Leadership Profile: Tina

An important leader at Misericordia is Tina Stendardo. She is currently one of the head
supervisor instructors in the developmental training department. On a daily basis, one will see
Tina on her feet working with colleagues, staff and residents to make sure that the day will run
smoothly. She is, clearly, one of the core leaders that aid in executing Misericordia's mission to
achieving social justice.
When Tina started at Misericordia, 22 years ago, she began at an entry-level position as a
habilitation aid. She had also started working at Misericordia under the assumption that it would
only be short-term work but as she began to grow as a person she realized she wanted to take on
a bigger leadership role at Misericordia. Her desire to take on a larger leadership role came from
her "desire to do more", she wanted to take on additional responsibilities, reach out to more
residents (as a habilitation aid she primarily only worked with ten), and create a larger impact in
the organization for the residents. When Tina spoke about having a desire to do more, it
reminded me of Caldwell and Dixon's article, "Love, Forgiveness, and Trust: Critical Values of
the Modern Leader", when they stated, that love is one of the important foundational values of
leaders in transforming lives and revitalizing relationships (91). Tina's desire to do more came
out of her care for the residents. Tina's desire to move up in the organization as an developmental
training instructor was inspired by her wanting to create more programing and therapeutic
programs to reach out to more residents.
When asked about her influences that led her to her current leadership position Tina
talked about her brother. Tina had a brother that would have been older than her if he survived,
and if he had survived he would have had developmental disabilities. She express that knowing
that she would have had a brother with a disability led her to have a natural "caregiver" role

within her that has naturally kept her at Misericordia. In Caldwell and Dixon's 10 commonalities
of the shared values of love, forgiveness, and trust, numbers (2) "virtue-based and reflecting the
desire to create added value or positive benefit for the other party and (6)" reality-based and
accepting of others' faults" applied to Tina motivation to lead. As we learned from Tina's desire
to move up higher in the organization in order to be able to reach out to more residents explains
how 2 is applicable. As for number 6, Tina achieves this because when working at Misericordia,
one has to understand that residents have impaired judgment due to their disabilities, and
therefore their realities are different and one needs to understand that when working to achieve
social justice.
Although Tina has always felt a natural caregiver role this does not mean she has not had
challenges at Misericordia. When Tina first started as a habilitation aid she encounter challenges
that pushed her out of her comfort zone. For example, as a habilitation aid she was responsible
for showering and changing ten grown men and growing up in a predominantly Catholic
environment she had never been exposed to a population with developmental disabilities. She
described her first few days as "scary" simply because she was being exposed to a new
environment and felt intimated in an unfamiliar setting and lack of knowledge. As she began to
develop relationship with the residents and develop a nurturing demeanor towards them, then she
became more comfortable with her role and realized she wanted to continue to work at
Misericordia long term.
Tina definitely exhibits leadership traits that allow her to be a great leader at
Misericordia. As part of the Misericordia organization, one must definitely be patient and know
their population. Understanding the residents at Misericordia allows one to work more efficiently
and show more patience to better the life of the residences. As a leader at Misericordia, one must

be able to communicate efficiently with other staff members and go into their day knowing that
everything that they planned for the day might not get done. As an effective leader, one must also
be able to deal with confrontation and unexpected predicaments. Tina expressed how important it
was to address issues with residents or staff in real time and to maintain consistency in order to
be effective. Along with all those qualities, a leader must also be able to let people lead and
handle situations on their own, especially at Misericordia. Tina expressed that in order to be an
effective staff member at Misericordia, one must learn how to handle situation independently in
order to build relationships with residents. Along with that, as a leader she will not intervene
unless she is asked to or if she sees policy being violated.
Tina's leadership style follows Kouzes and Posner's "Model the way" and "Enable Others
to Act". As Kouzes and Posner state, "They go first by setting the example through daily actions
that demonstrate they are deeply committed to their beliefs". I see this reflect in Tina, as she
always shows one the proper way on how to do things, and she does not hesitate help someone
out. This type of leader is important because they show that they respect the people they lead
through helping out with the small time-consuming tedious task directly with other staff. Tina
also "enables others to act" emphasizing team effort within the organization. When she speaks
about her job, she always states "we" as she refers to the organization as a whole. Tina
encourages her staff, colleagues, and interns to become independent and take on responsibilities
themselves. When speaking to young leaders Tina advises that they continue to be innovated and
bring in new ideas to their leaders, because as a leader, herself, she needs new ideas to challenge
and balance her style to bring new programs to the residents, and this ideology can be expanded
to any other nonprofit. She also expresses that individuals should never abandon the values of

consistency, punctuation, dedication, and hard work, and just because one practices those values
it does not mean that they cannot still be creative and bring new fresh ideas to the table.