The article you mention is available free online here: http://www.uconnucedd.org/pdfs/FamCtrEIClarValMil-2000.pdf

Thanks for sharing an example of how leadership works through the staff too. It’s wonderful how you recognized your staff’s need and your role in supporting them. When I think about it, this mirrors how we can support families. Rather than making suggestions about what we think they should do, we can step back and ask what they want to happen. Funny how leadership and support seem very similar across both contexts!

Well worth reading. Leadership is a very relevant topic for discussion for all of us. There is a good deal of study on leadership and what is interesting is that leaders can be extroverted and charismatic but don’t have to be. You can be introverted and quiet.
It also does not have to be only the head of a program or agency
although that person does need to demonstrate leadership. It can and should come from within any part of an organization.

A few years ago my staff presented to me their concern that we were serving a number of children with severe feeding problems and they wanted to be better able to address those needs for the families.

Instead of making suggestions to them about we should do I just asked them what do they want to happen. They had been discussing the concern amongst themselves and told me they want to bring in consultants who specialize in feeding issues for a three day training on feeding so all the staff can develop more skills in addressing this issue for future families. My role was only to commit to get it approved and funded.

The leadership came from the direct service staff. They know our mission, the needs of our families and what they needed to make a change in our system to better assist the families.

They knew their work, felt passionate about it, looked to the future and comfortable bringing their ideas forward!

Their efforts and ideas were right on target. Leadership.

Interesting! You and Allan both talk about being passionate about this work. Being a good leader is so key to the role of the system manager, whether the staff size is large or small. I’d love to find some good leadership sites for resources. Any suggestions?

I love your comments, Allan!

Each of us, directly or indirectly, plays a part in the lives of the families we serve. Being passionate about the purpose of our work and partnering up with others along the way adds meaning to the journey!

Love the idea of sharing stories. It inspires.

Terri

Me too, Cori! We’ll have to do some thinking about where we could “house” it, how to collect stories, etc…

Thank you, Allan, for adding your voice to this discussion. It is so easy to get lost in all of the procedures, rules, budgets, etc. I think that your advice would help keep a system manager grounded in what is really important. I love your suggestion about telling stories. Story-telling can be a great way to learn about how people work, what they think about what they do, what they expect, about how the program is working, and about others perceptions of the system. Do you ever catalog or share the stories you hear – maybe with others across your system? A good story needs to be shared, don’t you think? I know of another state that captures EI stories and shares them online and I’ve wondered if we should do the same thing here in VA. Thoughts?

Upon reflecting on this I will offer some of my thoughts about advice to a new LSM.

1. Be future oriented. There are many component,rules,procedures, monitoring, budget etc. These are the business of a Part C System that can distract you from what you want to have happen for your program. Thinking about the future can keep you focused and grounded.
It is a journey.

2. Be passionate. Babies are the future and the early years are the most important. The evidence, research and your personal experience validates this all the time. Our kids who need our services have to have the opportunity to change the trajectory of their life path. Be passionate about this fact.

3. Be a partner. Partner with everyone. Babies universally touch all of us. Clearly we partner with staff, contractors, other agencies, our local government and our families. But there are many others out there. I have shared developmental and parenting information with staff who have had a recent newborn, from budget and other areas who I work with indirectly and infrequently and they have always been appreciative of the information and became much more interested in my program and what we are doing.I get a lot more support when I reach out to them.

4. Tell stories. All families who come to us have a story and many are very poignant. Staff also have stories through their work with families. Ask for stories,listen to stories and share stories.

Enjoy the journey!

Allan

Well said, Terri! 🙂