SixSEED Partners

Case Study

Developing Leaders As They Work

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A Practical Application of Development in the Moment

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

Our Commitment

With thanks to the great thought leaders at @theconsciousleadershipgroup for their simple graphic on knowing when you’re not present but instead responding from a place of fear or a place of playing it safe (“below the line”). Some might ask: aren’t there times when responding in fear or trying to be safe is healthy? Absolutely! The challenge in leadership is knowing that “line” between a healthy, constructive response and a response that is more from habit and one that gets in the way of success. 

At SixSEED Partners, we work with our clients on practicing in-the-moment behaviors that align with their sense of purpose AND their well-being. Read on for more details on how we are partnering in developing leaders within the context of their work and not in addition to their work.

Our Actions

In this succinct graphic, the Conscious Leadership Group highlights five warning signs for noticing when you are responding from what they call – a “below-the-line” response. These behavioral signs include blaming others, black and white thinking, wanting to have THE right answer thereby making others wrong, and shallow breathing, among others. These are normal reactions to the many challenges in our current healthcare that faces workforce shortages, burnout, and very sick patients.

In partnership with our clients, we have designed a leadership development strategy that helps leaders improve their well-being and results as they deal with patient throughput.

Our Results

At SixSEED Partners, we help our leaders lead first, from a place of courage and compassion, and then invite them to choose a way forward that is more aligned with purpose. When we come from “above the line,” as the Conscious Leadership Group describes, we are more able to see possibilities and solutions that create wins for all contributors. We are present in this moment and can think with greater clarity, focusing on desired outcomes.

With that foundation in mind, we created fieldwork where leaders practice centering when they notice their signals of being below the line and then, from a more centered place, choose a more constructive response that aligns with their individual development goals. They are also partnering with other department leaders whose support they need to improve patient throughput. Their partnering involves learning the other department’s point of view so that their empathy improves and they see each other as the human beings that they are.

Our Invitation to you

Would you like to learn more about how you can help your leaders engage others with less wear and tear on them and their teams? You can see some of our case studies here:
https://sixseedpartners.com/resources/

    Polarity Approach to Expedite Hospital Integration & DEI

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    Building Leadership Capacity to facilitate culture change and Improve
    Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

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

    Background

    SixSEED Partners was invited to help build leadership capacity in patient care and nursing leaders to support the integration of two separate hospital entities within one health system. After the first year of facilitated work and implementing a collective leadership assessment, this second year was focused on engaging the leaders in recreating a culture that supported integration while allowing for the retention of what was unique and market competitive for each individual entity.

    The Strategy

    SixSEED Partners designed a two-day workshop that introduced the leaders to both/and thinking as a complementary tool to traditional problem-solving – either/or thinking. We were most concerned about surfacing the fears and concerns from the smaller hospital entity, that also happened to be a microcosm of the lesser served, mostly black community. Leaders were divided according to hospital entities and each had the chance to identify most treasured cultural attributes and worst fears of integration with themselves and then with each other.

    The Solution

    Fears that were identified by the smaller hospital included loss of identity; constant comparison and loss of unique attributes; lack of ability to autonomously act; loss of connection to their geographic community; and lack of influence in decision-making. What they valued and wanted to preserve, for both organizations included their unique histories; their commitment to the patients, community, and each other; a spirit of collaboration; shared knowledge; and diversity of staff and patients.

    The Impact

    At the conclusion of the two days, the leaders created a complete polarity map focused on their integrated one system. They had action steps to leverage retaining the best of current culture while preparing to best meet the future. They also identified early warning signs to alert them when they were overdoing either pole: too much tradition and too much change.

      If you’d like to learn more about bringing this work to your organization, contact us at SixSEED Partners.

      Both/And Thinking

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      Application of polarity thinking to Improve well-being and integration for two hospitals within an Academic Medical Health System

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

      Background

      SixSEED Partners was invited to help build capacity in patient care and nursing leaders for improving well-being and supporting the integration of two separate hospital entities within one health system. We had spent the prior year working with these leaders on strengthening team bonds across functions and service lines, and building capacity for shifting from problem-oriented, reactive thinking to purpose-driven, creative thinking and execution. The nurse executive’s vision was to create a culture of “we” instead of us/them and to decentralize decision-making and empower leaders to lead with less deference to the nurse executive.

      The Strategy

      SixSEED Partners designed an initial two-day workshop that involved walking the leaders through two polarity maps: the first- honoring the nurse executive’s wish to focus on the leaders’ wellbeing, was leveraging care for self and care for others. This map introduced the leaders to the interdependency between those poles and their personal and cultural bias toward care for others, often to the neglect of care for self. The “Me/ Not Me” – value/ fears were somatically felt as each leader stood in the quadrant representing the upsides of care for self and care for others, and the downsides of each. We also facilitated walking the maps of the individual hospital entities, creating a map for the integrated organization.

      The Solution

      Vinay Kumar and Joy Goldman led the thirty leaders through exercises that inspired honest and vulnerable sharing which paved the way for team support in increasing actions around care for self, and early warning signs for when the leaders were at risk of burnout and exhaustion. Some of their takeaways for that first day included: “It’s OK to care for self.” “I’m not alone.” “We’re not perfect and that’s a good thing!”

      The second day was all about integration and the smaller hospital entity leaders who had lost, or was losing two of its senior nursing leaders, was able to courageously discuss what cultural traditions were important to move forward, and their fears of being engulfed by the larger entity and losing their identity. At the end of day two, the leaders had formed a complete polarity map representing the best of both organizations that was important to bring forward AND outcomes that needed to occur to best meet the emerging future.

      The Impact

      At the conclusion of the two days, the leaders created a complete polarity map focused on their integrated one system. They had action steps to leverage retaining the best of current culture while preparing to best meet the future. They also identified early warning signs to alert them when they were overdoing either pole: too much tradition and too much change.

      There were several new leaders in the group who offered these comments:

      • “I appreciate bringing SixSEED in to facilitate this as many organizations don’t do this and it shows that it’s important
      • “I’m impressed with the support and sense of “we” here that often does not exist in other nursing and patient care service leaders/ divisions.” (systems)

      If you’d like to learn more about bringing this work to your organization, contact us at SixSEED Partners.

      A Modern Twist on Succession Planning

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      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

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      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

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      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.