Leadership Development Series: The Importance of the First Interaction

Leadership Development Series: The Importance of the First Interaction

This blog's purpose is to provide a therapeutic approach to leadership development while enhancing inner perspective and meaning.  Unconditional Positive Regard is one of the core foundations of ethical practice in healthcare, social service, business, and education. Regardless of a person's background, It is our role as leader to provide direction to those who we would normally avoid. The true mettle of a leader is the ability to interact with others with contrasting backgrounds, ideals, and moral foundation. Today, I will share an experience in which my own internal conflict and duty as a clinician collided.

We all began with a clean slate…

Case 1

On an average Tuesday I stood in the lobby of the clinic where I work as a board licensed mental health profession. I took a sip from my hot chocolate and alternated my gaze between my shoes and the middle-aged African-American with a slight build, sitting thumbing through a magazine in the waiting area. I hesitated to introduce myself to him as I attempted to reconcile the image of what I had expected a sex offender to look like with the man I was staring at. His chart told me that Joe was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and a convicted sex offender. His intake form said that he was in need of mental health support and housing assistance. During my career, I’ve prided myself on the compassionate care I offer to my clients. Joe’s case was the first time that I was pessimistic about a consumer’s prospects before even meeting him. Sure, I always have the liberty of referring someone out if I feel that I am unable to work with someone. Yet, I would have been like every clinician before me who pushed him off.

During our first meeting, Joe told me about his mental health and legal struggles, both of which prevented him from obtaining the best care and accessing adequate resources for daily living. He reported feeling that he had an “inability to succeed” due to his criminal background and mental health issues. He felt that he was “not given a fair chance, or help without judgment.” Joe told me that his involvement with a Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous program went a long way toward encouraging him through his tough times. He said the program taught him that he was worthy of care and help. I searched myself, asking “Would I be another professional who would judge Joe and give him less than the best available help?” Because I take my ethical duties to provide care without prejudice to my clients to heart, sitting there with Joe on that Tuesday morning I renewed my commitment to offering the best clinical support possible, including adopting the Narcotics Anonymous stance in order to encourage a positive outlook for recovery.

Despite my personal feelings about his prior bad acts, I cultivated a genuine regard for his needs, and helped him construct solid goals for treatment. We were successful in our therapeutic relationship in creating and nurturing linkages to resources throughout the St. Louis community. Joe was able to obtain the tools he needed to function on his own. I recognized that Joe deserved the basic dignity of exercising his rights to access mental health services. Through our clinical relationship Joe found respect, a safe place to live, as well as opportunities for work and to manage his symptoms independently. 

Regardless of what profession you may be, the simplicity of the first greeting, first interaction is vital in establishing a rapport. 

We all began with a clean slate……