If there’s a term we’ve all heard and dealt with in this career, its burnout.  You’ve seen it, you’ve heard it, and most of us have experienced it.  How do we get out of it though?  How do we find our motivation, our light, for this profession again.  When we think of burnout, or demotivation, there’s one large misconception, it’s that whenever you’re unmotivated, you’re likely to assume that you’re struggling with the same problem. The truth: Demotivation is a category of problems, containing many variations. When you thinks there’s only one kind of demotivation, you’ll apply the same old strategies whenever you feel unmotivated.  Let’s have a frank and real conversation about what it really takes to find our way out of the darkness of burnout, and find your light again.  

When I ask a manager or supervisor what they see as their center’s biggest challenge, I often hear, “The culture. If we could improve the culture, then we’d be in a much better place.” The problem with this statement is that center culture is not a single challenge. It’s the sum of many different variables, all of them important. In this fast-paced, interactive session, learn the essential ingredients that comprise your center’s culture, and choose the steps you’d like to take to make lasting improvements to help you create an organization that people want to work for.

In this session, we will explore the COMPLETELY real-life scenario of a 3-year dispatcher that has suddenly become difficult to manage. The dispatcher: none other than yours truly. Attendees will hear from a formerly difficult employee who has “been on the brink of termination,” and will learn how empathy, understanding, and "listening to their needs” can go a long way in managing them to greatness. They will also hear the perspective of a proven people-driven leader and ECC director on how leadership is not a one-size-fits-all model, and how the ways managers discipline, with the purpose of improving employees' behavior, should not be either. Participants will be encouraged to interact, to get engaged in the conversation, and to envision how they would handle a “good” employee who’s exhibiting some difficulties in their on-duty performance.