It that time of year when the heart shape Valentines begin popping up in advertisements, stores, social media and in many other places. It is also a season that there is a special fondness to an awesome 4 letter word. Not a bad word, but a positive word that in our world seems to […]
Solo Leadership Builds Silos
Solo Leadership Builds Silos Solo leadership is another way to describe strong traditional or highly hierarchical leadership. Too often this style of leadership is still found in organizations today. It is a leadership style in which all major decision or approvals within the work environments are driven from a leader in the organization, and in many […]
Corporate Transcendence is not a Dream
I have spent half of my healthcare career in personal research and experimentation on how organizations can create, sustain, and continually improve to make their excellence tomorrow, greater than their excellence today. A system of excellence that sets colleagues, leaders, and management up for success so they can successfully meet all the many competing […]
Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places
Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places Do you feel sometimes in your health care environment that it’s hard to find the love? Of course, I’m not talking about relationships between individuals, but I am talking about a healthy, caring, and yes loving work environment for colleagues. If an organization is experiencing high […]
What a Train Wreck can Teach us About Ownership
Healthcare organizations routinely practice mock or simulated disasters drills to be ready to respond in the most optimal means when a disaster occurs. Natural or man-made disasters may involve many traumatized victims or casualties as seen in hurricanes, train wrecks or like what was seen in the 9-11 terror attack on the World Trade […]
What Happens When You Empower People
A Doomed Health System In 2009, I was asked to step in as an Interim CEO of a large community health system by the governing board; there was a very real possibility that the organization was beyond hope of resuscitation. The vast operational failure meant the likely demise of this long-standing community health center […]
Put the CARE back in CAREGIVER
Put the CARE back in CAREGIVER When healthcare colleagues are cared for, it transforms them from healthcare workers into caregivers. When the work environment is filled with engaged, compassionate, empathetic colleagues, who are personally satisfied and happy with their workplace, there is a direct correlation in creating a positive patient experience. Therefore patient experience […]
What Errors Say About Leadership
What Errors Say About Leadership & Culture Have you ever witnessed an epic failure in patient care? Maybe it’s a faux pas on the part of the providers. A breakdown in the caregiver’s communication chain. Conflicting care protocols causing the perfect storm. Maybe someone simply dropped the ball and made a human error. What happens […]
Taught but Not Caught
Taught but Not Caught How many times in life have we been taught something, and yet in the immediate future are not able to apply the teaching? The education was delivered or taught, but not caught. This was a profound statement I heard used by a Joint Commission surveyor, that I could definitely relate […]
The Fix The Healthcare Industry Yearns For
New Continent of Healthcare With major land shifts that move America’s healthcare systems to Patient-Centric Care and Value-Based Purchasing, the beckoning question for healthcare leaders becomes: Can I continue to lead my organization in my traditional way, obtaining the results that I am more accustomed to? Do I need to lead differently, if so […]