Ronda Clark

I attribute my success to choosing to exert power as influence over power as control or position, and to showing up authentically in every moment. I’ve always chosen to look myself in the mirror rather than compromise my values for position. From my very first day back in the field, I focused on the felt culture of the organization, not just the people we were serving. I concerned myself with building connection and safety with the people working right beside me, not just our recipients of care. The Mental Health field is hard work and the people doing the work need support, too. Seeing, hearing, and validating the strengths of my peers, advocating, and speaking truth to power when opportunities arose all contributed to creating a workforce that was strong, that felt safe, one person at a time. Stepping in to the role of clinical training specialist was a natural transition for me. This role is not just about equipping, it has been an opportunity to connect employees personal values with our company values and mission. People on a mission are passionate and productive and they stay. Through over a decade of consistently messaging and modeling my aligned personal and company values during every new employee orientation cycle, I have been afforded the opportunity to ask important questions to multiple levels of leadership, like, “what would we look and feel like if we, at all levels of this organization, treated each other the way we are required to treat our person’s served?” I have a full cycle story of what happens when you use influence to impact the felt culture right where you're standing, one person at a time.

The best career advice I ever received was a warning that “everyone here looks out for themselves,” to which I responded, “then I have to change that!” Doing so became my mission and ultimately pushed me to carve a different path—choosing to lead through influence, trust, and intentional culture-building rather than fear or self-protection.

Take it one step at a time, stay committed to continuously growing your skills and mindset, and focus on building influence and meaningful connections rather than relying solely on positional authority.

Right now, a whole lot is changing in the mental health field as we move from fee for volume of services to fee for value of care, as well as the influx and integration of AI. More personally, we are navigating a merger in our company which brings many logistical changes. Change agility is a critical skill in this field every day, but especially now in navigating exponential growth, and industry changing metrics. To embrace change I decided to sit with my current reality in a different way. I am growing my skill set beyond my current knowledge and am specifically confronting areas of weakness. I am a big picture person so I am taking a course in subject matter that challenges me to see details and spend time with them. To see your way through intended or unintended change you have to expand your vision, your mindset, and your skill set.

The most important values to me are safety, consistency, and staying true to who you are. I believe it's incredibly important for people to feel safe, both the people we serve and the people doing the work. People need connection more than many other things. In the workforce, I believe in connecting people with organizational values and their own personal values and find their own “why.” Consistency has been key for me, messaging authentically wherever I show up so people know me and trust me. In my personal life, I believe in pursuing the things that bring you joy and staying true to who you are. I think everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and accepting that is powerful. Being a musician has helped me weather seasons and accept the rhythm and timing of all things. I believe in being open to new opportunities because we can do more than we ever thought we could. I also value gathering with like-minded people and spending time with friends and family. Even in difficult transitions, I try to realize the opportunity in change and know that I'm not done, that there's something new on the horizon.