ABCs at ABCD Presentation: Front Line Supervisor Training
On April 28 and May 18, ABCD Director of Education and Training, Jeanne Ashmore, welcomed over 100 ABCD member staff to Sara Sherman’s 2-part training on the fundamentals of supervision. Sara welcomed the participants with a “Thank you,” clarifying that having worked in every area of IDD, being a provider is the hardest job and that they don’t get thanked enough.
Sara defined the responsibilities of the supervisor as making sure work is done on time and as required; no one else in the agency bears these responsibilities. It follows that supervisors are always in 1 of 2 states for every service and every person; know it is or is not happening and are taking appropriate steps to move it in the right direction. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the supervisor protects their ability to know whether the problem is people or process related. Only when the supervisor can describe/name the problem will they be able to solve it.
Sara peppered her presentations with humor and real-life stories from her 30 plus years on the frontlines, making the lessons easy to understand and completely relatable. Her in-the-moment ability to respond to the specific needs of the audiences meant everyone got what they came for and no question went unanswered.
Sara Sherman is a sought-after problem solver in the IDD community. Sara helps providers, governments, and organizations solve their most challenging problems once and for all. With decades of experience in all aspects of the developmental disabilities system, Sara teaches practical, implementable, and repeatable steps that produce measurable and sustainable results to ensure problems stay gone for good.
When not presenting and teaching, Sara can be found working on her next bestseller, hanging out with her grandson, or running her non-profit foundation.
