President's Message

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September 3, 2011                             

Hello members,

It’s time for the reconnection of LIDA’s nutrition professionals once again as the 2011-2012 year begins. I would like to welcome you to what promises to be an exciting year since we are delving into some areas this year where we haven’t been before.  It has been a busy and productive summer and I am proud to serve as your president.

One of our accomplishments last year was to update our website.  It can be accessed at eatrightli.org and contains information on our board members, meeting schedule, private practice list plus much more.  We even have a blog on there now.  In June, our web committee met with our web designer to learn how to update this website.  LIDA is purchasing Dreamweaver software to enable this.

            Our program committee has been coordinating this year’s meeting schedule which you will find enclosed.  It is my hope that we will be starting off our year with a Networking Meeting/Open House to meet and re-acquaint ourselves, bring in potential new members as well as have the opportunity to connect with experienced dietitians in various work settings such as private practice, long term care, acute care, academia, fitness, etc.  It will be an opportunity to ask questions, learn more about these unique work environments on Long Island and …….network.  We are presently working out the details of this meeting which will be in early October.  More details will follow in an email as plans solidify.

            October 25th we are scheduled for a Culinary Class, Demonstration and Tasting to be held at the beautiful Culinary Arts and Hospitality Center in Riverhead.  This new facility trains chefs and has a huge amphitheater for demonstrations.  See the enclosed flyer for more details.

            In November we are privileged to host a representative from CMS who will speak on Unraveling Medicare.  This meeting will help you become a Medicare provider as well as a successful biller.

            Our February meeting will be another Webinar entitled Weight Management on the Web; Identify and Incorporate Tech Tools to Enhance Dietetic Practice.

 In March we’re hoping to have a gastrointestinal specialist.  Our Professional Issues Council is being planned for April, which will be a 3-4 hour conference that will provide an in-depth look into a topic that is requested.  Anyone can pose a topic for this meeting by emailing me at nutritionwisdom@aol.com.

            Our end of year dinner meeting in May will host Josephine Connolly-Schoonen, RD, to speak to us on Childhood Obesity and specifically the program being used at Stony Brook University Hospital. 

           
We have a lot of exciting events coming up and we’re hoping that you will join us for many of them. Keep in mind that we collect non perishable food items at each of our member meetings to give to local food banks.

I would like to say more than a few words about leadership for you to reflect on. Leading is something I never considered for myself. It’s always easier to let others pave the way, but it has been my experience that many of us have passions and visions which never really come to fruition.  If we don’t place ourselves, where we can be heard, many great ideas fall by the wayside. What I have learned about leadership is that it is based on relationships. The role of the leader is to recognize great ideas, support those ideas, get everyone aligned toward the same goals and break down barriers along the way (1).  Dietitians in New York have faced many barriers impeding our success. We’re still trying to enact licensure which will protect our scope of practice. Only 4 states in the US do not have an active licensure bill. And through the years, we never formed a strong union to help cement and strengthen our salary bases like the New York State Nursing Association for example.  I don’t know why this is so. I do know that in 1977 when I started work in a Bronx nursing home, my starting salary was higher than all of the nurses I worked with other than their supervisors. Now, nurses’ starting salaries are often $10,000 to $20,000 more than the starting salaries for dietitians. The nursing union enabled this. There is strength in assembling as a group.  LIDA currently has about 225 members out of approximately 1500 RDs and DTRs on Long Island.  Those RDs/DTRs in Brooklyn and Queens that belong to GNYDA, kudos to you. But there are a lot of Nassau and Suffolk RDs/DTRs that are not involved and it hurts our profession.

Another thing about leadership is that it can be learned. Leaders are learners and listeners. They learn about their constituents and the real barriers to progress. They listen to ideas. They take in feedback about their own strengths and weaknesses to better connect to the team and the tasks at hand. A good leader really just takes stock of themselves and invests time into the process of building relationships. Not so daunting is it?

In preparing for my role as president, I started to take stock of my own strengths and weaknesses. Growing up, I was never a good vocal communicator but I was much better at it on paper. My assessment of the time it takes to get things done is always shy of the mark and I have trouble with change. On the other hand, I feel I have an open mind, I’m committed to the growth and development of our profession as well as our members, and I love to encourage and motivate people. That being said, my presidential year has already become a challenge. Normally, there is a president-elect on the board whose main function is to chase down topics and speakers for our membership meetings. Last winter, no one stood up to this position so there is currently no president-elect. No one to step in as president for next year.

We need our membership to grow and we need for people to not be afraid to get more involved. If you can give a small amount of time or talent, we’ll take it. If you’re wondering if you could fill a leadership role, you can ask yourself, your peers, your boss or your faithful clients these questions:

• Do I model the behaviors I would like to see in others?
• Do I approach new ideas with an open mind?
• Do I practice good interpersonal skills?
• Do I embrace changes to process?
• Do I demonstrate courage and commitment to my beliefs?
• Do I positively motivate and encourage the people around me?
• Do I listen to the needs of the people around me?
• What are my towering strengths?
• Are there areas where I need more development?

If you feel you’d like to contribute something to your profession, LIDA welcomes you and you can become as involved as you wish. We can only become stronger with each new voice and each new idea.

Here’s to a great year ahead!

 

Joan Stollberger, MS, RD, CDN, CDE
LIDA President 2011-12

 

•  Kouzes, J and Posner, B. The Leadership Challenge. 4th ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007.