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I had the honor of interviewing Mary Labyak back in Sept 2011 during my "Patti Moore's Hospice Master Class Series".  Join me in celebrating her life and honoring her legacy in this excerpt from that interview.

August 27, 1948 to February 4, 2012

“I think hospice is the greatest single honor that has ever occurred in my life. To have the opportunity to be a part of building something that makes such a difference to society. And I think what is really important is that hospice is a dream that’s come true, and a dream that’s grown beyond all of our expectations.

In terms of values, it’s a dream that didn’t come out of academia, it didn’t come out of research, it didn’t come out of organized medicine. It was the dream of people themselves that had lost a loved one and simply wanted to reach out and see if they could make that path different for others. And it was above all about human dignity, no matter how long life was.

And I think it has grown so much not because we were smart in building it, but because we had the capacity to listen to what our patients and communities needed and to build that for them.”

~ Mary J. Labyak

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Last night I witnessed that rare quality in a leader, humility.  I attended the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organizations’ Foundation Gala in Washington DC.  There were lights and flowers and diamonds and glamor.  The nations’ hospice leaders and donors were decked out in their finery to give out awards and celebrate.

This year the Healthcare Architect Award was given to Mary Labyak, President and CEO of Suncoast Hospice.  Mary has had a brilliant career in hospice that started in 1980 in Clearwater, Florida.  She was hired by a handful of volunteer board members to provide hospice care to the dying citizens of their area.  Mary and her dedicated volunteers and staff embarked on a journey that has led to a profound change in the way people are cared for at the end of life.

Many people across the US have contributed their life’s work to this movement, but few are more recognized or revered than Mary Labyak.  Growing up in...

When I think of leadership listening I think of my mom, who has been a hairdresser most of her adult life.  Being a hairdresser means standing on your feet all day listening to other people’s problems and trying to make them look pretty.  For the price of a shampoo and set my mom has been listening, smiling, and acknowledging people,  making them look good and feel good about themselves for nearly 50 years.  Some people pay a therapist and don’t get as much as she offered as their “hair-apist”.

I never thought much about the role of the hairdresser other than when you find a good one you stick with them, sometimes even longer than a marriage.  It is often the hairdresser who gets the first call to be a part of the preparation for any big event in a woman’s life: proms, graduations, weddings, funerals, holidays and job interviews.

What skills does it take to be a successful hairdresser?  For 45 years my mother shampooed,...