In healthcare, we live in a world of constant change and innovation. As leaders this requires us to be nimble, take risks aligned with our values, and have patience with our teams as they navigate the personal impact of change.
When we are under the pressure of meeting goals and expectations, it is patience with ourselves and others that can be the one trait getting in the way of serving our teams and colleagues and helping to unleash their own leadership potential.
I am a firm believer that it is the little tweaks we make along the way that will enhance our leadership effectiveness and in turn, enhance the overall patience needed to get into a rhythm with our teams to produce efficient results.
It is the little tweaks that can make us a better boss.
By looking at increasing our leadership effectiveness as an experiment, it becomes a fun and easy process. Leadership, fun and easy?
It might sound crazy but approaching our role as an experiment will help us try new approaches, get out of our comfort zones and not take ourselves so seriously. Fun and easy leadership is possible when we view our role from the perspective of the consummate student, instead of one who needs to know all the answers.
There are three common leadership scenarios that provide excellent opportunities to experiment with our approach.
Use Your Regular Touchpoint Meetings as Coaching Opportunities.
Because we are in a hierarchical, top down industry, most of us look to those senior to us for the answers. And those senior physicians or administrators, while most likely having the answers, can easily miss an opportunity to enhance their employees’ leadership effectiveness and unleash their leadership potential.
Next time you have your regular touchpoint meeting, or when someone comes to you for an answer, commit to practice one of the following key coaching skills and see the impact it has on the coachee.
- Listen and get curious by asking questions.
- Provide structure and assist with goal setting.
- Let the coachee arrive at her own solution.
- Practice pointing out the coachee’s strengths and recognizing how she can use them to problem solve.
- Encourage a solution-focused approach by helping the coachee focus on the possibility and not the problem.
Bust Through the Hierarchy and Silo Culture
Hierarchy and silos have the tendency to breed frustration and hold back potential from those at the bottom of the hierarchy or in a silo that might not be a priority.
We live in a matrixed world. There are no rules for how and who shares information with each other when social media platforms create influencers and online businesses create new thought leaders every day. It’s important that we mirror what is happening outside our industry to support quick change and growth.
Focus on transition to a matrixed culture by:
- Honing your influence skills. Leading in a matrixed world means having influence over those you don’t necessarily have authority over. To learn more about having influence without authority, download the free leadership checklist at the end of this post.
- Provide opportunities for rotational assignments to increase the interaction between silos and enhance the understanding of the perspectives of others in different departments. This may mean simply asking a colleague or employee to help with a project led by another department.
- Build psychological safety for your team by practicing situational humility, a term Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, describes as being crystal clear that you don’t have all the answers. When you combine situational humility with genuine curiosity for other’s perspectives, it creates a safe environment for those at different levels of the hierarchy to speak up.
Approach Conflict from a Place of Service
Conflict and difficult conversations are a great place to experiment. Most of us approach conflict from a place dread. But if we simply approached it from a place of service, it could shift the entire dynamic.
Abraham Lincoln once said: “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”
Often we look at conflict from a place of separation. But if we approach conflict from a place of connection and getting to know someone better, that simple act can slowly build trust needed to resolve conflict.
Experiment with an approach that is focused on the needs of the other person. What if you approached the first 90 seconds of a conversation focused on the needs of the other person? How might that shift that person’s defensiveness and perhaps soften the tone by both parties?
Ask what is most important to him or her. Ask how you can help that individual get more of what he wants. Let him know that you want to understand his perspective and once you do, you can help him. Let him know of your intention to help and not be a roadblock.
These three common leadership opportunities, coaching, mitigating a top-down culture, and a new approach to conflict are great ways to experiment with your approach and become a better boss.
What if we didn’t take ourselves so seriously by approaching leadership as an experiment? We might give our teams the permission to step out of their own comfort zones and if we are able to accomplish that, then the possibilities for innovation are endless.
Carrie Koh is an Interpersonal Efficiency Leadership coach, consultant, and former healthcare administrator with a passion for enhancing the way we connect to one another in healthcare to ensure efficient and innovative results and greater fulfillment along the way. She would love to connect at www.carriekoh.com
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