LaRee Ewers Master Mentor Profile
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LaRee L. Ewers |
About me and my work
I am a volunteer in service to our friends who sit on the edge of memories. Making Tired Eyes Smile® is multi-level approach for working for people with dementia. There is a comprehensive language arts system, therapeutic stories for family support groups, 9 modules of training for care staff, management and volunteers and a manual for arts and crafts in memory units.
Summary of my personal mission, vision, values
I am to wholly serve those who are slipping into invisibility
What Real Power/Janet Hagberg means to me
Real Power came to my attention at the same time my mother in law’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in 1999. It was the wisdom in the writing that brought me out of powerlessness, restored me to my home stage before the diagnosis and then lifted me to a higher stage of power. Janet Hagberg was with me every step of this journey. I am privileged to pass on to another the gift she gave to me.
Why I joined the network
I am one of the founding members of the network. Six of us met for the first time in Minneapolis the summer of 2000. We began a vision of an organization committed to encouraging true leadership. This need for true leadership is more critical now than ever.
Why I was invited to become a master mentor
I was part of the inaugural group seeking certification as a master mentor. Though my work in the world of dementia seems removed from corporate America the philosophy of Real Power informs everything designed to honor the sojourner with dementia and those around this traveler.
Summary of what I did to become certified as a master mentor
I completed all the designated competencies. The greatest learning and residual benefit of this process was the creation of my Action Learning Plan. I designed a 4 hour workshop for professional care staff to encourage the building of an interior career path of service where an exterior career path most likely was nonexistent. The first four stages of power are presented in a welcoming metaphor called How Does Your Garden Grow? There is a companion workshop for owners and management to open an environment where care staff can thrive. In preparation for this workshop there are two smaller modules required, Hands On and The Language of Smiles. All training revolves around the vehicle of story, a safe inviting way to touch what grows inside each of us.
Testimony from someone we mentored in Real Power
"Spending almost a year focused on Real Power and the Critical Journey provided a really unique opportunity to dig deep. There were many times when I felt over my head and it was so delightful to have someone at the other end of the phone/computer to bounce ideas off of and ask questions of. LaRee was an incredibly gracious and encouraging mentor who often helped me see both the forest and the trees! She challenged me to think differently and to capture my reflections in new ways. The whole experience was enriching and inspiring."
Blessings, Ellen
How I am using my certification
My certification informs everything I do. I find those committed to the book’s wisdom live each day and with whomever they meet consistent with true leadership. Certification is not a hat to put on and take off. It is the fabric of my being.
My mentoring approach and personality
I am a believing mirror. I believe for a mentee until they can believe for themselves. I live in the possibilities.
What an ideal mentee would be for me
Due to the work I do with care staff I am very comfortable with home stage of 1, powerlessness and home stage of 2. power by association. These populations I feel are underserved in corporate America. I want to help them answer the respective questions: How do I survive? And how do I grow?
I would also be a good mentor for a mentee working with these same beginning stages of power.
What are your current spiritual practices?
I open each day with a formal prayer practice. But I feel that there is a prayer of thanksgiving continually accompanying me during the day. Each evening I have a moving meditation as I walk my neighborhood. I close my day with another formal prayer practice.
What service are you performing for charitable purposes?
I volunteer as a facilitator for circles of storytellers and/or artists with dementia. I encourage others to volunteer using the materials I have developed. I also give my time to special creative projects that a memory unit may desire but does not know how to develop. I share my therapeutic stories for families without charge. Many of the 9 training modules are also pro bono gifts to my community.
What is one of your favorite quotes from Real Power or Critical Journey?
True leadership begins with the willingness to be someone other than who the world wants you to be.
Anything else we should know about you?
I am a cat fanatic – our cat rules and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
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