ITS GOOD TO SEE YOU!

Every day it seems I have business to perform at the agency, either as president of the board or guardianship co-chair or even as a daddy for my daughter who resides in one of the residences. Some days I go to just sign checks, or there is a committee meeting I need to conduct or attend. Of course, there is the Board of Director's meeting each month to round off things along with picnics, general membership meetings and dinners I must attend. All this activity I find very gratifying and pleasurable since it somehow will involve staff.

When I became President three years ago I was meeting with the CEO, who reports to me. As we concluded business he invited me to use his personal exit for convenience, and I refused. I wanted to say goodbye to all the staff that I had greeted when I entered the building, and he understood.

Through the years, I have tried to build a relationship with the staff because I support them so much, am grateful for all the fine work they do for all the programs we run, and know that without them, we are nothing.

My daughter Ellen, who does not speak, calls everyone she sees "Mamma" and I stated out loud that I would give anyone a million dollars if they could get Ellen to say: Daddy. Everyone, including newly hired, has been working very hard for a million dollars!

As I pass office of people I have built relationships with, we laugh and exchange pleasantries and I kid them, this makes for a very loud guffawing office. Sometimes I say things out loud for everyone to hear. I brag about my granddaughter and they remind me of things I post on Facebook about her.

A former CEO once told me that being a board member made staff nervous, so I work on turning that around. I don't want to go so far as they start to ask me to get them coffee, even though I just might.