BY: TERRANCE P. McGUIRE, EdD, and TERRI ROCOLE
Dr. McGuire is senior vice president, mission services, Wheaton Franciscan
Services, Inc., Wheaton, IL; Ms. Rocole is director, mission services, All Saints
Healthcare, Racine, WI
The Wheaton Franciscan System Has a New Method for Training Mission Leaders
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SUMMARY
As part of a succession-planning approach to provide new and expanding leadership
for its Mission Services Department, Wheaton Franciscan Services, Inc. (WSFI),
Wheaton, IL, implemented a "learning contract" for new mission leaders
in its member organizations. This article focuses on training for the mission
leader at one such organization, All Saints Healthcare, Racine, WI.
The contract includes expectations for the new leader, which, if met, provide
the preparation thought to be essential for the new leader to perform effectively
in the role. The contract has two parts: first, internal training, including
formal mentoring relationships among the new mission leader, WFSI's mission
leaders, and the CEOs of member organizations; and, second, external education,
including participation in a master's degree program and attendance at
various ministry educational programs that pertain to the role.
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Editor's note: This article has two parts. The first
part, an overview of the program described in it, was written by Dr. McGuire.
The second part, which concerns the experience of one program participant, was
written by Ms. Rocole.
What makes a Catholic health care organization Catholic? As the women and men
religious who founded the church's health ministry in the United States
retire from the scene, some of their organizations are devoting considerable
energy and resources to the development of mechanisms that will ensure the continuation
of the founders' Catholic tradition. One such organization is Wheaton Franciscan
Services, Inc. (WFSI), Wheaton, IL.
WFSI is the parent organization of more than 100 health and shelter service
organizations in the Midwest, including 17 hospitals in Wisconsin, Iowa, and
Illinois. The hospitals are organized into seven regions. Each region has a
mission leader responsible for overseeing mission integration and planning in
the region. Each mission leader reports to his or her regional CEO and also
has a collegial working relationship with this article's senior author.
As WFSI's senior vice president of mission services, I am responsible
for ensuring that the system's mission, vision, values, and Catholic identity
are known, understood, and used as a framework for action and decision making
throughout the system. The regional mission leaders and I coordinate our efforts
in accordance with a systemwide Mission Integration Policy. From this policy,
we devise annual regional mission plans, which we then monitor. Once a year,
when the members of WFSI's Sponsor Board visit each region, we report the
plan's outcomes to the board.
Choosing a Mission Leader
In 2003 one WFSI member, All Saints Healthcare, Racine, WI, began a systemwide
search process to identify potential candidates for its newly created mission
leader position. Kenneth Buser, All Saints' president and CEO, chaired
the search committee, to which I belonged along with WFSI's regional leaders
(I was then the system's vice president of mission integration). In our
discussions, we determined that a succession-planning approach would best serve
the region, inasmuch as WFSI encourages promotion from within the system and
doing so would provide new and expanding leadership for its Mission Services
Department.
After deliberation, the search committee chose this article's coauthor,
Terri Rocole (who was then with another WFSI member, Covenant Healthcare, Milwaukee)
to be All Saints' mission leader. Rocole, who had an MBA degree with a
focus on quality improvement, would bring impressive experience in that field.
She had, moreover, served for a number of years as one of Covenant Healthcare's
mission representatives and was familiar with the WFSI mission integration process.
The "Learning Contract"
The search committee agreed that a "learning contract" would be
established between All Saints and Rocole. Such a contract would help ensure
that the mission leader benefited from educational opportunities and professional
development, as well as from mentoring in the areas of mission, Catholic identity,
spiritual development, and ethics. The committee appointed Buser as Rocole's
on-site mentor with respect to administrative and organizational issues; Linda
Bronersky, who was then WFSI's director of clinical pastoral education
(she is now vice president, spiritual services), would serve as her resource
for spiritual services; Mike Douglas, EdD, the system's vice president
for ethics, would serve as her ethics resource; and I would be her mentor for
mission and Catholic identity and also oversee the learning contract. Sr. Jane
Madejczyk, OSF, then WFSI's senior vice president of mission services (she
is today a member of the Sponsorship Board), provided the liaison between the
initiative and the system's sponsor. "Both WFSI senior management
and the Wheaton Franciscan sponsors consider the development of lay leadership
for our ministry to be essential and faithful to the deeper, ongoing, spirit-led
growth of the church," Sr. Jane said.
In designing the learning contract, the search committee realized that it was
important to break it into two complementary parts:
- Internal aspects: knowledge acquired and experiences processed through
the mentorship of WFSI's mission leaders and the regional CEOs
- External aspects: knowledge acquired through more academic venues
Concerning the latter, Rocole was asked to attend the Loyola University of Chicago
Ethics Seminar and two programs offered by the Catholic Health Association (CHA):
the Prophetic Voice seminar for new mission leaders and the Foundations in Catholic
Health Care Leadership seminar.
In addition, I surveyed the various graduate schools in our area that offered
degrees in ministry, discussing them with Rocole; Buser; and Sr. Coletta Dunn,
OSF, chair of the Religious Studies Department, Cardinal Stritch University,
Milwaukee. We decided that Rocole should enroll in the master's degree
program at Cardinal Stritch. Several factors influenced this decision. First,
the curriculum's flexibility allowed Rocole to work with me and Sr. Coletta
in choosing courses that would both fulfill WFSI expectations and meet the university's
degree requirements. Second, the institute offered in-depth study of the Franciscan
tradition, which is the religious heritage from which WFSI was born. Third,
the program allowed Rocole to begin her studies at the same time she was starting
her new job as mission leader at All Saints. In fact, it would allow her to
do both for two years (2004-06), thereby integrating theory with practical application
in the workplace.
The stage was thus set for implementation of the learning contract. I will
let Rocole describe what happened next.
Editor's note: This section of the article was written by Ms.
Rocole.
I had finished my MBA in June 2003, after three and a half years of intense
study, and the thought of entering another master's program was, to be
honest, a little bit frightening. At the same time, I was excited by the prospect.
Although I had more than 10 years' experience as a mission services representative,
that role had been only part of my job, another task on top of other full-time
responsibilities. This new job opened the door to full-time mission work. I
knew, however, that appropriate preparation would be essential if I were to
perform effectively in the role. And so began my journey in pursuit of the personal,
spiritual, and professional growth required for success in this role.
The Master's in Ministry Degree
My university advisers and WFSI leaders helped me set the goals that would
serve as a foundation for the master's degree and my learning contract.
The goals were:
- Obtain an in-depth understanding of the Franciscan heritage.
- Build sound knowledge and a strong foundation in the Catholic moral tradition,
particularly as it relates to the healing ministry of Jesus.
- Develop my ability to understand and provide guidance on complex ethical,
legal, organizational, and policy issues facing Catholic health care institutions
in light of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care
Services and Catholic moral teaching.
- Better my understanding of the foundations of pastoral ministry and its
application in the health care environment.
- Enhance my ability to identify and implement organizational activities that
sustain and nurture Catholic identity, and at the same time heighten awareness
of mission and recognition of our work in Catholic health care as a ministry
of the church.
To achieve these goals, my individualized curriculum in religious studies at
the university is focused on sacred Scripture, church history, Franciscan spirituality,
theological studies and reflection, ministry foundations, moral and social ethics,
and Christian spirituality. Near the completion of the program, in 2006, I will
be required to develop a comprehensive paper or project involving the integration
of classroom learning and practical applications in my mission services role in
health care.
Professional Development Seminar
Before beginning formal classroom study, a master's student at Cardinal
Stritch must complete a course known as the Professional Development Seminar.
The course I took was facilitated by Kay Pollen, a mentor in the Religious Studies
Department. Pollen helped me to reflect on how my mission services role in Catholic
health care would function as a part of church ministry, and to understand how
the master's program would support me in this position. The course consisted
of assigned reading, facilitated discussion, reflection on phone interviews
I conducted with three health care mission leaders, and a final paper.*
* The mission leaders I interviewed were Thomas
F. Nehring, system vice president, mission and leadership Development, Provena
Health, Mokena, IL; Marguerite Stapleton, vice president, mission effectiveness,
Sisters of Charity Health System, Lewiston, ME; and Rosemary Anton, JD, senior
vice president, mission and ethics, Covenant Healthcare, Milwaukee. I am grateful
to them for their help.
The discussions held with mission leaders were critical to my understanding
of how the mission role is carried out in a health care organization, which was
in turn key to my ability to set appropriate educational goals. From these three
people I learned that effectiveness in this role depends heavily on relationship
building. They emphasized that if a mission leader is to educate and motivate
senior leaders, employees, physicians, and board members, he or she must first
earn their respect, confidence, and support. Accomplishing that requires building
positive working relationships at all levels of the organization and with community
leaders and the archdiocese.
I also learned that, besides building relationships, mission leaders must:
- Help develop organizational leadership that is focused on serving others
- Nurture a corporate culture that is driven by the organization's mission
and values
- Enhance physician awareness of mission and values
- Respond to the spiritual needs of patients, families, and staff through
pastoral ministry
- Ensure a high standard of organizational and clinical ethics
- Work for social justice
- Create a "ministry of exchange," in which the stories of WFSI's
heritage can be shared, heard, and understood.1
The course work provided me with an even deeper understanding of how our Catholic
identity and Franciscan heritage influence the work we do. Health care today faces
many challenges. To respond to these challenges, institutions are often required
to make very difficult financial and operational decisions. These decisions are
especially difficult in a Catholic health care organization, where rationales
for them cannot be focused on the bottom line alone, but must also reflect the
organization's religious traditions and beliefs.
Starting the Job
When I assumed my new role as director of mission services at All Saints
in 2004, I felt that I brought to it solid experience from my previous mission
activities. The job description clearly outlined the performance expectations
set for me. Even so, my recent training—my work at Cardinal Stritch, my
participation in the Loyola ethics seminar and the two CHA seminars, the counseling
from my WFSI mentors, and the guidance I received from my All Saints CEO and
executive peers—showed me that I still needed to learn even more in order
to fully undertake these new responsibilities.*
* I want to thank Ken Buser, my executive team colleagues
(Susan Boland, Jim Beck, Loren Meyer, Mike McAvoy, Pat Harger, and Rebecca
Banks), and my WFSI mentors (Terry McGuire, Mike Douglas, Linda Bronersky,
and Sr. Jane Madejczyk, OSF) for their support.
As a mission leader, one of my primary roles is to serve as a member of the
All Saints executive team. Each team member is expected to bring the knowledge
and perspective from his or her area of expertise "to the table."
My role is to raise questions, pose challenges, and frame the team's decision
making in a way ensuring that decisions concerning staffing, operations, and
clinical practice are in alignment with WFSI's mission and values. To do
this, I, as mission leader, must build positive working relationships with the
other team members and earn their respect, confidence, and support. Since starting
my new job, this has been my primary focus, along with meeting the expectations
of my learning contract.* I have also worked to better understand and familiarize
myself with those All Saints operational areas for which I am specifically responsible,
including spiritual care services, ethics, interpretation and translation services,
and volunteer services.
* Concerning these tasks, Buser has noted that Rocole
"has done an excellent job of building relationships with her executive
team colleagues. In addition, she has provided exceptional leadership to key
initiatives and collaborated effectively with key stakeholders in a manner
that promotes our faith-based culture.
"My studies at Cardinal Stritch have proved to be very beneficial. As the
result of a course I took there on the Franciscan intellectual tradition, I was
prepared to participate in All Saints' annual Mission and Heritage Week in
the fall of 2004. I was able to develop reading materials and brochures on our
Franciscan heritage and share my knowledge about the lives of St. Francis and
St. Clare with employees during facilitated lunch-hour discussion groups. Such
activities help us sustain a mission- and values-based culture at All Saints.
In addition, I have been able to apply my newly acquired knowledge to help
ensure that All Saints' policies and contracts are clearly aligned with
the system's mission and values. This includes making sure that all contracted
employees understand, and agree to comply with, values-based behavior standards.
The "Daily Connection"
In September 2004, a team of frontline leaders at All Saints began developing
a mechanism that would, on a daily basis, heighten staff members' awareness
of the organization's mission and set expectations concerning how staff
should live out the organization's values within the context of their daily
lives.* This mechanism, called the "Daily Connection," has six key
components:
- The organizational value (respect, integrity, development, excellence, or
stewardship) to be highlighted on a given day.
- Specific behaviors that, because they embody that value, will be emphasized
that day.
- A reflection, quotation, or Scripture passage that, because it articulates
a message related to the value, is to be emphasized that day.
- A personal commitment that each staff member is to carry out that day.
- A key operational update to inform staff of significant organization-wide
news. (An example is the February 2005 visit to All Saints by the archbishop
of Milwaukee, who led a blessing ceremony for the facility's new emergency
care center. All Saints staff members were encouraged to attend.)
- A few minutes reserved for staff acknowledgement of personal celebrations,
professional accomplishments, or exceptional service. Among those recognized
are staff members who demonstrated the Daily Connection commitment from the
day before.
* Besides Rocole, the Daily Connection team members
are Rosi Fowler (the team's leader), Michael Carter, Cathy Smith, Sandy
Hansen, Patty Gedemer, Tim Thrall, and Sharon Coffie.
Each Daily Connection—the value, supporting behavior, reflection, and
commitment, as well as space for the organizational update and the names of
staff members to be acknowledged—appears as a page in a special daily calendar
we have distributed to all All Saints departments (see Box).
Department leaders (or staff members designated by them) read each day's
Daily Connection to their department members. The Daily Connection is thus delivered
in person, not via e-mail or posting on a bulletin board.
Implementation of the Daily Connection began January 1, 2005, with the distribution
of calendars for 2005 to all department leaders. The overall response from leaders,
staff members, and physicians has been quite positive. Although we have encountered
logistical challenges in some of our more complex and dispersed departments,
we have been able to provide direction and support to most department leaders
as they seek creative, innovative ways to engage their staffs in the Daily Connection
process.
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Sample "Daily Connection" Items
The following is taken from All Saints Healthcare's Daily Connection
for January 1, 2005:
Value: Respect
Supporting Behavior: Promote the sacredness of life from conception
through death
Reflective Message: "There is much suffering in the world—physical,
material, mental. But the greatest suffering is being lonely, feeling
unloved, having no one. I have come more and more to realize that it is
being unwanted that is the worst disease that any human being can ever
experience"—Mother Teresa.
Commitment: No matter how busy you get today, let those you work
with, and those patients in your care, know that you have time for them.
Let them know they are wanted and cared about
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Going Forward
As I look back over my first six months in my new job, I am amazed at the
amount of activity, learning, and growth that has taken place. It has been a
very exciting and challenging time for me, both personally and professionally.
I find that the ongoing guidance and direction from my CEO and executive team
peers, as well as the coaching from McGuire, help keep me grounded and focused.
As I reflect on how far I've come, and look to what lies ahead, I find
strength and inspiration in what I see as my reason and purpose for making this
"journey." I hope, through formal education and practical experience
as a new mission leader, to initiate a "ripple effect" throughout
the All Saints organization. By acting as a role model, helping to nurture a
strong Franciscan culture, and serving as a formal voice for mission in operations
and decision making, I can help All Saints' leaders stay true to their
course. If we stay true to our course, the essence of who we are as a Franciscan
Catholic health care organization will touch people both inside and outside
our walls.
Our mission, values, and Franciscan tradition will perpetuate compassionate
action and permeate the very core and fabric of our organization. Health care
will continue to face daunting challenges. But if we who serve All Saints understand
the strong Catholic and Franciscan foundation on which we stand, we will be
firmly guided as we walk in the footsteps of St. Francis, living out the healing
ministry of Jesus.
NOTE
- The term "ministry of exchange" is borrowed from Elise Saggau, ed.,
Franciscans and Healthcare: Facing the Future, Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure,
NY, 2001.
Copyright © 2005 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3477.