Leadership Academy 2013-14 LeadingAge New York Feb. 2014 | Page 30

Michael Schafer
Vice President for the Nursing Facility
The Centers at St. Camillus

Transformational Leadership
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?

The Action Learning Project consists of the development and implementation of a transformational leadership program directed
at the SNF’s Nursing Unit Management Team. The program focuses on the following core areas: leader in you, leading people and
managing the business. In addition, a comprehensive set of metrics will be developed to monitor the ongoing performance of the
individual leader in conjunction with the team. The ALP will provide the critical platform to further enhance the delivery of quality care
and services from a nursing operations perspective in an efficient and effective manner.

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?

The relationships continue to provide valuable insight for many components of the project specifically the guide to a successful
transformation is a change that fosters a leadership development culture. The relationship opportunities continue to stress the
importance of a “shared vision”, relation-oriented leadership and participative leadership as important concepts to drive the
cultural transformation.

3

What have been important turning points for you, in your own learning, as you’ve engaged with
the action learning process (you might consider a surprise, insight, setback, or challenge)?

The challenge that surfaced is the importance of developing a process to measure the performance outcomes associated with the
transformational leadership of the individual, team and culture