My writings come from life experiences. As I reflect on my recent experiences in the field, here are a few items that come to mind.
Silence can be interpreted as support or agreement. At times, that is correct, but not always. A person may say to their coworkers, “We never know what is going on around here.” While the coworkers may feel that statement is not accurate, they remain silent. The person then believes the others feel the same way. What if a coworker said, “Why do you feel that way?” It would help both parties learn more.
All people need to be held accountable for doing their job. It can be easy to let things slide. Certainly no one wants to fire someone. It is hard. Yet employee surveys, focus groups, and conversations show that people see leaders as unfair when they don’t hold everyone to the same level of accountability. We can lose good people. I love nurses and spend lots of time with them. I ask what goes through their mind when they get a call to come to work when they are not scheduled. Their first thought is, Can I make it happen? The next thought is, Whom will I be working with? Some people are what I call “work-arounds.” These people, including those in leadership roles, wear others out.
Measurement is helpful. I find the fear of measuring is often more painful than learning the results. For example, one large health system had never measured how the medical staff felt about them. The fear was, What if we cannot do anything about what we hear? When they took the step to measure, they learned things were much better than they had thought. Yes, there were pockets of areas to improve, but overall, the feedback was positive. In my experience, the act of asking moves organizations to improvement. It also reduces the acceptance of generalizations.
Help is available if one asks and is receptive to receiving it. A parable I appreciate is about a person caught in a flood. As the water is rising, he climbs on the roof, looks up at the sky, and yells, “Is there anyone up there to help me?” Soon a boat arrives, and he says, “I am waiting for God.” Later a helicopter arrives. Once again, the person refuses the help. He drowns. As the person arrives in Heaven, he asks God, “Where were you? I yelled for help.” God said, “I sent a boat and a helicopter for you, and you rejected them.” My experience is that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. Yet it takes the willingness to ask for help and accept it when offered.
Suggestions to consider.
- Be courageous. Speak up when you hear or see something that needs addressing. Years ago, Pensacola engaged in a project to build a park. Some were for the idea, and others were against it. A friend shared that he was having dinner with some people, and someone was talking very negatively about me. I then asked, “What did you say?” He answered, “Nothing. I did not want to cause a controversy.” My reply was that his silence may have been interpreted as agreement.
- Be specific with people you lead regarding performance. In speaking with human resource professionals, I hear most often there is a lack of documentation regarding performance issues. The statement, “Human resources will not let you fire anyone,” is not true. They will not support the firing of someone with no documentation.
- Do not shy away from measurement. Run to it. Then follow up with how to act on what is learned.
- People want to help others. Give someone the gift of being useful by asking for help.
Thank you for always being helpful to me.
