Meet Jenna Kilawee, Housing Director, the Terrace at Iris Park, Independent Living
How long have you been in your position? Can you tell me a bit about your training?
I began working for Episcopal Homes in October 2016, right after the Terrace opened. My training includes a Bachelor of Science in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and a Master of Science in Gerontology from Kansas State University. I’ve been all over the map in elder care since I was 16: A Dietary Aide, a CNA in a memory care unit for many years paying for my undergraduate degree, a Recreation Therapist at the Minnesota Veterans Home, a Director of Adult Day Services for Sholom, and a few other positions, always with elders. I was lucky to know what I wanted to do from the start.
What qualities make a good leader?
I think it’s because I have worked in the very departments I manage. I know what it’s like to physically do the jobs I am now managing, and I think it gives me a unique perspective compared to a manager who may not have had that hands-on, direct care experience.
What are the most important skills you use as a leader?
1. Assume positive intent (thank you, Emilee!).
2. Use natural teaching moments to show, rather than tell, how something should be done.
3. I tend to trust my people. I know they are capable–I wouldn’t have hired them otherwise– and just because they may do something differently than I would doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way. Most of the time I’m learning more from them than they probably are from me.
4. Delay judgement until the whole picture, if possible, can be understood. Ask questions.
5. Time and experience have shown me that I “know” less every day.
6. I will never please all 68 of my residents at the same time. Ever. But I can still try, gosh darn it.
Please share an accomplishment you are especially proud of:
Finishing my Master’s Degree (it took me four years to get through what was supposed to be a two-year degree but I did it!) while growing and birthing my son and working two jobs. There was always a reason to quit.
Please share a goal(s) for your area for 2022:
Begin a methodical and measurable approach to maintaining and increasing the independence of my residents in the Terrace.
A short sentence or two about you personally:
I’m just a happy kid on a bike.