When one finger points out, three fingers are pointing back toward oneself. This statement means we need to look inward before we find fault with others. My observation is that people mature at different times, some earlier than others. I am in the slower-maturing group. Once, I found myself bothered by a coworker. I was envious of her success. I noticed she often came to work late. I made the decision to document when she…

Sometimes as we’re wrapping up the year, it’s easy to drift into negativity. End-of-year evaluations tend to produce mixed findings—some areas show strong results, while others fall short. It’s human nature to focus on what didn’t go as planned. Add in the stress and exhaustion of the holiday season, along with budget pressures and goal-setting for the year ahead, and it becomes even easier to miss all the good things that were accomplished over the…

Top leaders often say their company is about people. They may believe their focus on people is felt throughout the company. But do the frontline people feel the same way the top leader feels? And how does one measure this? Is it enough to say, We have a good culture because our employee turnover is low? Maybe yes and maybe no. In healthcare, certain areas have higher employee turnover than others. Some of these areas…

Leaders underestimate their impact in showing up. Why? I find most leaders do not see themselves as special. They see themselves as being the same as others. A highlight of my career was working with the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Floyd (Fred) Loop, the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF) at the time, hired my company. (Dr. Loop is no longer with us physically; however, his impact lives on.) He referred to the work as…

What does it look like to truly rewire healthcare culture from the inside out? At NorthBay Health, it looks like focusing on trust, ownership, and leadership at every level. In a recent Healthcare Plus Podcast episode, Quint Studer spoke with two leaders from NorthBay: Dr. Heather Resseger, senior vice president, chief hospital operations officer, and chief nursing officer, and Jonna Taylor, recently promoted to director of acute care services. The podcast explores how NorthBay helped shape a…

Employee engagement is discussed and written about often. What does engagement look like in action? People who work in healthcare have great intentions. They care deeply about their patients and want the best outcomes for them and for the organization. Due to the industry’s being hyper-specialized, people can naturally be so focused on their own responsibilities that they may not see opportunities to make the patient’s experience even better. When leaders narrate how to truly…

My wife, Rishy, and I are owners of the Beloit Sky Carp baseball team, the high-A minor league affiliate of the Miami Marlins. I received a nice note from an employee saying they liked that I had ended an email with the words “gung ho!” I replied with a group message explaining a little more about the term and how it sums up what we want in the Sky Carp culture: an enthusiastic atmosphere created…

At many of my talks on creating a positive culture, I ask the group this question: “When you receive a text from your supervisor to call or see them, what is your first thought? Is it, Here comes more positive feedback. This positive feedback I am getting is really cutting into my productivity?” The group always chuckles. It is common for an employee to feel anxiety when they hear their leader wants to see them.…