Wendy has dedicated the past 12 years of her career to serving MAPCL. In the spring of 1997, Wendy began supervising our North Shore Apartment Program and North Shore Options. Two years later, she joined the head office team as our Office Manager. Prior to moving to Vancouver, Wendy lived in Prince George and worked for AimHi Association for Community Living. She also brought her experience in communications and working in a legal firm to our organization, an asset that has come in very handy over the years, particularly while we were appointing a Privacy Officer.
Those who have worked with Wendy appreciate how well organized and detailed she is – and what a meticulous researcher! Over the years, Wendy has coordinated (and survived!) every single expansion. Our client data base “Simplicity” was spearheaded by Wendy and she has assembled an amazing admin team.
When asked, “What will you miss most about Wendy?” Fernando Coelho adds, “Wendy has been a steady calming force at Mainstream – I will miss her integrity, commitment, perspective and counsel. She will certainly be missed.”
Along with her recently retired husband, Wendy is looking forward to travelling and spending more time with her family. |
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There are usually three reasons why we avoid doing certain tasks. First off, we avoid doing certain tasks because we're uncertain as to how we should proceed – i.e. there’s an “unknown” factor that actually causes us to doubt whether we can even do the job period. Secondly, we avoid some tasks because, even though we may know how to proceed, we also know from past experience that the “proceeding” (i.e. the process) was not a pleasurable experience, so why should we expect it to be any different the next time around. Lastly, we avoid certain tasks not because of the task themselves, but rather because of what they signify. The task of writing this article belongs in this category.
To bring our point home then, we were asked to write an article in the MAPCL newsletter about the pending retirement of our boss, Wendy Moore. So, even though we might enjoy the task of writing and even believe ourselves to have some measure of expertise in doing it (especially Dan), we confess that we've been avoiding this particular writing assignment because it signifies an event over which we’ve been in complete denial over ever since we first heard about it.
In short, both Corinne and I are in complete agreement that Wendy is by far the best boss either of us has ever had, so the prospect of life here at Mainstream without her, is something that we’ve both been struggling to come to grips with. As to why we feel this way about Wendy, we could easily write far more than this particular assignment calls for, so we’ll have to content ourselves with giving you our top three reasons.
First, Wendy has always been more of a friend than a boss to us, at least in the traditional sense of what a boss is supposed to be. We’ve always felt comfortable talking to her not only about our jobs, but about anything else in our lives that might be impacting our job performance. We’re able to do this because we always know that she cares more about us as people than she does about us as workers, yet coincidentally it’s this same knowledge that also makes us want to do our jobs at the highest level possible. Simply put, she makes us want to “do her proud.”
Secondly, Wendy is an excellent delegator. She gives you a job (with ample background and explanation of course) and then trusts you to use your knowledge and expertise to get it done. Naturally, her door is always open if you have a question and/or need some assistance along the way, but otherwise she leaves you to it. Once again, this trust merely serves to make us want to do the very best job possible so that her trust in us is never compromised.
Lastly, Wendy is an excellent role model for how to balance your work and personal life. We’ve always known that Wendy’s job, as important as it is, is not the most important part of her life. Without a doubt, anyone who knows Wendy knows that her family and friends come first with her, and that has always been an inspiration to us. Her example has taught us both the importance of doing your absolute best while you’re at work, but then also having the sense to know that when it’s time to go home it’s time to go home! The work will still be here tomorrow, so go home and deal with what’s actually more important to you (i.e. family and friends), then when you come back tomorrow you'll be able to get back to doing the very best job you can do here. That’s keeping your work and personal lives in proper perspective, and that’s what Wendy has so aptly modeled for us.
In conclusion, you’ll notice that this article has all been written in the present tense. The reason for this is that it’s not intended to be an eulogy, so we didn’t want it to read like one. Besides, Wendy is still our boss as of this writing, and we refuse to speak of her as our boss in the past tense until we absolutely have to.
Like, we said at the beginning, we’re still in denial about this. |
