The annual Schlegel Villages Leadership is a grounding force in the organization’s quest to continually improve upon its service to residents, team members and loved ones. This year, however, more than 400 leadership team members were challenged to aspire far beyond the ground and think of what possibilities could emerge for the future of elder care if there were no limits to aspiration.
“Limitless Leadership: Dream Big, Lead Bigger” was the theme at the April event, where the largest group of leaders ever gathered was reminded early in the two-day summit that they are the “culture keepers” charged with preserving and celebrating both the family culture that is the root of Schlegel Villages, and the leadership culture that will carry the organization forward through a period if intense growth.
“Our values are close to our heart and have been passed down through generations of the Schlegel family,” said Christy Parsons, Vice-President of People, in her welcoming remarks. “As culture keepers, we have the privilege to bring our mission and vision to life by living our core values to grow and develop our future leaders of tomorrow.”
Christy set the stage for a compelling keynote address by bestselling author and motivational speaker Ben Nemtin, by urging the gathered leaders to recognize that “developing the human spirit of those we are in service to is the most important role of a leader.”
In his address, Make the Impossible Possible: Set and Achieve Big Goals, Nemtin suggested a strong leader should choose to look inwards and see what they might achieve in their personal quest for growth in order to nurture growth in others.
He challenged everyone to think of their bucket list, and how they might make some of their dreams a reality.
“Isn’t a bucket list a little bit selfish, though,” comes his rhetorical question, “prioritizing your own personal goals? That’s what I thought, and now I realize I wasn’t just wrong, I had it backwards. Prioritizing your own personal goals is vital for so many reasons.
“It’s important for your own well being, your own mental health and happiness to be doing the things that are important to you, but it’s also important for those around you because you can’t take care of other people if you don’t take care of yourself.”
In an organization that thrives on the hearts of caring people who continuously give of themselves for others; one that relies on leadership that nurtures the best in each of those hearts, Nemtin’s message rang clear.
In his story of traversing the globe with a few friends and whimsical ambitions of radical possibility, he inspired a room of culture keepers to imagine a greater future for Schlegel Villages, and the grounding leadership retreat floated through the clouds of possibility.
