Leadership....

This is really a continuing discussion about leadership, aspects of it and the qualities of what I would call great leaders. In reality, I think we all know the difference between blah leaders and great leaders. We may not be able to put our finger on it exactly but we tend to know it when we see it. As an example, we've all seen the leader who has the title but who we seldom see leading. Sometimes that person has gotten the job as leader by default, by design or by theatrics. Theatrics is an interesting concept. An example is spending time learning the names and important little tidbits about all the people you're supposed to be accountable to. By doing this well, the important aspects of your leadership role (content if you will) many times takes a back seat. Another aspect of theatrics that works well in very large organizations are presentations. These, done well, can be very effective tools. But enough on mediocre or blah leaders.

There are certain qualities that great leaders really must have. Some of these we know almost immediately, others are a bit more elusive:

Communication - It goes without saying that great leaders are great communicators. Not just in the spoken and written word but in the more subtle areas of body language, social networking, everything really. But communication is much deeper. It's empathy, counsel, storytelling and above all listening and processing. Storytelling is something you'll find in every great leader. Most have a wealth of historical knowledge that needs to be shared over and over. Not in a boring (there he/she goes again) fashion but with humor, charm and content that's meaningful and that makes people think. And the listening skills referenced are much more important in communicating than most people think. It includes reading other people's body language and taking cues. Skills that always need development but practice does make perfect.

Technology - Great leaders need to embrace it. Too often, people in leadership positions from my generation make statements like "I'm too old for this", "You can't teach an old dog new tricks", "I let the young folks take care of that", or "How do you turn this on". Many times it's said jokingly and in a self deprecating manner but ultimately it sends a bad message - This too will pass and I'm not that interested anyway. In the current environment, like it or not, great leaders have to reach out constantly and stay abreast of new technology. It's a requirement. If not, you will slowly fade away and do your organization a great deal of harm. Which brings us to the next principle.

Surrond Yourself With Young People - Again, absolutely necessary in today's environment. This is where you're going to get your current knowledge and information. This is where you're going to get your own enthusiasm. This is the audience for your story telling. This is where the challenge to ideas and concepts will come from. I'm certainly not saying this is easy. There's tremendous give and take necessary in this area but the positives are overwhelming.

Finally, at least for this segment, great leaders do lead. They aren't sheep who just follow the latest trend or their colleagues. Great leaders challenge the status quo (with caution if necessary). Great leaders don't ignore issues that need to be confronted. They measure options, bring people together and truly work at building consensus.

Obviously, more to come.

Cuomo Says Finances Collapsing

In comments made to reporters today outside of presentations being made by the regional economic development councils, Governor Andrew Cuomo indicated that the state's finances are much worse then expected.

“We are looking at a number of deficit reduction initiatives now that we could undertake, because there’s no doubt that the numbers are collapsing and the numbers are collapsing quickly. We haven’t come up with a plan of action yet but we have options … I’ll be discussing those options with the legislative leaders, formally, informally certainly, and depending on what the discussions bear, the possibility of a special session.”


Deficit reduction initiatives? Interesting - made outside the start of presentations where regions of the state are competing for $200 million. And, as usual, upstate/downstate rivalries for school and health aid have begun and will continue. But what will these deficit reduction initiatives be? You can bet people with little representation will be impacted. Let's hope that vulnerable populations - people with disabilities, the sick and the weak, kids in need will be spared more cuts. Many people aren't aware that programs supporting people with disabilities have already taken 15% cuts over the past year. That's major and people are struggling to figure out how to make more adjustments and reductions. 


Some people are saying that the 'millionaire's tax' will happen. That it's inevitable and something has to be done to increase revenue - which brings us to drilling for natural gas and the process known as hydrofracking. Fracking has been a controversial issue in the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier of NY and a regulatory review by the Department of Environmental Conservation was extended. Ahh but some are suggesting now that the aforementioned tax and the revenue that would be generated by gas drilling could be the answers to the states financial difficulty. Now for the other revenue enhancing item that hangs out there - Casinos. Don't be surprised to hear of an increased effort to allow Casinos in NY. Not an issue of right or wrong, just the facts that are out there. You see, there are endless ways to force things to happen that otherwise would take years of debate when you're going broke.


So hold on to your hats, wallets and keys to the car as elected officials convince us of what's best for us and in the process determine who gets what. Advocacy has never seen a more important time.

Jeremy Wallace Trio - Great Music!

In the interest of full disclosure, Jeremy Wallace is my nephew. Having said that, I and lots of other people not related to Jeremy, think he and the other members of the trio are great musicians. Jeremy writes his own stuff but occasionally performs other music. He is a blues singer and story teller. Give him a listen sometime. You can find him on Facebook.

Writers Block.....?

The Gadfly has had a bit of writer’s block it seems. Not due to lack of news or issues that are out there floating around. There’s certainly lots going on – perhaps too much – and maybe that’s even the reason for the block. Too much to write about and just not enough time - could that be it? Here’s a short list of the things crossing the Gadfly’s mind:

•        Bernie Fine and the pass ESPN seems to be getting on not reporting on audiotapes for eight years as well as not reporting to the police.
•        An article in the Rochester paper about the closing of Monroe Developmental Center and the potential impact on the existing waiting list in residential placements for people with developmental disabilities.
•         Continuing stories and news about the Occupy Movement. Pepper Spray, pepper spray.
•        Holiday shopping gone wild. People battling each other over electronics and consumer goods.
•        Rita Corbin, Catholic Worker and artist, killed in a car crash with her 17-year-old grandson.
•        Family, grandfatherhood, baby pictures and general happiness.
•        The economy, the environment, continued discussion on anonymity, leadership and organizational behavior.
•        Jeremy Wallace, a great musician, the blues, rock and roll, spirituality.

There that feels better and I think I may have shaken that block. We’ll see.

Another Perspective To Criticisms About Supports To People With Developmental Disabilities In NYS

A while ago there was an editorial in the Albany Times Union that was critical of organizations providing support to people with developmental disabilities based on an article in the New York Times. Both the editorial and the Times made some assumptions based on information that had been researched through a review of statistics and incidents. There has mainly been silence relative to these articles from the field of people who provide these supports. Recently there was a response in the form of an electronic comment to the editorial. I am respecting the anonymity of the author because it was posted that way. I have posted previously about anonymity and have my opinions on it as stated. I do think this is an important comment from someone who obviously understands the current state of affairs. Here it is:

"We live in a world of self-generating beliefs that remain largely untested. “Climbing the ladder of inference” is the process by which we establish meaning of something based a few observations without testing the accuracy of our beliefs or assumptions. This appears to have happen with the NY Times article and then the Times Union editorial. The Times Union editorial concludes the NY State system is an “overpriced disgrace”. Really? First, looking closely at where the $ are spent, one discovers that the non-profit agencies cost- averages fall within the mid-range of costs of like services nationally. The cost outliners are the state developmental centers. Two, the NY Times article says “And the state has no uniform training for the nearly 100,000 workers at thousands of state and privately run homes and institutions”. Again,what are the facts. OPWDD regulations require training in abuse and neglect (a standardized curriculum) typically 3 days in length, Medication Administration (a standardized curriculum) typically 4-5 days in length, first aid and CPR (a standardized curriculum, fire safety, and on and on. In addition, many non-profits train their employees in a variety of other topics or tap in the on-line training program called the College of Direct Support. And in terms of the “lack of oversight”, all the regulations (which there are many – just check out the following website:http://www.opwdd.ny.gov/regs/index.jsp) need to be followed in order to maintain OPWDD certification. Non-profits are audited throughout the year (yes, throughout the year) against these requirements. The NY Times suggests that OPWDD should have sent out “choking” warnings.

They did, twice, once in 1999 and then in 2007. Check out this site:
http://www.opwdd.ny.gov/hp_guidance_documents.jsp. In terms of incident management, there is a guidance document of over 330 pages, which is the bible of incident management, check out this site:http://www.opwdd.ny.gov/wt/manuals/part624/incident_management.jsp.
In terms of financial oversight, each non-profit has to submit to OPWDD a 150+page consolidated fiscal report, which has very tight guidelines in terms of allowable costs and where funds can be spent.

In terms of quality and scope, NY State is 2nd to none. The OPWDD collective system serves close to 100,000 people, many in 24 hour care and many over a life time. Visit any non-profit agency in your community and you will hear inspirational stories. Many of them are about how people with developmental disabilities are supported in the last stages of life, in their homes with friends and family. Also, check out OPWDD’s report on National Core Indicators (focused on quality care). NY State gets high marks on nearly every indicator. These results are generated from interviews with family and individuals receiving services.

In such a large complex system, are there breakdowns, slippage,human error, and at times crimes – you bet. Can we find any human system absent of these unfortunate aspects? Can we improve, of course. Should we assertively deal with trouble areas, of course.

So what is going on with the NY Times article and the Times Union editorial. One possibility is that the ladder of inference process is fully functioning here. Take a few tragic situations, and a few more situations involving abuse and possible criminal behavior and attribute it to the whole system without testing your assumptions."