by Angela Catley, consultant and critical friend to MacIntyre
Valentina is part of MacIntyre’s central team and works as a Positive Behaviour Support Lead. In this role she connects with people supported by or employed by MacIntyre who might be facing challenges in their lives and/or work, supporting and advising both.
Finding strengths and contributions
Valentina is excited by Everyone Everywhere and sees the focus on people’s strengths, connections and contributions as a really positive one. That is until I asked her about her own strengths, connections and contributions! We realised early in our conversation that it’s hard for any of us to reflect on the positive things we bring to relationships and the workplace and is was certainly true for Valentina.
Problem-solving skills
Having spent time with Valentina on a couple of occasions I had been struck by her listening skills, empathy and positivity. I was also impressed by her practical problem-solving skills and her real commitment to using these to break down barriers to people living full lives as active, connected citizens. It was this problem-solving strength that I decided I wanted to explore more with Valentina with my Everyone Everywhere goggles on.
We started by talking about the importance of connections and trust and recognised that without both of these in spades, problems cannot be solved together and positive, lasting change will rarely happen. Valentina said:
I spend time with staff and with the people we support. I want to really understand the history and context of the situation. I want staff to feel OK to ask questions and not know the answer. I want them to feel comfortable to admit to the challenges they face. I appreciate it when people are really honest. That means I have created a connection, and that people have come to trust me enough for us to work together well.
Then we talked about the fine line she treads with people supported and employed by MacIntyre when a challenge is identified – making sure the problem is fully understood, staying firmly in the background whilst working through others but also keeping things moving.
I always want to make sure we let things sit for a little bit before acting, to make sure we are all on the same page and understand the issues well. BUT we need to make sure this isn’t for too long - we must not get stuck into inaction
Valentina shared a recent practical example of relationship building and team problem-solving.
One person we support - Alex* - had very little money to draw on. This meant some staff were frustrated at not being able to support them to get out and about and live life to the full. We wanted to try and solve the problem for Alex and the creative staff. We built a positive relationship with Alex’s family to get access to a pre-payment card, loaded with funds that Alex could spend. There are still a few small practical issues to sort out but hopefully this will mean a real barrier has been removed and the team can start exploring new opportunities with and for Alex.
Valentina is clear that all the people she connects with, and especially those for whom traditional methods of communication are a challenge, are able to demonstrate clearly what they do and don’t want to do with their life.
We want to enrich the life of Jenny* because she has expressed to us that she needs that. Staff understand how much it matters for her to be out and about doing things, so we just need to work together to keep that moving. As long as we start with “we can” and staff feel comfortable and expected to stretch themselves I know anything is possible for Jenny.
Coming together to make an impact
This seemed such a strong fit for Everyone Everywhere with its focus on people’s strengths. I began to realise that for Valentina and her colleagues locally, the biggest impact is seen when staff come together to plan with and for people and that there is so much potential when everyone works within a culture of aspiration underpinned by risk assessment and positive risk taking. Lessons and approaches that are definitely transferrable across the organisation and wider sector.
*Names changed for confidentiality
