Just like the wicked stepmother in snow white, it seems that some in our industry still have a mirror image problem. That is; that when they look into the mirror, they only see the beauty, good and their own perception of what "we" are all about. While in reality the image our public sees is the ugly, evil vision of what "we" are all about...
And herein lies the problem...
As an industry, we need to recognize and embrace the current public image of who we are. Embrace it? Yes, embrace it; live it and think it...The only way to overcome a problem is to get into the heart of it to understand it. This concept comes to me from an excerpt I recently ready where an engineer who designed jets was called by the military with a problem r/t a design flaw in on of his planes that was causing out of control spiraling. What did he do? He got in a plane and put it into a spin; the result? He figured out what the cause of the system failure was. He stated that it was best learning opportunity to create a solution.
Yesterday I did interviews for a professional level position in my building. None of the candidates had long term care experience. As I went thru the paces of questions; I finally asked one last question. "Please honestly tell me your perception about long term care." I was asking this prefaced by a statement that their answer would not weigh on my decision, I simply want information about how we are perceived (especially from potential new hires) and how they came about that perception. Their answers were all brutally honest. Did I hear it? Could you have sat and accepted hearing it?
I like to think that I can hear the criticism from the public...I hope that by being open to this I can figure out how to create a paradigm shift in thinking and imagery that gets into the minds of society. It is probably the most painful part about working in long term care. The constant barrage of negativity that surrounds the profession frequently gets our defense mechanisms racing and the barriers go up.
As the leader, it is imperative that my team has witness to my acceptance of the public image and that I role model discussion on how to change, not how to defend our position.
If we as leaders in long term care really want to create a shift in thinking, we need to start with our own mirror image; and then willingly, painfully, share that with those whom we lead. Until this happens the image that we see will always delude us; and the true image of what we could become will fail to fill the looking glass that we peer into...
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