FROM THE EDITOR'S PEN / The CEO Forum
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Editorial List
I have been talking about family caregivers being
the CEO of Caring For My Loved One, Inc. since late
last century in Today’s Caregiver magazine,
on caregiver.com and at the Fearless Caregiver
Conferences. Like many CEOs, you have tools at your
disposal; but unlike most CEOs, there was no
university to go to or MBA to obtain to learn these
tools. Your ascendency to the executive level
most likely came with a jolting telephone call in
the middle of the night telling you that your loved
one has just been in an accident, or with the call
from the doctor’s office to let you know the results
of the tests recently taken. That call
transports you through the looking glass, where
everyone else is talking in jargon that you don’t
understand and that every decision is potentially of
the life and death variety. So, what do you do?
Four Rules of becoming CEO of My Loved One, Inc.:
First: take a deep breath and count to 10.
The fact is, with 66.7 million other caregivers in
the nation, you are not alone.
Second: marshal your resources, learn all
you can about your loved one’s illness or disease –
in caregiving, knowledge is truly power.
Third: find your way to others in your community
(or online) who are caring for clients and loved
ones.
Fourth: as any good CEO will tell you, the
most important tool you have as a family caregiver
is to ask questions of everyone. And never take a
dismissive or an easy no for an answer.
