Look at this picture. What is your immediate first thought?
Do you see the dandelion puffs waiting to be blown into the wind, and hopefully not onto your lawn?
Do you see a tree that has fallen, broken, and waiting for time to return it to the soil of which it sprang?
Do you see a tree that even as it is aging, is generating new growth?
Remember your immediate impressions of the picture as I share my story with you …
It was a hot day and I looked for a place to rest and cool off as I had been walking and exploring the town I was visiting. On a hill under shade was a bench, inviting me to come and sit. I had been sitting there for a few minutes when an elderly lady slowly approached and asked if she could sit with me. I welcomed her to come and rest.
We chatted about the heat and the things that strangers chat about when making small talk. I asked her if she lived here all her life. She smiled and said, yes, for most of my life, except for a period. She let her voice drift softly away as she said period. I studied her face as she turned and said, I was a WASP.
A WASP was a woman who served as a Women Airforce Service Pilot in WWII. Only 800 completed the training and flew. I was sitting next to one of those 800. I shared with her that I once had a patient who had been a WASP as well. We mused that maybe they crossed pathways. All I remembered was her name was Dorothy.
As we sat and talked, I had a hundred questions. She was patient and answered each one with a smile and sometimes a story. My last question brought tears to her eyes. I asked her what I could do to keep her legacy alive and to bring forward to others her experience, wisdom and knowledge?
She turned and asked, “Tell me, what did you see when I walked up to you?” I shared I noticed a well-groomed elderly lady. She smiled and said, “What stopped you from thinking: This looks like an interesting person. What can I learn from her? Did my wrinkled skin and gray hair cause you to dismiss me quickly?”
I started to protest and then stopped myself. It was not until she told me that she had been a WASP that I was attentive and leaning into her words. She was right, I had quickly summed her up based upon her wrinkled skin, gray hair, and slower movements.
She leaned into me and said, “Never discount what someone has to say or contribute”.
As I stood staring at the tree, her words echoed in my memory. Never discount what someone has to say or contribute. I see the tree as a metaphor about leadership. Do we quickly determine what someone can contribute, discounting any future growth based on our swift assessment? In essence, limiting them to the viewpoint we have painted upon them. That is the metaphorical leadership tree that creates an environment that people disintegrate in. They break down and they leave.
Look again at the picture, see the metaphorical tree that is sprouting new life. Fostering an environment that helps to build upon the strengths and contributions of all. The tree knows that it should never discount what the limbs and sprouts have to say, as they are the future of the tree. Which tree are you?
Martie L. Moore, MAOM, RN, CPHQ, is the CEO of M2WL Consulting. She has been an executive healthcare leader for more than 20 years. She has served on advisory boards for the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel and the American Nurses Association, and she currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board at the University of Central Florida College of Nursing and Sigma, International Honor Society for Nursing. She was honored by Saint Martin’s University with an honorary doctorate degree for her service and accomplishments in advancing healthcare.
The opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News guest submissions are the author’s and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News or its editors.
