Leadership: Candy Bar Style

I work in a nursing home, and we recently experienced a series of leadership changes, and I knew the team was apprehensive about it. During one our first meetings as a new group, I created an object lesson that centered on leadership qualities.  I purchased as many candy bars and other confection items that I possibly could and placed them in a basket. The basket was placed in the middle of the conference room table. When it was my turn at the meeting, we talked about each candy bar and its correlation to leading people. Here is what the team experienced that morning. Please note, not all the sayings are original, and many can be readily found on Google.

A great smile is the best Ice Breaker and a great joke does not hurt either. Your job as a leader should be full of Snickers and 'Laff'ter (Laffy Taffy). 

Leaders should ‘Rolo’ver (Rolos) for the staff and residents. 

No person can be a great leader unless they take genuine Joy (Almond Joy) in the success of those under them.

'Kind'ness (Kind Bar) is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.

As a leader it takes Mounds and Mounds of energy, time, and investment into your role.

A team is like a Symphony. When in harmony, the work is like a beautiful piece of music.

As a leader, there is Zero room for negativity, gossip, threats, blame, judgement, sarcasm, and talking about others.

There often is a 'Twix'ed (Twix) view of staff. Some leaders think of them as public enemy number one, and sometimes we feel like they act like Air Heads, Dum Dums, Goobers, and Nerds. Sometimes they do tell Whoppers of stories and seem to have Butterfingers when handling tasks. Others have Sour (Sour Patch Kids) and not Jolly (Jolly Rancher) expressions or worse yet act like Smarties and Duds (Milk Duds). There always seems to be Three Musketeers creating some sort of trouble. Our job as leaders is to train and equip staff to be successful and to help them to connect the Dots for best outcomes.

As a leader you will Skor big time if you Take Five minutes a day to connect with high performers.

A'bun'dantly (Bun) show appreciation through handwritten notes and small token prizes.

As a leader you should believe in each team member to do to exceedingly above all that you could ask or think of them from here to Mars and the Milky Way.

A Good (Mr. GoodBar) leader takes a little more of the blame and a little less of the credit.

Leadership is more than just PayDay. We have the opportunity to collect and disburse a more significant legal tender and that is value. The value and the worth of staff is the value and worth of their job.

There are so many rules and restrictions in a nursing home. It can leave you at a loss for words and saying ‘you know that Whatamacallit regulation.’

'Care-a'-million (Caramello) about the people you supervise.  

Being a leader means you Skittle and skattatle around getting the job done.

There are many Riesens as a leader that listening to the team is important. 

As a leader you are O'Fish'cially (Swedish Fish) the cheerleader and number pompom waver for your team.

The leader is someone who the team can depend upon in a Crunch (Nestle).

There is plenty of Good (Good & Plenty) qualities in the team members here. 

If you have character, conviction, and Co‘Mint’ment (York Peppermint) you are on the right track to leadership.

Leaders are more important Role (Tootsie Rolls) models when the listen and learn rather than speak and teach.

Go the Extra mile. It is never crowded. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is extra.

Hug (Hershey) the residents. It is the silent way of saying your matter to me. It transcends the inability to communicate and whatever disability one may have. 

Every Now & Later it is necessary as a leader to make beds, take out the trash, wash dishes, pour beverages, serve meals, vacuum, clean a toilet, wipe the dust from the front of the TV, pull weeds, and clean out the break room microwave.

A Mo’Mento’ (Mentos) is a reminder. Develop a slogan or mantra that motivates staff and helps keep them focused.  

‘Tride’ (Trident) and true team members must be recognized and rewarded. 

Sometimes situations can be Red Hot among staff members. Just remember that a discussion is a conversation around knowledge and understanding, and an argument is a conversation around ignorance and not listening.

CNAs, housekeepers, and dining workers are the LifeSavers of the organization.  As a leader understanding and appreciating their role is vital. 

 Steadily 'Raisin' (Raisinets) expectations is part of achievement. Life will meet you exactly where your expectations lie.

Ande (Ande’s) best leadership characteristic rated by most staff is respect.

As leaders we should be 'Burst'ing (Starburst) with appreciation when a staff member does something right. When staff are appreciated, they will do more than what is expected.

Have you 'Reese'-cently shared with a team member that they are doing a great job? Have you named specifically what thing they did great so they know to keep doing that thing?

There are 100 and one reasons that make your team Grand (100 Grand).

At the conclusion of the pep talk, I instructed each leader to take several candy bars and to pass them out to deserving team members using the clever, correlating phrase. This was one of the best days at the Nursing Home that we had had in a while. The leaders were motivated and excited about passing out their tokens and enjoyed explaining to me who was going to receive which one and why. The staff were eager recipients and relished getting the praise and encouragement from the leadership team. This candy bar object lesson set the tone and direction for the new group and has helped move us forward collectively.