The Power of CARE was created in 2005. I was a Head Start Director at a community action agency in Maryland. After successfully leading my program through a year long quality improvement plan, I needed to help them maintain their motivation to continue the quality improvement process, thus the Power of CARE was born.
I had had the pleasure of speaking before my team of 120+ professionals in the past. Head Start programs must have All Staff meetings each year and in addition to giving them the usual "State of the Agency" address, the speaker and teacher in me took many opportunities to impart some inspiration and motivation. We had discussed the importance of synergistic teamwork and the necessity of supplementing ones aptitude with a positive attitude. And I had asked them What Color is Your Imagination?™ -- using color symbolism to discuss innovation and improvement. Now it was time to ask them what they cared about....and did it show!
When you care about something or someone it should show. For example, if you care about being a good parent, you will make good choices, your attitude should be positive, your relationships are beneficial and you put forth passionate effort. I sought to remind my staff that if they cared about the children and families they were hired to serve, then it would show in the choices they made, the attitude they projected, the relationships they cultivated and the effort they exerted.
The Power of C.A.R.E.™ is a framework for examining the key issues in personal and professional improvement; more than just answers, it is a framework of the questions that each individual or organization must ask to evaluate ones mission and vision, and ones effectiveness in meeting both.
The Power of C.A.R.E. ™ takes theories of Communication, Sociology, Psychology, Performance Management, Six Sigma, etc to define and reinforce goals and objectives and provide insight into the development of new strategies.
Over the years, The Power of C.A.R.E.™ has grown as I have continued to learn more myself and have shared its message to various organizations. It can be used to examine any life situation and can be crafted as a short speech or extrapolated to a several day workshop/short course. I have presented and taught the The Power of C.A.R.E.™ in Family Services, in Customer Service, in Leadership, in Parenting, in Small Business, etc.
If you want to know more about The Power of C.A.R.E.™ for your organization, feel free to contact me through my website or by emailing me at nadine [at] owensburton [dot] com.
Do you know the Power of CARE? What do you care about? Does it show?
