National Boss's Day

by Munira Syeda, volunteer contributor

For National Boss's Day, I spent some time chatting with our very own T.D. Smyers, CEO of the American Red Cross North Texas region.

T.D. was hired in January 2012, right after the first phase of Red Cross’s reorganization went into effect. Since then, one of T.D.’s biggest and toughest jobs has been to lead his team through this massive change. The nationwide reorganization aims at reducing costs and ensuring Red Cross stays within an operational budget.

T.D. says his leadership role regarding reorganization in the North Texas region has involved efforts on three fronts:

1. Frequent and open communication with staff and volunteers.
2. Encouraging a work/life balance and a positive spirit among his team members.
3. Keeping one’s eyes on the prize, in other words – where we’re going and ensuring that we come back strong.

Toward that end, one of T.D.’s instituted programs has been the Staff Council, which is comprised of several members of the North Texas Team which work to contribute to the enhancement of fun experiences and opportunities within the region. Together, members work to better understand the wants, needs and goals of regional coworkers--and from that--build meaningful programs that impact Red Crossers professionally, personally and for years to come. This way, Red Cross is not just a place to work, but a place to connect, grow, and have fun as individuals and as one united team. T.D. is whole-heartedly invested in the mission of the program and is always open to and pushing for ideas that are creative and innovative in order to make Red Cross a great place to work and connect.

T.D. has also instituted weekly phone meetings with all staff and improved the structure of these meetings. He says this regular communication has helped staff share their anxieties and worries, while allowing T.D. to comfort them and address their concerns.   

T.D. is also a leader who likes to utilize his subject matter experts. He has a vision that entails understanding by pulling in key players to make important decisions means that you need to hear their voice. He asks for feedback from every staff or volunteer team member from every level to executive level and is genuinely interested in their thoughts.

The reorganization effort at the Red Cross is divided into three phases. The first phase, implemented in 2011, involved standardizing and enhancing the mission and ensuring that Red Cross services are consistent with the mission. The second phase, implemented in 2013, involved disaster re-engineering; the Red Cross streamlined its disaster cycle (disaster preparedness and response) and also aligned it with the incident command center (which is the system utilized by first responders during a crisis). The third phase, which is the most significant and difficult, involves staff reductions and enhancing volunteer engagement.

Last week, as part of the third phase, 13 paid staff were let go in the north Texas region. This included both long-time employees as well as recent hires.

As he and the Red Cross team stand ready to tackle further challenges associated with the reorganization, T.D. says, “A team that has a high morale is a team that performs better.”

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Notes from the Chief's Desk: CEO Message

Written by T.D. Smyers, chief executive officer North Texas Region

“I have an almost complete disregard of precedent, and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I go for anything new that might improve the past.”   
- Clara Barton

One year ago, the North Texas Region of the American Red Cross was born. It was a time of hopeful expectation for some and great anxiety for others. But one need only review these words from Clara Barton to know what our founder would have thought of the organizational change that was necessary to save the American Red Cross, including the creation of regions to handle a lot of the back office functions that had previously burdened our chapters. 

Of course, appealing to Clara means that the change should “improve the past” by advancing the effectiveness and efficiency by which we deliver the historic Red Cross mission.

When I was given the privilege of leading this Region, it became my focus to ensure our regional staff team – both employees and volunteers – were catalysts to the delivery of our mission rather than being an additional layer of bureaucracy. To this end, our team set about identifying just what it is we should be doing. We didn’t need a mission statement. We already had that, courtesy of our national leadership:

Mission Statement

The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.

What we did need was to define our purpose in support of that mission. With input and review by employees and volunteers across the Region, we did just that:

Purpose Statement of the North Texas Region

To Support, Resource and Enable the work of North Texas Chapters in executing the mission of the Red Cross.

In order to realize this purpose, and keep us focused, we determined three strategic goals as well:

Strategic Goals of the North Texas Region

1. Optimize and strengthen the identity of local chapters and build a culture of collaboration across the    Region. 
2. Become the charity of choice for Time, Talent and Treasure in communities across North Texas. 
3. Be the top Region in American Red Cross for revenue, volunteerism and diversity.

The staff's and volunteer's pursuit of these goals will reinforce the great work done by American Red Cross chapters every day.

I’ve been impressed by how committed our national leaders are to the “upside down pyramid”, meaning that chapters in the field really take the lead role. When an Emergency Response Vehicle rolls up to a curb because a family burned out in the middle of the night, it’s a local Red Cross volunteer that provides the service. 

When a service member needs important communication from home, they reach out to their local chapter. The same is true when a person wants to become a lifeguard, learn CPR or donate a pint of blood. 

So while there have been many changes in the organizational leadership of the Red Cross, there hasn’t been change in keeping Red Cross services strong at the local level. 

At the North Texas Region, we’re committed to serving our communities across the top of the state of Texas. 

One final note. 

One senior volunteer who wasn’t happy about “regionalization” recently told me that she had changed her mind about the reorganization; mostly because she’s seen such tremendous support from the Region that she knows “things are different this time”. 

In fact, she said she feels more connected to the Red Cross now than she ever did when her chapter was operated independently. 

Good days are ahead. BZ!

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