SixSEED Partners

Archives for July 2022

SixSEED Honors World Conservation Day

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https://nationaldaycalendar.com/world-conservation-day-july-28/

The link above will take you to the description of World Conservation Day: a day they describe as linking a healthy society to a healthy environment. This day holds particular importance for us as we notice our country and the globe wrestling with droughts and wildfires. Still, some deny anything unusual is happening to our planet.

If you look on NASA’s website (https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/) you’ll find this headline: “There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause.” From a leadership perspective, what thinking capacity is required to understand and lead efforts, both individual and collective, to protect our world for future generations? At SixSEED Partners, we teach our client systems to complement their problem-solving thinking with both/and thinking. For us to sustainably address climate change, we need to balance our immediate way of life needs with future generations’ needs; we need to consider National Interests AND Global Interests. Thinking about the water supply in the United States alone will not be sustainable if other global countries provide us with resources that are negatively impacted by drought.

On World Conservation Day, we invite you to take one action today that will contribute to a more sustainable future for all.

#systemintegration #leadershipecosystemcapacitation #wellbeing. #culture

Leveraging Accountability for Self and Others

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By: Lisa Hompe MSOD, BSN, ACC

Background:

In the current healthcare climate of uncertainty, complexity, and change, how do we manage accountability? That is a question I often asked myself as a former healthcare leader managing a very busy ambulatory surgery center, and a question that I frequently encounter as I coach other healthcare leaders. In my previous leadership role, I was often faced with the dilemma and tension of holding oneself and others accountable. Accountability can have various meanings to different individuals, teams, and organizations, and is often rooted in organizational culture, norms, and behaviors. 

Assessment:

Self:

As a leader, when the work was stressful or challenging, I noticed my own internal challenge of wanting to take the path of least resistance. I found it was easier to delegate to those people who were more willing to take on additional tasks while avoiding those that were less interested or approachable. According to Harvard Business Review, recent data shows it is a common dilemma leaders face in holding others accountable successfully. Difficult conversations and creating an environment of accountability require a thoughtful and intentional approach. Approaching things with diplomacy and candor can help to create awareness and develop teams.

Team: 

What was I showing and modeling to my team by not having these crucial conversations? I realized as a leader, I was doing a disservice to those that needed to grow and learn. How was I holding myself accountable? When difficult conversations needed to take place for undesirable behavior or actions, I may have been unintentionally communicating that only a select few of the team were capable. Self-awareness is a first step and a key leadership and emotional intelligence competency. 

Impact:  

I believe no one intends to go to work every day creating problems and issues. The stressors currently impacting many healthcare workers place undue burdens on an already constrained and overtaxed system. This context can lead to undesirable or suboptimal behavior. It may be possible that leaders are unknowingly playing a part in perpetuating a lack of accountability with individuals and teams. If we’re honest with ourselves and our teams, we all have blind spots. What we model matters. It is possible to consider the well-being of others, while holding them responsible for their actions. I learned that having crucial conversations and asking others to step up creates an environment of shared interests; it creates an environment where everyone feels heard and valued, willing to show up and do their best. I encourage all leaders to take notice of how working with team members to create shared accountability and responsibility helps foster a more positive work environment.

Takeaways:

For yourself, look at what you can control-

  • Assume positive intentions for all individuals  
  • Notice who and how often you may be tapping into? Are they often the same people?
  • Check yourself. Did you have all the correct data and facts before you acted? Ask yourself, what if the opposite were true?
  • What is the intention of your messages? And how does your communication impact others?

For your team, start with open dialogue and conversations-

  • Intentionally create coaching conversations. Learn to ask open-ended questions in a psychologically safe environment
  • Listen and be open and curious for the answers your team is providing
  • Be clear on roles and responsibilities and get feedback if people need more clarity, communication, or training
  • Embrace the challenge and use the support of a coach or colleague 

This is simple but not always easy. Learning to manage these leadership challenges can make a world of difference. How you define accountability reflects the agreements and commitments you are willing to make. What are you committed to? How do you support and grow others to be aware of their behavior and actions? What is the culture you intentionally want to create for your team and the broader organization? Part 2 of the series will address creating a positive culture in the current healthcare environment. If you’d like to learn how to increase the accountability of your team while holding yourself accountable in a courageous and compassionate way, contact sixseedpartners for more information.

Developing Integrated Accountability in Healthcare

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By: Joy W. Goldman RN, MS, PCC, CEO, SixSEED Partners

Background:

SixSEED Partners (SSP) was engaged by a senior health system leader to complete a 360-degree feedback process in support of the client’s ongoing systemic leadership and development.  This leader was brought into the health system to integrate service line leadership from a decentralized and competitive model to a more centralized and collaborative model.  The Leadership Circle 360 Profile (LCP) was administered after the client had been in the system for a year.

The Strategy:

The client had previously completed the LCP at another system so we were curious to see if the themes would be any different from his prior results.  In reviewing the results from 32 respondents, the client’s attention went to two variables:  there continued to be a theme of his strength in relationships and in his overdoing that strength with complying behaviors (for detail, see The Leadership Circle Website).  This leader’s development opportunity was courageous authenticity and achieving results and decisiveness—dimensions well known to him. 

However, his greatest concern was that the ratings from his direct reports was drastically different (lower) than other stakeholder groups. 

The Solution:  

As we explored internal and external dynamics, we found support in the theoretical frameworks of the Empowerment Dynamic, and Polarity Thinking which correlate perfectly with the LCP framework of reactive and creative modes of energy management.  Through coaching and much reflection, the client was able to see how his direct reports were placing him in a rescuer (hero) role and were presenting themselves as victims to system leaders, mainly hospital Presidents who were perceived as villains (see graphic).  This dynamic was evident through numerous cultural stories in the organization—not only did this dynamic occur within his organization:  it was prevalent throughout the system, with a displacement of accountability to “higher ups,” which was also convenient when something didn’t work.  Blame was a well -known song sung throughout the system.

The Impact:

From the client’s perspective, he was able to see that he was re-enacting that dynamic with his boss and part of his development was to be conscious of the roles he was playing and putting on others.  He started individual meetings with his direct reports and shared the distinctions between victim and creator, encouraging them to take ownership and identify actions they can take to influence what they wanted to create in the system.

The client was also challenged to lead a system-level leadership development effort where both/and thinking (polarity thinking) would be introduced and measured for the prevalent tensions of Centralization and Decentralization (system service lines AND local hospital entities) and Individual AND Team accountabilities.  In this way, he would broaden the leadership capacity of system leaders which would minimize the victim/persecutor conversations and support mutual accountability throughout the system.

Are victim/ persecutor conversations rampant in your organization?  Are you fatigued in having to spend time on these draining discussions that result in stagnation and energy drain?  We feel your pain!  Contact us to learn how you can lead sustainable, empowering change in your system!

Accountability and Feedback

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By Joy W. Goldman RN, MS PCC:  CEO SixSEED Partners

In a recent discussion with a colleague, we were discussing an observation that there appears to be reluctance on the part of some front-line patient care leaders to hold staff accountable for “bad behaviors.” What is cited as the reason for the reluctance is the fear of losing “a warm body” and not being able to find replacements. I immediately felt myself react, not so much to the observation as to the term “bad behavior.”

What is it we label “bad behavior” and what impact does that have on our holding others accountable and providing constructive, performance feedback?

  • Bad behaviors are those which are foreign to you as a leader – they are behaviors that are least like you.  In fact, rarely would people use those terms to describe you
  • Bad behaviors are disruptive to the natural and normal flow of the workplace
  • Bad behaviors lead to negative outcomes within your team, patients, and other departments

What’s the risk in labeling behavior as good or bad?  Having done this in the past, as is human nature, the label of judgment and my resulting attitude and mindset only serves to upset me further as I obsessively confirm my belief yet do nothing about it.

As Marilee Adams teaches us with “the choice map” and her book: “Change Your Questions, Change Your Life,” we can be more effective leaders and heal ourselves if we can switch from the judger path to the learner path.  This is the time to get curious—

  • Who is informing this individual about the impact of their behavior on others?  Might people be doing work-arounds or avoiding them instead of offering perceptions and entering into dialogue?
  • What might be motivating the behavior that is causing the adverse outcome?
  • What development opportunity exists for this individual and how am I supporting that?
  • How does this behavior that I’m witnessing relate to my strengths, or my own opportunities for development?
  • How might this disruptive behavior be exactly what is needed for the team to improve and grow?
  • How is this behavior different from the majority and how are we embracing it as a unique expression of a different culture? What evidence do we have that there are negative patient/ system outcomes?
  • How might I demonstrate compassion for myself and this individual as I speak to them directly about the impact of their behavior?
  • Can I shift my internal belief system that “holding accountable” is a systemic feedback process that carries no greater emotional weight other than that which I place on it?

If you find yourself wrestling with these questions, contact us.  We’d welcome supporting you!