How will we build a Healthier Community*?

I have had the opportunity to meet many of you at the community and have thoroughly enjoyed hearing about your life, and life at Plymouth Place™, but most importantly, your thoughts about our future together. I look forward to engaging and partnering with you to make 2018 our best year yet!

That being said, how do we move forward together? Recently, during the Resident Finance meeting on December 1st, I shared the 5 Pillars of Excellence, which is an operational framework by which we will measure performance and outcomes.  Over the past 15 years, I have implemented this framework to inspire my team to lead and serve.  This framework supports and provides a focus on employee and resident satisfaction and improved financial results.  There are actionable, measurable pillars that support a healthy community.

I feel that there is nothing more important than delivering on the Plymouth Place promise and creating vibrancy within the organization. Rest assured, by adhering to these metrics, we will demonstrate our results to you.

While the 5 Pillars of Excellence is a framework for performance and measurement, The Servant-Leadership Model supports the behaviors and culture of the organization, as exhibited by the Leadership Team. I have been fortunate enough to have worked with companies that have built multi-billion dollar organizations, by adopting and adhering to the Servant-Leadership Model.  In fact, some of the most successful organizations, such as Starbucks and Nordstrom, have created their success with a relentless belief and practice in this model.  You can read more about these organizations at www.ModernServantLeader.com to help you learn more about this philosophy and these organizations.

However, I have found that the Servant-Leadership Model is very misunderstood and Leadership Teams, within organizations, often struggle to achieve greatness using it. This is most often attributed to a single focus on execution without consideration of applied behavioral principles. Simply, we will use the 5 Pillars of Excellence to provide a framework for operational strategy, and the principles listed below will provide the belief and behavior structure of the Leadership team that is needed to achieve desired outcomes.

Principal 1: Displaying Authenticity

Our organization’s leadership team will be open and accountable to others.  We will earn and maintain integrity and trust. There will be a willingness to learn from each other.

Principal 2: Value People

The leadership team will be receptive to non-judgmental listening and will encourage a forum for feedback and improvement. The leadership team will serve the needs of others before their own and examples of the Servant-Leadership model will be displayed.  There will be evidence, within the organization, that the leadership team has faith in others and that people are trusted.

Principal 3: Developing People

There will be organic and deliberate opportunities for learning and growth.  The leadership team will model appropriate behaviors to support a positive culture.  The development of others will be displayed through encouragement and affirmations.

Principal 4: Building Community

There will be a building of community, as evident by strong personal relationships.  The spirit of the organization will become known for working collaboratively and valuing the differences of others.

Principal 5: Providing Leadership

There is a vision. Goals will be clarified and mobilized within the organization.  There will be actionable initiatives taken to move the organization towards these goals.

Principal 6: Shared Leadership

Shared leadership will be achieved through a shared vision. There will be evidence of shared power and released control by leadership.  And lastly, there will be shared status and the promoting of others throughout the organization.

Please know that I cannot do it alone and having a co-authored and collaborative approach to gain insight, feedback and counsel, with all of you, will be paramount as we move forward to achieve a greater good. I look forward to leading our team and propelling us forward in the years to come. I want the story of Plymouth Place to be told in the changed lives of people.

Onward!!

Jay

*Healthy Organizations Model developed by Dr. Jim Laub, Professor at Florida Atlantic University, Florida.