From Cathy’s Couch

Often the best way to lead is to get out of the way. This is the fourth and final part of our series on Bold Kindness so we’ll be talking to President and CEO of Nurse Next Door, Cathy Thorpe, about how her leadership style involves doing as little leading as possible. Instead it’s about mentoring and guiding the team to lead their own lives, grow their confidence and skills, and make their own decisions. We’re also joined by one of Cathy’s longtime mentees, Veronica Tissera, VP Client Experience, who has worked with Cathy almost since the start of her career.

To grow a business, or even just grow yourself, you have to start by believing you can grow. Having a mindset of abundance is really important to Nurse Next Door. It means you don’t obsess over numbers, and you don’t find reasons to cut back or avoid doing something. You look for what is possible, and how to make more things happen. Director of People and Culture, Kelly Quinn, joins us to talk about how to foster a culture of abundance, alongside president and CEO, Cathy Thorpe.

How well do you really know the people you work with? Could you name their hopes, dreams and fears? Do you share your own deepest feelings with those you spend your working life with? Do you have open and honest conversations, led with care? At Nurse Next Door that’s an important part of the company culture, and it starts by having REAL conversations. President and CEO, Cathy Thorpe, has fostered that culture through sharing her own life, leaning into REAL conversations, and with one important pink couch. She’ll be joined by VP Operations, Susan Karda, to have some real conversations about the importance of openness at work, letting go of ego and how to work with that in practice.

Bold Kindness is the philosophy at the core of Nurse Next Door’s culture. It encourages people to be high performers on their own terms. It's how Nurse Next Door achieves amazing growth and engaged team members. This is the first of four episodes exploring this groundbreaking way of generating their culture and developing people. The series will be completed with a book release in 2024. President and CEO, Cathy Thorpe, explains her Bold Kind approach in full, and we’re joined by Arif Abdulla, VP Global Franchise Development, who talks about his own journey with Bold Kindness, and how he struggled with it at first before embracing it and thriving.

If you want to know more about Nurse Next Door’s care, then the best person you could speak to is the daughter of one of our clients. Julia Killy’s dad received care from Nurse Next Door in the final part of his life. Julia describes how the theme of his care was around dignity and Happier Aging. Nurse Next Door didn’t just care for Julia’s dad… they cared for Julia. If you have questions about your own care, or perhaps a parent, then this episode is for you. It’s the final part of this series exploring different areas of care.

Nurse Next Door is not just one business. “HeartQuarters,” in Vancouver, sits at the intersection of the brand and the small business owners who run Nurse Next Door franchises across three countries. Kiran Samran is one of those franchise owners. Nurse Next Door provides the flexibility for business owners like Kiran to run their own business with systems and support, all the while enjoying the things she loves to do. She works hard, but she also answers emails on the beach. Kiran is a big traveler, a parent and she even maintains a small CPA practice on the side. If you want to hear more about Kiran’s franchise journey with Nurse Next Door, especially if you’re interested in becoming a franchisee, check out this third part of our series exploring different areas of care at Nurse Next Door.

“Care Designer” is not a job title you see at other care or health companies. Instead, they are often referred to as care managers. Marika Svac joins Sarah and Cathy to help us understand the creativity that small change of title implies. Being a Care Designer is all about working with clients, caregivers and franchise owners, and providing that crucial link between business and client.  Find out how Marika has developed herself personally and professionally at Nurse Next Door in this second part of our series exploring different areas of care at Nurse Next Door.

At the core of Nurse Next Door are our Caregivers, and John Steele exemplifies everything it means to embrace Caregiving as a Career. It’s about shifting the mindset of what that role of the Caregiver could be. Sarah, Cathy and John dig into the rewards of this work and what it takes to be a Caregiver. Find out how John uses skills gained in his sales career to provide Happier Aging, Nurse Next Door’s Care Philosophy in this first part of our series exploring different areas of care at Nurse Next Door.

Over the last three podcasts we’ve talked to CEO Cathy Thorpe about her leadership style and management philosophy, but now it’s time to walk the walk. Leaders and employees from inside and outside of Nurse Next Door sent in their sticky scenarios from their workplaces and Cathy draws on her experience and skills to give you answers in this Master Class on disruptive leadership.

Cathy Thorpe is all about getting the best out of the people at Nurse Next Door. To do that, she knows she has to give them her best in return. Kim Scott’s concept of “Radical Candor” is a big part of Cathy's leadership style, so we’re hearing what that means and what it’s like to bring your whole, messy self to work — both from Cathy, and from a member of her leadership team. People want to be high performers in this space, so how does leadership make sure that everyone from Cathy through to the Franchisees and Caregivers have that opportunity?