The Institute of Medicine defines patient-centered care as “Providing care that is respectful of, and responsive to, individual patient preferences, needs and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions.” In today’s medical world, the rate of change and pace to keep up are taking place at a pace well beyond most organization’s ability to adapt. Regardless of perspectives, we’re challenged by resignations, a philosophically divided society, and a need for emotionally-intelligent leadership. Edward Deming, referred to as the “Father of Quality,” provided relevant insight saying, “Change is not required, because survival is not mandatory.” If change is required for survival, why are we caught off guard or resist it with fervor? I’ve often shared that we can change or be changed by the change, but inevitably change is coming much faster and without notice. The first myth is to believe that as highly educated leaders, the most important change doesn’t need to begin within us and especially in these times of great uncertainty. John Maxwell famously said, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”
The second myth is to believe that we can have a “people-centered-care” approach, without caring about our own personal growth as an emotionally intelligent leader. As the saying goes, “People don’t care how much you know–until they know how much you care.” Although an improved patient engagement approach can fuel bottom line profits, it’s ultimately the authentic caring about that engagement, which contributes to a long term purpose for a caring organization. Walking slowly through the crowd [organization] to hear what is and what isn’t being said is a critical need for leadership today. Of course,what leader truly feels they have time to do anything slowly? Yet, what happens if we fail to slow down enough to truly assess our current conditions and add value?
Myth number three would suggest we don’t have time and will never have time. The truth is that if we don’t take the time, we’re not going to get to the next level of excellence in serving patients or any stakeholders for that matter. The search for time can be like the “Hunt for Red October.” The frustration is real. In similar times, I fondly remember the coaching from a CEO saying, “Baby steps are okay but no steps are not okay.” He consistently shared a football analogy of how an intentional shift back to the basics of “blocking and tackling,” could stabilize the current state, while fueling continuous improvement. Per an old Chinese Proverb, “To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.” Key question: As a leader are you removing constraints for your team members to achieve the baby steps needed to meet patient engagement success?
Although difficult, the first step back to basics as a leader, involves getting still before we can truly know what to prioritize. The world and maybe even our lives have become consumed with too much noise. What are we hearing? Can we hear what isn’t being said? How can this reflection fuel us towards our personal or organizational purpose for deeper patient engagement? In a culture of busyness, to get still is counter intuitive; yet keep this in mind: only dead fish go with the flow. The awareness from the pause feeds an intentional focus. Leaders must realize that even a rose bush must have dead branches cut off to properly grow. Without a pruning process, new opportunities to fuel purpose are constrained. Our challenge today isn’t time management, its priority management. We’re too busy in the chaos to identify the right priorities. Are we driving continuous improvement inter-personally or as an organization to drive profit or to connect with the value of our team members and patients? It’s not profit over people but rather people over profit that done well results in overall success. Everything may be permissible but not beneficial. John Carmack aptly stated, “Focus is a matter of deciding what things you’re not going to do.”
That focus leads us to the importance of purpose and values, which has come to full light, after navigating the multiple minefields over the past couple of years. Value driven priorities, such as patient engagement, should override the predictions of what’s next. Bob Goff noted that, “We need to realign, refine, and reconnect with the greater purposes for our lives rather than be distracted by the lesser ones.” Purpose provides a filter for priorities. Within a reactionary society, it’s leaders driven by values that are navigating the changes at a higher level. Let’s move beyond what has worked, to what lasts; value driven purpose.
Purpose, values, emotional intelligence and people engagement all carry an extreme weight of relevance for organization health. A leader driven by purpose and adding value to others, realizes it’s not about them. Kindness, gratitude, authentic listening, and support become super powers for today’s leaders. Connection and engagement are no longer optional approaches. Ultimately people will be moved by how we make them feel and not what we’ve said. Behavior is the echo of belief and purpose driven leadership is authentic and “seen.”
In conclusion, the baby step of development for a leader today involves “the pause,” which involves getting still, reflecting and becoming engaged in the patient and team member’s environment. We must have a level of developed empathy to truly see what they value and coach the necessary adjustments to meet them where they are. Everybody stops somewhere. Have we stopped short of realistic engagement? Have we stopped short of pausing to reflect on what is and what could be? We’re not going to get there without getting still, becoming more aware, identifying priorities, and simplifying the approach for our team in supporting people focused care. Patients matter! Team members matter! Leadership matters! Values matter! You matter! Take the pause and adjust, because there’s a new horizon where all stakeholders can get a higher degree of value and purpose fulfilled in healthcare.
Rick Foreman
John Maxwell Team certified Coach, Speaker and Trainer.
V.P. of Lean Development for Federal Heath Sign Co.
