Starkey International Institute for Household Management

Tagged with the title “The First Lady of Service”, I am often asked by the media, by our applicants, and by our Principals “Why education?”   I wrinkle my forehead in disbelief and respond, "We must educate if we are to be a profession!"

Why is it that there are those who think that their working experience cannot be challenged to succeed at a much higher, more demanding, level? 

How is it that currently the profession of Household Management does not demand educational know-how, yet still ethically expects to earn that $100k plus per year salary?  Is this a throwback to the perception that service is still servitude?

How is it that there are some who think so little of themselves that they fail to obtain professional education for their benefit as any other professional would in any other professional field? It makes their lives easier and helps them take on those highly sophisticated roles required of today's Household and Estate Managers. Today they are really required to be the Chief Operating Officers capable of creating and implementing comprehensive service management plans to adeptly oversee, support and work with a the staff, vendors, and resources on their Principals’ behalf.

Who are we cheating when we don't fully educate ourselves?  I believe that both the employer and the employee lose.

Today's world requires that all professionals, in all professions, need to be educated.  Consider the advantages of having Private Service terms and language unique to our Profession just like other professions have!  Do you know that having a specialized language gives our Principals the opening to realize that you have an expertise that they don't have? 

Consider what professional ethics are essential to Private Service so that our counterparts do not ruin our collective reputations and bring down our salaries. 

Consider having real management tools unique to and expected in Private Service, which have been tried proven over many years by others in our specific roles of Household Management. Management Tools provide the means to no longer operate in crisis mode.

Consider what service in Private Service really is: can you define it? Can you list the essential components, and easily put them in place? Do you know what is missing when your efforts are not succeeding?

All professions, in order to be considered a real profession, must stay on the leading edge of their industry's knowledge so that they are able to consistently compare our abilities to what others have learned. We must constantly nourish ourselves with new ideas and ways of succeeding, and to keep our focus on what our profession really is.  This is why education is essential.  It is the foundation of our ethics, our management tools, and our ability to serve not only our employers, but ourselves! 

I tell my clientele, "I do not care who you are interviewing, if Starkey has not trained them, they will ultimately be on their own agenda, not yours".  After 30 years of placing Professionals in Private Service, and 20 years of educating them, it is clear that this skill is the hardest ability to teach, the most difficult for Service Hearts to take on, and is the real art form of service to master.

When untrained, egos lay in abilities, and how they accomplish tasks.  Our Grads ego's lay in their ability to be on their employer's agenda, knowing the best of the best, while always fine tuning what they do, and always doing the task their employer's way.  This is a subtle, but huge and essential difference in the Profession of Service. Education does indeed make all the difference!

The Denver Professional Mens Club held their annual meeting at The Starkey Institute last Saturday, January 21, 2012.  Seven or eight of Denver’s great professional men enjoyed a convivial evening of business mixed with pleasure while enjoying Chef Althoff’s customized culinary creations and delectable buffet with a good stiff drink!  Mrs. Starkey welcomed the group, shared a little of the Mansion’s 110 year history.  She invited these special guests to join with their friends or charities and choose the perfect date to experience one of Starkey’s prestigious formal dinners.

The Denver Woman’s Press Club was invited to tour Starkey’s 1901 Historic Mansion last week, still decked in its Christmas apparel.  Starkey has been located across the street since the Press Club was built in 1916.  Mrs. Starkey was recently invited to join this most interesting group of women writers as she will have forthcoming new publications to share with the service industry and many other followers.

Speaking of writing and words; did you know that in 1981, Mrs. Starkey while sitting with her dictionary, found the phrase “household manager” in a definition and immediately knew it would replace the out- dated old guard title of Majordomo?  She began to use the phrase in her advertisements and history was made!  “Household Manager” is now an official Department of Labor employment title and Starkey is now celebrating their 125 class.  Starkey International has now educated over 1000 Certified Household Managers and placed them world-wide!