Testing our leadership skills, especially our communication skills, is certainly difficult these days. Effective communication is always a challenge, but when our emotions are running high and exhaustion is setting in, staying aware of who we are and how we influence others remains extremely important. In Living Leadership today, I plan to break down four…
When I took on my current position in April 2020, I couldn’t have imagined what the next year and a half would bring. With a background that includes executive, strategy and finance positions, I felt well-equipped to help my company grow and succeed in an increasingly competitive landscape. I was unaware, however, that I’d be…
So, a good friend of mine is a preschool teacher. She was telling me about a craft she did with the kids. She got these water beads, which are small marble-like beads, and had the kids put them in water. Once hydrated, they grow 10 times in size after soaking in the water for 24…
Long-term care organizations need to act purposefully to recruit and retain quality frontline leaders. While the lack of caregivers and nurses is a well-known problem, an increasing number of individuals in leadership roles are choosing to leave this industry to pursue opportunities outside of the field. The line of thought that, in long-term care, “that’s…
One of my favorite quotes is from the author of “Kitchen Table Wisdom.” Rachel Naomi Remen often writes about storytelling as a vital process to the sharing of knowledge and to gain renewal. “Everybody has a story. When I was a child, people sat around kitchen tables and told their stories,” she shared. “We do…
This past weekend I joined the class of 1991 for our 30-year class reunion. If I remember correctly, when my parents went to their 30-year reunion, all I could think of is, “Geez, 30 years?! Boy, they are old.” When I attended my reunion, my thoughts had nothing to do with age but everything to…
When a parent passes, people naturally look for their traits within their children. The other day the comment was made to me that I had the same grit as my father. My father was an amazing man, and grit was a descriptor I would use for him. Yet, I associated grit with pure stubbornness. No…
I’m a slow and resistant student in the classroom of life. And perhaps the truth I face most reluctantly is how unwelcome and painful challenges teach lessons that I probably wouldn’t learn any other way. If you’re like me, at your lowest moments you’ve felt the intense desire to slap anyone who waltzes in, puts…
I am not a medical expert, doctor, or counselor; I’m simply a coach’s daughter leading in the great field of long-term care. Pandemic paralysis continues to have a tight hold on us in long-term care. When I was asked and decided to contribute this leadership column several years ago, I had no idea how challenging…
Tobin and Associates, Inc. received a Civil Monetary Penalty Grant to implement a Nurse Leadership Training Program in Ohio from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2020. The purpose of this grant was to evaluate if training nurse leaders in team-building leadership skills would affect nursing turnover and resident and family satisfaction. The project concentrated…
