Sunday Night With John: Remembering The Best Boss Ever – Theresa Jones

From time to time I think back on my time working with abused teens.  It was a time when I felt like I was making a difference and having a blast all at the same time.  I was living the saying, “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life” and it was all thanks to my boss, Theresa Jones.  She was a saw our vision as a team and encouraged us to continuously think outside the box.  I often email her to catch up, reminisce and let her know what a difference she made in my life.  Whenever I see her, I can’t help but yell, JONES at the top of my lungs because she is just THAT great.

It all started 10 years ago when I walked in on my first day at my new job rehabbing abused teens. I turned the corner and I heard a new client yelling at Theresa, “You stupid B!$(%”. Theresa didn’t respond to the client’s comments but she did look at me and say loudly “Welcome!” I thought what did I get myself into?  This was the first of many interactions I had with her that I want to share with you. 

As a kid paving my path in the world of social services I had lots of kooky ideas and made some choices that made adults around me scratch their heads.  But I always had the best interest of our clients in mind.  I can remember an instance when Theresa had to talk to our team about allowing clients to use the pogo sticks inside. It had been reported by another program that we were allowing clients to engage in dangerous activities on the unit. We informed Theresa that yes, we allowed clients to pogo stick down the hallway but we made sure they wore helmets to keep them safe. Theresa started shaking her head and laughed stating, “Please don’t allow it to happen again.”

Another fond memory was when a person from upper management came to our meeting to ask us about the success of our program. He asked Theresa, “How did this program begin to get results and have kids achieve at such a rapid pace?” She looked at him and said, “It has nothing to do with me; it has everything to do with my staff.  They have the ideas, they work the long hours, and they interact with these kids to make them believe real change is possible.”  The upper management kept pushing her for a direct answer and she replied again and again by pointing at us.  At that moment, she made me and my team feel like we were truly valued.  She validated our commitment, which drove us deeper into the great work we were doing with tough clients.

The next moment that sticks out in my mind is when I was sitting in Theresa’s office attempting to figure out what to do about a relationship I was in that was falling apart.  I asked her to talk before my shift so I didn’t take the negative energy to the kids.  She thanked me for my professionalism and listened to my quandary.  Theresa provided guidance and set me up to have a good shift with the kids.  She put in the work to get to know me well enough to not just help me professionally but personally. 

Theresa was always concerned about her staff and the kids.  When she saw issues, she addressed them right away.  Unfortunately, this time the issue had to do with my team and me.  Being young kids afraid to get in trouble we decided to dress up as Theresa and show up to our meeting with her.  We showed up a few minutes late and overheard her complaining about us as we enter the meeting.  As she laid eyes on us, all was forgiven.  She still gave us her points of concern but not before we got a picture with a laughing Theresa. She was such a caring and hard working leader you couldn’t help but bust your butt to make her happy.

For five years I worked for Theresa Jones we took some of the toughest kids in Iowa and with her guidance we changed lives with laughter, with tears, and with the conviction that even their lives should be fun.  I remember at one point struggling with how the system worked against the kids and Theresa pulled me aside and stated that no system can hold back kids who are infected with your passion John.  I will never forget this moment.

Lastly, I remember Theresa telling us she took a well-deserved promotion. She cried about leaving our wonderful team and what we created behind. We gushed to tell her we were proud and happy for her. But when the meeting ended we couldn’t help but bring the laugher that she taught us to embrace into the situation and the jokes about her abandoning us began. She smiled and said thanks for waiting a whole five minutes to make me feel bad.

All the members of our legendary team have all left the program that Theresa over-saw for five years.  But if you ask anyone of us we will tell you that program changed our lives for the better.  But what we are really saying is that our leader Theresa Jones made us better.  That’s what a great leader does.  They inspire us to be our best selves.  To challenge ourselves and to do what is best for the people we are serving.