Jesusa 'Toots' Santa Barbara Czach, BSN’79, RN, CCRN (ret.)
UPNAAI President 2014-2015
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS FROM THE INSIDE OUT
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepares in advance for us to do."
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
Do you know that you are a Masterpiece? God is the MASTER and you are a PIECE of His purposes for the earth—you are His Masterpiece! Individually and collectively, we are God's Masterpieces, part of the bigger picture of what He is doing. You and I are like pieces of a puzzle and every piece has immense value. The value of each piece of a puzzle is dependent upon its connection with the other pieces. When we're connected, our value intensifies; something beautiful, dynamic, and life-giving happens—all the more so if we are compelled by love. Love can break down barriers from the inside out, barriers that hinder us from discovering, developing, and deploying our God-given purposes in life as God's Masterpiece.
I am greatly blessed and truly grateful to be a piece of the University of the Philippines Nursing Alumni Association International (UPNAAI) puzzle ever since I was requested to serve as a member of the 2008-2009 Board of Directors and as the UPNAAI class coordinator for BSN Class of 1979. Since then, I have cherished the years of active involvement with UPNAAI. UPNAAI is a thriving, growing, loving, and giving community of nursing alumni from the University of the Philippines who share a common bond; who treasure camaraderie & friendship; who love to give back to their Alma Mater for the excellent education they've received; who understand the power of love, honor, community, and volunteerism; who strongly desire to impact the next generation and leave a lasting legacy of excellence in the different arenas of life including nursing leadership.
It is my heart's utmost desire that my service to UPNAAI, its members, our UP Nursing family, and others will bring glory to God. I am called to serve and I am here to serve you wholeheartedly to the best of my abilities. To the newly elected officers and members of the UPNAAI Board of Directors 2014-2015, I extend my heartfelt congratulations. I am deeply honored and humbled by your vote of confidence in me - thank you so much for trusting me in this position as UPNAAI President. With the Lord's amazing grace, I trust that, together, we will be able to accomplish everything that we've purposed in our hearts to do and bear much fruit. With God, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).
As UPNAAI President, I humbly submit to you my aspirations and goals for 2014-2015:
- Pursue academic excellence through continuing education, research, networking, publication, and service.
- Increase UPNAAI's life, associate, and annual membership by at least 6% from January 2014 to December 2015.
- Unleash UPNAAI's potential for growth and development through Chapter Formation and Representation.
- Create and/or update Policies & Procedures as well as other guidance and governing documents to strengthen UPNAAI's foundation; subsequently, these documents will be published on the UPNAAI.org website to boost UPNAAI's transparency.
- Organize and archive important UPNAAI records, publications, and other relevant documents to increase UPNAAI's sustainability.
- Develop and implement a strategic plan to foster a seamless leadership transition through succession planning and creating a framework to facilitate the transfer of critical & relevant explicit and tacit knowledge held within the previous leadership and other influential relationships to enhance UPNAAI's longevity and viability.
- Build and develop a healthy and highly effective leadership team with a holistic organizational perspective that is geared towards delivering the highest quality service with integrity, fulfilling UPNAAI's strategic priorities while managing finances conservatively, and finding solutions or creating & implementing strategies that best serve the organization, its members, UPCN, and the community through:
- Shared purpose, direction, priorities, plan of action, metric-driven strategic plans/measures of success, goals, and/or values
- Adhering to the highest standards of professionalism, ethics, stewardship, commitment, personal responsibility, and accountability
- Implementing effective communication processes that facilitate problem solving, decision-making, and conflict resolution
- Utilizing and mobilizing team members' technical, functional, leadership, management, critical thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills as well as their other competencies e.g. business acumen, strategic agility, creativity, ability to adapt to rapid change, and their high degree of emotional intelligence
- Working collaboratively as a unit with a high degree of trust and respect, a clear understanding of the big picture and the specific roles and decision-making authority of each team member/leader
With an immensely grateful and a highly expectant heart, I so look forward to the next two years believing that the Lord will crown 2014 & 2015 with His awesome goodness - His paths drip with abundance (Psalms 65:11).
This year's reunion theme is "Global Leadership: Breaking Barriers." To effectively break down barriers in global leadership, we must first diligently work on breaking down the barriers in our own lives especially in the areas of character, honesty, and integrity, which, in my opinion, are the core of effective and highly impactful leadership. Let us aspire to do the right thing and make the right choices even when no one is watching; let us help build the skills and talents of others and share our knowledge and expertise generously allowing others to become partners in the process and outcomes. Let us overcome leadership myopia by being intentional about balancing time we spend managing tasks and connecting with others. Let us do whatever it takes within moral and ethical bounds, without compromising our character and integrity. Let us consider the ramifications of our decisions and take responsibility for the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let us strive to be courageous, blaze new trails, and not dwell on why something can't be done—instead, consider how it can be done.
After a long and arduous journey that was peppered with many obstacles along the way, UPNAAI made it to her 35th Anniversary with renewed vitality. With perseverance and strength of character, UPNAAI overcame adversities so this Coral Jubilee is truly an enduring achievement for an association with such humble beginnings. It is therefore, an honor and a privilege to welcome you, our colleagues, friends, and guests to this 35th UPNAAI reunion
(August 1-2, 2014) at The Wyndham New Yorker Hotel in New York City, New York to celebrate with us this moment of triumph, our moment of joy—UPNAAI's Coral Jubilee!
There were many UPNAAI presidents and leaders before me whose selfless dedication, hard work, and commitment contributed immensely to the fruition of UPNAAI's vision. To them we share the glory of this day for they undoubtedly deserve our appreciation and homage.
As we move forward, new leaders will emerge. To them I say that leadership has so many facets: vision, respect, experience, emotional strength, discipline, personal capabilities, effective interpersonal skills, momentum, timing, and others. To be effective, leaders require so much seasoning. Nearly all the skills of leadership can be learned & improved upon, a process that doesn't take overnight. We can all grow in our ability to lead. Let us strive to become empowering & transformational leaders by developing a strong sense of purpose, identity, security, empathy, compassion, stewardship, & a godly perspective.
We have an incredible potential to make a difference in our corner of the world, to do something more heart-oriented, something we have a passion for. What do we have to offer? More than we probably think. Whatever season of life we are in, we remain God's Masterpiece. We have the potential to move to the highest level of professional and collective effectiveness when we are able to break down barriers from the inside out. Why just watch others break down barriers and change the world? Let us join them.
"And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
Colossians 3:17 (NKJV)
"Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men."
Romans 12:9-17
