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Leadership Development

Fixers Anonymous: “A 12-Step Program for ‘Fixers’” (Steps 10-12)

May 5, 2022 by Joy Goldman Leave a Comment

By Joy W. Goldman RN, MS, PCC: A recovering fixer!

We continue our post stress management strategies for those of us who identify as “I’m a fixer!—I fix things!”

Fixing, also known as problem-solving, is a valuable skill, until we approach everything in our work and personal lives as problems to fix. Here we’ve adapted the time-tested 12-step program from Alcoholics Anonymous to habitual problem solvers/ fixers for steps 10-12.

10. We continued to be aware of our risk of overusing problem-solving/ fixing thinking and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. We enlisted the support of key strategic partners to ensure we were distinguishing problems from polarities (complex challenges). An often heard question was: “Whose perspective/ voice are we missing that we need to bring into our conversation?” We found ourselves noticing the common tensions of leveraging local needs with system needs; having a communication style that was direct along with a more diplomatic one when that was called for. We focused on the quality of our work as we also focused on the cost of our work. To everyone’s delight, we also spent time talking about nurse and physician well-being along with patient and organizational well-being.

11. We sought out prayer and meditation experiences to improve our ability to notice in the moment and correct our responses. Knowing that the demands would not cease, we learned to assume responsibility for caring for ourselves through daily health habits like exercise; mindful and healthy eating; taking time-outs from electronic devices and spending focused time with family, friends and alone time. We began a daily spiritual practice that allowed us to feel connected to something larger than ourselves.

12. Humbly acknowledging our risk of overusing fixing to the detriment of sustainable and systemic change, we commit to cascading our learning to others who may be so afflicted. As I humbly and courageously worked on developing myself, I noticed that there were others on my team who shared this love of “fixing.” My modeling asking for feedback and being curious was a powerful invitation for them to do the same. I realized that it wasn’t sufficient for me to modify my behavior, alone: I had to help others find healthier ways of partnering and perceiving that created a culture of health and well-being for ALL. I now devote at least 15 minutes during my 1:1 meetings and during our team meetings to focus on our individual and collective development. We also engaged SixSEED Partners to help us identify our key tensions and then measure and create action plans around better leveraging these tensions so that we achieved sustainable change and progress with less expense to the system and to us!

If you need more information, please email info@sixseedpartners.com and they’ll be happy to support you! You can find some case studies around this work by going to: https://sixseedpartners.com/resources/.

Filed Under: Leadership Development, Six Seeds, Uncategorized

Fixers Anonymous: “A 12-Step Program for ‘Fixers’” (Steps 7-9)

April 28, 2022 by Joy Goldman Leave a Comment

By Joy W. Goldman RN, MS, PCC: A recovering fixer!

We continue our post stress management strategies for those of us who identify as “I’m a fixer!—I fix things!”

Fixing, also known as problem-solving, is a valuable skill, until we approach everything in our work and personal lives as problems to fix. Here we’ve adapted the time-tested 12-step program from Alcoholics Anonymous to habitual problem solvers/ fixers for steps 7-9.

7. We humbly asked our higher power to supplement our fixing habit with a healthy alternative. We bravely acknowledged that we didn’t have all the answers and could allow ourselves the opportunity to learn and expand our toolbox, while also providing an opportunity for others to develop their skills. We also realized that we didn’t have to abandon our “fixing” high but that we could complement it with something called polarity thinking- both/and thinking.

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to be transparent about our steps to recovery. In our haste to be the one with the one right answer, we acknowledge that we dismissed other’s perspectives, often making them feel devalued. At this time of “the great resignation,” we know we can’t afford to do that and we need every talented resource we can get to be successful. During our 1:1’s and team meetings, we fessed up and apologized for our previous dismissive behavior and committed to change. We asked our peers and team members to provide us feedback when they noticed positive changes and when they also noticed our inevitable remissions.

9. We made direct amends to people we had harmed unless doing so would injure them or others. For those whose perspectives had been dismissed, we now purposefully asked for their perspective as we were challenged by complex issues. Instead of trying to surface one right answer, we purposefully looked for numerous perspectives and seeming contradictions. Our goal became more about getting several voices and perspectives in the room, often from those who generally had opposite preferences from the majority.

Filed Under: Leadership Development, Six Seeds, Uncategorized

Fixers Anonymous: “A 12-Step Program for ‘Fixers’” (Steps 4-6)

April 21, 2022 by Joy Goldman Leave a Comment

By Joy W. Goldman RN, MS, PCC: A recovering fixer!

We continue our post stress management strategies for those of us who identify as “I’m a fixer!—I fix things!”

Fixing, also known as problem-solving, is a valuable skill, until we approach everything in our work and personal lives as problems to fix. Here we’ve adapted the time-tested 12-step program from Alcoholics Anonymous to habitual problem solvers/ fixers for steps 4-6.

4. We made a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves. We admitted that our tendency to attribute the cause of problems to others and place ourselves in a victim or hero role was interfering with our getting the results we want and draining us of the energy we need to get things done. This wasn’t someone else’s issue.. this perpetual perspective of “fixing” was ours to solve……oh, oh! We also acknowledged that our desire to fix came from a well-intentioned place—we want to ease the burden of others and make a positive contribution in the world. How might we harness that energy of contribution while continuing to appreciate our “fixer identity” when that approach was needed?

5. We admitted to others and to our higher power the exact nature of our wrongs. We acknowledged that our desire to fix became a barrier to others wanting to collaborate and communicate with us. We even noticed that we were pushing people away in our personal lives as we applied our fixer approach to loved ones who didn’t want a fixer and just wanted someone to listen. We summoned the courage to become transparent with others about our desire to expand our way of perceiving challenges and to humbly ask for help. We noticed that when other leaders were transparent about their development efforts, others looked at them with greater respect. Perhaps we can trust ourselves enough to believe that showing our own vulnerability might engender more trust and desire for partnership.

6. We were entirely ready to have our higher power remove all these defects of our overdone fixing habit. We started asking for help and learned that there was a supplemental way of perceiving challenges that expanded upon fixing. We didn’t have to relinquish our fixing identity: we could add to it different perspectives that allowed us to see a larger and more complex picture. Expending less energy and embracing other perspectives actually could create longer lasting, effective outcomes with less wear and tear on myself and others!

Filed Under: Leadership Development, Six Seeds, Uncategorized

8 Steps to Become More Resilient

July 3, 2021 by Petra Platzer Leave a Comment

Appreciating The Center for Creative Leadership and DavidMcLean for sharing these insights

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

Background:  

As the world experiences a massive “re-entry” after being in fear and reactivity mode for the past eighteen months, becoming more resilient is on many people’s minds. David McLean, Director of People and Organizational Development at Lambton College recently highlighted on LinkedIn, a Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) article on eight steps you can take to become more resilient.  We share David’s interest in resilience as we promote Well-Being for those who work in healthcare.

Appreciations:

David’s brief and succinct expansion on the wonderful graphic shared by the CCL in 2016 remains relevant for today.  We notice elements of Daniel Pink’s Drive Model®: Purpose; Autonomy and Mastery; Carol Dweck’s: growth mindset® (learner mindset); Simon Sinek’s: “Why®,” and David Emerald’s work around The Empowerment Dynamic®, amongst others.  These eight steps, as identified by the Leading Effectively staff in November of last year summarize very well actions in our control to become more resilient with whatever comes our way.

The embedded article expands on these eight steps to include taking care of one’s physical health including getting enough sleep and prioritizing exercise.  They expand on reflection to include a journaling practice.  All great suggestions with proven impact.

Yes, AND…..

I can imagine the sarcastic responses I might hear from those who’ve been working tirelessly to take care of others, allowing little time to spend on themselves.  Is it lack of knowledge that prevents leaders from cultivating these habits or something else?  It reminds me of the way we’ve approached “solving” the burnout issue within healthcare.  Within our work at SixSEED Partners, as we take an ecosystem and system-integration approach to dealing with complexity, we advocate individual AND system responsibilities to create a generative culture and resilient leadership.  Well-Being/ Resilience is not only an individual challenge; it is a cultural one as well.

I most agree with these writers that the mirror has to be turned inward.  We need to abolish blame-filled cultures and ask our individual and collective selves, with courage and compassion:  “how am I / are we contributing to the challenge I /we see before me/ us?”  And we must ask this question when we are rested and healthy.  We cannot see the horizon if we’re still buried beneath the earth.

Let’s hear from you

If you’d like to chat about a methodical and systemic approach that supports the individual and systemic change and resilience, we’d love to hear from you. Please message us on our LinkedIn page or send us an email here.

#culture, #systemintegration, #wellbeing



Acknowledgment: Centre for Creative Leadership


#learningagility #leadership #resiliency

Filed Under: Coaching, Leadership Development, Well-being

Both/And Thinking Requisite for Post-Pandemic Leadership

June 2, 2021 by Joy Goldman Leave a Comment

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

Background: Three strategists from PwC published in April’s Harvard Business Review: “6 Leadership Paradoxes for the Post- Pandemic Era”. As we await the publishing of Barry Johnson’s:” AND: Making a Difference by Leveraging Polarity, Paradox and Dilemma: Volume 2 Applications,” in which we have contributed numerous chapters, we feel affirmed in focusing on this essential capacity for post-pandemic leaders. We’re also pleased to see that SixSEED Partners has worked with several individual and system clients to measure these exact tensions.

Both/And different from Problem-Solving

As a reminder, (see prior posts) both/and – polarity thinking supplements traditional either/or problem-solving thinking in order to best manage complex, ambiguous, volatile and uncertain situations- all of which are part of healthcare’s NOW. It’s an advanced thinking capacity as it requires a leader to be able to see (the first step of the SMALL polarity process: seeing-mapping-assessing learning-leveraging) what seems like opposing perspectives. Leinwand, Mani, and Sheppard highlight six of these interdependent tensions. Below we’ve highlighted their six and translated them into language we’ve used and measured with our clients:

We take HBR’s leader-focused tensions and expand into individual, team and systemic tensions. We’ve adopted the ethos behind the quote from a GE leader: “you don’t put a changed leader into an unchanged system.” As we partner with clients, we focus on individual, team and systemic tensions to ensure sustainable results.

Applications to our current work

SixSEED Partners has integrated these tensions in our individual coaching as part of the 360 feedback and development process; in our culture work with Information Technology and Healthcare organizations and medical groups; and in developing and strengthening nurse and physician leader partnerships. Pasted below you can see the results of measuring the tension of Centralization and Decentralization. At a glance, you can see the opportunity to better leverage centralization in this heart and vascular institute. The White infinity loop represents their actual scores as compared with the ideal grey loop. Through dialogue, it was eye-opening for this group of physicians to objectively see how often they fall into feeling victim to the needs of the larger organization instead of noticing their opportunity to better consider system factors as they plan their decentralized program efforts. In being able to consider and measure the both/and, they save time, energy and resources that go into over focusing on their division needs alone.

Let’s hear from you

We’d love to hear how you are helping your leaders see the both/and of these six paradoxes and others. If this work seems like it could help you and your teams, we’d love to talk with you to explore how this approach might help your clinical leaders. Please post your responses on our LinkedIn page or send us an email here.

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Filed Under: Leadership Development, Leadership Ecosystem, Polarity Thinking, Six Seeds

Cultivating Both/And Thinking to Support Clinical Leaders to Effectively Lead through System Change

April 2, 2021 by Joy Goldman Leave a Comment

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

In the beginning :

SixSEED Partners (SSP) was invited to provide team development support to a high profile clinical executive committee in a regional healthcare system. We initially partnered with this physician and administrative leadership team last fall for a full day retreat focused on developing team dynamics and strategies. We introduced them to several frameworks and practical tools that gave them insights for how to leverage their complementary strengths to get their work done even more effectively. The system clearly supported this type of development because all team members were present and committed to this experiential learning process, despite it taking away from their revenue generating clinical work that day. The executive team found it so valuable, that they wanted more.  

Embarking on a Leadership Development Series (LDS) experiential learning process:

SixSEED Partners partnered with the Chief Physician Executive and the Managing Director of Strategy to create a SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis for team member input on relevant leadership strengths and challenges. We also used immediate and upcoming leadership transitions as the action-learning platform for the participants to apply their new tools and thinking paradigms. By using our “4D” framework of “Discover-Design-Deliver-Debrief”, the client helped shape a learning design that integrated real-time pressures and systemic forces for change. For practicality, these experiential learning sessions were integrated into their existing monthly strategic meetings to minimize time away from the clinical area and maximize their time together.

Discovering a new Thinking tool for unsolvable problems:

In looking at the real-time pressures and changes this executive team was facing in their system, we knew they could benefit from learning to look at their complexities with Polarity thinking. As mentioned in prior blogs, it has been proven that using polarity thinking (both/and) along with traditional problem-solving thinking has a measurable impact on leading through complexity and change. 

Experiential Learning Module (ELM): Doing S.M.A.L.L. for Measurement and ROI:

We used key themes from their SWOT analysis results to create three unique polarity maps that measured individual, team and system-level tensions for this executive team:

  • Providing Direction and Inviting Participation (Individual)
  • Tactical and Strategic (Team)
  • Centralization and Decentralization (System)

This work took the team through steps 1-3 of the 5-step polarity assessment process known as the “SMALL” methodology, which includes:

  1. Seeing
  2. Mapping
  3. Assessing 
  4. Learning
  5. Leveraging

In our most recent two-hour module, the leaders focused on Step 4 – Learning, about the polarity thinking framework and discussing it in the context of their complementary styles. The learning was deepened when the leaders began to see beyond their preferred perspective within the 3 polarity maps to seeing the broader context within the relative dynamic at hand in their actual work. Most notable was the dialogue around shifting from a place of system “blame” – the downside of decentralization – to better leveraging integration of the health system’s priorities with less energy being wasted in frustration. This traditional “right/wrong, either/or” approach began to shift to “how can we better integrate system factors as we design and execute our work”.

The map below illustrates this team’s scrubbed SWOT analysis, represented as a polarity map. As you can see, the 2 poles to leverage over time to create an effective and high performing team are the Strengths of Current and the opportunities of the Future, while minimizing the weaknesses and threats of both poles. The other scrubbed map shares the executive team’s results, which highlight an opportunity to better leverage Centralization. While these results are valuable as a baseline for this team, what was even more valuable from this experience already was the dialogue that emerged between the participants around an alternative perspective and way of thinking about systemic influences in their work. During our next session, we will take the team through action steps and warning signs to help them best leverage these essential tensions for sustainable change (Step 5 of S.M.A.L.L.).

Let’s hear from you

We’d love to hear your insights in helping clinical executive teams develop systemic thinking applied to current challenges. If this work seems like it could help you and your teams, we’d love to talk with you to explore how this approach might help your clinical leaders. Please post your responses on our LinkedIn page or send us an email here.

Filed Under: Leadership Development, Leadership Ecosystem, Transformational Leadership

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Offering a suite of inter-collaborative, interdependent and custom-designed services to increase leader and system-level capacitation within the healthcare industry, SixSEED Partners drives sustainable, transformational change within leaders, teams and entire organizations.

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10431 Patterson Ave | Henrico, VA 23238

443-379-4569

info@sixseedpartners.com

2021 SixSEED Partners. All Rights Reserved