In the first book I authored, Hardwiring Excellence, I used the metaphor of a flywheel to describe how consistent, values-driven actions create momentum in an…
“Face the brutal facts.” That is a lesson Jim Collins included in his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. This book…
Healthcare Plus Solutions Group® (HPSG) is excited to welcome uLeadership®, a nationally and internationally recognized professional development and research company focused on relational leadership…
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…
You may remember: Rewiring Excellence: Hardwired to Rewired came out last year. Written by Quint Studer and Dan Collard, it made the case for rethinking process and behaviors that have long been “hardwired.” That means tactics like rounding as well as familiar approaches to leader development, wellbeing, retention, and more. The big takeaway? While some practices need to stay hardwired, others have gotten so complicated they’re no longer doable…or they just don’t work anymore in world that’s…
When it comes to learning, technology can be very helpful. But we can’t put so much emphasis on tech that we stop learning from others in our field. We win on ideas and what we can learn from each other. We need to be lifelong learners—and it’s important to go to where ideas are flowing in our industry. Yes, reading and listening are big parts of lifelong learning. That means books, blogs, articles, and podcasts both in…
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…
I read an article on performance improvement plans (PIPs). It got me thinking about how companies can better approach employee performance. When a person in a workplace is not achieving outcomes, they are placed on a performance improvement plan. The PIP includes details on performance shortfalls and actions the person is expected to improve. It ensures that the supervisor is documenting issues and that the person is aware of the outcomes needed if they’re to…
I spend time with organizations that are investing in people. At each session, I ask, “How many have been in a supervisory role (manager, leader) for less than four years?” The percentage of hands that go up ranges from 30 to 60 percent. Next, I ask the group to reflect on their personal journey to a supervisory role. Did they get a degree in how to lead people before they were put in a leadership role?…
Are you a nice leader or a kind leader? Is there a difference? Yes, an important one. Nice and kind are not synonyms. Niceness is about seeming pleasant and agreeable. It’s about keeping the peace and making people comfortable. This is not a bad thing in many situations. Kindness is about real compassion and empathy. It’s taking action from the place of wanting the best for a person or an organization, even when it means telling hard truths and making…
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests the number of jobs a person will have during their lifetime is 12. That’s a lot of resignations. How one leaves a job says much about a person. For a person who is paid hourly, it is normal to provide the employer a two-week notice. For someone in a salaried position, the length of the notice is often 30 days. When a person accepts a new job, they tend to be…
Clarity is key in building and sustaining a high-performing culture. For leaders, this means making sure messages are clear and understood—not ambiguous or confusing—and that everyone knows what they’re supposed to do and how it contributes to the organization’s objectives. Clarity is vital in each part of the organization, and it applies to everyone. (Here, I am talking about clarity as it relates to the workplace. However, the principles certainly apply to life in general.) Peter…
Never, never, never give up. This quote is associated with Winston Churchill, based on his famous speech delivered during World War II. It is often used to inspire people to persevere, to hold the line, to refuse to quit no matter what—in other words, to display grit. It is a great quote. But when I started digging deeper, I found it’s actually a shortened version of what Churchill really said: “Never give in. Never give…