IGNITE Leadership Academy LeadingAge New York 2014-15 2014-15 | Page 6

Joseph Bisaccia
Director of Food, Nutrition &
Purchasing Services
Cabrini of Westchester

Sharing Information
1

How would you describe your Action Learning Project and the difference you hope it will make
to advance your organization’s mission (or the field) and benefit the individuals you serve?

I must preface my reply with the statement that the Action Learning Project I will be describing is not the original project I had
outlined for our group at the last session. I had already begun working on my original project and was setting plans in motion to
proceed when I experienced an “aha” moment that really changed my whole prospective on what I need to do.
On Mon., April 6, 2015, a team from the NYS Department of Health (DOH) walked in to our home for their annual survey
process. In short, it was a “perfect storm” setup. Monday was our new administrator’s first day on the job and Tuesday was our
new director of social work ’s first day on the job. Our executive chef was unavailable for two days and the State sanitation/life
safety member who typically spends one day with us during the process, was on site for three full days. With all the potential for
misfortune, I am very happy to report that the outcome for our entire facility may turn out to be one of the best surveys we have
ever experienced. Of course, we must await the written report to verify our positive belief.
Personally, this experience highlighted a very deep need for me to further examine my stage of development toward becoming a
more true and effective leader. For the benefit of myself, our team and our organization my project will be to utilize the many tools
we have been discussing over the last 8 months to create a more cohesive team approach to all situations.

2

How have the relationships you’ve developed as part of your project (with mentors, partners,
stakeholders, etc.) influenced this direction and you as a leader?

When everyone is on the same page positive outcomes can be expected. In reverse, if staff do not have a real understanding of
expectations, how can they be held accountable? This is the baseline for my project. I found myself apologizing to staff after the
survey. I said some things in the heat of the moment during the process that if I had taken a step back, I probably would have
never said. This experience gave me the opportunity to analyze our organizational structure, to re-evaluate our training processes
and to prioritize education of staff.
I now realize that we must create educational opportunities that are based on learning as opposed to being performed just to
meet regulatory requirements. It is now evident that visual experience, hands on trials and spoken procedural clarification must
become the norm.
Educating staff has become my priority. Starting with our leadership team, we will be meeting more frequently to discuss day-today operations. We will also formalize how we function as a department. It will begin with more frequent staff meetings in search
of creating team leaders from those who would like to take on more responsibility. We will work on creative education utili 饹