In December of last year, I was delivering a workshop at the annual meeting of the International Council on Active Aging with my associate, Dr. Chris Mulrooney. The topic was creating empowered cultures in active adult communities. We both believe that one answer to creating more cost effective, dynamic and purposeful senior living environment is empowering community members to take on more responsibility as well as authority.
The old paradigm is to create culture wherein members are catered to and cared for in manicured surroundings with little or no responsibilities. While nice for a vacation, such culture can drain life’s meaning. During the 90 minute session, we told stories of how community members had both accepted and embraced to total responsibility for lifelong learning programs in three communities, performing arts program and functioned as a formal component of the sales and marketing teams.
During the Q&A, one of the first questions was, “That sounds great, but the communities you described are more upscale. Can this work for middle and lower income communities?” The short answer is absolutely. The key is to create opportunities wherein members are offered both the responsibility of a program or task, but also the authority to make it happen…to include controlling the allocation of resources. This is not something those in control are generally willing to give up. However, it is perhaps the fastest route to organizational success. There is nothing faster than the Speed of Trust, as described by Dr. Stephen Covey in his book by the same name.
Almost 30 years ago, I was working as the Executive Director of an Area Agency on Aging in community of 11,000 people in NW Iowa. Our offices were located in senior center, owned and operated by a member-controlled County Council on Aging, another story. One member was circulating a petition to have our agency kick out of the center because we did not keep the center open on weekends. I first explained that the current budgets did not allow for staffing 7 days a week. This was not a satisfactory response, but merely exacerbated the issue.
Since I believe every problem has a solution, I decided to offer the ring leader of the discontent a set of keys to the center and told him weekends were now up to him. He immediately accepted and within a couple of months the Center was opened every weekend and even began serving lunches on Saturday. This environment then spawned a weekly bingo game as a revenue source, allowable under Iowa law and the dollars flowed. Within 10 years, the center paid off the mortgage and purchased a small local mall complex for their operations.
If this idea were mentioned today, the first thing you would hear about is liability, control and costs. Still, there is a wealth of wisdom, experience and talent going to waste; because it is too risky. I have been claiming for years, that nonprofit service agencies are sitting on gold mines talent just waiting to be tapped with the right incentive and leadership. The incentive is purpose and the leadership skill required is trust.
Recent Comments