Continuing to learn and develop as a leader

We hear from Sarah Wildon, registered manager of Able Living Care Services in Poynton, Cheshire East, about her career journey and how she has always embedded continual learning and development into her role.

I started working at Able Living eight years ago. Prior to that my career had always been in childcare; I left school with minimal qualifications and not enough qualifications to be able to complete my level 3 diploma in childcare, so I did a one year, level 2 course which covered childcare and adult social care, before going on to complete my childcare qualification.

During my three years at college, I took on various jobs around my hometown of Selby, including working weekends in a local care home.

I then went on to pursue my childcare career finishing up as a nursery manager, but after 12 years working in childcare I felt I wanted to try something different.

Through a family friend I found out about the role at Able Living - the director was ready to take a step back and the position of business manager had been born. I supported the registered manager and managed the invoices and payroll, but primarily I was a carer and spent 80% of my time learning the role, being out in the field, and completing my NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care.

I’d never worked as a domiciliary carer before, but I learned from the other carers and I came to see what worked well in Able Living and what could be improved. In 2017, after I’d been with Able Living for a few years the company began growing (it was only set up 18 months prior to me starting), the registered manager left, and I was successful in taking over their role.

I had a great team around me, and I knew that rapport with the team was vital. Listening to the carers and their ideas is what would make Able Living a success, there was a wealth of experience amongst them, and I wasn’t going to let that go to waste.

My biggest motto, throughout my career has always been that you make a choice every day to come to work and do the job you do, if you’re not happy then change that - you’re in control of your own happiness. We spend most of our lives at work, love what you do, and I certainly do.

Once I’d taken on the registered manager post, I went on to complete my NVQ level 5, and looked for other opportunities to develop too. I always want to make sure we are doing our best and I am the best I can be.

Not long after I was in the role, Skills for Care was running a pilot scheme for new registered managers at the time, the topics to be covered during the course really interested me and I thought it came at a perfect time in my career - the only issue was I was soon expecting my first baby and would be taking time off.

I explained in my application that despite going on maternity leave I’d be dedicated to attending the sessions. I was successful in gaining a space, and remember sitting in the first session, doing introductions, and saying who I was and that I was going to be induced tomorrow!

The course was great, we were all on the same journey and because of this we felt at ease sharing our concerns and worries.

Since then, one of the biggest learnings through my career has been just go for it and don’t beat yourself up about things out of your control. Things do go wrong from time to time and so long as lessons are learned and no-one came to harm then it’s not that bad; on reflection things are never quite as bad as what you make it in your own head anyway.

This leads me on to another key learning – it’s good to talk. It’s good for your own mental wellbeing and when out caring in the community it becomes even more apparent that the companionship for the people we support is just as important as the personal care.

Knowing I’ve made a positive impact on someone’s day really is my driving motivator for this role, whether that be a member of staff or a someone we support.

I now co-chair my local Registered Manager Network meetings, something I never thought I’d do.

I use the Skills for Care webinars and tools available to constantly better my own and my team’s knowledge. The inspection toolkit is my go-to at the moment, to ensure that we’re the best we can be. We review each area outlined in the toolkit and identify what we do and what we could do better looking at the practical examples and case studies.

I’m very interested in wellbeing for staff and clients and will always want to develop further and gain more knowledge in this area. In July last year we set up a group for the clients and the community, we call it Memory Lane Café and it’s free for people to attend. We give out tea, coffee, biscuits and cakes and we offer time to chat to others, play games, do quizzes, and listen to music. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere and the people who attend make it their own. The group has really grown over the time and friendships, have really blossomed- it’s great to see.

The sector is forever changing and evolving, and it’s important to keep up-to-date with best practice to ensure your clients and staff are safe. Continual learning also helps maintain ongoing passion for the work we do, and finding ways to regularly evaluate yourself or your service helps to provide purpose.

Find more support for leaders with our #DevelopingLeaders spotlight.

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