put on a hiring and pay adjustment freeze like many other programs across the Fedcap landscape. The challenge with this was unlike other programs, Strength to Succeed was awarded a program expansion by the Governor and council. This expansion would increase caseloads and responsibilities for field staff and supervisors along with adding service metrics to the program.
With no lead time and at the height of COVID case rise in New Hampshire, I had to rally staff to take on more without monetary incentive.
How did I do that? First by celebrating their work, this expansion was a direct result of their exemplary peer service work with families. Using every opportunity to build their confidence as they moved to serve a more diverse population, increasing trainings, supervision and implementing a peer support collaborative for them to help each other. Listening to their concerns and acting on them. Many field staff started losing breaks during the day and working extra hours, knowing the budget can’t support overtime and not reporting it. I increased allowable flex time for the staff, and we worked to ensure they took their breaks along with mental health days as needed. I established trust, having honest and open conversations collectively and individually about taking on more without the compensation and how they felt about that. I had to stay positive, validate their concerns and sell them on what could happen if the program successfully implements the expansion services; sustainability for the model, job security, add to their resume skills, and increase professional development opportunities for them. This approach did not work with all field staff and some left, and that was OK. We celebrated their opportunity while identifying those that did stay shared a passion for the vision, a drive to uphold the mission and the motivation to live the values. In October we will move from being grant funded to part of the states approved service array providers, a direct result of the work program staff did during the COVID expansion.
3. What types of questions might you ask of your team that are "answered with action"?
Questions I asked of the field supervisors during the expansion were to open dialogue around moral, capacity, and service and all were meant to drive action. We looked at staff caseloads and noticed differences according to region and skill level, so I asked, “How can we take those more skilled staff and utilize them as a mentor or trainer for those struggling to increase their cases?” Another question I asked, was “How can we take their skills and turn that into a program wide training opportunity”. I also had to look at the moral in the field, especially after staff turnover “What supports can we quickly put into place for improving concerns and moral”.
4. What one thing would you add to Welch's "Leadership Rules"?
One thing I thought could be included is humility and vulnerability. Welch does mention making mistakes and owning them as opportunity to learn but what I did not hear was to be a great leader there is level of humility needed in all facets of leadership. Being vulnerable to your team directly results in an honest relationship where they truly trust that you are there for them, for their development and that you care about “them” just as much as you do about their “performance”.
Wow that ted talk was awesome! From all the work I have done with the state of New Hampshire I am now a “why” person. However, I will share prior to coming to social/human services I was more of a “how to” person. This came from a decade of working in the for-profit arena where inquisition into improving services was stifled, which ultimately led to the loss of business and expansion opportunities.
I am someone who practices self-awareness, I check motives, my own and those around me, personally and professionally. Why am I doing this? Why does it matter to me? To others? These are questions I use daily as a parent and as a program leader.
Where do YOU begin when "selling" your vision?
I think for me selling an idea, a dream or a vision starts with the above, checking my motives and self-reflecting on my thinking before it becomes action. I am also one to include other viewpoints in all discovery phases, whether it be changing a process, expanding services and/or pursuing new opportunity. There is value in bringing individuals into the conversations that bring different professional and education backgrounds as well as lived experiences when processing through improving practice and/or growing it.
2. How do you help your team (or your colleagues) "see the vision, live it, and breathe it"? (See Chapter 5 Winning)
During COVID, the Strength to Succeed program was put on a hiring and pay adjustment freeze like many other programs across the Fedcap landscape. The challenge with this was unlike other programs, Strength to Succeed was awarded a program expansion by the Governor and council. This expansion would increase caseloads and responsibilities for field staff and supervisors along with adding service metrics to the program.
With no lead time and at the height of COVID case rise in New Hampshire, I had to rally staff to take on more without monetary incentive.
How did I do that? First by celebrating their work, this expansion was a direct result of their exemplary peer service work with families. Using every opportunity to build their confidence as they moved to serve a more diverse population, increasing trainings, supervision and implementing a peer support collaborative for them to help each other. Listening to their concerns and acting on them. Many field staff started losing breaks during the day and working extra hours, knowing the budget can’t support overtime and not reporting it. I increased allowable flex time for the staff, and we worked to ensure they took their breaks along with mental health days as needed. I established trust, having honest and open conversations collectively and individually about taking on more without the compensation and how they felt about that. I had to stay positive, validate their concerns and sell them on what could happen if the program successfully implements the expansion services; sustainability for the model, job security, add to their resume skills, and increase professional development opportunities for them. This approach did not work with all field staff and some left, and that was OK. We celebrated their opportunity while identifying those that did stay shared a passion for the vision, a drive to uphold the mission and the motivation to live the values. In October we will move from being grant funded to part of the states approved service array providers, a direct result of the work program staff did during the COVID expansion.
3. What types of questions might you ask of your team that are "answered with action"?
Questions I asked of the field supervisors during the expansion were to open dialogue around moral, capacity, and service and all were meant to drive action. We looked at staff caseloads and noticed differences according to region and skill level, so I asked, “How can we take those more skilled staff and utilize them as a mentor or trainer for those struggling to increase their cases?” Another question I asked, was “How can we take their skills and turn that into a program wide training opportunity”. I also had to look at the moral in the field, especially after staff turnover “What supports can we quickly put into place for improving concerns and moral”.
4. What one thing would you add to Welch's "Leadership Rules"?
One thing I thought could be included is humility and vulnerability. Welch does mention making mistakes and owning them as opportunity to learn but what I did not hear was to be a great leader there is level of humility needed in all facets of leadership. Being vulnerable to your team directly results in an honest relationship where they truly trust that you are there for them, for their development and that you care about “them” just as much as you do about their “performance”.
