What is often forgotten is the countless faceless names are the foundations of the past, and helped us become what we are today. Let me count... 8 Chief Executive Officers, I think 10 Executive Directors, 5 Chief Financial Officers and countless professional program (regardless of titles and positions) and administrative staff. I along with maybe one other are the only persons left from the fast-paced growth and change period of the 1990s. The two of us knew how to go about and survive frugally and been fortunate to be blessed with a career, not just a job that mirrors much of the same values as our organization, we both grew up with caring, honesty, respect, responsibility and even faith. When I walked through the double doors of the Greater Hollywood Family YMCA for the very first time in 1984, I didn’t know what to expect and most definitely didn’t think I’d be still here 30 years later. It may appear my selfish posts are nothing but nostalgic memories of what were the good old days. But to the contrary, these memories I share with anyone reading, those with any affiliation with the YMCA movement at any point in their lives can catch themselves nodding in agreement. Those who were not fortunate to have a YMCA experience, can still find some comfort knowing this speaks to the human condition as much as my own career.
The YMCA has placed such a vital role in my formative youth and teen years and even my growth as a career staff member. Moving forward requires respect the past, possess humility and listen to stories of past generations yet have vision, pride and patience. Some of the executive leaders have come in and brought turbulent changes with them and cost credibility and years of regressive decisions and policies. Often they set back our growth and opportunities such as new partnerships, opening new centers, developing collaborations and taking fundraising to the next level. The pride of the next generation of leaders coming in often take two steps back to move ahead one rather than to take time and listen to stories of past generations. So much could be learned by taking time to listen to those who have managed to survive over the years. Its not that us “lifers” (those of us who have been through more than two leadership changes) are trying to negate what they are doing, but often have the knowledge and experience to tell some of the historical challenges faced and what caused a full stop or at best an obstacle to overcome before we forge ahead.
Those of who have survived change have plenty of stories to share and would help the next generation leaders understand why behaviors exhibited by the “lifers” is often one of frustration, confusion and angst. I’ll share both my pet peeves or frustrations center around income. It appears, here too, money becomes the proverbial root of evil as it does in marriage. Even though I understand the growth of our organization depends on the ability to successfully fundraise and to expand the number of donors exponentially annually, the way we often go about it makes me often feel as we are continually begging for dollars rather than sharing our amazing history and community impact stories. The completion of one campaign is barely done and here comes the new campaign with the hopes a chord of new donors come aboard and become committed to our cause driven organization.
Along the same lines, comes my perception of waste of hard earned dollars and executive leaders view as investing in the future. The days of scraping every last penny and finding ways to stretch it as far as possible. As a director of child care and summer camp, I spent countless hours at Toys R Us, Target and Walmart armed with coupons and midnight sales to stock up on 2-4-1s, 50% offs and other insane offers and then carry it back to our offices and sort it out and then deliver for each and every one of the fifteen program sites I operated. Current directors of child care go online order and have it delivered to their 4 or 5 program sites directly, never experiencing the excitement of playing errr… testing before buying, I certainly know there is something to be said about “wasting my time and dollars” by doing the shopping in person but with that came the joy of finding something unique for each program site as a “thank you” or “I was thinking of your program when I saw this”. Again, its my perception of waste as opposed to time saving, let’s agree to disagree on this, as I can go on the joy I had when I did my own in person shopping for my programs.
Confusion is often due to the lack of communication. Each new leader coming in decides to survey staff to get a temperature reading of staff. Over the years, communication by far becomes the mostly highly ranked negativity, as ineffective and the lack of, is staff continually grumble about. Those of us who managed to have survived more than a couple administration changes often continue to function in their positions and roles much the same way they have since the previous administration. The new administration, with all due respect don’t often think of the ripple effect, (you know like a stone thrown into still water) the consequences of every decision remains unknown. The impact of adequate communication to all parties effected would allow “lifers” to support the changes and help convey the message throughout the organization. The “lifers” are perceived by the new leaders as having nothing more to contribute, have no desire to grow professionally and are stuck in their ways and routines. This malicious perception often puts these “lifers” in their own silos and are often overlooked for opportunities for service, growth opportunities and promotions. If only communication existed on both sides, the perceptions can dissolve and differences can be better understood. So, until I am told otherwise, I too, am often finding myself doing things the way it was always done, though I am one who embraces and welcomes change more often than not.
Angst. I just couldn’t find the right word, but angst has a certain ring to it and carries a lot of weight in those five letters. The fear resonates through gossip ridden in the halls of who is coming, who is going and what will happen next is always on the fore mind of all staff. This creates unnecessary morale issues with vindictive staff who will do just about anything in the course of survival. The built up anxiety is ultimately a team killer not a team builder. My guess is Darwin’s Theories of Evolution migrated into the corporate world and continue to prove its validity in the twenty first century. I’ve just learned to just learned to listen with my eyes and hear with my ears and share selectively.
In the words of one of my past Chief Executive Officers I worked under, “Life is like an amusement park, when the merry-go-round stops being fun, there’s always time to get on the roller coaster.” As my mentor extraordinaire, she keeps her advice practical and filled with her whimsical sense of humor. I didn’t feel the full impact of this statement until after she had moved on from the YMCA and found herself reinventing herself to keep relevant while I remain loyal to the same organization. When I began my journey, I never anticipated to be still working for the same organization after high school, well, perhaps maybe through college but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would still be coming to the YMCA to work thirty years later.
From my first position as an after care tutor/junior counselor, working 10 to 15 hours a week and earning a charming $40.00 on average a week, or at that rate about $2000 annually to my current professional position, I continue to be challenged. For the good majority of my years, I’ve been blessed with supervisors who became not only my mentors but my biggest supporters and helped me advance my career. My advancement never took a traditional promotion and a higher salary but rather thrown opportunities which I embraced and accepted willingly. Promotions are often given often to the “Look at me! Look at me!” individuals who are always seeking affirmations and approvals from everyone around them. Whether its their actions metaphorically screaming or actually screaming with their voice it didn’t matter, as these individuals often got promotion with the salary increase. I like to think of my position as the CUP, the Chief Utility Player of the association as I’ve done just about anything end everything in our YMCA and jumped in feet first and let my survival extinct kick in.
I had always thought of myself to be like mold, hide me in a dark corner and I’ll be able to grow despite circumstances I’ve encountered. In most recent times, my calm demeanor, the one who doesn’t like to be the center of any attention, was criticized by those in higher positions as I am “just muddling through” and “have no motivation and ambition” or worse “I am checked out.” My side, is I would rather look at myself as an iceberg with much of it residing below the surface of the calm ocean. Look at what happened to the Titanic when it hit a rather “small” piece of ice.
The only thing I find consistent in my years, is change, each and every day bares its presence with a new challenge to overcome. I am reminded the sunrises each morning to remind us all of a new beginning, a fresh start in our journey to find ourselves. I’d invite you to sit and enjoy a cup of tea with me. I like my new brew to be robust, full of new flavors and learn to appreciate and enjoy the tea, with each sip. In return, I hope the tea I offer, allows each new generation of leadership flavors of comfort and filled with predictability and tradition. Despite all the leadership changes, staff turnover, program priorities, mission challenges and the economy, somehow the YMCA manages to survive and adapt. Reminding me, my thirty years has been like that of the roller coaster, filled with emotional highs and lows. This is a ride I've ridden and continue to be riding and wouldn’t have had my career any other way, as I too, have continually adapt to my ever changing self.
Let’s see what the next thirty years will bring…and I imagine there will always those wanting to bring change, some who embrace change and those who will always be the solid, steadfast leader who keeps their feet planted firmly in the ground and will share stories of past generations with anyone who cares to listen. Care to come over for a cup of tea and help me kick off the next thirty years?
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