NASTAD Leadership Institute

1. NASTAD Leadership Institute March 9-10, 2009

2. Leadership Institute • Purpose: to help new and emerging leaders develop critical skills necessary to lead HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis programs in state and local health departments  • Participants: New AIDS directors and senior program managers from select NASTAD advisory committees • Outcomes: Participants will clarify their vision for leadership, programs and staff; build media and advocacy skills, and develop a leadership plan to strengthen their programs

3. Agenda DAY ONE • Vision and Leadership • Understanding and Working in State Bureaucracies • Media Training DAY TWO • Action Planning • Advocacy Training • Hill Visits

4. What is your drag queen leader name? • First or last name of the first leader you ever learned about (whether you liked them or not) • First or last name of the leader you would most like to emulate

5. What are your expectations? • Learn how to utilize the resources at my disposal to accomplish personal and programmatic goals. (Steve) • Learn ways to work effectively with the challenges we face as African American staff. (Lewis) • Knowledge and skills needed to become an effective leader (LaQueisa, Eduardo) • Gain practical knowledge of the legislative process. (Eduardo) • Networking and resource sharing (Steve, Raphael, Eduardo) • Establish mentoring relationship (LaQueisa)

6. Leadership and Management Qualities Highest rated qualities among J/J survey respondents Vision Persistence Confidence Leadership Themes Leadership as distinct from management skills – you need both, but not necessarily in the same person Different models of leadership exist (and should be recognized) Leaders have a responsibility to staff to lead, inspire, empower, impart knowledge and experience, etc.

7. Vision and Leadership • The importance of vision • Clarifying your vision • For your leadership • For your program • For your staff

8. Importance of Vision Leaders have a responsibility to staff to lead, inspire, empower, impart knowledge and experience, etc. – AIDS Director, J/J study Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. — Warren Bennis

9. Vision Defined • The act or power of imagination • Mode of seeing or conceiving • Unusual discernment or foresight

10. Vision is the art of seeing the invisible — Jonathan Swift

11. Peer Discussion • The importance of vision for their own leadership, their program, their staff • How/why their vision(s) have changed over time

12. Leadership Styles – Turning Point • Directing • Coaching • Supporting • Delegating What is your style? What do you want your style to be?

13. Leadership Style: Directing • Focuses communication on goal achievement • Gives instructions – what goals to achieve and how • Limited time on supportive behaviors

14. Leadership Style: Coaching • Focuses communication on goal achievement AND peoples’ needs • Gives encouragement • Asks for input • Ultimately, leader still makes the final decision

15. Leadership Style: Supporting • Does not focus just on goals • Focuses on tasks to be accomplished • Uses supportive behaviors to bring out others Skills • Listening • Praising • Asking for input • Giving feedback

16. Leadership Style: Delegating • Offers less input and social support • Facilitates others’ confidence and motivation to accomplish the tasks • Leader is not as involved in planning, details or goals clarification

17. And so…… What is your leadership style? What do you want your style to be?

18. BREAK

19. To the person who does not know where he wants to go there is no favorable wind. -Seneca

20. YOUR Vision Defined An ideal state that you wish to achieve • For yourself as leader – What would your leadership ideally look like? Feel like? • For your staff - Staff composition, functioning together, culture of work, etc…. • For your program

21. Your Vision for leadership… • To increase leadership skills and ability, to provide training to staff and be in mentoring role (Lewis) • To lead by example and empower individuals while expecting everyone to continually improve. This involves communicating openly and honestly while setting clear expectations and providing positive support as needed. (LaQueisa) • Guiding and unifying individuals in a common set of goals and/or vision. Mentoring individuals and assist them in identifying their potentials, strengths, abilities. Nurture them in their professional and leadership development. To bring one's life experience and worldview in the mix, particularly if one happens to be/come from a place different than the established norm. (Eduardo)

22. Your Vision for your staff….(from prework) • I envision my staff bringing unique and cutting edge programming to the HIV care and treatment arena in Nebraska, and setting the gold standard for peers and programs across the nation. (Steve) • I expect the staff to develop fully as professionals and bring their own ideas into the work in order to meet the challenges we face in the provision of services for those at risk and infected with HIV and viral hepatitis. (Eduardo)

23. Your Vision for your program….(from prework) • Maintaining accountability for our actions, committeemen to each other and the community that we serve, and maintaining our integrity when making decisions. (Raphael) • Bringing unique and cutting edge programming to the HIV care and treatment arena in Nebraska, and setting the gold standard for peers and programs across the nation. (Steve)

24. Honing our Vision(s) • Individual Reflection • Large Group Discussion • Share the visions (for self as leader, program, staff) • Identify the challenges we face in achieving these visions • Share and classify the challenges • Brainstorm solutions

25. Lunch

27. Understanding and Working In State Bureaucracies Purpose of session • Realities of working in state bureaucracies • Unique challenges to state AIDS programs • Diversity of staff, contractors, departments • Key challenges from their bureaucracies • Identify solutions

28. Nature of the Beast – State Bureaucracies (J/J Study) • Hiring freezes • Restrictions on hiring quickly • Candidate diversity • Salary scale • State capital locations • Health department “culture” that supports/does not support diversity and support for a diverse workforce • High degree of bureaucratic burden and inertia

29. Nature of the Beast: Hiring constraints (J/J study) We need to be trying to work around the hiring constraints and try to find incentives for these employees – something that we could help them to grow within their roles, continue to challenge them, as well as provide some incentive with the limited resources we have not to lose employees all at the same time. The bureaucracy is sometimes so unwieldy and you get mired down in a lot of sort of meaningless stuff (sic) and government is really difficult to work in and so I think that government and AIDS in particular doesn’t attract natural leaders anymore.

30. Nature of the Beast: Lack of Diversity (J/J study) We can have the best intentions of bringing in people of multiple ethnicities but why would they want to come work for us when then can make twice as much…I mean, a lot of staff we have now make less than our community providers. It’s hard for gay men [of color] to work on this because …its been my personal experience that once you are there [in the health department], there is such a huge degree of isolation that is very hard to deal with – you cannot go to another black male to get mentoring because there’s no one there. It reinforces the challenges we have. I think we need to think about diversity in terms of a lot of those demographic characteristics, but more importantly the work that we do in health departments requires specific expertise and experience and skills – the kinds of skills and sensibilities for being able to interact with others in a state health department is very different from what is needed on the front line.

31. Your Experience: Diversity

32. Your Experience: Challenges • Fiscal, philosophical, political, conservative (Steve) • Lack of cultural competency, existing relationships (cliques) that result in partiality, lack of racial/ethnic diversity within leadership. (LaQueisa) • Lack of urgency to target those disproportionally affected; health disparities (LaQueisa, Eduardo) • Lack of communication. Lack access to key stakeholders. (Eduardo) • Micromanagement and excessive red tape and channels of communication. (Eduardo, Raphael) • Motivating or re-energizing long-term staff, staff retention, ability to offer competitive salaries (Raphael)

33. Peer Discussion • Most difficult experience and how they worked through it • How to promote diversity in state bureaucracies

34. 7th inning stretch? (break now or after?)

35. State Bureaucracies: Solutions and Plans Individual reflection • Challenges shared from their pre-work. Add/amend them • Specific goals for staff diversification Group discussion • Revisiting challenges • Sharing diversity goals • Discuss solutions and plans

36. Calming the Beast – Solutions in State Bureaucracies Group discussion • Revisiting challenges • Sharing diversity goals • Discuss solutions and plans

37. Break

38. Media Segment • Keys to successful media relationships • Examples of good (and bad) encounters and lessons learned, and practical tools to use with media interactions and/or inquiries will be provided • Practical checklists for what to cover (and not cover) in an interview • Discussion

39. Your Experience With the Media

40. Working With The Media… • To Promote Public Health • To Enhance A Program (s) • To Increase Awareness of HIV/AIDS (or related issues) • Its an art and a science

41. MEDIA SURVIVAL CHECKLIST • Be pre-prepared with facts/figures • Give simple, positive messages • Be open, honest and accessible • Respond quickly to all inquiries • Do more than expected (this will establish your credibility and reliability) • Use common sense

42. The Media • Don’t Get Caught off Guard • The best time to establish a relationship is off camera by exchanging information before a crisis or event occurs • Establish your credibility by being available to them • Ask how they are using the information

43. Media is a Business • A reporter is not out to make you look bad (not hostile questions) • A reporter is not out to make you look good, either • A reporter is simply trying to get a story

44. Knowing Your Local Media • Its always good to research this and know the media scene • Create a list you have by your desk with reporters’ names, station Ids, faxes, etc. • Some use a Media Encounter Sheet

45. Knowing Your Local Media Know Your Health Department’s Policy Regarding the Media • Work with your department’s communications people and be certain you can interact with the media…in some health departments you can’t

46. Creating Media Opportunities • Make a story: • Public Services Announcements • Develop a library to use over and over • Send Newsletters to Media • Create a news release for an event • Paid Advertisements • Op-ed piece • Do not CRY WOLF or contrive a story just to get in the news • Remember it’s a seasonal business – but also remember the annual events that trigger

47. Retention of Information after 3 hours: comparative Analysis of Media Outlets • Radio = 70% • Newspaper = 72% • TV = 85%

48. Retention After 3 Days… • Radio = 10% • Newspaper = 20% • TV = 65%

49. Techniques for Effective Communication First be certain what the story is about AGAIN…Use a form or sheet to record information Determine what your role is.. 1) to inform the public 2) to tell your side of the story 3) to give good news about what your agency is doing on an issue

50. Single Overriding Health Communication Objective • SOHCO • This is your main point or objective or the theme of the interview • Even though they approached you; you need to understand what your focus will be • Be prepared with facts