Author: Chris Woodgate, ISAS Officer
Annie, according to my children, is one of the greatest musicals of all time.
I think age has something to do with that and when they said it (6 & 8 years old, a long time ago), La La Land wasn’t even a twinkle in the writer’s eye.
So what does Annie say about tomorrow?
When I'm stuck with a day that's grey and lonely
I just stick up my chin and grin and say, oh
The sun will come out tomorrow
So you gotta hang on
'til tomorrow, come what may!
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow
You're always a day away!
Oh, if it were only that easy! But it is true that tomorrow is always a day away which is why it probably seems that you are stuck in a day that is ‘grey and lonely’ forever.
However, does it have to be like that? Guess what, the answer is NO and maybe you can help yourself to let the sun shine in.
Planning – I have talked about audit and the difference evidence can make, but what about planning to ensure the evidence is maintained, planning to make sure you are innovative, effective, and efficient?
Action plans are not just for answering complaints; they can help you plan for tomorrow. Use them to:-
- decide your service/teams objectives for the year
- your performance objectives
- your service improvement
- decide on delegation and monitoring
I think the important difference you can make as a leader/manager is to see tomorrow as a place of possibility and hope.
I agree there will be worries, struggles, setbacks and failures but it is what you do with those that makes the sun shine in your tomorrow.
Albert Einstein famously said “failure is success in progress” if this is true, and who am I to argue with Einstein, then there can be no success without failure, setback or struggle.
Failure isn’t an indication that you or the ideas are no good, but it is an indication that you are closer to the solution than you were yesterday.
Those centres who have achieved accreditation to the ISAS standard will tell you that action planning is key to achieving success, support ongoing audit and ensure the standards are maintained.
Remember that hope deferred makes the heart sick, giving you a disillusioned team who don’t want to try anymore; not good for recruitment and retention.
As the leader/manager of your service you are the arbiter of hope, the person who embraces possibility and the bringer of the sun tomorrow, WHY not action plan and make it count.
http://www.sor.org/imagine-services-accreditation-scheme