Wow...Today I am hosting the last of my "state of the facility" addresses for the year end 2006/2007. For some reason my talk today transcended the norm, and became an empowerment speech...To the point that I had a few staff members in tears..Yikes..These were good tears, but still I apparently touched a nerve, and it created energy to seek action.
I am speaking about the anger that I have related to our current spending in the state of michigan per prisoner vs. what we spend per elder on care. As a tax payer; it makes me very angry and apparently my anger became other's anger as we shared a moment related to the injustice of it all... I shared this information with my staff as a hopeful catalyst to get them involved in voting, having their voice heard and for them to recognize that they "are the government". I spoke openly about the budget crisis we are facing; what it could mean to us as a building, and what it could mean to them individually as tax payers. We talked about options that we have, and my perception related to our government leaderships lack of vision to correct the financial crisis we are in.
Perhaps my passion is a little over the top; and in retrospect, I know I must be careful about sharing my opinion, but as a leader, sometimes we fail when we forget to share. We fail ourselves, and those we serve by not letting them see the human being inside who has real emotionional responses to situations.
I know that sharing my angst, created a need for action in a few people today...Good. The discussion in the break room this evening was about my "speech" and what "we" are going to do...Good.
Allowing my staff to see me angry is something new for them, and for me. I try to remain calm, even in crisis, ( I am sure my boss is rolling her eyes at the thought of me identifying myself as calm). But if you were to ask my staff, I am thought of as kind, fair, energized but never angry. Today they saw my anger for the first time.
Whatever it takes to get people motivated to become involved and help us take action against elder injustices...Whatever it takes to get people out to vote and use their voice. It is empowering, not only for me; but especially for them. There is no doubt in my mind that we will have several individuals who will become involved in this process as it unfolds. To me; creating energy and new thought processes in others is the best reward of leadership I can ever get.
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