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The Rural Exchange,  The Rural Institute: Center for Excellence in Disability Education, Research, and Service, Volume 15, Number 3, 2002 & Volume 16, Number 2, 2003

Note: Some of the projects and activies described in this docucment are no longer active so contacts and project opportunities may no longer be accurate.

Organizational Development

The Contradictions Of Leadership
The Peer Approach to IL Technical Assistance
The Rural Independent Living Leadership Mentoring Initiative (RILLMI)
Board Development & Recruitment Strategy
Managing The Space Between
Q&A On Staff Retention
Abundant Communication
Training For CIL's
The Texans Are Coming!!
Mentoring in Times of Transition
An RRCEP with its Heart in IL

The Contradictions of Leadership: Ten Considerations for Leaders at all Levels

by Cary Griffin, Director of Special Projects at the Rural Institute

The traditional model of management and leadership leads one to believe that the role of top administrators is to “set a course” and “stick to it.” The image of a ship’s captain as leader is archetypal: the haggard admiral standing on deck, wheel in one hand, sextant in the other, guiding the ship tirelessly through the storm. Using time-honored, and often very effective techniques— including strategic planning, performance evaluations, formal (written) inter-departmental communiques, policies and procedures that anticipate every possible corruption of the mission, and internal quality measures (rehabilitation managers know this as “accreditation”)—leaders attempt to keep the organization stable, predictable, and on course.

In practice of course, off course is where the fun begins! And yes, this very issue strikes panic into the hearts of most of us charged with assuring the sustainability of our agencies. The challenge for leaders is contradictory: manage for stability while at the same time create new opportunities and innovations. This mutually exclusive goal itself is at the heart of the best organizations —ones that invent new products and services, create multi-layered networks, and that cast off the ballast of past management practices while carefully retaining the best attributes. And, of course, since this is a largely non-linear undertaking, there is no cookbook, no one right way, no formula for success. Instead, great leaders envision the future(s) and adapt along the path(s).

The following Ten Contradictions are offered only as a starting point in re-thinking our roles as eaders—leaders at all levels of an organization, and in various circumstances including at work, in our families, our communities, and in the world at large.

1. Great leaders Know the Destination but Lose the Map

In other words, leaders are responsible for gathering broad-based support for the strategic vision, but must let go of linear work models that allow for only straight line production. Innovation, generated and nurtured through experimentation, might seem wasteful and unfruitful on the surface, but it can generate new experiences and lead to problem-solving in new ways. An organization that planfully and playfully embraces new circumstances (and a new circumstance occurs whenever a customer asks for something new, or when we ask customers if they would prefer something new) is regularly confronted with side-trips that potentially lead to new knowledge, opportunities, and customers, but can also lead to loss, political confrontation, and trouble. Good leaders are prepared for either, and take smart risks.

2. Waste Money to Make Money

Contrary to the popular cliches, there are stupid ideas, lots of them in fact. Great leaders, and their colleagues, use their intuition and experience to discourage bad ideas, but support marginal ones that just might have a chance at succeeding. A leader who allows and budgets for experimentation sends a clear signal that personnel are encouraged to find better methods and products. In the long run, profits come to those who innovate, not to those who stay the course. Various marginal projects or “skunk works” inside innovating corporations such as Canon, Xerox, and 3M have proven remarkably profitable, following short-term expenditures to generate and test new ideas.

3. The Customer Comes Second

Customer service starts internally. Appreciated and intellectually challenged staff perform better, stay longer, and earn organizations better reputations by treating their work mates better. Satisfied personnel treat external customers better, and happy customers tell their friends. Therefore, staff satisfaction should be the first concern of leaders. Job satisfaction comes from reasonable pay of course, but more so from challenging work, being provided the tools and core competencies to do the work, and from the visible respect of leadership. A 360 degree relationship develops over time where appreciation generates high performance, which generates satisfied customers, which generates profits, which generates better pay and new tools for innovation, which generates appreciation, and so on. Investing in long-term personnel recruitment and development are key to satisfying customers.

4. Lose the Job Descriptions

While we all want to know where our responsibilities begin and end, it is almost impossible to predict what every employee should be doing for every customer, in every circumstance these days, especially in a person-centered service environment. Certainly, guidelines spelling out broad categories of work duties, core tasks and competencies, and responsibilities are critical, but discretionary effort makes or breaks good companies. Rigid job descriptions are based in logic and analysis, which are good tools for managers. But, adaptive organizations need personnel who also rely on intuition, experimentation, analogy, and the ability to cope with ambiguity. Consider the airline customer with a cancelled flight who cannot get re-booked on another airline because the gate agent repeats, “I am not authorized to help you.” The situation is so much more pleasant (and eventually profitable) if gate agents have the power to fix customer problems at the point of face-to-face contact. Repeat business from paying customers is critical to even non-profit success.

5. Pay Attention to 20 Percent of your Customers

While it is true that all customers are critical and important, and want to feel that way, in most circumstances Pareto’s 80/20 Principle holds true. Roughly eighty percent of an organization’s business (profit) is generated from twenty percent of its customers. Paying attention to those critical customers keeps the organization focused on critical innovations, problem-solving, and opportunities to nurture these select few assures a solid future. Of course, innovation happens on the fringes, so the other customers are important too, and may very well lead the organization into new service territory. Contradiction at its best!

6. Challenge the Corporate Culture

Corporate culture is made up of all the unwritten and written rules of behavior in an organization. There is comfort and stability in learning, knowing, and practicing the rites and rituals of the corporation. And as humans, and good managers, we seek consistency and predictability because it allows us to move forward without distraction. However, a stable corporate culture also breeds complacency and discourages invention. Bending company procedures, not abolishing them, especially by leaders, begins the process of blurring the lines of conformity and allows experimentation to improve traditional processes. Creating new ideas and concepts necessitates that teams of people create a culture of questioning and positive conflict. From the edges of conflict and anxiety comes innovation. Furthermore, making changes or subtly standing in contradiction to the culture makes the past visible and may reveal fears and traditions that stifle creativity. As someone once said, “if you want to understand the corporate culture, make a change.” Understanding is the first step in making and managing change.

7. Play Politics

Politics is almost always cast in a negative light. Political relationships bring up images of corruption, favoritism, power plays, and dishonesty. In reality, politics is the interaction of any two human beings. Being politically savvy means thinking about the future and how each action may cause a reaction. Playing politics means managers are considering the impact of their actions on others; that they are using insider information to position the company into a stronger market position; that they are creating alliances and partnerships that offer protection to their organization and enhanced service and value to their customers. Politics keep organizations alive.

8. It’s Business; It’s Personal

In western society, people are identified in the community by what they do for a living. Thinking that professional and community/family lives are separate is a strange business school notion. Imagine if the director of an environmental group, say Green Peace, did not recycle at home. Is that person not guilty, at the very least, of hypocrisy? Leaders are leaders twenty four hours a day, and business relationships are simply human relationships with a profit motive (or perhaps a non-profit motive!). As leaders at all levels, especially in the rehabilitation field, we need to make our passions for economic justice visible and credible by voting for supportive candidates, by shopping in stores that hire people with disabilities, by keeping our money in accessible banks, and by making certain our friends, our Boards of Directors, and our neighborhoods are representative of the people we claim to be at work. One can only be as good a leader as one is a person.

9. Both/and, Not Either/or

Our society is built on the notion of one God, one President, one Director, etc. So, sometimes it is difficult for us to imagine more than one route to a solution, or more than one solution to a problem, or even that no solution is possible and that we are faced with managing ambiguity for long stretches. In most American schools the teacher has all the answers and disapproves of anything but the one right answer. As students, we are expected to keep quiet, focus our eyes on our own work, and keep our desks in a straight line. The real world is not a linear, controllable environment, so managers are constantly challenged by complex circumstances that do not lend themselves well to the educational rules students are taught, which inhibit team work and experimentation. There are unlimited wealth, knowledge, answers, approaches, and options in the world. Great leaders see this circumstance as invigorating and liberating, while more linear thinkers see these options as terrifying and uncontrollable.

10. Move Toward Your Anxiety

Most of us attempt to ignore conflict or discomforting situations hoping they will go away or resolve themselves. Of course, conflict rarely evaporates. Conflict does, however, fester, manifest itself in other behavioral or organizational aberrations, and eventually grow into a big pile of time and resource wasting goo. True, not every conflict or hiccup in the organization is worthy of attention, but too often gossip, high degrees of expressed emotion, staff turnover, and over-emphasis on internal processes result from values, mission, communication, and goal disconnections. Leaders, again at all levels, have to tune in to these disruptions, address their causes, seek solutions, and build consensus on new ways of working and thinking, all the while running the risk of making the trivial seem important.

Managing and leading is hard work, which is probably why so many of us turn to the latest best-seller for canned answers. The truth is that hard work demands approaches that allow each action to solve multiple problems. This is accomplished through networks of allies and capable employees, using some of the tried and true tools of management. Much of the time our actions are contradictory, which is the way it should be in a complex, evolving world.

Ten Contradictions of Leadership

1. Great leaders know the destination but lose the map
2. Waste money to make money
3. The customer comes second
4. Lose the job descriptions
5. Pay attention to 20 percent of your customers
6. Challenge the corporate culture
7. Play politics
8. It’s business; it’s personal
9. Both/and not either/or
10. Move toward your anxiety

 

The Peer Approach to IL Technical Assistance

by Linda Gonzales, Executive Director Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL)

Independent living was founded on and continues to thrive on the key concept of learning from one’s peers. People with disabilities know best what works and does not work for them. When a person has gone through the process—whether it is working through bureaucratic systems, coming to terms with new limitations, or adjusting to family and community—their experience of having “been there” has intrinsic value.

We believe that “experience is the best teacher” when it comes to operating a Center for Independent Living (CIL) as well. While peer support has long been a cornerstone of the core services of Centers for Independent Living, it has only recently been adopted as an approach to providing training and technical assistance to CIL staff and boards. For the past two years, the Rural Independent Living Leadership Mentoring Initiative (RILLMI), sponsored by with the University of Montana’s Rural Institute and the Association of Programs for Independent Living (APRIL), has included the peer model for both short-term and more intensive peer mentoring of CILs. Now the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) and the National Counsel on Independent Living (NCIL), through their IL Net, are joining forces with us to significantly expand the peer-to-peer mentoring program. Starting this fall (2002), we’ll be offering up to eight peer-to-peer mentoring match-ups in addition to our two intensive mentoring sites.

The peer-to-peer mentoring program is a win-win situation for all concerned:

• There is no cost to the CIL being mentored.
• Onsite peer mentoring, along with support and assistance by phone and email, offers the CIL being mentored the opportunity to build constructive, yet personal relationships with their peer mentor.
• The CIL being mentored will have an array of up to three potential rural peer mentors from which to choose.
• Rural peer mentors will have travel expenses covered for at least one site visit.
• Rural peer mentors are paid for their work.
• Rural peer mentors will provide basic follow-up contact and reports to the RILLMI Project for evaluation and quality assurance purposes.
• CILs receiving the technical assistance will be asked to complete a brief evaluation of the services they received.
• The pool of rural peer mentors will include a variety of expertise, skills, ethnicity, and geographic dispersion.

Could Your CIL Use the Services of a Peer Mentor?

Our intention is to work with small CILs, or satellites in remote communities that do not typically have access to the resources for training that more urban areas have. To qualify for this competition, a CIL or satellite must be located in a small community, but if the need is there, please don’t hesitate to apply. Applications will be mailed out and made available on list serves in early fall. Your center doesn’t have to be on the skids, or on the verge of shutting its doors. Your’s might be a new CIL struggling to get started or an established CIL experiencing growing pains. It might be experiencing difficulties in areas such as outreach, fund development, board recruitment, core services development, advocacy, or community development.

Other areas that you might need the help of a peer mentor might be:

• board training,
• diversity issues,
• program expansion,
• legal issues,
• staff management issues,
• underserved populations,
• transportation,
• fee-for-services,
• accessibility,
• internet services,
• for-profit services,
• board/staff issues,
• financial management,
• policies and procedures.
  

We’re developing a pool of peer mentors that we believe have the experience, skills, expertise, and peer perspective to help you address your concerns. For more information about RILLMI and the peer-to-peer mentoring program, call for Cary Griffin or Mike Flaherty, at the Rural Institute, (877) 243-2476 toll free.

Entrepreneurship, Self-Employment, & Disabilities

A 30-minute video on self-employment and people with disabilities, featuring six small business owners with a variety of disabilities who worked with the Rural Institute and the Montana Job Training Partnership to fulfill their dreams and create their own businesses. Narrated by Cary Griffin, Director of Special Projects at the Rural Institute

To order contact:
Program Development Associates
P. O. Box 2038
Syracuse, NY 13220
(800) 543-2119 Phone (315) 452-0710 Fax

The Rural Independent Living Leadership Mentoring Initiative

by Sandra Hays, Executive Director of SMILE

In August, 2001, I wrote a proposal to be considered as one of two Centers for Independent Living (CIL) to receive “sequenced, agency-specific training” from the Rural Institute’s Rural Independent Living Leadership Mentoring Initiative (RILLMI). It was our extreme good fortune to be awarded this training for 2002, and the good fortune of our neighboring Arizona and California CILs and community agencies as well. Cary Griffin, the Director of Special Projects for the Rural Institute, was our trainer.

Services Maximizing Independent Living and Empowerment (SMILE) is a CIL located in Yuma, Arizona, a small, remote town located three hours from any large city. Our CIL, when we applied for the RILLMI training, served approximately 1,260 consumers per year. There are two Native American reservations in close proximity.

Expectations

When I, the Executive Director, wrote the proposal, my expectations were to receive training for my entire staff and our Board of Directors. I wanted to learn more about management skills, such as supervision, communication, conflict management, and team work. Another anticipated emphasis was outreach possibilities to the unserved and underserved populations of our rural community. The expectations of the Board of Directors were to gain a better understanding of CIL management, leadership growth, and to learn how to increase public participation. The staff anticipated training on values and mission, program excellence, ideas for successful transition programs, and the principles of team work. To date, we have received three of four trainings and all of the above expectations have been more than met!

Training

Each on-site training visit lasted three days. As part of one visit, a group of our consumers were canvassed regarding their priorities. Transportation and employment issues were the significant priorities of this group. For one full day during each visit, our CIL’s staff received personalized, professional consultation. Some of the topics of these discussions included:

• How the staff can effectively promote the CIL’s mission, as relevant to each person’s values and goals;
• How various personality types provide a balanced staff; and
• How to gain support from other staff members for professional and personal goals.

Specific training was also provided on how to market the CIL, develop a business plan for our CIL, and collaborate with our state Vocational Rehabilitation, the state Developmental Disabilities Department, and the Workforce Investment Board.

Technical Assistance

On another day of each visit, our Board of Directors received excellent consultation. During these sessions, discussions began with the Planner for the Cocopah Indian Tribe regarding the possibility of a relationship to develop independent living services for isolated tribal members with disabilities. Methods were discussed for recruiting new board members and possibilities were explored for developing job descriptions for each board position. Discussions began about creating task forces and ad hoc committees to address such issues as fund raising, staff development, and transportation projects. We also examined the idea of honorary board members. Alignment with various entities was discussed. These entities included service organizations, the newspaper, the military base, the retirement population, and school transition programs. Opportunities were explored for further training from various universities. Creating a marketing outreach program was discussed, in order to provide a public image and presence.

Finally, one day of each visit was a class that was open to management from other CILs and our community’s non-profit/social service agencies. Each of these classes provided high quality, useful, and timely information that was easily generalized to the mission of all participating agencies. The entire staff of our CIL was encouraged to participate, which resulted in a real understanding of the philosophy of collaborative efforts. Each of these community traininings were rated as “excellent” by all participants.

Very briefly, the following topics explored in these trainings were presented in an understandable manner, without typical management jargon:

• Principles of organizational and personal values were made understandable, useful, and applicable;
• Communication principles and negotiation skills were experientially developed; and
• Collaborative efforts were examined through the use of techniques such as brainstorming, story boarding, and flow charting.

Finally, not only did SMILE and other participating agencies receive excellent, relevant training, but SMILE, individually, benefited from a quality consultant relationship which we would otherwise not be able to financially afford. It is my opinion that this project has made SMILE more effective in its work today with people with disabilities. The future looks much brighter for us because so many tools have been presented and we will have the opportunity to use them for the development, not only of our agency, but for that of our community.

You may contact Sandra Hayes at:
SMILE
1929 S. Arizona Ave. #12
Yuma AZ 85364
(928) 329-6682
(928) 329-6715
smile6@mindspring.com

Order Your Rural Institute publications today !!!

Prices include shipping! Contact Nancy Maxson at the Rural Institute to order: toll free at
(877) 243-2476 or maxson@ruralinstitute.umt.edu

1. Making the Road by Taking It: Team and Individual Exercises for Self-Employment Training: The latest Rural Institute tool for helping people start their own businesses.
   $10
2. It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist to Understand and Use Social Security Work Incentives: A primer for using Social Security Work Incentives.
   $10
3. People Who Own Themselves: Emerging Trends in Rural Rehabilitation: A monograph featuring best practices in self-employment for people with disabilities.
   $15
4. No Lone Wolves: Partnering for Self-Employment Success: Profiles of small business owners.
   $12

Board Development & Recruitment Strategy

by Cary Griffin, Director of Special Projects at the Rural Institute

Most not-for-profit organizations struggle with maintaining an active, engaged, and intelligent Board of Directors. While there are no shortcuts to the “perfect” non-profit board, there are tried and true strategies that work. These take time and effort, but in the long run the effort pays for itself.

Great boards do not just happen. Strategy and work are behind every high performance board. When many agencies recruit board members, they simply look for bodies willing to serve, or find “resume-builders” in the community interested in gaining local recognition. Some of these folks turn out to be surprisingly talented; many do not.

Board recruitment is similar to staff recruitment. Hire to fill a space and one accepts dead weight. On any board, there is room for at-large members who represent broad constituencies. There are also tremendous organizational needs, and board members must be recruited who have the knowledge, connections, and tenacity to address these needs. Therefore, designing a written profile of desired board members is Step One of the recruitment process.

Board Member Profile

A board member profile outlines the specific traits and talents an individual should exemplify to be considered for membership on the board. For instance, an agency that is anticipating a capital campaign may need someone with connections to wealth throughout the community. Development of the profile starts with the board (and staff and consumers, too) brainstorming a list of all the names they can of people who fit this description. No one is ruled out because they might be “too busy,” “over-committed,” or seemingly “uninterested.” During brainstorming the trick is get lots of ideas on paper; editing comes later. The resulting list becomes a call-sheet. The Executive Director or board representative contacts the individuals on the list to feel-out their interest and capacity for accomplishing the board role. Even if someone is contacted who is too busy to serve, he/she probably has an employee, friend, or family member who is interested. Use the meeting to generate more connections. Networking is used to recruit the best and the brightest.

Select more than one candidate. Even in small communities, much talent exists and by making it somewhat difficult to attain board membership, the status of being a board member grows. Ultimately, the organization benefits from having the public perception of exclusivity. This board is the one the community seeks to join because this board has the best members. Selecting anyone who happens to be available drives down the likelihood that the best the community has to offer will ever be interested. Make it hard to become a member, make the work challenging, and the board gains status, power, and impact.

Talents and Skills

Another concern during recruitment is believing that all organizations need a legal representative and/or an accountant as members. These are back-office issues and may or may not be critical to the board. It is difficult to find attorneys and CPAs with time or interest to be on a board where their talents are used in the same way they are used in their professions. Many people want to be seen as more than their careers, so seek individuals who can use their talents and their broader interests to build the agency. Capitalize on the fact that people are interested in giving back to their communities and that they are intrigued at flexing their muscles and brains by learning new skills and having new experiences. Thoroughly consider how much legal advice is needed by the organization: typically, not much. So buy legal advice and recruit board members who can work on the strategic plan. If understanding money management is an issue, get a local college accounting professor to do a short in-service training for the board on reading balance sheets, and contract with a local CPA for actual accounting services.

Training and Expertise

Board development also offers opportunities to identify potential hard-working members. Most board members receive very little in the way of training and education about governance. Critical competencies for most non-profit boards include such topics as:

• uman resources management,
• budgeting,
• understanding financial statements,
• “best-practice” in rehabilitation (or other fields),
• meeting management,
• communication, negotiation, etc.

In most communities there are local experts in these subject areas. Business owners, sales professionals, college professors, accountants, attorneys and others are often more than willing to give time to charitable organizations by speaking on topics of expertise. Not only do board members learn new and valued skills, but this also presents an opportunity for the organization to showcase its talent, mission, and commitment to the community. Undoubtedly, some of the people doing the training will become patrons of the agency, financial supporters, and, maybe—if they are good—future board members.

Managing the Space Between

By Katherine Carol, Tango Consulting, Denver Colorado

The space between what? I am talking about space that lies between ideas and implementation, between war and peace, between having a vision, living a vision, and this moment’s reality. It is the space between fear and security, between last year’s best practices and next year’s breakthroughs, and between you and me.

For those of us who are goal oriented, procedure driven and a bit taken with process, we find today’s ambiguity and constantly changing management landscape perplexing. Where do we put our energy? What are our priorities? How do we deal with yesterday’s events, complete today’s “to do” list, and build tomorrow’s future?

The space between is where power shifts and transforms, it gathers and then releases, even sometimes surging in dramatic events. We are constantly in the space between—for getting there quickly, in terms of a goal or project, is challenging because there becomes irrelevant almost as quickly as it is defined. Managing the space between requires flexibility, ingenuity, greater awareness, and constant clarification. We need to know what is going on today and look for what are the winds of change stirring up for tomorrow.

The space between recession and recovery, between tragedy and healing, is the time to evaluate what goes and what stays. It’s time to lighten the load, evaluating all of our management activities. The place to start is by clarifying our values. What is the important work—what is important at work? Discarding outmoded business practices, building stronger relationships where trust grows and people can count on each other are musts in times of chaos and uncertainty.

Defining a new sense of loyalty and security are the building blocks for building germane and timely systems. Managing the space between is about being relevant. Observe the current landscape. Move towards flexible, compact organizations able to withstand the impact of economic and cultural shifts without sustaining damage. This is a great approach towards sustainability.

In this space we begin to evaluate how time and money are being used. Answer these three questions:

1. How do I/my team/my organization spend time and money?
2. How am I/my team/my organization saving time and money?
3. How am I/my team/my organization investing time and money?

As a manager, think about where your time goes. If most of it goes towards managing today’s latest crisis—how are you saving time or money? Usually, we save for future unexpected expenses or for future acquisitions or events. We plan or we protect when we save. If our days reflect only spending, what will we have to show for our efforts other than another crisis—we are in effect setting up the next one.

In the space between the past and present, investment strategies are crucial. A recent Wall Street Journal article stated companies who invest in recruitment and training now in the downtimes will be the first to flourish when the turnaround arrives.

How do we utilize this time to invest? We know effective investment strategies include small, systematic contributions that pay off big over time and leverage resources to make rather dramatic gains.

Investment ideas for managers include:

• Tightening up recruitment and retention activities.
• Building a solid in-house coaching program.
• Doubling or tripling the number of personal and professional contacts.
• Knowing those contacts well and following up frequently.
• Finding quiet time to reflect on your vision for your future, your team’s future.
• Investing in learning—what will be the new skills you will need this year.
• Becoming aware of new technology applications (e.g. Blackberry’s, Palm Pilots, Wireless, the New Windows XP, Digital Media, DSL) with an idea how this needs to fit in your job and life.
• Having a personal/professional growth plan.
• Continued management training.

As we have said, the times—they are a changing, and so must we. Getting out of debt (time debt as well as financial debt) and moving from crisis management to investment management is a must!

Remember the definition of insanity is: doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.

For examples of great companies who understand and practice these strategies consider checking out the following web sites: www.containerstore.com, and www.cisco.com.

For more strategies on how to implement your management investment plan, you can reach Katherine Carol at Tango Consulting at (888) 706-0176 or kcarol@cnmnetwork.com.

Q&A on Staff Retention

by Mike Flaherty, Organizational Consultant at the Rural Institute

As part of the Rural Institute’s Rural Independent Living Leadership Mentoring Initiative, I recently presented a national telephone conference seminar on staff retention for Independent Living Centers (ILCs). One of the best parts of the seminar was the question and answer (Q & A) portion. Below are some of the questions ILC directors from across the country asked, followed by my responses.

Who is responsible ultimately for staff retention?

Retention starts at the top. Seeking, getting, and keeping qualified, motivated employees is the responsibility of the governing board and its hired director/administrator. Getting and keeping good staff demands focused, formal agency policies that make retention a prime management outcome. Managers need to appreciate staff every day and constantly work to keep them onboard.

Why is staff retention so important anyway?

Replacing staff is expensive. An increasing number of studies demonstrate that staff retention/attrition rates impact an agency’s bottom line. The “replacement cost”of an entry-level staff position is between $5,000 and $10,000 dollars. This dollar figure includes funds spent on recruitment, hiring, training, orienting, and supporting new employees. There are also all the related costs of lost management time/energy spent replacing staff. Besides becoming a disruptive and time-consuming management task, replacing staff is very expensive, in terms of time and money as well as energy.

What are the basic elements of a sound retention policy?

Ideally, attention to retention should be a constant, ongoing process at your agency. Retaining good staff begins in the recruitment/ hiring phase. Spending the energy to find/hire the best candidate will benefit your agency and the new employee over the long-term. Recruit and hire new employees who fit the job, the agency, and the existing staff. Much like building an athletic team, recruit players (staff) who best fit the play book (agency’s mission/values). Hire for a good fit and attitude. Attitude and motivation are not easily changed; job skills can be learned later, during training. More people lose or leave jobs because they did not fit the workplace culture than from lack of work skills.

Once ideal candidates are hired, their orientation and training are paramount. Orientation is the critical fitting in phase. New hires are oriented to the workplace culture, are trained in the tasks, and learn the agency’s expected outcomes.

Nurturing staff should be ongoing, a day-to-day activity. Clear and open communication is the best foundation for nurturing staff. Nothing says respect or models empowerment more than managers who actively listen to their employees. The active listener appreciates the employee’s feelings, input, and concerns. Listening is the most cost-effective way to acknowledge people. Being heard builds self-esteem and employees with high self-esteem feel trusted and valued and are less likely to feel marginalized.

Rewards and recognition can be powerful tools. More and more agencies use informal methods of rewarding staff. Compensation and other financial benefits are becoming less the norm for recognizing employee accomplishments. Reward systems that are person-based are proving to be effective, when recognition is linked to personal desires or needs such as time off, job sharing, flex-time, office space, special tasks, public acknowledgment, news releases, etc. The most important part of any informal reward/recognition system is that it is linked to organizational values and that it is personally given from management!

How can I compete in a rural area for the best available staff?

One suggestion is for small rural agencies to analyze staffing needs, determine costs, and consider sharing an employee among multiple agencies. Job sharing has proved effective for some in-house staffing issues, and staff sharing can likewise assist directors or managers in getting/keeping valuable staff. Perhaps a half-time position in two agencies can become one job for a qualified employee. The two human service agencies may share this employee, giving adequate compensation/benefits as well as providing ongoing professional growth opportunities/challenges.

What is the cost of initiating and maintaining a retention program?

Time and commitment are the major costs. The time/energy spent to start a sound in-house retention approach is minimal. Staff appreciation is built on respectful communication and personal recognition. Money should be spent on recruiting

and hiring the best new employees. Build the quality of your staff by investing in training sessions, workshops, or continuing education courses. A great many training opportunities are free or have a low cost to participants. Investing in training lets staff know you value them and their contribution to the agency’s mission. It costs a little but pays big dividends. Consider the cost of not paying attention to staff retention.

Is there an acceptable level of retention?

Each agency is different. People leave for a lot of reasons. All businesses experience staff attrition. And staff leaving is not always a bad thing, especially if the staff isn’t fitting in or is undermining the agency’s values.

Unacceptable levels of attrition impact the mission or service delivery to customers. High turnover has a marked negative effect on staff morale. Obviously a large agency with fifty employees that loses five employees annually will have an entirely different experience than an agency with ten employees that loses five! The small agency is greatly impacted and should examine its policy/management attitude toward retention.

Most experienced personnel managers suggest asking staff who leave why they are leaving. Exit interviews are important for monitoring the effectiveness of personnel management and agency efforts to remain responsive. Active listening to staff—old, new, and leaving—can help design and maintain effective retention strategies.

Mike Flaherty is an Organizational Consultant with the Rural Institute. You may reach him at mcf@ruralinstitute.umt.edu, or
(877) 243-2476 toll free.

Abundant Communication!

By Mike Flaherty, Rural Institute Organizational Consultant

In this era of budget shortfalls, when we are faced with increasing demands for our services and diminishing dollars, we can get mired in “scarcity-thinking.” We think we must do more with less, guard what we have left, and choose among critical needs. This scarcity mindset is not limited to funding issues; it drives our decision-making processes and often is behind conflicts within our own agencies. But in a time of scarce resources (funding!), information is in great abundance! Although funding is indeed often in short supply, there remains one resource that is not only abundantly available but also renewable: communication!

We are in an information age; information and communication applications power our lives, jobs, and workplaces. Cable television, internet/email, cell phones, fax machines, etc., deliver an ever-increasing volume of information, communicating messages twenty-four hours a day. These communication devices, tools, and resources are available to help us manage our work and personal lives. Communication, the art of information sharing, is a potentially abundant resource that allows us to reach out to our teams within our agencies and to our customers and collaborators. The challenge is using communication effectively. The absence of a healthy exchange of information costs agencies effectiveness and can destroy a well-meaning program. This article explores the “fallout” that results when communication is fuzzy or filtered and offers some solutions to the conflicts that may result from poor communication.

“Conflict, the engine of social evolution,” John Locke

In some cases, the lack of information critical to managing and providing quality service manifests itself in conflict. Conflict happens. In its pure definition, it is friction that occurs as two forces are in opposition. In human relationships, conflict is not always so neatly defined, and it is not always a bad thing. Differences of opinion drive social and cultural evolution. In the world at large friction is the force that motivates us to respond to situations or adjust our behavior to changing circumstances. Conflict is a normal outcome of people dealing with other people, issues, and environments.

Internal and external disagreements can happen over a variety of differences and in many environments. These differences may be simple opinions and interpretations of events, or be a more widespread discussion over policy or budget priorities. Our initial reaction to most conflict is often stress and anxiety. While the stress can positively stimulate growth, it usually creates negative work conditions. Fight or flight is often the initial reaction to unpleasant friction in the workplace. Fight generally prolongs and expands conflict; flight ignores the problem, hoping that the unpleasantness and underlying issues will just go away. Although an initial fight response can potentially explode the conflict, flight or ignoring friction may create more damage over the long-term.

The personal stress arising from conflict costs our agencies efficiency and functionality. It often becomes an expensive proposition, an unplanned line item in our already stretched budgets. It impacts critical aspects of staff creativity, work production, and customer service. The most severe impact of unmanaged conflict is lost time and energy, both major efficiency leaks! Effective management demands that friction be recognized as a potential major cost.

Not all conflict and its effects can be managed. A good deal of it occurs suddenly; instantaneous events create unpleasant situations that even the best management plan could not properly anticipate. However, some arguments can be anticipated, even eliminated, with proper management preparation. Accept that conflict is part of the world and plays a large role as a change agent for good and bad. Acknowledge that we have a choice in how we respond as staff and management. Methods and approaches are available to us to manage, reduce, or in some cases eliminate potential problems.

What tools are available to help us to effectively deal with disagreements, to manage them at their onset, and to deal with their effects once they become a force in our agencies? Good communication—clear, open, honest, and personally directed—is a potent tool for managing conflict. Additionally, effective mediation or negotiation can augment existing methods of information sharing. Skillfully used, communication tools can have a marked, positive effect on long-term agency conflict management success.

Fuzzy or Filtered Communication

Prior to attempting any effort at managing arguments, it is important to address the roots of the friction. Conflict is often intertwined with poor communication models. Fuzzy, or non-existent communication, can create mixed messages. Remember the “telephone game?” Even the most clear and concise message can be distorted when it is re-communicated. Personal interpretation of information often results in misinterpretation. Probably the most damaging aspect of poor or incomplete information is when that information creates personal disagreements. Personalized arguments undermine agency effectiveness, creating mistrust, defensive thinking, reactive behavior, and ultimately a highly dysfunctional workplace.

EXAMPLE: Fuzzy Communication and a Customer Service Disaster Terri, the new director of Good ’Nuf ILC, tells the assistive technology coordinator Joan that the ILC has a new, free servicing program for power wheel chairs. Based on the conversation, Joan phones all the power chair users she knows in the area and tells them there is a new, free program. The next day, 15 people who use power chairs come to Good ‘Nuf for the “new, free” service. A surprised Terri then explains to Joan that the service is actually only for Gulf War veterans. Joan has to explain the mix-up to the people expecting service. Incomplete, or “fuzzy” communication has created a customer service nightmare for the ILC, made Joan angry because she looks foolish, and made Terri question Joan’s abilities.

Filtered communication, when only pieces or part of the information is communicated, is also an issue. Filtered messages can have some of the same negative impacts as fuzzy communication. Persons on the receiving end of filtered messages will soon feel disrespected, that they are not trusted or “qualified’ to get the whole message

Information that is doctored, filtered, or spun creates the potential for further mistrust in the long-term. Flawed communication, be it filtered, fuzzy, incomplete, or missing creates an environment of confusion and conflict. Any approach to managing conflict begins with improving communication.

EXAMPLE: Filtered Communication and Unfinished Work Sammy, CEO of Assist ILC, announced to his staff that Luci, a newly hired staff member who is in charge of the annual fundraiser that provides almost 25% of the ILC’s annual income, was involved in an automobile accident. In the days following, Luci’s family gives Sammy little and confusing information on Luci’s condition and the prospect of her returning to work. The family is filtering details about her medical condition. The Board raises a concern with Sammy about who will take the reigns for the fundraiser. Staff are concerned with both Luci’s health as well as the unfinished work on the fundraiser. Sammy feels trapped in a “holding pattern,” not wanting to assume the worst about Luci’s medical condition and reassign Luci’s work. Everyone waits for the family to release more information about Luci, while the ILC and its important fundraiser flounder.

A Best Practice for managing conflict begins with establishing, promoting, and honoring clear channels of communication. Building a culture of trust means communication and information are abundant resources. Information, and the communication tools that carry it (i.e., memos, phones, email, etc.) are indeed powerful management tools in the workplace. Smart managers recognize that personnel who are both well informed and participating in day-to-day information sharing are less likely to feed into rumors and workplace paranoia. Sincere communication, relaying information in a trustful manner, says R-E-S-P-E-C-T loud and clear.

EXAMPLE: Lack of Abundant Communication Ernie, the new Board chair for Always Helpful CIL, has called for a series of closed-door budget meetings with the CIL director, Suzie. Suzie has always encouraged staff to attend all board meetings, but agrees to Ernie’s request. Over the next three weeks, six closed-door meetings are held and more are scheduled. After each meeting Suzie gives the staff a list of cost-cutting orders from the Board. The staff members discuss what some consider draconian cuts around the water cooler and over coffee. Thelma, the CIL’s highly effective publicity director, begins to worry about the agency’s fiscal health. She asks Suzie what is going on, but Suzie explains that Ernie and the Board have told her not to discuss the Board’s financial plans with the staff. A panicky Thelma begins looking for a new job and gives notice the following week. The CIL has lost a valued employee. In the absence of valid information, people will create their own scenarios. Because the Board has stopped sharing, whether because it doesn’t trust the staff or wants to protect the staff, the staff has filled the information vacuum with conjecture and fear. Once anxiety grips the staff, future Board communication could be viewed suspiciously.

Obviously, agencies cannot survive without a strong chain of command. Board members, directors, managers, and staff all need to have a strong sense of place, defined job tasks, and expected work outcomes. In short, boards make policy, the executive directors put policy into action, and the staff carries out the goals/objectives dedicated to maintaining customer service. Clear, respectful information sharing connects each link in this chain of command. Much conflict in human service agencies can be traced to breakdowns in this chain of communication. Executive directors are the intermediaries in this chain. Communication is undermined, conflicts abound, and agencies suffer when either board members or staff initiate discussions around the director, or do an “end run” around the director. This eventually isolates the director and renders the chain of command/communication impotent.

How do we formalize this “chain of communication?” Wise boards, with the assistance of their directors, develop and nurture policies that demand openness, which includes participation (feedback!) from managers/staff. Feedback—suggestions and collaborative problem solving—is a two-way street. For example, in these periods of budget duress/service curtailment, it behooves us to communicate abundantly throughout the agency.

Establishing this abundance of communication is a good beginning. Effective leadership means directors, board members, and staff members are all open to discussion. Everyone has input and everyone benefits; everyone has to “buy-in” to the process for it to work. Staff input goes a long way toward creating a work culture of “healthy” debate. A management policy on information sharing does two important things: one, it communicates trust and partnership to all staff and two, it puts in place a system that ensures that information will be abundant and shared, thereby averting conflicts that occur when communication is fuzzy or incomplete.

Negotiation

Okay, we have put into place an agency policy that sets the stage for abundant communication and information. But we still have issues to resolve. Where do we go now?

I’ve managed human service agencies for half of my 25 years in the rehabilitation field, and I’ve found abundant communication an effective tool for averting conflict. But abundant information is only one tool at our disposal. In even the best agency, there will be disagreement that will need further response. Apart from taking flight or fighting for our positions, we have another tool at our disposal: negotiation.

Negotiation is the method, approach, tool, or intervention that allows differing parties to share views on what they perceive to be the best outcome for their interests. Each party enters the negotiation with the intent to capture as many of their ideas and plans through a system of “verbal barter.” Obviously this verbal barter—the debate of ideas, plans, and desired outcomes—focuses on each party getting what they think is best. In reality, rarely, if ever, does either party get all that it desired in a negotiated settlement.

I’ve learned that negotiation requires a similar “buy-in” to abundant communication. For negotiation to be effective, everyone in the agency has to abide by the guidelines of trust, honesty, and maturity throughout the process. There must be an understanding that leaders and managers as well as staff members will use negotiation rules of engagement for the best interest of all.

Purposeful negotiation is getting the issues creating conflict out into the open, encouraging dialogue and healthy debate. Guided dialogue, within a proper framework, is an excellent management tool that seeks the best possible course of action or decision after all perspectives are weighed. It is as important to have a policy or guidelines for individual and agency “rules of engagement” in effective negotiation, as it is to have policy on abundant communication. An overriding consideration for entering any negotiation demands that for meaningful impact to take place, a general “no shortcuts” rule must be honored. I offer the following suggestions as a checklist for successful negotiating.

The Rules of Engagement

Rules of Engagement for Negotiating

1. Just the Facts Ma’am: Get All the Facts 2. Give and Take: Flexibility Makes for the Best Results 3. Stick to the Issue: Leave no loose ends 4. Know What You want 5. It’s Not Personal: Avoid Finger Pointing 6. Choose your Battles Well 7. Now? Timing is Key

1. Just the Facts, Ma’am

Nothing is as important for setting the stage for purposeful negotiation than getting the facts.

Getting the facts requires getting all the information that relates to the issue being considered. Common questions to be answered may include:

• “Is the information current;”
• “Is the information source reliable;”
• “What are the issues of conflict;” and
• “What parties are involved?”

Key to starting negotiations is having correct information. Incorrect, filtered, or fuzzy information will have a damaging effect on meaningful success. In fact, any negotiation based on flawed information is doomed at the onset. The energy expended initially to gather the facts is well spent, as it provides the framework for lasting and valid negotiation.

2. Give and Take

Negotiation is a give and take process. Understand at the onset:

• “What is indeed negotiable;”
• “What options can I bring to the discussion;” and
• “What are potential fall-back positions?”

All three questions need our input or a plan to address the answers. Our responses to these three questions will provide a great deal of potential flexibility, the give and take to the negotiation. Black and white responses won’t work. The art of negotiation, the whole process, is elastic. The more abundant the responses to the above questions, the more flexibility you bring to the process, and the better the outcomes.

3. Stick to the Issue

Throughout the negotiation process, always keep focused on the issue or issues on the table. Use an agenda designed to keep the pertinent issues on the table and stick to it. At the same time we want to stay on topic, we want to make sure we discuss it completely. It is helpful to maintain a working list of all the topics, or talking points. Even the best attempts at negotiation can be derailed or rendered invalid if we fail to keep all related issues open for discussion. Leave no loose ends!

4. Know What you Want

Have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, how you wish to proceed, and what the best outcome would look like. Determine in advance a “game plan” that lays out your opening moves, your data, feelings, and desires. In turn, the respectful negotiator acknowledges the data, feelings, and desires of the other participating parties in the negotiation process.

5. It’s Not Personal

Personalizing disagreements are all too common. The very issue of communication and information sharing is quite personal in itself, so this is an expected correlation. Finger pointing and “you” statements in any negotiating environment may derail any real chance of reaching meaningful settlement for either side. Focus on the issue not the personality; demonizing and condescending behavior will immediately shut down any chance of meaningful communication. In personalized conflict there is a high chance of escalating the friction, reducing any real chance of settlement.

6. Choose Your Battles Well

Determine what is important, necessary, and critical. There is potential for many little “battles” in the workplace. Ask yourself:

• “How important is this issue;”
• “Should I spend the energy or time over this minor conflict;”
• “Is this an isolated conflict;” or
• “Is this issue part of something larger that could be addressed at another time and place?”

Choosing battles takes a good dose of common sense and maturity on everyone’s part. Many larger conflicts arise out of smaller points of friction, either ignored or blown out of proportion due to inaction (flight doesn’t work!). Many issues can be managed on a one-at-a-time basis long before bigger conflicts arise.

7. Now? Timing is Key

Knowing when to engage is also an important consideration. Timing can be as critical as any other negotiation component. Sometimes picking the right time may be the sole element that determines success. Some of us are better than others at “reading the person or the moment.”

The best environment for negotiation is as far away from disruption and distraction as possible. An important social skill is knowing when to ask or challenge. Engaging in debate or hoping to initiate negotiation in a highly charged, stressful environment is risky. We need to be prepared, armed with the information needed to present our interests, if we are going to successfully negotiate.

Mediated Negotiation

I hope my “rules of engagement” help serve as guidelines for individuals in conflict. They work when both parties agree that it is in their best interest to work out differences in an environment of mutual give and take. However, there may be situations when it may be necessary to have an unbiased third party guide or referee the negotiation. This may be the case in more involved discussions when facts are disputed or when a personality is indeed the focal point of friction.

Mediated negotiation, or more simply mediation, is the management tool that binds differing parties in a formal communication environment. There have been many books and articles written about mediation and at the end of this article is a list of resources you can access. Briefly, the mediator’s role is to actively enforce the rules of engagement, seek consensus, and ultimately guide the course of negotiation to its logical outcome.

Mediation is common practice used in negotiation and applied to many aspects of our professional, business, and personal lives. As a formal negotiation tool, it demands trust, honesty, and maturity for success. When used effectively mediation is indeed a powerful management approach to seeking consensus in conflict-charged atmospheres within agencies and when we advocate in the community.

Conclusion

Conflict happens! All conflict is not negative; sometimes it is the necessary friction that stimulates healthy discussion as well as personal and agency growth. When it is disruptive it costs agencies time and energy. The unresolved conflict disrupts effective customer service, the very reason for our existence as a human service agency. Much friction may indeed be managed through effective, direct, and respectful communication among all levels of agency staff. Conflict may be effectively managed with pro-active methods before the friction becomes unmanageable and damages agency operations. We can ignore it at our peril or we can effectively engage, beginning by making communication abundant.

Resources

Condeluci, Al. (2002). Cultural Shifting, Community Leadership and Change. St. Augustine, Florida: Training Resource Network, Inc.

Fisher, Roger and Ury, William. (1983). Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. New York: Penguin Books.

Griffin, Cary. (1998). Working Better,
Working Smarter: Six Stages of Organizational Development. St. Augustine, Florida: Training Resource Network, Inc.

Heyman, Richard. (1994) Why Didn’t You Say that in the First Place? How to be Understood at Work. San Francisco: Josey-Bass Publishers.

Kaye, Beverly and Jordan-Evans, Sharon. (2002). Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em, Getting Good People to Stay. Scranton: Pennsylvania: Career Systems International.

Scholtes, Peter R. (1998). The Leader’s Handbook: Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Wycoff, Joyce and Richardson, Tim. (1995). Transformation Thinking: Tools & Techniques that Open the Door to Powerful New Thinking. East Rutherford, New Jersey: Berkely Publishing Corporation.

Training for CILs: Past Perspectives & Future Directions

By Linda Gonzales, Executive Director, Association of Programs in Rural Independent Living (APRIL)

During the past couple of years, many Centers for Independent Living (CILs) have experienced budget cuts. Some Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs) have been written out of state budgets. Medicaid programs have been slashed. Whether these will be permanent reductions or temporary set backs, is yet to be seen. One thing is clear—at a time when state budgets are being balanced on the backs of programs and people that can least afford it, CILs and SILCs everywhere are tightening their financial belts and looking for the best way to spend the resources they still have available.

One resource that has grown significantly over the past several years is the availability of training and technical assistance. From conferences and workshops, to internet classrooms, to one-on-one assistance, the independent living community abounds with training and technical assistance events and opportunities. This is a good time to look at the field of IL training, where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going.

In the Beginning …

Being a twenty-plus year veteran of the IL movement, I recall the early days when there were very few training options specifically for CILs. There was the occasional IL management simulation training offered in some distant city, some best practices competitions that opened eyes to other ways of getting things done, and of course the annual regional or national conference that helped remind us of the big picture and of the need to take the dreams back home. Other than that, we in the early IL movement had to make it on our own. That was what it was like in the early 1980s in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

We had our moments though. I recall a time when our staff sat outside on a grassy slope on the grounds of the local Audubon Society on a sparkling spring day. We listened in awe to a man named Wade Blank (co-founder of ADAPT), and a few members of ADAPT that had come to Santa Fe to give us an in-service on consumer advocacy. We had them back a few years later for a demonstration in Las Cruces. For several years, our CIL sponsored a Disability Expo on the downtown Plaza. We even hosted the very first Region VI IL Conference. Lex Frieden sat with us in our conference room and presented a slide presentation on how to start a rural CIL in a community known as Crockett, Texas. Those were the glory days.

Learning the ABCs of the ADA

The 1990s brought a surge of training events related to learning about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). After working long and hard to get the landmark piece of civil rights legislation for people with disabilities passed, the real work had just begun. Regional Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers were formed and groups like the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and National Council on Independent Living got involved in ADA-related education and training for IL staff. Technology Assistance Centers also sprang up around the country and many CILs had opportunities to get involved and learned much about the field of assistive technology.
During this same time, the ten Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Programs (RRCEPs) were functioning, but focused primarily on the continuing education needs of vocational rehabilitation personnel. While RRCEPs had a mandate to include independent living in their training efforts, this happened on a haphazard basis, at best. Only one Regional RRCEP – Region VI emerged as an outstanding source for IL training opportunities. (See article later in this newsletter).

The IL Training Net is Cast

Two decades of positive growth and proof that a little demonstration program called independent living could (and had) far exceeded all expectations of success, CILs were finally coming of age. In the latter part of the 1990s specific funding for independent living training and technical assistance became a permanent part of Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act, ushering in the era of the IL NET. A partnership between the Independent Living Research Utilization and National Council on Independent Living, the IL NET is a national training and technical assistance project working to strengthen the independent living movement by supporting CILs and SILCs. Activities include workshops, national teleconferences, technical assistance, online information, training materials, fact sheets, and other resource materials on operating, managing, and evaluating centers and SILCs (www.ilru.org).

In recent years, the National Institute of Disability Rehabilitation Research provided funding for National Technical Assistance Centers for under-served groups, including Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians. Each one of these TACs provides training and technical assistance to the rehabilitation and IL field as a core service. There is even a Research and Training Center on Full Participation in Independent Living at the University of Kansas. Other federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services have provided funding to states on special topic training like implementing the ADA Olmstead decision and systems changes activities, not to mention large nonprofit organizations like Easter Seals Project Action or AgrAbility programs, National Head Injury Foundation, Johnson and Johnson, to name a few others.

Even large CILs have gotten into training efforts at a national level. The Western New York Independent Living Project Inc. is the home of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Independent Living Management. They conduct organizational research to develop resources and offer training programs and technical assistance to independent living center managers and staff and State Independent Living Councils across the country. Their purpose is to assist CILs in providing the highest quality of service to consumers by improving the effectiveness of Independent Living Centers. Check out their web site at www.rrtcilm.org for a list of current offerings.

Technical Assistance with a Rural Flare

No article on independent living training and technical assistance would be complete without mention of our own Rural Independent Living Leadership Mentoring Initiative (RILLMI). RILLMI is the result of joint efforts by The University of Montana Rural Institute Adult Community Services and Supports/Training Department and the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL) to address the unique circumstances of rural CILs and SILCs. With small budgets limiting their training choices, many rural CILs were not able to access the training events offered around the country. Though more could participate in other forms of training, the one-on-one contact with trainers was not available.

RILLMI makes use of the mentoring model of leadership and organizational development. Intensive mentoring at two selected sites each year, and peer-to-peer mentoring with two additional sites, offers training and technical assistance tailored to the needs of the mentored site. Bringing the training to the rural CIL offers other opportunities as well–a chance for the CIL to interact with other community organizations as they co-sponsored Community Training Days. RILLMI Regional Training events, held in larger cities across the U.S., offer nearby rural CILs access to a day of mentoring as well.

The IL NET saw value in the peer approach and offered to support an additional six sites to receive the peer-to-peer service. Peer Mentors were identified and a Call for Technical Assistance brought forth the requests for the peer mentoring. Peers are being matched to sites as the program swings into this expanded mode, and more sites will be solicited for 2004.

In The Future: Personal Trainers

Well, maybe not in the physical exercise sense of personal trainer–but how can someone to get a handle on all of the training being offered, when it is being offered, where or how it is to be conducted, and whether it is it worth the time and money to attend? A Personal Independent Living Trainer will help the agency personnel whose role it is to answer the questions above, work with individual CILs and SILCs to come up with a training and technical assistance plan, and help find resources to take advantage of available training.

The Regional Coordinator is the IL NET’s newest approach to comprehensive yet individualized training needs identification and planning. Each of the five Regional Coordinator sites has the responsibility of covering two federal regions of the country. In the coming months, every CIL and SILC in the country can anticipate a call from the IL NET Regional Coordinator. Every CIL and SILC will be given the opportunity to get involved with training as formally or informally as it might choose.

In conclusion, even though funding may be tight, training resources abound. As CILs and SILCs move forward into the 21st century, they have the best chance to be prepared to meet the challenges that hard fiscal times bring.

The Texans are Coming!!
PEER-TO-PEER MENTORING IN THE SOUTHWEST

By Evelyn Tileston, Executive Director Independent Life Center, Inc., Craig, Colorado

Editor’s Note: Each year through the Rural Independent Leadership Mentoring Initiative (RILLMI), the Rural Institute and the Association for Programs in Independent Living (APRIL) offer two rural Centers for Independent Living the opportunity to participate in the Peer-to-Peer Mentoring program. Below, Evelyn Tileston shares her experience with the peer mentoring provided through RILLMI.

The cry went out around the office, whispered from one person to another with great excitement. “Why does it have to be Texans?” someone muttered, an expression of Colorado’s regional rivalry with our neighboring state.

In 2002 when I learned about the Peer Mentoring program, offered through the Rural Independent Living Leadership Mentoring Initiative (RILLMI), I knew right away that it was just what the Independent Life Center needed. We were growing and I was beginning to feel overwhelmed. What will happen when growth presents a problem that The Great Evelyn doesn’t know how to solve, I wondered?

The Value of Peer Mentoring

After listening patiently, Linda Gonzales, the Director of APRIL, suggested that Ron Rocha, Executive Director of the Austin Resource Center for Independent Living (ARCIL) in Austin, Texas might be able to help. Ron and I began to talk. He listened to my concerns both as an executive director of a growing organization, and as a blind person supervising sighted staff. He had been there.

We agreed that ARCIL mentoring our center would be helpful. Preparing for the mentoring visit, Ron and Mary Ann Hernandez, ARCIL’s Chief Financial Officer, asked us to send to them many things: our board minutes for the past six months, our budget, our policies and procedures, our brochures as well as our informational materials. We did it all and waited with some trepidation. By sending Ron and Mary Ann this information before their visit, they had time to study it and suggest changes and improvements.

When we finally set the dates for them to visit, the first wave of panic hit. What are we going to do with them for two whole days? We know they have to eat, so we’ll have a dinner in The Barn (an historic building now used for social events). Anna Adams, Board Secretary and one of our founders, brought out her collection of glass dishes, her candles, and coordinating linen. We spent Sunday afternoon sweeping, scrubbing, and setting up.

The next morning, Gordon (my husband) and I had breakfast with Ron and Mary Ann. Then we went to our office. They reviewed our financial practices with our treasurer and accountant. They met with the staff. They met with me. In the evening, they met with the board. They listened quietly while board members disputed a provision of our by-laws: one member wanted to structure the organization so that our board, which is comprised of 51% people with disabilities, could employ or appoint others to do such work as treasurer or secretary, since those jobs might be too difficult for people with disabilities; others argued that this was contrary to the IL philosophy of empowerment. “It sure was hot in there,” Ron commented to me later. August in Craig is hot, so I wasn’t sure if Ron was referring to our weather or to our board meeting.

The next day we talked some more about what would be necessary for us to do if we got a large federal grant. Ron met with some consumers while Mary Ann finally got a chance to see the town and do a bit of shopping. We all had been working very hard.

Follow-Up Help

Since that time, Ron and his staff have continued to mentor us, advising about grants, helping to design a logo, leaving us copies of their forms, policies, and practices. We consult them often. We value their advice.

Why did it have to be Texans to come to our rescue? We found that Texas is not only a very big state, it also has a very big independent living center, full of people with very big ideas. We found Ron and Mary Ann to be big on qualifications, which make them the best people for the job. Ron and Mary Ann also extended us a big Texas welcome to visit their center as well. One of these days we plan to do that. Something tells me we will come back big on Texas too.

The board and staff of the Independent Life Center extend most sincere thanks to APRIL and to ARCIL for including us in the Peer Mentoring Program. We will benefit for years from it.

Mentoring in Times of Transition

By Von Elison, Executive Director, and Gretchen Thatcher, Independent Living Advisor,
Central Washington Disability Resources, Ellensburg, WA

In November 2002, I happened to notice the application for the Rural Independent Living Leadership Mentoring Initiative (RILLMI) for intensive on-site mentoring. A collaborative effort between the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL) and The University of Montana Rural Institute, the intensive on-site mentoring program is offered to two rural Centers for Independent Living (CILs) to provide training and consulting over the span of a year. I immediately grabbed the application and scrawled across the paper, “HELP ME!.”

Central Washington Disability Resources (CWDR) is a small, rural CIL located in Ellensburg, WA. Home to the Yakama tribe and with a total population of approximately 30% Hispanics, the Central Washington area is rich in diversity. As is typical of rural CILs, we attempt to cover a large area from one office and with seven staff, serving 1200-1300 individuals per year across our varied programs. CWDR, although providing core services plus a recreation program for approximately 16 years, has been experiencing many changes over the last three years in staff turnover, programs, management, and community relations.

The Impact of Change

Transitions can be exciting, exhilarating, challenging, and painful. For some, changes are an exciting journey into unknown territory and they embrace them. For others they are a complete upheaval of comfort and familiarity, and yet there are those few others that just seem to adjust with ease in the face of changes. Frankly, some of the changes of the last year were more painful than exhilarating.

These transitions, although not always smooth, are a true test of staff resiliency. There have been no manuals and no directions, just the vision and mission to guide the changes. The CWDR staff is extremely committed to providing a diverse independent living program, and each person has been and is an invaluable component of developing and implementing the programs.

Yet we had also been experiencing growing pains as a result of these changes. So after having taken on several new programs, staff, a name change, and planning an expansion to Yakima, WA, it seemed as if everything at CWDR had changed dramatically, thus leaving some of our staff feeling uncertain of what would change next. With each change, it began to feel as if we were losing sight of our vision and purpose, and what had once been a healthy exchange of ideas was becoming internalized frustration.

RILLMI Training

When I discovered that CWDR had been accepted for RILLMI project, I felt assured that the project could truly address many of those needs in order to transition smoothly through our previous and upcoming changes. Our consultant, Mike Flaherty from the Rural Institute, began the series of four trainings/technical assistance (TA) site visits by spending the first day getting to know CWDR staff, our philosophy, and the programs we offered.

Part One of the training was titled “Values, Mission, and Corporate Culture.” The training addressed an integral component of the changes at CWDR, including how to sustain our mission and commitment to stakeholders. One of the primary concerns was being able to maintain an atmosphere that promoted self- advocacy, systems advocacy, and participant driven services.

The training explored the value and meaning of being a mission-driven organization, and it was valuable because each participant was pushed to identify their own values and was challenged to determine whether their values were consistent with the mission and values of the agency.

Three months later, Mike returned to CWDR to conduct the second training/TA on “Communication, Conflict, and Negotiation.” We learned how to identify different types of conflict, as well as how to perceive conflict as a valuable foundation of change rather than a negative strain on resources. The training also gave the participants a foundation for identifying potential problems before the problems became irreparable.

The staff and board are looking forward to Mike’s next two trainings and on-site consultation, as each of the trainings gives CWDR board members, staff, and community members the opportunity to develop similar skills. The staff and board of directors have seen the immediate benefits by the revisiting the CWDR mission and providing tools for conflict during these changes. Suddenly, due to the RILLMI intensive mentoring, the transitions do not seem so painful and CWDR is approaching those changes with excitement instead of dread.

"For more information contact:
Central Washington Disability Resources (CWDR)
422 North Pine
Ellensburg, WA 98926

Phone: (509) 962-9620 V/TTY
Email: cwdr@televar.com

 

An RRCEP with its Heart in IL

by Julie Ballinger, Region VI RRCEP Organizational Consultant

The University of Arkansas Region VI Rehabilitation Continuing Education Center, or RRCEC, operates a number of programs that provide training and technical assistance to professionals in rehabilitation and independent living. The Region VI RRCEP has always made serving the independent living (IL) community a priority and has hired staff with backgrounds and experience in independent living and advocacy, including three former Center for Independent Living (CIL) directors.

The Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program (RRCEP) is a five-year program, funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). It provides training and technical assistance to programs funded under the Rehabilitation Act, including Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Agencies, Centers for Independent Living, Native American Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation Program, and Client Assistance Programs in Region VI.

The ILCEP – Independent Living Continuing Education Program

This five-year program, also funded by RSA, provides specific IL training and technical assistance to CILs and Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs) in two federal regions in the west: Region VI (Arkansas, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma) and Region VIII (Wyoming, Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Colorado). A number of projects fall under the umbrella of this IL continuing education program.

1. Region VIII Independent Living Conference

The ILCEP co-sponsors this conference, offered every two years, with the Region VIII Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program of the University of Northern Colorado and the Region VIII CTAT (the community rehabilitation program continuing education program). It provides participants the opportunity to address current topics and issues by learning from and interacting with leaders and trainers from the independent living movement. This conference provides great networking opportunities for participants from throughout the region and to develop strategies for improved independent living outcomes and networks among centers at a state and regional level. The ILCEP, in collaboration with the Region VIII RCEP and CTAT, facilitate the Region VIII Independent Living Planning Committee, which provides advisory input for the planning of the Regional Conference.

2. Region VI Independent Living Conference

The RRCEP and the ILCEP offer, every two years, participants with the opportunity to hear leaders in the Independent Living Movement discuss current topics of concern. Participants are encouraged to network with colleagues from throughout the region and to develop strategies for improving independent living outcomes and networks among centers at a state and regional level.

3. IL In-Depth Trainings

The ILCEP holds an in-depth training in alternate years from the IL Regional conference for Regions VI and VIII. The training topics are determined through needs assessment and customer planning processes during each Region’s IL Conference. This training gives the participants the opportunity to extensively learn about a variety of topics and IL issues, such as different aspects of CIL operations, resource development, and disability civil and social rights.

4. Emerging Leaders Forum

The ILCEP, in collaboration with Statewide Independent Living Councils in two states, each and in conjunction with each regional Independent Living event (Regional IL conference or the regional in-depth training), offers leadership training for potential and emerging leaders with disabilities. The purpose of this training is to identify and begin to develop IL Movement/Disability Rights leaders, as well as employees for CILs, state agencies and other Rehabilitation Act programs. The curriculum covers leadership development skills, self-advocacy skills, Independent Living history and philosophy, and includes a mentoring component.

5. IL Orientation for American Indian Programs

The ILCEP has presented at the Consortia of Administrators for Native American Rehabilitation (CANAR) annual conference and has sponsored the New Mexico statewide American Indian IL summit. An American Indian IL summit in Montana was held in 2003 (see article later in this newsletter). Additional summits will be held in two more Region VIII states. This training involves working closely with the state’s SILC, CILs, Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs, American Indian IL consumers, and other tribal representatives in a day-long summit that addresses IL needs of American Indians with disabilities.

Community Leadership Institute for Change Knowledge (CLICK)

The Community Leadership Institute for Change Knowledge (CLICK) provides valuable training for CIL managers and potential managers. CLICK may be the most useful but underutilized resource for Centers for Independent Living. A developmental process, rather than a one-time training, the institute includes face-to-face lectures, self-directed activities, web-based activities, roundtable discussion groups on the telephone, individual development assignments, and experiential learning through immersion simulation. Participants develop a values-based skill set that includes systems thinking, ethics-guided decision making, creative problem solving, and responsible stewardship.

BridgeWorks Series

Another training opportunity for CILs and SILCs in both regions is the ILCEP series of interactive tele-classes. Using a telephone “bridge” system, multiple users can access tele-training at the same time and interact with a facilitator and each other. Most BridgeWorks seminars consist of two to four one-hour sessions, study materials, and follow-up activities. Upcoming ILCEP BridgeWorks courses include CIL Board Training, Disability-Related Legislation, and How SILCs can Educate State Legislators. The RRCEP tele-classes, Using Consumer Organizations as Employment Resources, Transition, and a series of courses on the psychosocial aspects, medical aspects, and vocational implications of specific disabilities, are open to all programs under the Rehabilitation Act including CILs and SILCs.

Peer Coaching among CILs

In order to build the capacity of CILs, the ILCEP program has held a BridgeWorks Series on peer coaching with Region VI and VIII participants. Peer coaching/mentoring is also interwoven in the other training programs—especially in the emerging leadership trainings, the regional IL conferences, and the IL orientation for American Indian Programs.

Region VI Independent Living Training Council

To understand the training needs of CILs and SILCs and how best to meet them, the RRCEP (main sponsor) and ILCEP convenes and relies on a regional Independent Living Training Council (ILTC), composed of CIL Directors, state agency representatives, and SILC chairs. The role of the ILTC is to establish Independent Living training priorities and to contribute to the planning of a regional Independent Living Conference.

Online Information and Resources Center

The Region VI RCEP maintains an online Information & Resources (I & R) Center, where customers can access training materials and resources, publications, and information on best practices. The web site provides links to comprehensive rehabilitation and independent living resources. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the online I & R Center not only empowers staff as they assist consumers, but can also be used by individual consumers to gather information that will assist them in reaching their goals.

Indian Country and IL Development

The Montana American Indian Independent Living Summit convened in Billings, Montana on July 10, 2003. Co-sponsored by Region VI Rehabilitation Education Center at the University of Arkansas and Region VIII Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program at the University of Northern Colorado, the Summit sought to bring together the voices and vision of Indian Country in the interest of building independent living capacity in rural Montana Indian Reservations. Additional support was given through CTAT Training of Denver, Colorado and The Rural Institute at the University of Montana.

Independent Living Centers (ILCs) across the country have achieved remarkable growth and impact in the past decade. However, large areas of rural America remain underserved, particularly reservation lands—Indian Country! A gathering of reservation representatives from Montana’s tribes met in Billings to discuss current needs and the means of establishing services to persons with disabilities on reservations.

Tribal representatives told their stories, revealing their experiences with disability. Panel presentations focused on building local capacity and the unique challenges people with disabilities on reservations face due to geographical isolation and related political factors. The Montana Native American Summit is an important first step toward establishing effective IL outreach in Indian Country. An important outcome of this initial summit was the identification of desired services and the solidarity of tribes to achieve full participation in IL.