Saturday, December 1, 2012

Shine on, OT Leader!

Hopefully, by following this OT Leaders that Shine blog, you’ve gained some excellent leadership tips from our highlighted expert OT Leader, Amy Salinas, MS OTR/L.
 
Amy planned and hosted the First Annual car show fundraiser for the brain injury service at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (Rancho): “Rebuilding Cars; Rebuilding Lives”.  On September 29th, over 1,000 guests visited the event, with over 150 cars registered – which is a huge success for a first time car show!

This entire process has been a great learning experience for Amy – and for those of us who have been following the excitement as the plan evolved.   

Working her way up the professional ladder to chairperson of the brain injury interdisciplinary team at Rancho, OT supervisor Amy Salinas is no stranger to leadership responsibilities; however, this car show was her largest professional endeavor to date.   Amy was searching for an event to bring her team together while promoting recognition about brain injury in the local communities surrounding Downey, CA.  Amy generated the enthusiasm for this event after a few conversations with her father, an avid vintage car hobbyist.   

Amy’s father and his fellow club members held leadership roles guiding the implementation, launching and running of the car show.  He was actively involved up to the last minute when he and his car club judged the entries.  Through this experience, Amy learned to interact and gain the trust of many community agencies, most of whom had never heard of Rancho Los Amigos.  She recruited help from the Sherriff’s department to the Girl Scouts. She even had a large stage donated for free. It seemed that anyone Amy spoke with about the show, wanted to help in some way.  Approximately 200 people volunteered their time from the generation of the idea, to the implementation of the show. Taking on a leadership role can be quite exciting when the leader is passionate about a cause.  Amy is a true example of this passion and commitment.   

Leadership Lessons Learned: 

1) Every decision has an up-side and down-side. 
Amy learned that as the day of event drew near, and as people who were helping became more committed to the success of the show, every decision affected the groups that were helping in a different way.  Amy made great efforts to anticipate and carefully weigh the outcome of each decision she made.   Even on the day of the event, plans had to be altered when the food truck vendors decided that they wanted to move their location.  Things were carefully planned around the location of the trucks, but when that changed, Amy remained calm and flexible moving vendors and events around so that things worked out for everyone.

 2) Remain calm in your demeanor.
Amy learned that the people reflect each other's energy.  As a leader, when you demonstrate emotion, the people you are communicating with mirror that emotion.  Also as a leader, if you mirror your partner's emotion, things can escalate and emotions can take over. To implement a calm and effective program, Amy suggests being empathetic, but keeping the larger goal in focus at all times.  The more involved people become, the more emotions are displayed.  Amy learned that she could keep the people around her calmer if she herself maintained a calm demeanor.  She suggests keeping the ultimate goal of the program as the primary focus at all times helps to keep the daily events and the associated emotions on track.

 3) Know your audience.
When you work at a world-renown hospital as popular as Rancho Los Amigos, it is easy to assume that everyone knows what type of facility it is.  After all the marketing, Amy was surprised at how many people still needed to learn about brain injury and the rehabilitation hospital in southern California that it known by health care professionals for its ‘Levels of Cognitive Functioning’.  Amy also suggests being brief and succinct with your marketing materials.  She recommends that a one-page flier should “say it all”.  So when marketing your program, make no assumptions! 

 4) Communicate, communicate, communicate….
Each entry in this blog emphasized Amy’s need for open, clear communication.  She repeated the need to listen carefully to others and address issues as soon as possible.  Amy worked with several different committees in the hospital and even more in the community.  She learned how to communicate with volunteers and helpers so that they felt heard, and she respected their input.  Amy cannot overstress addressing issues as early as possible, again keeping the ultimate program as the primary focus to accept input and avoid disappointment.
 
5) Acknowledge your helpers.
There is no way that the car show would have been as successful if it had not been for all the help Amy received.  She eventually lost count of exactly who was helping, because people ended up recruiting help that she never knew about.  However, Amy emphasizes the need to acknowledge as many of the people who helped as possible.  She arranged a ceremony with hospital administration to acknowledge as many people as she could, and was sure to note her appreciation for all the people she didn’t know about as well.
 
6) Do a thorough de-briefing.
This was Amy’s first of many (she hopes) car shows.  She feels she learned so much this time around and is eager to set the wheels in motion for next year’s show.   She forwarded emails asking for suggestions and held a meeting with those who were able to attend.   Suggestions were made about how and when to register cars, to where the stage would be located, to the flow of traffic exiting the show, to having someone sell hats for sun protection; will all contribute to the success of the upcoming car shows! 
 
7) Use your resources.
In reviewing the day, Amy realized that she could have made better use of the primary Rancho resource, their patients! Next year, Amy is planning to have the patients be more involved in planning and running the show.  This year, many helped by baking for the bake sale and giving out the trophies, but Amy feels that they can build their leadership skills and contribute more by getting involved earlier next year. 
 
8) Celebrate your successes.
Amy bought a car-show cake and had a huge party to celebrate the success of the First Annual Rancho Car Show!  People were happy to share in the celebration by sharing their pictures and their stories. 
 
To see pictures and learn more about the success of the car show, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XViFMsQSSgA

In the end, the show was such a success, that it raised over double the amount of money she had hoped to raise. 

Congratulations Amy, you truly are an OT Leader that Shines! 

Saturday, September 15, 2012

OT Leader Produces Fund Raiser for Patients with Brain Injury


Coming SOON:  September 29, 2012
Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center’s 1st Annual Car Show!!

     Those of us, who accomplish great feats, never do it alone.  As we learn of the progress for the upcoming Car Show, “Rebuilding Cars, Rebuilding Lives” at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (Rancho), in Downey CA, on September 29, 2012, Amy Salinas’ leadership traits are clearly evident.   A few short months ago, the Rancho Los Amigos Car Show was just becoming a reality.  Since the last post, Amy has assembled over 20 different committees with people from many different communities who are invested in making this car show a success.  To date, well over 50 people have participated in the planning process alone. As more people become involved, the event is expanding to include activities, people and communities Amy never dreamed of, and would never have been able to accomplish on her own.  Although there is a long list of ongoing events, the focus of this article will be the leadership skills Amy is implementing.

Passion: When someone is passionate about a cause, it is easy to inspire others. 
      Amy’s father loves vintage cars.  From the time she was very young; Amy accompanied her father to car shows and kept him company while he worked at his hobby of restoring cars.  Professionally, Amy has been working at Rancho for 15 years.  She is a compassionate and successful therapist, as well as the supervisor on the adult and pediatric traumatic brain injury service.  Amy is committed to making the rehabilitation experience for each of her patients and their loved ones, the best that it can be.  Amy’s dream to organize and produce a car show at Rancho unites her passion for the patients she cares for, the hospital she works at, the professionals she works with, and the love she feels for her father and her family. 

Communication: With a clear focus, it is easy to communicate the objective of the project. 
     Initially, Amy was using the brain injury team meetings as an avenue to discuss and plan for the program.  With the enormity of the upcoming show, it soon became apparent that a separate meeting was necessary. Representatives from each committee either volunteered or were selected as the spokesperson to meet with the planning team, and hold separate meetings with their specific team.  Presently, Amy administers monthly meetings with the representatives to establish action plans, obtain updates on committee progress, solve problems and to keep the program on track.  Amy finds that for the area of communication, she uses a wide skill set. She must be able to clearly communicate with hospital administrators, other hospital staff, therapy peers, patients and their families.  She is also communicating with community organizations such as car clubs and Crainco Crane Service who is raffling off an opportunity to sit in one of their “Funny Cars”! (Check out at their video at:  http://craincoinc.com/racing.html).  Two other funny cars joining the show will be brought to you by Keeter Ray Racing and Pure Heaven Racing.

     In addition to modifying her communication depending upon her audience, she finds it most important to consider people’s feelings at all times.  The larger this project becomes, the more invested the contributors are.  It is very exciting when the people working on the project take full responsibility however; this sometimes creates less than optimal interpersonal dynamics. It is Amy’s responsibility to prioritize the focus on the car show while empowering the contributors in their leadership roles. Amy reports that addressing issues as early as possible helps to keep emotions steady and the flow of communication smooth.  She finds that by fully listening to the concern first, it helps to ease the resolution. By always keeping the goal of the project as the primary focus, it helps people to project solutions without taking it personally. 

Discipline: It takes discipline to see a project through to completion.
     Amy is clearly doing this project because it is what is in her heart.  She is doing it while working her regular hours as a supervisor on the pediatric and adult traumatic brain injury service.  There are weekends and nights spent working on the project but Amy finds the investment of time will pay off in the future for the benefit of the brain injury service. Building a first-time event from the ground up takes discipline, but once the connections are made the event will easily expand for future car shows. By example, she is demonstrating to her team that leadership is not a “nine to five” job.

Generosity and Gratitude: Everyone on the team is necessary for a successful outcome.
      During my interview with Amy, it was apparent that she is grateful for every single person who is making this show a reality.  She humbly recognizes that each person has something great to contribute. She is open to ideas that will benefit the show and recognizes that it is only through each person’s contribution that this show will be a success.  She remains open to suggestions and includes ideas that are in line with the goal of the project. She consistently gives credit to the appropriate parties, rather than taking the credit herself.  As the project leader, if things do not run as smoothly as she’d like, she assumes full responsibility.

What can we expect?
      As of today, over 60 cars are registered and they are expecting 100 cars on the day of the event.  Amy and her team have secured 15 vendors, and over 25 donors including: Universal Waste who is donating porta potties, Mountain Spring Water who is donating all the drinking water, AAA is donating goody bags, Dave’s trophy donated the “Best in Show” trophy, the brain injury team is donating raffle prizes. Danchuk Manufacturing made a $200 contribution.  There will be volunteers from Warren high school, Downey Princess Court, Girl Scouts and of course many of the Rancho employees and friends of Rancho.

     The event will be free to spectators. Funds generated by the $25 registration for each car in the show will be used by the adult and pediatric brain injury service to purchase cutting-edge therapeutic equipment and for program development.  20 trophies will be issued including: “Patient’s Choice”, “Don Knabe Choice”, and “Children’s Choice” along with the traditional car show trophies. Patients from the hospital are participating in the show by casting their votes as well.

     The “Rebuilding Cars, Rebuilding Lives” will showcase specialty adapted vehicles alongside the restored classic cars. This is a first-time-ever event at a car show!  Some past patients of Rancho will manage many of the events.  Jay Cramer will emcee the show and, Hector Duran (“Juice”) will be singing the national anthem. Adding more meaning to the day, KnowBarriers peer mentors living with brain injuries will be sharing their stories. Find out more about the KnowBarriers Program at:  http://www.knowbarriers.org

     Amy is clearly practicing a leadership style that empowers her team members. By providing the guidance and the support, the passion and the focus, her team members will shine.

In summary, here are some of the leadership skills she is using:
·         Vision and passion ignite the project and keep it moving forward.
·         Communication with flexibility and good listening skills are essential for successful interaction with a wide variety of people.
·         Keep the project as the primary focus to reduce personal feelings from interfering with the process.
·         Discipline is needed to make the project a priority and keep it moving forward despite interference that occurs in life.
·         Demonstrate generosity, gratitude and appreciation for all the people who work on the project.
·         Utilize a wide range of resources in order to accomplish your goals.
·         Of course, maintain a sense of humor to keep the mood light and reduce the stress.
·         Work with goals and deadlines. In general, it takes about one year to put together a car show; Amy and her team will pull it off in less than six months! 

Let’s wish them all good luck.  We hope to see you there!

To learn more about the car show, visit the website at: www.rancho.org/carshow

OT Leader Produces Car Show as Fund Raiser for Brain Injured Patients

Coming SOON:  September 29, 2012
Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center’s 1st Annual Car Show!!

     Those of us, who accomplish great feats, never do it alone.  As we learn of the progress for the upcoming Car Show, “Rebuilding Cars, Rebuilding Lives” at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (Rancho), in Downey CA, on September 29, 2012, Amy Salinas’ leadership traits are clearly evident.   A few short months ago, the Rancho Los Amigos Car Show was just becoming a reality.  Since the last post, Amy has assembled over 20 different committees with people from many different communities who are invested in making this car show a success.  To date, well over 50 people have participated in the planning process alone. As more people become involved, the event is expanding to include activities, people and communities Amy never dreamed of, and would never have been able to accomplish on her own.  Although there is a long list of ongoing events, the focus of this article will be the leadership skills Amy is implementing.

Passion: When someone is passionate about a cause, it is easy to inspire others. 
      Amy’s father loves vintage cars.  From the time she was very young; Amy accompanied her father to car shows and kept him company while he worked at his hobby of restoring cars.  Professionally, Amy has been working at Rancho for 15 years.  She is a compassionate and successful therapist, as well as the supervisor on the adult and pediatric traumatic brain injury service.  Amy is committed to making the rehabilitation experience for each of her patients and their loved ones, the best that it can be.  Amy’s dream to organize and produce a car show at Rancho unites her passion for the patients she cares for, the hospital she works at, the professionals she works with, and the love she feels for her father and her family. 

Communication: With a clear focus, it is easy to communicate the objective of the project. 
     Initially, Amy was using the brain injury team meetings as an avenue to discuss and plan for the program.  With the enormity of the upcoming show, it soon became apparent that a separate meeting was necessary. Representatives from each committee either volunteered or were selected as the spokesperson to meet with the planning team, and hold separate meetings with their specific team.  Presently, Amy administers monthly meetings with the representatives to establish action plans, obtain updates on committee progress, solve problems and to keep the program on track.  Amy finds that for the area of communication, she uses a wide skill set. She must be able to clearly communicate with hospital administrators, other hospital staff, therapy peers, patients and their families.  She is also communicating with community organizations such as car clubs and Crainco Crane Service who is raffling off an opportunity to sit in one of their “Funny Cars”! (Check out at their video at:  http://craincoinc.com/racing.html).  Two other funny cars joining the show will be brought to you by Keeter Ray Racing and Pure Heaven Racing.

     In addition to modifying her communication depending upon her audience, she finds it most important to consider people’s feelings at all times.  The larger this project becomes, the more invested the contributors are.  It is very exciting when the people working on the project take full responsibility however; this sometimes creates less than optimal interpersonal dynamics. It is Amy’s responsibility to prioritize the focus on the car show while empowering the contributors in their leadership roles. Amy reports that addressing issues as early as possible helps to keep emotions steady and the flow of communication smooth.  She finds that by fully listening to the concern first, it helps to ease the resolution. By always keeping the goal of the project as the primary focus, it helps people to project solutions without taking it personally. 

Discipline: It takes discipline to see a project through to completion.
     Amy is clearly doing this project because it is what is in her heart.  She is doing it while working her regular hours as a supervisor on the pediatric and adult traumatic brain injury service.  There are weekends and nights spent working on the project but Amy finds the investment of time will pay off in the future for the benefit of the brain injury service. Building a first-time event from the ground up takes discipline, but once the connections are made the event will easily expand for future car shows. By example, she is demonstrating to her team that leadership is not a “nine to five” job.

Generosity and Gratitude: Everyone on the team is necessary for a successful outcome.
      During my interview with Amy, it was apparent that she is grateful for every single person who is making this show a reality.  She humbly recognizes that each person has something great to contribute. She is open to ideas that will benefit the show and recognizes that it is only through each person’s contribution that this show will be a success.  She remains open to suggestions and includes ideas that are in line with the goal of the project. She consistently gives credit to the appropriate parties, rather than taking the credit herself.  As the project leader, if things do not run as smoothly as she’d like, she assumes full responsibility.

What can we expect?
      As of today, over 60 cars are registered and they are expecting 100 cars on the day of the event.  Amy and her team have secured 15 vendors, and over 25 donors including: Universal Waste who is donating porta potties, Mountain Spring Water who is donating all the drinking water, AAA is donating goody bags, Dave’s trophy donated the “Best in Show” trophy, the brain injury team is donating raffle prizes. Danchuk Manufacturing made a $200 contribution.  There will be volunteers from Warren high school, Downey Princess Court, Girl Scouts and of course many of the Rancho employees and friends of Rancho.

     The event will be free to spectators. Funds generated by the $25 registration for each car in the show will be used by the adult and pediatric brain injury service to purchase cutting-edge therapeutic equipment and for program development.  20 trophies will be issued including: “Patient’s Choice”, “Don Knabe Choice”, and “Children’s Choice” along with the traditional car show trophies. Patients from the hospital are participating in the show by casting their votes as well.

     The “Rebuilding Cars, Rebuilding Lives” will showcase specialty adapted vehicles alongside the restored classic cars. This is a first-time-ever event at a car show!  Some past patients of Rancho will manage many of the events.  Jay Cramer will the emcee the show and, Hector Duran (“Juice”) will be singing the national anthem. Adding more meaning to the day,  Know Barries peer mentors living with brain injuries will be sharing their stories http://www.knowbarriers.org/.

     Amy is clearly practicing a leadership style that empowers her team members. By providing the guidance and the support, the passion and the focus, her team members will shine.

Here are some of the leadership skills she is using:
  • Vision and passion ignite the project and keep it moving forward.
  • Communication with flexibility and good listening skills to address a wide variety of people.
  • Keep the project as the primary focus to reduce personal feelings from interfering with the process.
  • Discipline to make the project a priority and keep it moving forward despite everything else that occurs in life.
  • Demonstrate generosity, gratitude and appreciation for all the people who work on the project.
  • Utilization of a wide range of resources in order to accomplish your goals.
  • Of course, keep a sense of humor to keep the mood light and reduce the stress.
  • Work with goals and deadlines. In general, it takes about one year to put together a car show; Amy and her team will pull it off in less than six months! 


    In general, it takes about one year to put together a car show; Amy and her crew will pull it off in less than six months!  Let’s wish them all good luck.  We hope to see you there

To learn more about the car show, visit the website at: www.rancho.org/carshow

Friday, September 14, 2012

OT Leader Creates Car Show Fund Raiser for Brain Injury Rehabilitation

Coming SOON:  September 29, 2012
Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center’s 1st Annual Car Show!!

     Those of us, who accomplish great feats, never do it alone.  As we learn of the progress for the upcoming Car Show, “Rebuilding Cars, Rebuilding Lives” at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (Rancho), in Downey, on September 29, 2012, Amy Salinas’ leadership traits are clearly evident.   A few short months ago, the Rancho Los Amigos Car Show was just becoming a reality.  Since the last post, Amy has assembled over 20 different committees with people from many different communities who are invested in making this car show a success.  To date, well over 50 people have participated in the planning process alone. As more people become involved, the event is expanding to include activities, people and communities Amy never dreamed of, and would never have been able to accomplish on her own.  Although there is a long list of ongoing events, the focus of this article will be the leadership skills Amy is implementing.

Passion: When someone is passionate about a cause, it is easy to inspire others. 
      Amy’s father loves vintage cars.  From the time she was very young; Amy accompanied her father to car shows and kept him company while he worked at his hobby of restoring cars.  Professionally, Amy has been working at Rancho for 15 years.  She is a compassionate and successful therapist, as well as the supervisor on the adult and pediatric traumatic brain injury service.  Amy is committed to making the rehabilitation experience for each of her patients and their loved ones, the best that it can be.  Amy’s dream to organize and produce a car show at Rancho unites her passion for the patients she cares for, the hospital she works at, the professionals she works with, and the love she feels for her father and her family. 

Communication: With a clear focus, it is easy to communicate the objective of the project.  
     Initially, Amy was using the brain injury team meetings as an avenue to discuss and plan for the program.  With the enormity of the upcoming show, it soon became apparent that a separate meeting was necessary. Representatives from each committee either volunteered or were selected as the spokesperson to meet with the planning team, and hold separate meetings with their specific team.  Presently, Amy administers monthly meetings with the representatives to establish action plans, obtain updates on committee progress, solve problems and to keep the program on track.  Amy finds that for the area of communication, she uses a wide skill set. She must be able to clearly communicate with hospital administrators, other hospital staff, therapy peers, patients and their families.  She is also communicating with community organizations such as car clubs and Crainco Crane Service who is raffling off an opportunity to sit in one of their “Funny Cars”! (Check out at their video at:  http://craincoinc.com/racing.html).  Two other funny cars joining the show will be brought to you by Keeter Ray Racing and Pure Heaven Racing.

     In addition to modifying her communication depending upon her audience, she finds it most important to consider people’s feelings at all times.  The larger this project becomes, the more invested the contributors are.  It is very exciting when the people working on the project take full responsibility however; this sometimes creates less than optimal interpersonal dynamics. It is Amy’s responsibility to prioritize the focus on the car show while empowering the contributors in their leadership roles. Amy reports that addressing issues as early as possible helps to keep emotions steady and the flow of communication smooth.  She finds that by fully listening to the concern first, it helps to ease the resolution. By always keeping the goal of the project as the primary focus, it helps people to generate solutions without taking it personally. 

Discipline: It takes discipline to see a project through to completion.
     Amy is clearly doing this project because it is what is in her heart.  She is doing it while working her regular hours as a supervisor on the pediatric and adult traumatic brain injury service.  There are weekends and nights spent working on the project but Amy finds the investment of time will pay off in the future for the benefit of the brain injury service. Building a first-time event from the ground up takes discipline, but once the connections are made the event will easily expand for future car shows. By example, she is demonstrating to her team that leadership is not a “nine to five” job.

Generosity and Gratitude: Everyone on the team is necessary for a successful outcome.
      During my interview with Amy, it was apparent that she is grateful for every single person who is making this show a reality.  She humbly recognizes that each person has something great to contribute. She is open to ideas that will benefit the show and recognizes that it is only through each person’s contribution that this show will be a success.  She remains open to suggestions and includes ideas that are in line with the goal of the project. She consistently gives credit to the appropriate parties, rather than taking the credit herself.  As the project leader, if things do not run as smoothly as she’d like, she assumes full responsibility.

What can we expect?
      As of today, over 60 cars are registered and they are expecting 100 cars on the day of the event.  Amy and her team have secured 15 vendors, and over 25 donors including: Universal Waste who is donating porta potties, Mountain Spring Water who is donating all the drinking water, AAA is donating goody bags, Dave’s trophy donated the “Best in Show” trophy, the brain injury team is donating raffle prizes. Danchuk Manufacturing made a $200 contribution.  There will be volunteers from Warren high school, Downey Princess Court, Girl Scouts and of course many of the Rancho employees and friends of Rancho.

     The event will be free to spectators. Funds generated by the $25 registration for each car in the show will be used by the adult and pediatric brain injury service to purchase cutting-edge therapeutic equipment and for program development.  20 trophies will be issued including: “Patient’s Choice”, “Don Knabe Choice”, and “Children’s Choice” along with the traditional car show trophies. Patients from the hospital are participating in the show by casting their votes as well.

     The “Rebuilding Cars, Rebuilding Lives” will showcase specialty adapted vehicles alongside the restored classic cars. This is a first-time-ever event at a car show!  Some past patients of Rancho will manage many of the events.  Jay Cramer will the emcee the show and, Hector Duran (“Juice”) will be singing the national anthem. Adding more meaning to the day,  Know Barries peer mentors living with brain injuries will be sharing their stories http://www.knowbarriers.org/.

     Amy is clearly practicing a leadership style that empowers her team members. By providing the guidance and the support, the passion and the focus, her team members will shine.

Here are some of the leadership skills she is using:
    • Vision and passion ignite the project and keep it moving forward.
    • Communication with flexibility and good listening skills to address a wide variety of people.
    • Keep the project as the primary focus to reduce personal feelings from interfering with the process.
    • Discipline to make the project a priority and keep it moving forward despite everything else that occurs in life.
    • Demonstrate generosity, gratitude and appreciation for all the people who work on the project.
    • Utilization of a wide range of resources in order to accomplish your goals.
    • Of course, keep a sense of humor to keep the mood light and reduce the stress.
    • Work with goals and deadlines. I
    n general, it takes about one year to put together a car show; Amy and her team will pull it off in less than six months! 
Let’s wish them all good luck.  We hope to see you there

To learn more about the car show, visit the website at: www.rancho.org/carshow

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

OT Leaders that Shine... Rebuilding Lives


By Barb Phillips, MS OTD, OTR/L

            As Occupational Therapists (OTs), we are leaders; whether we are treating a patient, running a meeting or planning a large event. We find ourselves in leadership roles professionally which often roll over into our personal lives.  For the next several months, this “OT Leaders that Shine” blog will highlight the leadership qualities of one therapist who is in the process of planning a large fund-raising event for the brain injured population at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (Rancho) in Downey, California.  There will be monthly updates with exciting and helpful hints that you may wish to apply to your role as OT Leader.  Make sure to check it out!

            Amy Salinas, MS OTR/L, OT supervisor on the brain injury service, recently promoted to the role of chairperson of the brain injury interdisciplinary team at Rancho.  As chair, she recognized that an effective team provides seamless intervention, maximizing the treatment effects for the patients. This results in more successful therapeutic interventions as well as happier patients and happier staff members.  Amy was looking for a structure to bring her team together, and to gain recognition about brain injury in the community. 

            From the time she was a child, Amy had a special bond with her father who loved old cars.  She kept him company while he refurbished cars as his hobby and proudly remembers his 1969 Corvette. She now enjoys watching him work on his 1937 black Ford Coupe.  Amy has accompanied her dad to many car shows over the years. To this day, she enjoys watching him win trophies and increasing his social circle with many  of his “car” friends.  Amy and her dad were chatting about her new role at work when they came up with the idea of hosting a car show at Rancho Los Amigos.  Once she got the idea, there was no stopping her! This is often the case for most of us. Once the dream is created, there is no way to stop it - other than to make it come true!

            Using the leadership skills that Amy developed over the years, she initiated conversations with the administration of the hospital and the gentlemen in her father’s car club. She created advisory committees and made arrangements for the different groups to come together. She researched the available dates for car shows in southern California and because this is such a popular event, she reserved the date (September 29, 2012) before she had final approval!  In March, she presented a written proposal to the hospital administration, then using that feedback; she continued to develop the plan.  The hospital expressed concerned about having this be a safe event for all involved. Since Amy’s husband is part of the LA County Sheriff’s Department, she was easily able to recruit their assistance for the day of the event. The LA County Sheriff’s Department County Services Bureau is now working in association with the event. They will be actively assisting in planning before the event and with the security on the day of the event. The primary host of the event is the Rancho Los Amigos Foundation in collaboration with The Rancho Brain Injury Interdisciplinary Service.

            It seems that every group that Amy speaks with wants to help in some way.  The gentlemen from her father’s club are eager to teach her how to run a car show and the administration from the hospital are eager to host such an exciting event linking the community with increased awareness of person’s living with disability.  The patients and staff are excited to participate in a fun and exciting popular community event.  There will even be a unique display at this car show: patients who drive with adaptations will be displaying their cars to increase community awareness about driving with a disability. 

Here are some of the leadership skills that Amy has implemented:
·         Identify a need.
·         Find and follow your passion.
·         Talk to as many people as you can and be open to their suggestions.
·         Talk to the appropriate people to ensure that your event will meet any necessary criteria.
·         Utilize people you know as links to accomplishing your goals.
·         Identify the goals of your project.
·         Recruit people who share your passion to move your project along.

You can see the brochure at the following link:


Check out the blog next month to see how Amy is establishing committees to help her.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

New Feeds Will Also Be Available on Twitter

This is Bill again. I have recently learned how to use Twitter professionally through the help with some OT colleagues in the UK, as I have some Twitter chats with them in the last few months discussing about our great field of occupational therapy. Below will be the link that I will share future blog posts to online. So, if you have a Twitter account, you are more than welcome to follow, as well as retweet to your other OT colleagues.
Follow us on Twitter -- OTACLTS

Saturday, April 7, 2012

It's OT Month

Many of you are doing volunteer projects to promote OT Month.

Let's take advantage of the NEW OT Leaders that Shine program and write about what you have done - share your experiences - let's get this program started!!