Growth and Success: Positive Career Breakthroughs and Personal Triumphs

(Michelle Vanhoy and Kerri Rhue)

Kerri and Michelle took the stage in sunglasses, saying they had wanted to change the culture of their company through administrative training! They told us that our journey and our experiences refresh us. They are inspirational and by them, we would be transformed. They created Novant Administrative Training Series (NATS) featuring Office Dynamics’ Star Achievement training series.

“Criticism is a valuable tool if we know how to receive it.”

“Growth is the norm, not a rare event!”

On the way to introducing Star via “NATS” at Novant, there were several challenges to growth and success.

The first challenge was their deep emotions, such as “No! Yes! Fear! Excitement!”Mainly fear, though! At one point early on, they had a fear of walking the three steps up to the stage, but they moved past their fears by thinking, “we knew it could change the organization.”

They designed their training program specifically for Novant and its culture. Star fit their mission, vision and values of the organization. It forced them to step outside of their box.

Next, they pursued gaining buy-in from leaders (in the form of budget and a project roadmap). They showed us the spreadsheets they’d created, outlining the cost per participant.

They pursued confidence as fuel for the trip. They practiced, gained executive sponsors, acceptance from peers, and realized the program wasn’t for everyone. Sometimes people are on different paths. If they are comfortable now, perhaps they will want to join in later. Lastly, they decided that failure was not an option.
 

Michelle and Kerri worked hard at balancing the work load. “Teamwork divides the task and doubles the workload capabilities.”

They discussed becoming aware of the need to prepare for detours, such s timing, budget, peer or executive support issues) along the path to bring Star Achievement training in-house.

“’No’ now is not ‘no’ forever!” was my favorite quote from these two dynamic speakers. Detours are just a small rest area, not a major derailment. They used the detour moments to evaluate and obtain candid feedback, centering on the four Star components: Attitude, Teamwork, Skills and Strategy.

They discussed the success of bringing Star Achievement to Novant, by showing a clip of Sean Keyser, Operations Improvement Vice President: “Star has a unique way of recognizing the vital role they play every day” and, “administrators manage those who manage change” and “Pride is something people deserve to have at work.”

They discussed that administrators should be consulted on the front end, because they will be handling the work on the back end. Michelle and Kerri also discussed “flipcharting” and minute taking as items they provide training on so there is a consistent level of support.

In conclusion, they relayed the touching and poignant starfish story, ending with the quote, “at least for that one, I made a difference.”