SixSEED Partners

Case Study

A Modern Twist on Succession Planning

by Leave a Comment

Preventing The Most Common & Expensive Hiring Mistake

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

Background

SixSEED Partners was approached about providing coaching and leadership development for a tenured leader in an academic medical center who was two-three years away from retirement. The executive was concerned, however, in allocating resources for the leader, who had an immediate need for development but would be leaving the organization in a relatively short period of time. His question was how he could best use his resources so that both immediate and longer-term needs were met.

The Strategy

Upon further exploration, we discovered that the senior leader of advanced practice clinicians had not designated any successors for his role. The organization needed to mitigate some immediate development needs while also investing in leadership development for current high performers. The organization was also concerned about attrition given the extraordinary demands that had been placed on this department during covid 19 and beyond. The aging workforce coupled with high degrees of burnout and exhaustion were contributing to a perfect storm that could result in a crisis at the same time the leadership transition would occur.

The Solution

As we have done in past engagements, we challenged the executive to consider investing in expanding the thinking capacity of high potential leaders as compared to identifying one or two individuals as a potential successor. They could do this through a blend of individual and group coaching and facilitation where the leaders were invited to progressively move out of their comfort zones of being technical experts and more into leading with others in unfamiliar multi-department systems’ issues. Through a multi-year team development effort, the senior clinical leader received time-limited coaching on immediate development needs along with ways to further mentor and develop her staff. The high potential advance practice leaders were offered training on both/and thinking (Barry Johnson thought leader); leading above and below the line (the Conscious Leadership Group); the Empowerment Dynamic (David Emerald and Donna Zajonc); and conversational intelligence (Judith Glaser).

The Impact

The senior clinical leader improved her performance and appreciated an opportunity to safeguard her legacy. There was less turnover in the department as the high potential leaders felt that they were being given an opportunity to learn and grow, and in the moment development occurred with support for mistakes instead of being placed in roles with heightened pressure to perform. If you’d like to learn more, contact us at SixSEED Partners.

If you’d like to learn more, contact us at SixSEED Partners. Reach us at:  SixSEED Partners.

Improving Capacity for Leading In Complex Times through Both/And Thinking: An Experiential Approach

by Leave a Comment

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

Background:

Joy W. Goldman RN, MS, PCC: CEO SixSEED partners and Dr. Larry McEvoy, Founder of Epidemic Leadership co-facilitated a half-day workshop on both/and thinking- polarity thinking for over forty nurse, physician and administrative leaders at WellSpan Health. This was the third year presenting this workshop to WellSpan’s high potential leaders.  WellSpan has expanded the audience from only physician leaders to all leaders in their leadership academy.  Expanding the audience facilitated the collegial sharing within populations that may, absent both/and thinking awareness and capacity, engage in unnecessary conflict which contributes to burnout.

The Strategy:

Dr. McEvoy and Ms. Goldman designed the half-day workshop so that most of the time would be spent physically walking the interdependent tension of “Care for Self” and “Care for Others.”  Since WellSpan, like so many other healthcare systems, are focusing on clinician wellbeing, this tension was relevant for each participant.  In addition to providing an experience of standing in the upsides and downsides of each tension, the participants also used each other as internal consultants with a designed liberating structure that facilitated effective listening.

The Solution: 

The leaders were asked to progress through the polarity map of “Care for Self” and “Care for Others” in silence.  They were invited to scan their body for images, colors, and sensations experienced as they stood in each quadrant of the map.  This provided a profound and clear experience of their values—“This is like me,” and their fear- “This is NOT me.”  When the participants were engaged in the listening exercise, we noticed their difficulty in turning their chairs around and refraining from being part of their triad conversation.

The Impact:

Organically, the leaders had difficulty being associated with the upside of “care for self.”  Their instinctual reaction was to perceive that as being “selfish,” (the overdone expression of care for self).  Their comfort zone was caring for others and they resonated with the overdone care for others to the neglect of care for self, resulting in burnout.  Because their fear (not me) is in the overdone care for self, they began to see that there are healthy actions they can take to better care for themselves.  A participant commented: “Just the eight minutes tuning into my body was healing and when I stood in care for self, it felt relaxing and healthy.” Self care was the topic for their peer coaching/consulting resulting in clear action steps and peer accountability after the workshop.

If this sounds like something from which your leaders can benefit, please reach out and let us know at info@sixseedpartners.com.  Four hours powerfully engaged in this work can lessen burnout!

Selecting for Self-Awareness

by Leave a Comment

Preventing The Most Common & Expensive Hiring Mistake

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

Background

How often have you hired someone you thought would be a stellar leader; feeling the excitement of believing you now had a leader you could trust and to whom you could delegate key actions, only to have them turn into a Mr. Hyde when you thought they were a Dr. Jekyll? How often have you or your leaders shaken your heads wondering: “How did I miss this in interviewing this person?”  A recent client experience reminded me that hiring for self-awareness is your MOST IMPORTANT screening tool.

The Challenge

According to Partnerwise, in a February, 2023 post: “Unveiled:  The Staggering Cost of Leadership Hiring Mistakes,” citing a recent HBR article indicated that hiring the wrong leader can cost an organization up to 15 times a key leaders’ base salary.  The monetary impact can be considered nothing compared to the demoralization and lost productivity that often results.  During an SOS client call, this leader (“Kate” for simplicity purposes) was distraught having trusted her second-hand potential successor, only to have him undermine her leadership and file a complaint resulting in her need to document every interaction; lost productivity time for she and the successor leader, and time needed for lawyers and human resources.  More than this, Kate was emotionally shaken feeling betrayed and questioning her own actions.

The Solution

Diana Chapman from the Conscious Leadership Group wrote a blog in 2017 titled:  “How to Assess Self-Awareness in a Hiring Interview.”  In this succinct article, she highlights several powerful interviewing questions that include those below:

  • Describe a time when you were tempted to blame someone else for something but instead resolved it by owning your part of the issue.  
  • What’s an example of how you used your emotional intelligence to be effective in your role?
  • What percentage of agreements do you currently keep with the people you live and work with?  What causes you to break agreements the most? How do you approach broken agreements?

Unlike your typical questions that focus on technical competence for a given role, these questions ferret out actual experiences that demonstrate whether the candidate can take ownership for their learning and growth, or whether they may be at risk of playing victim and blaming everyone else.

The Impact

As was so clear with my former client, I don’t have to belabor the impact of a poor leadership hire:  you can FEEL it in your bones.  That trauma, and I don’t say that lightly, lives on in your muscle memory as something you do not want to repeat.  As I discussed with this senior leader, investing time and energy in validated behavioral assessments and in conducting a strategic interview that goes beyond assessing for technical competence pays dividends.

Please read the article from @TheConsciousLeadershipGroup and email us If you’d like to learn more about designing a selection process that will save you time and money. You can reach us at:  SixSEED Partners.

Putting the Care back in Health-Care

by Leave a Comment

Lessons from an Osteopath

By: Joy Goldman RN, MS, PCC:  CEO SixSEED Partners, BSN, ACC

Background:

At SixSEED Partners, as we coach leaders and teams to see common organizational stressors as interdependent challenges (like activity AND rest, mission AND margin), we invite our leaders and teams to better leverage the science AND the compassion in healthcare.  This personal story from Portugal is a wonderful illustration from which we can all learn.

“Alternative/Complementary Health” in Portugal:

As someone with four decades of experience working in healthcare, I know enough to know that my best strategy for staying healthy is to take an active role in my own health through exercise, nutrition, mindfulness and using complementary methods for their health-promoting influences.  Since moving to Portugal, I take yoga classes; go for morning meditation walks and have been using an osteopath who also practices acupuncture.  Toward the end of one session, as I was waiting for the osteopath to come to do his manual adjustments, I began to get teary recalling a recent loss.  Working with the body can do that- evoke emotions that the body has stored when the mind pushes the pain or grief away.

Kindness in Action:

After caring for his other patients at this busy clinic, Luis came to see me and paused.  He did what might be unusual in modern healthcare, which was to pause, notice a tear on my face, suspend his agenda, get a tissue to wipe away my tear, and provide Reiki where he placed his hand above my heart.  His actions only took moments, yet in those moments he cared for my mind, heart, and spirit. He was not concerned about doing real-time documenting in the EMR; he was concerned about me as a whole person.

Application for Busy Clinicians:

I recently coached a GYN-Oncologist who was describing his packed clinic days.  Our work focused on how she might show up with her patients in a more authentic way, and how centering might help her feel less stressed.  We decided that she could invite her patients for a moment of prayer, gratitude, and breathing at the start of their visit so that both physician and patient were in a more peaceful state, allowing for a more healing visit.

How are you impacting science and compassion in your interactions?  We’d love to hear from you! Let us know at SixSEED Partners.

Leveraging 360-degree Feedback for Systemic Impact

by Leave a Comment

Physician Development Case Study: Academic Medicine

By:Joy Goldman RN, MS, PCC:  CEO SixSEED Partners, BSN, ACC

Background:

SixSEED Partners (SSP) participated in a coaching engagement with an Academic Medical Center physician leader.  Halfway into the engagement, we agreed to complete a 360-degree feedback process in support of the client’s ongoing systemic leadership and development.  The leader wanted to improve her leadership and also be able to cascade the learning to her physician partners.  The Leadership Circle 360 Profile (LCP) was administered to help hone in on priority development efforts.

Strategy:

The client’s role interfaced with faculty, residents, fellows, and administrators so the respondent group was very diverse.  The client’s results demonstrated high creative leadership (3-4 dimensions rated 80% or above yet there was a perceptual gap between self-ratings and that of others.(for detail on the tool, see The Leadership Circle Website).  Of note was the client’s self-rating in the 89 percentile for Passive, and respondents’ ratings of 81 percentile for Distance (reactive dimensions).  The client also had rated themselves in the 7% for courageous authenticity while her respondents rated her in the 53%.  What was clear was that the client was holding back and not bringing their full self and talents to the organization and the energy spent on protecting and playing it safe was draining.

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.

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!

Leveraging Individual AND Community

by Leave a Comment

Owning Your Own Power as an Individual Leader

By:Joy Goldman RN, MS, PCC:  CEO SixSEED Partners, BSN, ACC

Background:

As a healthcare executive, you are called to be able to lead yourself and lead others.  For some physician and nursing leaders, particularly those coming from more team-oriented medical practices, like the Emergency Department or Behavioral Health, this shift can be daunting.  Additionally, as the workplace mirrors a melting pot of diverse cultures, we also find a blend of those who prefer decisive/ individual leadership and those that prefer collaborative/ team-based leadership.  Effective leaders know how to leverage both poles.

Strategy:

In our work with two physician female leaders, we noticed both struggling with this challenge of leveraging both individual assertion- owning their power AND collaboration- shared decision -making.  Both of these leaders had strong inner critics that eroded their confidence and interfered with their execution of job responsibilities.  For one, as a new hospital entity, CEO, and one taking over an organization where the prior CEO had a decades-long tenure, she was reluctant to assert her individual power in fear of resistance from the existing leaders.  For another, her cultural upbringing promoted an overdone respect for authority where navigating power with direct reports was a challenge.

The Solution:

For both of these leaders, the coaches affirmed their strength while also encouraging them to lean in to their lesser preference.  For the CEO, she acted on her assessments of what she needed in her executive team and was able to respectfully and assertively make changes in her executive leadership team.  For the emerging physician leader, she was able to respect her cultural upbringing while also leveraging power with others where she was more open to feedback and other perspectives, allowing for a more cohesive team.

Impact:  

These mindset and behavioral shifts created more prompt and impactful leadership with less wear and tear on the physician leaders.  How are you and your organization leveraging these individual and collaborative tensions?  What do you notice about our country’s capacity to do this and how does that impact you and your community?  We’d love to hear your thoughts. 

You can let us know by going to www.sixseedpartners.com/contact.