Each year, the VHA Leadership Awards take place as an annual recognition program to further build and strengthen VHA’s culture of leadership excellence by recognizing individuals at all levels who demonstrate impactful leadership.

This year’s winner of the Leading the Future of Health & Independence at Home category is Hana Asfaw, a PSW and team preceptor. We’re proud to recognize the incredible work that Hana does acting as a role model and mentor to the new members of her team.

As a part of celebrating her award, we sat down with Hana to ask her a little bit about what she does and how she acts as a leader at VHA.

What does winning a leadership award mean to you?

To me, winning a leadership award is very exciting. Being recognized by my team members is a big achievement and I feel a lot of gratitude to the people who nominated me. Sharing my experiences with others is always something that I enjoy doing, which makes being recognized for it even more special.

What does being a strong leader mean to you?

First of all, you have to love what you do. When you love what you do, it doesn’t even feel like work. As a preceptor, I try to share my enthusiasm for my job with others and that’s a part of what I think makes a good leader – encouraging others and being the best example possible for them. A strong leader knows how to connect with people and I always try to do my best with that.

How do you act as a leader in your role?

I’m a preceptor, which means I act as a mentor to new PSWs on my team. I help train them and show them how I do my job. What I always tell them is “love your job. When you love your job you bring that energy with you into how you care for your clients. You look forward to seeing them and making their lives better.” When I can inspire new colleagues to feel the same way, I know I’ve done a good job as a mentor.

What drew you to this job?

I love helping people. It’s my passion. When I first came to Canada, I knew that I wanted to do something helping others so I upgraded my training so I could take a job doing that. I’ve now been at VHA for eight years and a preceptor for 5 years. I still love helping my clients but now I get to help my colleagues to.

What leadership advice would you give to a colleague that wanted to grow their leadership skills and also become a preceptor?

You should go for it. It’s a great opportunity to share all the experiences that you’ve learned but you get to improve your own capabilities and become a better teacher. My advice for being a better leader is that, whatever you do, do it with your whole heart. Put your whole energy into – your love, your passion, everything. That’s how you do your best and that’s how you give the people around you the most help.