Vitalia Mentor Strives to Empower Their Team Members

As leaders, we hold the power to inspire, uplift, and bring out the best in our team members. By fostering an environment of empowerment, we can unlock their potential, drive organizational success, and ultimately enhance the lives of the older adults we serve. As the Executive Director of Vitalia Mentor, I want to explore what empowerment means to me, its impact on the workload, and the strategies I use to empower my team members, as well as the current threats to the senior living industry and how empowerment can be a catalyst for overcoming these challenges.

When I think of empowerment I think of trust and autonomy. I feel as if empowerment is a core aspect of a relationship and team. When we feel empowered or empower our teams, we are in essence establishing a level of trust and comfort level that allows us or our team to perform as our best and most pure selves. Empowerment creates a freedom that positively affects performance.

The ability for a leader to empower their teams is really two-fold. On one hand it creates the sense of trust and autonomy allowing that individual or team to perform their best work. On the other hand, it creates an environment where we can trust our teams to perform their work and duties allowing us the opportunity to loosen our grip on the task at hand and focus on more important, pressing items or strategic initiatives.

I find it best to empower team members through trust and relationship building. By utilizing our weekly one-on-ones and department head meetings, I try to build a culture of trust and autonomy in one’s work to hopefully build a sense of empowerment that allows our teams to perform at their best. I have always been a firm believer you can only push somebody up to the level of trust you have built with them. We must create strong relationships with our teams to be able to fully experience the level of trust and empowerment that creates meaningful change.

I believe the greatest threat to our senior living industry is losing quality individuals and prospective employees to industries that offer greater flexibility, money, and benefits for themselves and families. Through empowerment of our teams and building deep levels of trust and relationships, I believe we have an opportunity in our industry to keep the right people in place and reduce attrition. Individuals enjoy working in environments where they feel heard, valued, trusted, forge meaningful relationships with peers, and ultimately feel empowered to meet their purpose with passion daily.

I think it is natural during a leader’s career growth and trajectory to learn the lesson, you accomplish more as a team than as an individual, the hard way, because so many of us have gotten to where we have in our careers through hard work, grit, and a lot of the times knowing how to do the jobs from start to finish. Simon Sinek, leadership author, referenced it best when he summarized why it is so difficult to be a new manager. He said oftentimes we become the manager because we were so good at a job. Now our job is to oversee the same people who are doing the job we just got promoted from. We often fall into the trap of being a doer rather than a leader initially, before we learn to take a step back, eliminate any micro-managing, and train, trust, and empower our teams to do their best work.

In conclusion, as a leader, empowering your team members is not just a noble goal; it is a strategic imperative. By fostering an environment of trust, autonomy, and continuous growth, you unlock the full potential of your team, reduce your own workload, and enhance the well-being of the aging adults you serve. Empowerment becomes a powerful tool to navigate the challenges faced by the senior living industry, fostering resilience, innovation, and sustainable solutions. So, let’s embrace the transformative power of empowerment and lead our teams toward a brighter future.