The Confidence Course

^{Left to right: Joe Webb, Passion Green, Bob Speelman, Martine Fleurimont, Isatu Kamara, Amalu Joseph, Diane Matteson}

_{October 9, 2019}

NOTE: This story was taken from the blog of Foundations Health Solutions leader Bob Speelman. Each week Bob works at one of our Foundations Health facilities in different roles such as housekeeping, or as a nursing assistant, to see firsthand how we embody the vision of our founder and nursing home developer, Brian Colleran, to be "A Culture of Care."

I worked with the team at Highbanks Care Center this week. Highbanks is our 56-bed facility located in northern Columbus. The experience reminded me of the Confidence Course that I read about at the Marines Boot Camp.  

At basic training in the Marines, there are two different courses. One is the obstacle course - and it's timed. This course is every man for himself and your goal is to get the best time. The second course is called the Confidence Course. The course is not timed and is designed so it cannot be completed by yourself. You must work together as a team to complete it. It quickly identifies those who are not willing to ask for help and those that think they can do it alone and don't need anybody else. Those two groups are isolated by the team until such time as they are willing to ask for help and give help. At this point, they work together as a team and they can complete the course.

The care team members that I worked with at Highbanks demonstrated this willingness to ask for help and give help. Whether it was the maintenance director stocking the linen, the MDS nurse helping in the dining room, or the director of nursing giving patient care to help the STNA's. Everywhere I looked, I saw people asking for help and offering help. They were a team.

It is the job of the drill instructors at boot camp to make the Marines realize they can't complete the course on their own. It takes a team. It is the job of management in our company to help those who we are responsible for leading feel confident and good about themselves and their abilities. We should all help one another realize their own strength and value to the team and to build their confidence.  

Have you ever had a teacher than believed in you? Believed that you were smarter than you gave yourself credit for? They saw the value and potential you had and believed in you so much that you gained the confidence you needed to realize your potential? That what we are called to do as leaders and that is what our Culture of Care is all about.

Thanks to the wonderful team at Highbanks for their love and dedication to each other and to your residents. I enjoyed you allowing me to experience the Confidence Course with you.  

"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming." 

-  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

- Bob Speelman, STNA

Each week, Bob Speelman visits a Foundations Health Solutions nursing home. He works alongside a variety of departments to ensure Foundations Health is excelling in the vision of founder Brian Colleran's "Culture of Care." Foundations Health continues to practice the principles nursing home developer Brian Colleran instilled such as resident and family satisfaction, positive employee culture, and investment in the community.

Bob's Blog