Unleashing the Power of the Garden Spot Experience
People and Organizations Lose Their Way They don’t see what’s next. They forget what is most important, what is most highly valued. We don’t want this to happen here.
We Live Our Unique Values We live the actual values, as opposed to the nicesounding values that look good on the wall. We employ people who embody and live these values.
We Focus Our Work Around Our Mission—We will enrich the lives of older adults as an expression of Christ’s love. Our Value Proposition (why people choose GSC)—Abundant opportunities to live with purpose in community Our Person Centered Approach—We ask what our customers want for their life, and that guides what we do. It guides all aspects of how we serve them. It’s a relationship: a strong relationship of trust and working together.
When he was questioned about what is the most important thing for us to do, Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:37-39) We strive to live in this way…
Simply… We believe in a living faith, abiding in community, evidenced in love, trust and authentic relating… as an expression of Christ’s love. This is the foundation of the Garden Spot Experience… want to learn more?
So what’s the Garden Spot Experience?
We’d love to share it with you…
The Garden Spot Experience • We Place High Value on Values • We Look Over the Horizon • We Create a Space Where We Can Explore Our Differences Without Needing to Change Each Other • Our Attitude Is as Important as Our Abilities • We Are Other Centered • We Own It • Serious Work, Serious Fun High Value On Values
We Place a High Value on Our Values • • • • • •
Community Excellence Service Stewardship Innovation Integrity
High Value On Values
Community We are hardwired to care, connect and serve. We are a place to belong and together we will strive to know and be known, to love and to be loved, to serve and be served.
High Value On Values: Community
People say…“There’s something different here… I don’t know what it is, but I can feel it.”
High Value On Values: Community
Our Key Commitments to Create Authentic Community We are Intentional. We look for opportunities to know others more deeply.
We are Hospitable. We find opportunities to invite others into the rhythm of our lives.
We are Available. We drop what we are doing to help others. We are Teachable. We recognize we have a lot to learn from each other.
We are Forgiving. We forgive when others hurt us‌ because bitterness is a flesh-eating disease.
We are Vulnerable. We believe true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world. Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity.
High Value On Values: Community
What Does Our Community Look Like? It’s a place where we make a choice every day to connect with each other‌ through celebrations, through grief, through laughter, through difference, through success or failure.
High Value On Values: Community
Excellence We strive to do the right thing right. Excellence in service leads to the delight of our customers and the discovery of our best selves.
High Value On Values: Excellence
We Pursue Excellence “We strive for excellence not for its own sake, but because it is a means of knowing that we are serving well today and preparing well for tomorrow.” – observed from a culture study of Garden Spot Communities
High Value On Values: Excellence
We Pursue Excellence For example, excellence means we pay attention to details. We care about how things look. Things you should never see… • • • • • • •
Paper signs taped to the wall Clutter White elephants (items that just don’t fit a space) Broken, torn, or tattered furniture or decor Dirty, dusty or unattended spaces Bits of paper on the floor Cigarette butts High Value On Values: Excellence
Strive for perfection, settle for excellence.
High Value On Values: Excellence
Service We believe that selfless love leads to service. Through Christ-like love, we recognize the inherent value of each person and serve those around us with compassion and empathy.
High Value On Values: Service
We Cultivate a Heart of Service • We seek what is best for Garden Spot Community, rather than best for ourselves or our individual departments. • We make time to help colleagues. • We share information openly and proactively. • We listen well, instead of reacting fast, so we can better understand. We never assume we know what people want. • We treat people with respect regardless of who they are or how they treat us. • We maintain calm poise in stressful situations. High Value On Values: Service
We Cultivate a Heart of Service We serve from a “hospitality” perspective not a “paternal” perspective. That means we treat people like adults and peers, not children. We choose to make every day a good day, regardless of the circumstances. The circumstances are what they are. How we respond to them makes all the difference.
High Value On Values: Service
We Serve • We participate in mission trips to Kenya, Dominican Republic and other locations. • We rebuild homes in partnership with Mennonite Disaster Service & United Methodist Volunteers in Mission. • We serve at local schools, tutoring and sharing life experiences with local high school students in the Living History program. • We participate in community projects like the Cooperative Living House. • We serve tens of thousands of additional volunteer hours each year. Faith, Trust, Love and Humility
We Serve at All Ages
Faith, Trust, Love and Humility
Stewardship We are caregivers not just caretakers. It’s a way of life, a matter of the heart, how we choose to live.
High Value On Values: Stewardship
We Believe Stewardship Is a Way of Life We make a choice every day, every moment to be wise in how we use our God-given resources‌ by seeing each day, the skills and abilities, the money, land and buildings, literally everything, ‌as a gift from God to be nurtured and grown. High Value On Values: Stewardship
We Believe Stewardship Is a Way of Life Personally, we desire to become the very best version of ourselves‌ to become men and women after God’s own heart.
High Value On Values: Stewardship
We Believe Stewardship Is a Way of Life Stewardship fails if we take the “It’s not my job” attitude, or the “Why should I care” approach.
High Value On Values: Stewardship
We Believe Stewardship Is a Way of Life We think a lot about how we work, asking... Is there a better way? We look around. What are the opportunities to grow? What steps are needed to develop a new skill, ability or approach? We ACT. Take responsibility. Speak up. Grow. Change. High Value On Values: Stewardship
Innovation We fail forward to cultivate change. We believe innovation and creativity are integrated into everything we do. We engage fully in innovation to foster meaningful, progressive and valuable growth.
High Value On Values: Innovation
What Do We Mean by “Fail Forward?” Innovation requires us to move forward quickly, understand that we will be wrong part of the time, learn from our failures, and then use those learnings to correct course and move forward to success. We don’t believe that failure is something to be aimed for or celebrated; but do realize that it’s a tool for getting to the truth. Failing Forward means decision making becomes less about being right and more about learning the right path forward. High Value On Values: Innovation
We Cultivate a Spirit of Innovation Change is difficult. Not changing is fatal. We must always be changing. The pace of change will never again be as slow as it is today. We think “I can if” rather than “I can’t because.”
High Value On Values: Innovation
We Cultivate a Spirit of Innovation We are culture contributors. We innovate our areas of responsibility and support innovative efforts around us. We re-think issues to discover practical solutions to hard problems. We challenge assumptions when warranted, and suggest better approaches. High Value On Values: Innovation
We Cultivate a Spirit of Innovation We create new ideas that prove useful. We stay nimble by minimizing complexity and finding time to simplify. We learn rapidly and eagerly.
High Value On Values: Innovation
Integrity We will serve with honor, or not at all. We recognize that service without integrity is meaningless, and strive to be fair, honest, open and accountable in every action, no matter how small.
High Value On Values: Integrity
We Serve With Integrity: Honestly We will only say things about fellow employees that we will say to their face. We are quick to admit our mistakes.
High Value On Values: Integrity
We Serve With Integrity: Openly We serve with a lack of secrecy. If we have to hide from it, we shouldn’t be doing it. When you are transparent, you invite trust by revealing that you have nothing to hide.
High Value On Values: Integrity
We Serve With Integrity: Accountably Winners learn to take full responsibility for their actions as well as for their inactions. Losers blame others for their failures.
High Value On Values: Integrity
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” –C.S. Lewis
High Value On Values: Integrity
We Place High Value on Our Values In summary, we question actions inconsistent with our values. We are all responsible for ensuring we live our values. No exceptions.
High Value On Values
The Garden Spot Experience • We Place High Value on Values • We Look Over the Horizon • We Create a Space Where We Can Explore Our Differences Without Needing to Change Each Other • Our Attitude Is as Important as Our Abilities • We Are Other Centered • We Own It • Serious Work, Serious Fun Over the Horizon
We Look Over the Horizon
Over the Horizon
We Look Over the Horizon Growing up we were led to believe that the future was predictable enough and if we stayed focused and worked hard we would be successful in an environment we understood. But the world is changing rapidly and the future isn’t easily predicted. We need to look over the horizon to understand the changes that are coming so we don’t become… Over the Horizon
‌an Outhouse! Think about it... An outhouse was cutting edge technology in its day. It was an invention that changed the world and radically improved public health and sanitation. Today, outhouses still work. They function as designed. They fulfill their intended purpose. But they are never someone’s first choice. Most of us only go there if there is no alternative. We risk the same fate if we don’t look over the horizon, anticipate the changes that are coming and plan accordingly. Over the Horizon
We recognize basic human needs, wants and desires haven’t changed for thousands of years‌ But, the way we meet those needs, wants and desires changes over time. We avoid becoming a dinosaur if we understand the needs and anticipate the changes. Over the Horizon
We fill the gap between what people want and what is currently available.
Over the Horizon
The Garden Spot Experience • We Place High Value on Values • We Look Over the Horizon • We Create a Space Where We Can Explore Our Differences Without Needing to Change Each Other • Our Attitude Is as Important as Our Abilities • We Are Other Centered • We Own It • Serious Work, Serious Fun Explore Differences
We Create a Space to Explore Differences We believe each of us has been uniquely created. We come with our own unique set of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, abilities and beliefs. Adding our experiences to the experiences of others in our community leads to new insights and wisdom.
Explore Differences
Examples From Our Community Founder Dale Weaver handled differences of belief very graciously, not taking it personally. He recognized the fact that people had different ideas than he did and he was okay with that.
Explore Differences
Examples From Our Community Elizabeth Martin, the designated Mother Teresa of Garden Spot, spent most of her life in a conservative Mennonite setting. She was thrilled when she moved to Garden Spot and was always quick to say that it gave her the opportunity to experience how others lived out their faith and to learn more about their faith (and hers) without her feeling the need to convert them to the beliefs that she held dear in her heart. Explore Differences
We live in community with humility and forgiveness. We come from different traditions and have different expressions but our faith is a living one that unifies us, permeating our decisions and actions.
Faith, Trust, Love and Humility
The Garden Spot Experience • We Place High Value on Values • We Look Over the Horizon • We Create a Space Where We Can Explore Our Differences Without Needing to Change Each Other • Our Attitude Is as Important as Our Abilities • We Are Other Centered • We Own It • Serious Work, Serious Fun Importance of Attitude
We Believe Attitude Is as Important as Ability Attitude is contagious! Others experience us based on our attitudes. Our work has purpose and can enrich our lives as much as those we serve. This work requires a positive, can do attitude. Importance of Attitude
We Believe Attitude Is as Important as Ability We want to identify problems and situations that can be improved. That’s a catalyst for innovation. Our attitude determines whether we seek solutions. We expect everyone to seek solutions rather than complain or make the situation worse.
Importance of Attitude
We Make the Most of Each Moment We experience approximately 20,000 individual moments in a waking day. Each "moment" lasts a few seconds. Each moment we come into contact with someone is an opportunity to be a positive influence. Importance of Attitude
We Believe Attitude Is as Important as Ability We look for signs of a good attitude… Smiles. A lot of smiles. Respect for others’ ideas and opinions. General joyfulness. A cheery tone of voice. Expressions of appreciation. Looking for and commenting on “the good.” Importance of Attitude
We Believe Attitude Is as Important as Ability We correct signs of a poor attitude: Criticizing, Condemning, Complaining Gossiping, talking behind someone’s back Harboring resentment Feeding the rumor mill Being concerned about attitudes other than your own Believing nobody does anything right but you Disliking coming to work Importance of Attitude
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” –Winston Churchill
Importance of Attitude
The Garden Spot Experience • We Place High Value on Values • We Look Over the Horizon • We Create a Space Where We Can Explore Our Differences Without Needing to Change Each Other • Our Attitude Is as Important as Our Abilities • We Are Other Centered • We Own It • Serious Work, Serious Fun Other Centered
We Avoid Selfie-Centered Living Our culture is obsessed with self. We post pictures of ourselves online. What we’re eating. What we’re doing.
Other Centered
We Avoid Selfie-Centered Living Our goal at GSC is to be other centered. To live and serve with empathy. This means that we seek to understand an individual’s values and preferences and then we let that information guide our interactions, including all aspects of their health care, while supporting their realistic health and life goals.
Other Centered
We Focus on Others It’s a Two Step Process: 1. We step into the shoes of another person‌ looking at life from their perspective helps us develop empathy. 2. We step back into our shoes and act upon that perspective.
Other Centered
The Platinum Rule: Treat others as they want to be treated.
Other Centered
Our 5 Habits to Become “Other Centered” 1. We get curious about strangers. 2. We practice deep listening. 3. We consciously focus on other people’s feelings and needs. 4. We are willing to be vulnerable. 5. We challenge our prejudices. We expand our “Circle of Empathy” to people who don’t share our beliefs.
Other Centered
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.� –Romans 12:10
Other Centered
The Garden Spot Experience • We Place High Value on Values • We Look Over the Horizon • We Create a Space Where We Can Explore Our Differences Without Needing to Change Each Other • Our Attitude Is as Important as Our Abilities • We Are Other Centered • We Own It • Serious Work, Serious Fun We Own It
We Own It When we notice something that doesn’t make sense or something that could be improved, we don’t just scratch our heads and wonder “What were they thinking or why aren’t they doing something about it?” It is not enough to just tell someone else about it. At Garden Spot Communities we will “Own it” by taking responsibility and by doing something about it. We Own It
We Own It When we receive a complaint we “Own it” and help resolve it to the satisfaction of the complainant. When we don’t take responsibility we become part of the problem. When we take responsibility we choose to be part of the solution.
We Own It
“I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.” –Unknown
We Own It
The Garden Spot Experience • • • •
• • • •
We Place High Value on Values We Live in Faith, Trust, Love and Humility We Look Over the Horizon We Create a Space Where We Can Explore Our Differences Without Needing to Change Each Other Our Attitude Is as Important as Our Abilities We Are Other Centered We Own It Serious Work, Serious Fun Serious Fun
Serious Work, Serious Fun We work hard, we sacrifice, we are entrusted with people’s lives. This is serious business. But in doing our work, we also have SERIOUS FUN! We really, really like to laugh, enjoy time together, do life with people. We really do!
Serious Fun
We Experience Life Together
Serious Fun
We Celebrate Milestones: 100 Years!
Serious Fun
We Like Hats, We Really Do
Serious Fun
Serious Fun
We Laugh A Lot
Serious Fun
Serious Fun
Before We Finish Up, Here’s a Quick Summary Work Hard Have Fun Make a Difference
We hope you see that our culture means everything to us. If it doesn’t fit who you are, this probably isn’t the right place for you. We hope that you find a great place that fits you… But, if this really reflects who you are and who you want to be, you’re gonna love it here! THE CHOICE IS YOURS…