The Pursuit of Another Career Mountain to Climb

My career path, as are my personal interests and passions, are rooted in diversity and vivid experiences. My experiences in climbing over 350 glaciated mountains all over the world have given me a unique and different perspective on work and life. Coming from a background in theater, music, and speech really shaped who I am today as a person. After I had my professional experiences in singing, theater, musical theater, film, and television for many years, I transitioned into the corporate world. Using what I learn in life and the study of the human element is at the very core of my being. Each person that I interact with has something else to share, something else to contribute, and a lesson for me to learn. The word "value" is a misleading term. What is value really? The perception of any given individual has a different definition for this word. In my perspective and experiences, each person that I come in contact with has value and the opportunity to do wonderful things, if they take this path and clearly define it, as they circumnavigate the various roads of life. This reminds me of one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken." Life can be bumpy, scary, and daunting at times. We will all slip and fall many times. We must find the sheer will to rise like the phoenix and ignore the doubts in our mind. In these trying times, we must always remember our goals and continue to refocus on the primary goal and summit that we are attempting to climb. I follow the same philosophy in my work as my mountain climbing.

As my career progressed, I had the great fortune of of working for many international corporations, like Cushman & Wakefield and Locke Lord, LLP for many years. Each experience taught me more eclectic skills and I met such wonderful individuals on my journey, that I remain friends with to this day. We many not speak on a daily or even yearly basis, but this is the lasting impact that one individual can have upon another. Mutual respect was always a running theme during my tenure with these organizations. This is the core of my business acumen. This is where my leadership and interpersonal skills were honed. I worked hard to try and master my facilities, event planning, and most importantly, what kind of leader that would I be. This is where my "leading from the heart" management style was born. I realized that a "boss" is not a leader. The word "boss" reminds me of someone like Al Capone. "Hey kid... it's my way or the highway!" Fear is not respect. Respect is earned, even as a leader, even though some more staunch individuals won't admit this. This outdated management style takes the respect, dedication, total commitment, and collaboration immediately out of the equation. As I write this, nearly 51% of employees are leaving their jobs. Studies say that the highest percent of turnover is related to their poor relationship with their leaders. This is not a shocker people.

Now this is just some food for thought. This is not the reason that I choose to write this article. Sometimes to illustrate who you are and who you aren't can help others understand what you can bring to the table as a future leader in your organization.

Six years ago, I took all that I had learned in my life into the Senior Living arena. As I have illustrated, this was not a giant leap. I have always been in the people business with my experiences with my owned companies, Best Kept Secret Racing, LLC and Phoenix Rising Presentations, LLC. In my position of the Director of Lifestyle, I took my brand of creativity, out-of-the box thinking, person-centered care, and "leading from the heart' management style to slowly climb another career mountain and take on another challenge. Because I had no preconceived notion of older adults, except that they are valuable and have so much to share, it was a winning combination. I worked with the home office on special Lifestyle and Memory Care agendas across the network, became a CDP and CADDCT, trained new Team Members on the organizations service culture modeled after the Ritz-Carlton model, public spoke at conferences on successful aging, and so much more. For this and the all the other opportunities afforded to me to learn and grow, I am deeply honored and humbled. I met many wonderful and extraordinary individuals along the way. As a leader, I uptrained my team members. My affection and pride for them will never change or diminish. I am proud to say that many of them were promoted internally. Others who I mentored now hold positions equal to, if not higher than, mine with other organizations. Life is about the human element and journey. You must strike that same balance with your team. You must have passion. You must have an all inclusive loyalty to your team and to the organization. When I was able to transform the community into 90% resident-run campus and was a integral part in the community becoming a "Center For Successful Aging" with Masterpiece Living, I knew that I had reached the top of that mountain. I enjoyed the beautiful view from the top, took a deep breath, and stayed on the summit for a while. I knew I had done all I could for the organization in my current role and it was time for me to say goodbye.

Without constant growth, one cannot sustain life. This is like a plant that never gets watered. I am looking for that new challenge, that new goal, that next mountain to climb to make that positive and sustaining impact with a new organization in a new role. I am looking for an opportunity that allows me to continue to make a more far reaching difference in the lives of not only older adults, but to all individuals that I am fortunate to come in contact with in my career and life journey. To do this, I need your help. Please like or share my article so this can reach the largest audience that we possibly can. I will not limit my search to job titles, but where I can make the biggest difference. This being said, I am highly interested in Regional Lifestyle, Regional Memory Care, Organizational Culture Director, and Executive Director roles. I am also open to leadership roles of any kind. My work experience traverses many disciplines and professions. As I have said in many of my various articles and in my book, if you can dream it, you can do it. All you need is belief in yourself. I believe in myself. Now I just need you to believe in me as well. Thank you for taking the time to read my article. It truly comes from my heart. Keep climbing your mountains. I will be watching and smiling. I will continue public speaking and training on leadership, work-life balance, Kaizen, culture development, and dementia in the meantime. If you would like to discuss any opportunities, please contact me. I can be reached at [email protected]. I look forward to our next mountain that we can climb together. The view from the summit will be breathtaking. And better than that, we will do it together as a team.