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OCTOBER 2013
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
Funeral Directors Research,Inc.
AMRA INSTRUMENT,
LLC
623 N. Tower (P.O. Box 359)
Centralia, WA 98531
“the shorter the supply line the better off you are”
WEB DIRECT GIFT & PRICING
TM
®
Dr. Ralph L. Klicker has been involved in the funeral service since
he was a high school student. He has been a funeral director, em-
balmer, training director, educator, and speaker. He has authored
four of the text books used by funeral service students, as well as
twelve home study and online continuing education courses. His
latest books are Leadership According To St. Peter, Don’t Wait Until
You Are Six Feet Under: It’s too late to change your life when you
hear dirt being thrown on your casket, and Grief coaching. Ralph
can be contacted by email at rklicker@thanosinstitute.com or at
800-238-5187.
By Ralph L. Klicker, Ph.D.
Misconception #4: Strategy comes to you in the
shower.
How do strategies come about? We tend to think
they are born in the minds of individuals, especially
CEOs. In many organizations however, strategy is in-
creasingly being made by teams rather than individu-
als. Strategies are created at the round table, on a flip
chart, in the field talking to customers, not just in the
shower. They are born from the combined experienc-
es and conversations of many minds.
There are multiple reasons why two heads are bet-
ter than one. Not only can two people generate more
ideas than one, but teams offer a better way to imple-
ment a particular strategy. The very nature of team-
work encourages the evolution of strategy. As people
work together, they tend to refine and develop new
strategies.
The New Strategist
This month I will be sharing information from the
book,
The New Strategists: Creating Leaders at All Lev-
els
, by Stephen J Wall and Shannon Rye Wall and
published by The Free Press, a division of Simon and
Schuster.
The Walls believe there is a shift in business strate-
gy-making. Strategy that was once the province of se-
nior management is now becoming the responsibil-
ity of people at every level in most forward looking
companies. They came to this conclusion after a ten
year study in which they interviewed 4,000 managers
and human resource people. They begin their book by
looking at four misconceptions regarding business:
Misconception #1: It is the CEO’s or the top man-
agement people’s responsibility to come up with
strategies.
Why is it so important that people throughout the
organization see themselves as strategists? Wherever
you are in an organization, whether you are a member
of a project or a project team, a manager or a corporate
executive, you are already part of the strategy process.
Your actions can also be the basis for the evolution of
entirely new strategies.
Leadership and
Life Enrichment
Misconception #2: Strategy: it’s in the binder.
When the authors asked people about the company’s
strategies, most people would refer to them as being in a
big book or binder. When asked who was aware of this
strategy book, often the response was “the people who
wrote it.” It sits on a shelf. However, effective strategy
means more than just planning, it also involves doing.
Your organization needs a sense of focus and direction
which are derived from a formal plan. But strategies must
also be allowed to evolve in response to changes in envi-
ronment and plans need to be modified accordingly. Flex-
ibility is possible only when your strategies are allowed to
evolve and are formally planned. In essence, you need to
plan for flexibility and to encourage evolving strategies to
percolate through the organization.
Misconception #3: First you plan the strategy, and
then you decide on the tactics to carry it out.
The increased need for flexibility requires another shift
in how you view strategy-making; the shift allows today’s
actions to become tomorrow’s strategy. We are not just
talking about the actions of the CEO or management
team. In the process of implementation, strategies are
continually reshaped as people in every job respond to
customers, sign up new clients, work with supplies, de-
sign new products, and refine existing ones. Teams and
individuals who are making decisions and taking action
to respond to, and anticipate customer needs, are in fact
making an important contribution to the actual strate-
gies of a business.
Pierce Mortuary College Welcomes Dr. Jill Karn as
Chief Operating Officer
Jill Karn
BROADVIEW,IL—
Pierce Mortuary Colleges
is pleased
to announce the addition of
Dr. Jill Karn
as Chief Op-
erating Officer. In her position, Karn will oversee the
operations and overall strategic direction of all Pierce
Mortuary Colleges, including
Dallas Institute of Fu-
neral Service,
Dallas, TX;
Gupton-Jones College of
Funeral Service,
Decatur, GA; and
Mid-America Col-
lege of Funeral Service,
Jeffersonville IN.
With over fifteen years in executive leadership roles,
including twelve years in higher education, Karn
brings deep perspective and broad organizational capa-
bilities to Pierce Mortuary Colleges. In her most recent
position as president
of Northern California Universi-
ties,
Karn’s responsibilities encompassed both COO
and CEO roles, spanning from day-to-day operations
to strategic growth initiatives and optimal fiscal perfor-
mance. Areas under her guidance included: IT, admis-
sions, finance, online division, financial aid, student
services, academic affairs, graduate placement, compli-
ance, human resource and marketing.
Prior executive leadership roles included vice presi-
dent of IT project management office and vice presi-
dent of human resources for a global outsourcing firm,
where she assessed busi-
ness needs, and developed
and executed plans for
global responsiveness to
market changes.
“Dr. Karn’s impressive
breadth and depth of ex-
perience provides a sol-
id foundation for lead-
ing the growth of Pierce
Mortuary Colleges,” said
Dennis
Welzenbach
,
president, board of trust-
ees, Pierce Mortuary Col-
leges. “Her track record
of optimizing college op-
erations as well as driving enrollment growth is firmly
aligned with our objectives.”
Dr. Karn will be based out of Broadview, IL, report-
ing to the board of trustees. The respective presidents
of each of the colleges will report to Dr. Karn.
For more information on Pierce Mortuary Colleges,
visi
AAMI Recognizes Students Academic Success
NEW YORK,NY—
American Acade-
my McAllister Institute of Funeral
Service, Inc.
is pleased to recognize
the following students for their aca-
demic success in the Spring 2013 Se-
mester.
To be named to the Highest Hon-
ors List one must maintain a semes-
ter grade point average of 3.80 to
4.0. Highest Honors were awarded
to:
Jessica Bender
, Brooklyn, NY;
Tasia Carrasquilo
, Bronx, NY;
Mi-
chael Davis
, New York, NY;
Chris-
topher Esposito
, Richmond Hill,
NY;
Victoria Frost
, Yonkers, NY;
James Hammer
, Setauket, NY and
Dana Pilipiak
, Mahwah, NJ.
To be named to the High Honors
List one must maintain a semester
grade point average of 3.50 to 3.79.
High Honors were awarded to
Robin
McGhee
, Southampton, PA;
Robert
Pizzi
, River Vale, NJ;
Agnes Powe
,
Putnam Valley, NY;
Frank Ragona
,
Nesconset, NY and
Colette Toni
,
Stratford, CT.
To be named to the Honors List
one must maintain a semester grade
point average of 3.2 to 3.49. Hon-
ors were awarded to:
Ryan Costi-
gan
, Oceanside, NY;
Angelica Mar-
mol
, Brooklyn, NY;
Joseph Murray
,
Bronx, NY;
Dayna Paulino
, New
York, NY;
Natalya Pushkina
,
Brooklyn, NY;
William Rose
, Up-
per Montclair, NJ.
NEWS
Educational
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