An Interview with Allan Leno
Sunday, August 29, 2004 | 0
The following is an interview of rehabilitation expert, Allan Leno. Allan has been a frequent contributor to WorkCompCentral, offering his expertise and opinion on vocational rehabilitation and FEHA issues since our beginning. In this interview by California Association of Rehabilitation and Reemployment Professional's Jamie Charter (JC), Allan offers tremendous insight on the new role vocational rehabilitation professionals will play, and reminds us that the industry's problems are all of ours, and that change is a catalyst for opportunity.
JC: In what geographical area do you live?
Work?
I live in, and work out of, Thousand Oaks and
generally cover most of Southern California. I
handle an occasional Northern California expert
witness case and conduct training programs on
FEHA statewide and on ADA nationwide. The
bulk of my business though is in the Southern
California area.
JC: Did you always live in this area or did
you relocate here? If relocated, from where?
I grew up in Vermont and came to California
to attend USC. I have lived in Southern California
ever since (except for 2 years in Germany
while I was in the Army). I guess Southern California
really agrees with me because I have never
been tempted to move back East. Or anywhere
else for that matter.
JC:Any relation to Jay? How many times do
you get asked this question?
The answer to that question is - yes but distantly.
We are something like 5th cousins so we obviously aren't close enough to "stay in
touch". I get asked the question at least a couple
of times per week. Some might consider that an
annoying frequency but it is often a very effective
icebreaker so I really don't mind.
And it can
be the source of some amusement - and sometimes
with unintended consequences. Some years
ago, my wife worked at Disney in their travel
department. Her given name was the same as a
co-worker who had more seniority. Her boss
didn't want any two members of her department
using the same first name (apparently she
thought it would cause some confusion among
their customers) so she required my wife to
choose another name. My wife wasn't pleased
but I suggested she use the name "Jaye." Her
boss didn't catch the connection so my wife
was "Jaye Leno" for the 4 plus years she worked
at Disney. That was fine until the day one of her
customers sent her a large floral arrangement to
thank her for scheduling a particularly difficult
two-week trip. Even though the customer specified
that the flowers were to be sent to the Disney
Travel Dept., they were re-routed to (you
guessed it) the Tonight Show.
JC: How did you decide to enter the workers'
compensation field? Can you give us a
sense of your path?
Like many people in workers' compensation,
it was accidental. While working on my master's
at USC, I ran the veterans' registration office;
my boss was an Assistant Dean of Admissions.
Several years later, I reconnected with him through a mutual acquaintance. I was "between
jobs" so he suggested I go to work for him - he
was part owner of a VR counseling firm. I spent
five years there including four plus as manager
of one of the company's counseling locations. I
left counseling to work at Zenith as Manager of
Rehabilitation Services where I spent 15 years.
When I left Zenith in 1999, I opened my own
consulting business - it was something I had
been considering for several years.
My career
path is not one that I planned. When I got my
master's degree, my intended path was in city
management. However, I completed my degree
just after Prop. 13 was passed and local government
job openings disappeared. So I followed
opportunities that appeared challenging, which
eventually landed me in vocational rehabilitation.
Somewhere along the way, I discovered
that meeting challenges and making a difference
were more important to me than meeting some
artificial career goal.
JC: How long does it take you to prepare
one of your newsletters? How do you go about
synthesizing all of the materials to arrive at
your conclusions?
Writing the newsletter doesn't take all that
long - perhaps 3-4 hours. But I may spend several
times that thinking about what issues might
be of interest to the community and what I want
to say about those issues. I don't like to rush
into writing about issues because - too often -
the result is overly biased.
Our industry doesn't
need another shrill voice pointing the finger of blame. The fact is we all contributed to the
industry's problems to some degree and we all
have to be a part of the solution if there is to be
any hope of providing benefits and services at a
price employers can afford to injured workers
who need and will use them properly.
I find that an organized approach to problem
solving helps me arrive at balanced conclusions.
First, I try to identify all the relevant facts, opinions,
and points of view. Then I try to identify
the relevant issues/problems. This process is
important because identifying issues and problems
often helps differentiate between the real
obstacles to progress and those that are simply
smoke screens (as we all know, people often
argue or complain about minor matters to avoid
facing underlying problems). Finally, I try to
come up with a constructive resolution or strategy.
Complaining about a problem without proposing
potential solutions makes the complaining
party appear to be a "whiner." Identifying
problems and proposing constructive solutions
creates an atmosphere supporting negotiation
and resolution. I am as prone to holding stringent
opinions as the next person but it has been
my experience that confrontation rarely produces
a positive result.
JC: What do you find the most rewarding in
what you do?
In terms of my work, I would say that my
most satisfying rewards have come from helping
people. I don't mean doing things for people
but, instead, helping them acquire the skill and
means to take control of their own circumstances.
As a VR counselor, I did not like working with
people who wanted everything done for them.
Instead, I most enjoyed working with people
who used me as the catalyst for their success
and not as the cause or driving force. Perhaps it
is the reason I enjoy teaching. People come to
class because they want and need information
to succeed. They succeed through their own hard
work and motivation; as a teacher, I am only an
information conduit and (I hope) a catalyst for
their learning experience.
I worked as a VR counselor
back in the days when we could actually
do placement and it was very satisfying to see
an injured worker get a job and regain control of
his/her life. Similarly, I have been in the industry
long enough (25+ years) to see people I have
helped train advance to management positions.
JC: When you are not working, what do you
enjoy doing to relax?
Spending time with friends. Home repair
projects - I have almost enough tools to stock a
hardware store. And I have used most of them -
with varying degrees of success. I build computers
as a hobby. Seems like the ones I have
built for friends always work better than the
ones I build for myself - perhaps because I never
stop tinkering with them. My wife and I love to travel. We have been to Japan and England
(twice) in the past few years as well as to Hawaii
several times. Hawaii is great for rest and
recuperation but England and Japan were much
more fun because we both love to explore new
places.
JC: What words of wisdom can you offer the
community regarding the new laws?
As rehabilitation professionals, we have spent
a lot of time and effort convincing injured workers
that they need to make some important
changes in their lives. Now it is our turn.
Rehab
as we know it is rapidly disappearing so we
need to redirect our skills where they can still be
useful in helping persons with disabilities return
to productive work. The demise of rehab
means employers have much greater exposure
under California's Fair Employment & Housing
Act (FEHA).
Employers will need assistance in
developing proper job descriptions, dealing with
physicians, assessing opportunities for modified
and alternative work, ergonomic assessments,
return to work programs, facilitating the
interactive process required by FEHA, etc. Failure
to do these things could result in judgments
like a recent case in Riverside that cost the defendant
$450,000 in damages, approximately
$150,000 for plaintiff attorney fees, and an estimated
$200,000 for defense costs.
Rehab is
now about return to work and not about retraining.
We need to re-orient ourselves to provide
services to a new customer base. And it
actually might be more fun because we should
find ourselves working with two motivated parties.
JC: What advice would you give to anyone
right now working in the workers' compensation
field?
There is an old, and very true, adage that
"knowledge is power." It is also true that great
change creates chaos for some and opportunity
for others.
AB 227, SB 228, and SB 899 have
turned the workers' compensation system upside
down. Claims administrators, applicant attorneys,
defense attorneys, and physicians must
make major changes in how they manage their
piece of the system; failure to do so can easily
put them out of business.
Learning the intricacies
of a new system isn't easy but those who
make the effort will be prepared to take advantage
of the opportunities to provide service to
the less prepared. Read everything you can
about the statutory changes, attend the meetings;
listen to the arguments and watch for your
opportunity to address unmet needs. Those who
are prepared will not only weather the storm,
they will prosper.
JC: What would you hope people would always
remember about you? What three to
five words describe you?
I would hope to be remembered as someone who was honest, fair, and good at his craft. I
must say that I do not act or live my life worrying
about how I will be remembered. I believe
that being honest with, and considerate of others,
respecting opposing or different points of
view, and remembering that respect and a good
sense of humor are essential ingredients for good
relationships will take care of you in this life -
and will most likely contribute to your being
remembered well and missed when you are gone.
As for those three to five words, it would
probably be best to ask others.
I would hope
they would pick from among honest, fair, knowledgeable,
thoughtful, and considerate. It is possible
that "stubborn" and "opinionated" might
also pop up.
JC: What is your motto for your life?
I never thought about having a motto for my
life but, since I am being forced to choose one, I
guess it would be, "Enjoy life because you only
get one chance." I enjoy the time I have with my
wife, my friends, business associates, and the
people we meet by happenstance day to day. I
would not choose to repeat any of the negative
things in my life - but I do understand that those
experiences make the good experiences seem that
much sweeter. Life is short - let's live it with
gusto!
Reprinted by permission from the CARRP newsletter; California Association of Rehabilitation and Reemployment Professionals, www.carrp.org; Keeping California Working since 1975.
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The views and opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of workcompcentral.com, its editors or management.
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