A bag of shoes – leading by example

We all know that the most creative care homes are led by managers who walk the walk in a very practical way.  Quite literally you need to ‘be the change you want to see’. 

An example of this is a manager who loved nice clothes and accessories.  She was well known for her stylish dress sense and many of the people living and working in the home often commented on this.  One day she arrived at the home with a huge bag and came into the lounge with it.   Everyone was intrigued and so she emptied the bag into the centre of the room, and there were about 40 pairs of shoes – stilettos, sparkly shoes, riding boots, running shoes, children’s shoes and some still in their original boxes.  She said that she had been clearing out her cupboards and thought that people might enjoy seeing her collection. The magic which then unfolded throughout the whole day was quite remarkable.  People held the shoes and commented on whether they liked them or whether they reminded them of a time in their lives when they might have worn the shoes.  The manager shared stories of the people, places and events related to the shoes.  One of the team created an improvised fairy tale related to imaginary characters who were conjured up by some of the shoes – an ‘orphan child’, a ‘Duchess’ and a ‘soldier’ and the story was read aloud by one of the women in the home who used to be an actress.    Later in the day, another creative team member invited residents to create a ‘still life’ of various shoes together and then draw and paint a picture of them.   Another colleague took photographs of a few people trying on the shoes and having a dance. A man living in the home found a boot which had lost its pair and wrote a funny poem about ‘The Lost Boot.’  Many commented it was one of the most fun days they had ever had. 

One of the housekeepers said she had a very good collection of hats and scarves at home she might bring in the following week, to create a similar experience.

This is an example of a leader who understands that the best way to motivate others was to show her team by bringing in some items to share from home and how this could create a sense of excitement, energy and imagination.

Leaders can inspire creativity in a range of ways, for example allocating budgets to purchase more items to support creative activities, encouraging the team to make community links with local artists, dancers, choirs etc. and potentially pursuing grants for partnership projects with these artists.

But the above example demonstrates that leaders who can role model everyday creativity in a very tangible way are likely to set the tone for their whole team to take more initiative and make magic happen themselves!