Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64People were coming and going, but a lovely looking family of four immediately caught my eye. I noticed them walk in with faces that registered equal amounts of bewilderment and fear. Mom and Dad were trying to act confident; the two children looked like they were on the verge of tears. One of the welcome desk people asked for their member- ship card, and it became apparent that they didn’t know what a card was. I knew that the food bank rules require clients to have a card, but I found myself hoping that we also adjusted our rules to adapt to situations like the one in front of me. One of the employees explained to the family that they needed to register a day in advance to be eligible for food distribution. It became obvious that these folks were unaware of our requirements and they looked disappointed. One of the highly sensitive senior team members leapt into action, and the family was guided to a waiting area. I followed and listened in. They had been in the city for one week, having just immigrated to Canada from Kazakhstan. We asked, “Do you need food today?” They said yes. One team member engaged the children and soon had a few smiles for her efforts while another ensured that the family was able to obtain the food they needed. God would have smiled! Over the last few months, I have been privileged to have a front-row seat to a variety of stories of hope, inspiration, and courage. Our clients are some of the bravest people you will ever meet. Our staff members are exceptionally talented and kind. As a new CEO, one of the best things that you can do is wander around and watch the amazing things that happen at your mission every day. In any organization the actions of an incoming senior-level leader are always scrutinized, but in a mission setting, any initial honeymoon period can be quite short. Employees and volunteers who have been around for a while form fast impressions and quietly share opinions. The perceptions of these stakeholders matter. I entered Welcome Hall Mission as an unknown quantity—an outsider hired by the board to be the new CEO. The existing team of managers was understandably concerned about how things might work out. Who was the new guy and what would change? They had never known any other CEO. On my side, listening, learning, and building trust were all vital to the transition process. After more than 90 days in the role, my learn- ing curve is still a work in progress. Although I can speak to external audiences on behalf of the mission, I’m not the best person to fully articulate the key success factors of every one of our programs. Still, people tell me that I’m beginning to sound like I’ve been around the mission for longer than a few weeks. I’ve discovered a few key things that I believe an incoming leader in a mission environment might find helpful: 1. Look at things through the eyes of the clients. M y opening story illustrates a significant discovery: Good practices matter; clients matter more. Many missions have processes and policies that they’ve developed over years of experience. This is not a bad thing, but as a newly appointed leader you have the lux- ury of bringing fresh eyes to the operation. Try to examine everything from the perspective of the people you’re serving. You may be able to see how a process could be altered to add greater dignity to a client’s experience at your mission. Seeing things the way a client sees them requires some adjustments. I’ve had to frame my thoughts differently. Seeing what a client sees means we have to recognize that their perspectives can be colored by years of abuse, abandonment, 40 WWW.AGRM.ORG MARCH/APRIL 2017 Seeing what a client sees means we have to recognize that their perspectives can be colored by years of abuse, abandonment, addiction, or mental health challenges.