March 11, 2010
Phoenix Diocese Pioneers a Slow but Steady Approach to Spitzer’s Journey
The Diocese of Phoenix is about halfway through its Journey to Excellence (JTE), which is somewhat unusual since staff there embarked on the course in December of 2008. But the slow pace has nothing to do with foot dragging. After taking the full course themselves, Bishop Thomas Olmsted and his leadership decided that a gradual approach was the best way to let JTE’s lessons take root and flourish.
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Fr. Adamson (l.) and Fr. Spitzer. |
“I think people are accustomed to the idea of a quick fix, but this is a different type of program,” says Fr. Fred Adamson, Vicar General of the diocese. “When we first looked at the curriculum, we could see that it was based on values that are long-lasting and unchanging. That intrigued us.”
Rather than offer the course over three days, as some organizations have done, or in sessions spread over a few weeks or months, the diocese opted to schedule a series of five full-day retreats for all staff over two years. “We’re telling our people that it’s not a program as much as an approach that’s ongoing and formative,” says Fr. Adamson. “People are curious as to where we’re going with it, but we want this to be something that makes you ask, ‘What’s next?’”
Introduction through Legatus
The diocese’s relationship with the Spitzer Center dates back to when Bishop Jim Wall of Gallup, New Mexico, was Vicar for Priests in Phoenix. While he was still a priest in the Phoenix chancery, Bishop Wall heard Spitzer Center Executive Director Jim Berlucchi give a talk to the local Legatus chapter. Fr. Wall invited Berlucchi to give a one-day workshop to Phoenix-area priests about leadership and the Four Levels of Happiness®, and that engagement eventually led to the program’s adoption for the staff of the whole diocese.
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“We’re training everyone who works in the Bishop’s offices – priests, deacons, religious, and lay people,” said Fr. Adamson. “It is important that everyone works as a team and develops the same common language. This means people with a variety of backgrounds and experience from theology, education, business, finance, and administrative staff.
“People find it interesting. They always enjoy the retreat day with Jim.”
The early milestones of JTE emphasize self-identity, and how one’s view of happiness shapes nearly every decision in life. Fr. Adamson says that the diocese’s slow-but-steady approach is intended to allow that message to sink in.
“We’re really trying to focus people on their own personal lives and decisions, and how to make those decisions in a way that helps them to live for others, and ultimately to live for God.” Towards that end, the diocese asked the Spitzer Center to create a daily reflection card that staff can use to reinforce a commitment to living and working at Level 3 and Level 4.
Fr. Adamson says he hears echoes of the Four Levels in conversations around the Chancery. “Many times it’s humorous, because we’ll use it to label our behavior – ‘Boy, that was all Level 2!’ —and that will make people laugh, or we’ll laugh at ourselves.”
Other times, the comments are more serious. He recalls a conversation with a staff member who remarked, “You’re always thinking Level 4, aren’t you?”
“I said, ‘Well, that’s what I hope to be doing. We should always try to be thinking on that level.’”
The curriculum isn’t the only point of connection between the Spitzer Center and the diocese. John Fees, Managing Partner of Access Venture Group and a member of Legatus, arranged for Fr. Spitzer to give a breakfast presentation at the Mt. Claret Retreat Center back in March. Fees is now a director of the Spitzer Center, and he’s working with other local business leaders to promote the Center’s work, and to help the broader Catholic community in Phoenix build a collaborative, Level 3 culture.
By John Keenan, Editor
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Last changed: Oct 08 2009 at 12:46 PM