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The Alexian Brothers Core Values are strongly implanted in our minds and heart. “Compassion, Dignity of the Person, Holism, Care of the Poor and Partnership.” Those five values effectively touch our mission to the elderly and our business decisions.
This clearly came home to me during this past month. I had a busy time of strategic planning, budget and other business items that took me to extensive meetings in
St. Louis
,
Chattanooga
and
Chicago
as well as here at AVM. It was startling to me to realize that in each of those meeting the Brothers’ Core Values surfaced naturally and effortlessly into our business conversations.
You and I would expect the Values to be discussed in mission and pastoral care forums. But to hear them rise out of our future planning, capital development, new buildings and marketing efforts was a welcomed surprise to me. It comforted and assured me that the Brothers’ influence is strong in all our decision-making activities. In what we accomplish and measure is often a good calculating process that ends up with a figure, a number. Yet, again in our meetings the Brothers’ reminders of “Caring for the poor” and “Compassion” filtered through our planning and expectations.
While talking about patient/resident satisfaction and a measurable quotient that is acceptable to all: what determines “best practice” in retaining, retraining and training employees; what determines good stewardship of our resources including financial and expansion of our services, — always was peppered and eventually anchored in the root of our work, the Brothers’ ministry.
The insertion of “value-talk” was not manufactured or contrived. And, we did not begin with the Core Values and then discuss practicalities. Rather it easily flowed from the concrete issues facing us in each of the Alexian locations.
This is either good training of the Brothers’ Core Values or the impact and influence of those Values is so strong it cannot help but influence decisions and future planning.
I am so pleased to have uncovered this deep treasure that is important to any ministry or mission effort: the reason we do things, always evaluating the “why” we do things the way we do them and who is impacted and affected most by our decisions. If we can answer those questions in light of the Brothers’ Core Values, we can trust that we are doing our jobs as administrators and, most importantly, as Alexian employees.
Gary Mohn,
CEO and President, Alexian Village
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