Graduate Stories – 2004

Lee Ann Szelog, Vice President of Education & Development, Camden National Corporation, Saltwater Alumni, 2004

…The Saltwater Program added inspiration and strengthened the foundation upon which we can accomplish great things.

Creating win–win situations for customers, employees, community members and shareholders is a primary goal for Camden National Corporation. When we first learned about The Saltwater Institute about a year ago, our CEO, Bob Daigle, Chief Administrative Officer, Laurie Bouchard and I were intrigued enough to create a one-of-a-kind Seven Intentions sampler held at The Hanley Center in Rockport. We invited 12 of our officers and encouraged them to each invite a guest from the community. Not only did this further our own understanding of The Seven Intentions® Program; it also gave us another opportunity to reach out to our communities, by making them aware of resources to help their organizations grow and prosper.

As Vice President of Education and Development, I have taken many leadership, sales development and managerial courses. I recognized immediately that there was something different about this program. Saltwater takes a very introspective approach – that's what I found most intriguing. At Camden National, all of our employees have the opportunity to participate in The Customer Program®, an intensive nine-week human relations course designed to enhance interpersonal relationships and positively impact customer service, both internally and externally. Many employees really blossom from that experience, discovering talents and qualities they didn't know they had. The Seven Intentions® seemed like a natural next step, and a good fit for our culture.

Shortly after the customized sampler, Laurie and I enrolled in the Intentions program with the primary objective of evaluating it for the Company. In addition, I had two professional goals for my participation. One was continued exploration of my unique characteristics. The second was how to maximize my gifts to teach and inspire our employees to consistently deliver exceptional quality service. The Customer Program® has propelled us a long way down this road; The Seven Intentions® may help us get to the next level.

I began to generate ideas for work almost immediately. For example, the Intentions “Connect With Goodness” and “Know Thyself ” really hit home. During our first class I made a note: ‘Think about how to bring The Seven Intentions® to our annual Leadership Forum.' So when I drafted the agenda, a Saltwater exercise was one of the first things on my list. Bringing the Intentions to this Forum seemed like a good way to inspire our officers and add to the foundation built by the The Customer Program®. So, working with Saltwater we customized a “Know Thyself” program for our September conference.

The work we did with the Intention “Know Thyself” has helped me feel much more confident. I discovered that my emotional intelligence is a strength, and the course allowed me to explore how to use this strength at work. There are many positive outcomes from this – including having more fun at work and achieving more success. My renewed energy, passion and confidence are evident in the classes I teach. Class participants continually express how excited they are to come to class, and of course that encourages me even more – it's a psychological energy boost that is reciprocated between the class participants and me.

From the very first session, I realized that I had the opportunity to grow personally as well as professionally from the course, and it propelled me toward the goals and dreams I share with my husband, Tom. We've enjoyed a lot of unique experiences in our 15 years of marriage, and The Seven Intentions® further helped me appreciate how we can use our combined gifts and talents to make our dreams a reality. We are in the process of developing three books: a nature and wildlife photography book, a memoir about our 13 years living together in a lighthouse, and a children's book. I know that, if not for Saltwater, I would still be trying to find the time to get to the children's book. I was so pleased to recently receive my 6-month letter, written to myself at the last class in March, in which I wrote, ‘You did a great job completing your children's book. Congratulations! Now, work to find a publisher!’ This project is especially meaningful because Tom and I wrote it together. We have always worked as a team on various projects; the opportunity to participate in the Saltwater Program added inspiration and strengthened the foundation upon which we can accomplish great things.

As Laurie and I evaluated the course for further consideration at Camden National Corporation, our first thought was to involve our CEO, Bob Daigle. This seemed a good next step because senior management recently held a strategic planning session focusing on its long term vision for the company. The Seven Intentions® may dovetail beautifully with that vision. At this point, Bob is currently participating in a Seven Intentions course with a group of New England CEOs. We will see what transpires after his participation.

I believe that a Seven Intentions course can benefit any group. We live in such a fast-paced environment that people don't take time to stop and smell the roses, get to know each other, and share their experiences. The service industry is all about people, so our success is dependent on how well we serve our customers and our communities. To me, the importance of interpersonal relationships is so basic that it often gets lost.

Personally, Saltwater's Seven Intentions® Program was the best professional development course I have ever taken, and it far exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend it to others from every walk of life, regardless of title, status or where one is with their life's journey. In fact, I hope to give my husband the gift of attending some day soon. I can already imagine the enhanced synergy that will result when we both have experienced The Seven Intentions®.