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NOVA Conference Opening Video

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On December 1st, Brian Berman, President of the Nova Institute for Health and Founding Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, presented “Integrated whole-systems approaches at all scales: for health, healing, and flourishing.” The conference opening video is worth two minutes of your time.

The Nova Institute’s Goal is: The ultimate aim of planetary health is flourishing along every level of the person, place, and planet continuum. In an era of so many interconnected challenges, there could not be a more important time for ambitious, integrative approaches.” Dr. Berman is quoted: “In challenging times there are also great opportunities to reach beyond boundaries and fundamentally shift how we think about well-being at all scales.”

At SixSEED Partners, our mission is to provide integrated solutions to heal healthcare. Supporting and implementing the tools from the IDG are critical to our mission for sustainable change.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

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Joy Goldman RN, MS, PCC: CEO SixSEED Partners

“Gratefulness is a touchstone, offering us what we need not simply to survive difficult times but to appreciate them for their exquisite complexity, buried blessings, rich opportunities, and deep teachings.”. Kristi Nelson On behalf of SixSEED Partners, we want to thank everyone who works in healthcare for their selfless commitment to their patients, community and fellow teammates. Closer to home, we want to thank our clients, current and past, who demonstrate courage and compassion as they lead through complexity. We want to thank our partners who help extend our vision to heal healthcare, and last but not least, our families and friends who inspire us to care for ourselves so that we can care for others.

THE INCLUDER PRINCIPLE

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What the Includer Strength Can Teach Healthcare Leaders

Belinda West, OTR, MSML, C-SIPT, CDE® 

Of the 34 talents that Gallup has studied over many decades, the talent or strength, ‘Includer,’ provides some key principles that serve healthcare leaders particularly well. Over my long career as a healthcare leader, I frequently noticed a familiar pattern of behavior that positively impacted the trajectory of patient outcomes. I sometimes noted it as compassion. At other times I felt more definite that it was empathy. Empathy is integral to patient satisfaction, and good clinical outcomes, according to Derksen et al., 2013. Maxwell, 2008, used the term compassionate empathy, which emphasizes deep emotional resonance with another person’s suffering that moves us to action. Inclusive leadership amplifies empathy and compassion while increasing satisfaction and outcomes for all staff and patients.

Inclusive leaders consider customer feedback confirming that their organization delivers excellent care but also the mortality and readmission rates that often tell another story. They search for a complete picture by analyzing data that speaks on behalf of patients and staff that may never complete a satisfaction survey. Includers might approach satisfaction data with a deeper look at why the trends exist. They listen to the stories of even the quietest voices.

Includers, as described in Strength Finders 2.0 by Tom Rath, love to “stretch the circle wider.” Includers embrace a fundamental leadership principle; ‘Watch for the excluded people and invite them in!’. Rath notes that Includers seek opportunities to bring together people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.

Even though there is often a great desire to master this quality, inclusive leadership doesn’t come easily. Inclusion is hard work and, at first, may feel a bit contrived or awkward, but you can scaffold your way to mastering this skill, even if this one is 34th in your ranking of talents. Those successful behavior patterns I noticed can be defined as rungs on the inclusion ladder.

RUNG 1

Move beyond your usual peers, and ask other clinicians, doctors, therapists, and providers, what they wish other disciplines knew that would make the workplace and care coordination function more effectively. Take the initiative to be the gatherer of diverse ideas and find fun ways to bring people together for sharing and discovery. Allow for anonymity when gathering information around loaded points of tension. And remember to stay focused on leveraging common viewpoints instead of over-amplifying opposing ones.

RUNG 2

Seek to understand ideas and opinions you find confusing or foreign to your lived experience. Although most healthcare leaders, in addition to their clinical expertise, may garner success by combining operational skills and influence, there is a risk that, over time, ruts of knowledge and well-engrained patterns of achievement may create dangerous blind spots. Practice the habit of asking more questions and staying engaged with the other person or group until they verify that you are paraphrasing their viewpoint accurately. Of course, this requires you to come from behind the desk and sit with others in a welcoming environment. For online engagements, dump the avatar and turn on your camera. In all cases, opt to listen twice as much as you speak. Seek deeper engagement and plan time to explore the “why” behind misunderstandings and mistrust.

RUNG 3

Embrace cultural discomfort until it’s no longer uncomfortable. Now and then, I fall off my exercise routine, and it’s painfully more challenging when I get back to working out. However, I know I must push past this stage until I can perform within my usual comfort range. Expanding our cultural flexibility and engagement is no different. Remember that cultural diversity encompasses a wide range of attributes, from ethnic and racial norms within a group to occupational and generational tendencies. One of the most fulfilling moments in my career was when I mastered enough Spanish to engage better with a fantastic team of women who were most comfortable speaking Spanish. We bonded, and I truly felt I belonged because they told me I did in Spanish! My circle had been expanding, but the growth was validated that day, and our relationships blossomed over the years. What started as clumsy attempts to engage became effortless and heartwarming!

RUNG 4+

Practice towards mastery! Rung four and beyond requires practice as you approach a level of proficiency, shifting your Includer strength higher in your ranked list of talents. But, whether your Includer strength progresses or you find that your circle of inclusion has grown, you will be forever changed. By widening your circle, you will find that those standing with you represent more diverse backgrounds and insights. You can become a highly trusted partner in building teams, departments, organizations, and systems that thrive due to the essential trifecta of compassion and empathy amplified by inclusion. Remember that inclusion is attainable and sustainable when you leverage the Includer principle!

References

Derksen F, Bensing J and Lagro-Janssen A. Effectiveness of empathy in general practice: a systematic review. Br J Gen Prac 2013; 63: 76–84.

Maxwell B. Professional Ethics Education Studies in Compassionate Empathy. New York: Springer, 2008.

Rath, T. (2007). StrengthsFinder 2.0. Gallup Press.

Belinda West is an affiliate coach/facilitator with SixSEED Partners and the owner of Occupation Humanity, which is committed to promoting humanity in healthcare. She helps healthcare leaders attain personal wellness and peak performance through executive coaching and organizational consultation. 

As an Advanced Certified Personal and Executive Coach, registered & licensed  Occupational Therapist and accomplished facilitator, she also enjoys motivating groups to achieve their goals through custom assessments, experiential learning, and deliberate practice. She also holds a Master of Science in Management & Leadership and is certified in Sensory Integration Praxis Testing and as a Diversity Executive. Connect with me on LinkedIn!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/belinda-west-otr-msml-c-sipt-cde%C2%AE-98498630/

We’d love to hear from you:  info@sixseedpartners.com.

OUR GIFTS OF IMPERFECTION

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Brené Brown, a contemporary teacher who extols the gifts of imperfection, writes: 

“It is in the process of embracing our imperfections that we find our truest gifts: courage, compassion, and connection.”

Chapter 12
Let Go And Hold On

Blindness for the color,
Comes when there’s too many running together.
Deafness for the notes,
Comes when too many overtake each other.
Tastelessness for the flavor,
Comes when there’s too many at one time to savor.
Distress for the being,
Comes when there’s too much doing.
Letting-go of great excess,
Is holding-on to great experience.
(SOURCE: Cliff’s Notes on the Tao Te Ching ©2022)

In Chapter 19 of “And: Making a difference by leveraging polarity, paradox, and dilemma,” Tim Arnold describes one of the five polarities in homelessness: 

Embracing our Brokenness AND Embracing our Excellence

These two poles of the polarity may grab attention – technically, both poles of a polarity must both be positive or neutral. Brokenness? A neutral or positive? Tim Arnold would say, “Absolutely, yes.” It’s similar to how Brene’ Brown has almost singlehandedly reframed “vulnerability” as useful. Letting go of what others think and own our story, we have more ready access to our worthiness. We are enough — as we are. Embracing the parts of our lives that don’t fit with who we think we’re supposed to be helps us accept our worthiness of love and belonging. We can take a view from the balcony of our story and the running and striving for worthiness – the constant pleasing, performance-proving parts of our identities. They may have served me and serve me now, but at what costs? 

As I have explored my physical healing and growth as a leader after a traumatic year after a pretty traumatic accident – I’m working to embrace the value of what and how to hold on, and the value of what and how to let go. It’s been sobering, humbling, and rich in learning.

We’d love to hear from you:  info@sixseedpartners.com.

Can LinkedIn and Meta Co-exist?

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Integrating Professional AND Personal: We bring our WHOLE selves to the workplace

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

Background:

As I prepare to spend more time in Europe and will be intentionally planning self- nourishing time in the morning and work in the afternoon, integrating personal and professional needs,  I am becoming ever more aware of our false separation of “professional domains” and “personal domains.”  For example, the inspiration for this post came from a song that a dear friend sent to me in honor of our friendship.  “All That You Are” by Fia Forsström is filled with both/and references.  See the excerpt posted below:

All That You Are:  Fia Forsström.

“I am a sinner, I am a saint
This I have embraced
Enjoying every aspect of life
Perfection is dull
And unattainable
Leaving me craving what is real

We came to this earth
To experience it all
The messy and the beautiful
Show me that you are human
I will kiss your scars
Celebrating everything, all that you are”

This post offers an invitation for us to bring ALL of us to the workplace.

Stragtegy:

These headings are following our typical “marketing/ LinkedIn format” and, again, I’m noticing the pull to stay within the boundaries of some pre-defined box.  NOT!  What impact would it have if we brought music, all emotions, different cultural celebrations, and color into the workplace?  In coaching, we often observe our clients for how they are getting in their own way.  Might we get out of our own way, and allow ourselves to model and embrace “all that we are:” our messiness and our beauty?  This takes conscious effort, first—to give yourself permission to bring your whole self to work, and then to notice, and invite others to do the same.

The Solution:

SixSEED Partners has integrated music and theater in our facilitations.  The usual reaction is initially one of skepticism, and then something magical happens.  Within minutes, people’s monkey brains relax and their hearts and spirits emerge.  Yes, there are, at times, tears:  that happens when we open our hearts and are vulnerable.  And that is often what it takes for the “real work” to happen.

The Impact:  

Back to the title of this blog:  Can Meta and LinkedIn coexist?  Can we bring music and heart to our professional spaces and bring thought leadership to our heart-filled spaces?  I think we can, and we must.  I am keeping this blog brief so you will have time to listen to “All That You Are” and then share that with one other person. 

We’d love to hear about it if you do:  info@sixseedpartners.com.

Leveraging Team and Organizational Culture

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Intentionally Creating a Positive Healthcare Culture – A Leader’s Perspective

Part 2 of a three-part series on accountability, culture, and gratitude

BACKDROP:

People are tired. Leaders are tired. Sound familiar? It hasn’t been easy working in healthcare over the last several years. The current context of continuous ambiguity and change has posed a multitude of challenges for leaders. People are being asked to be resilient, to overcome, to stay the course. At the heart of what’s being asked of leaders is not only creating a healthy culture, but proactively maintaining it. When I coach healthcare leaders and executives, I often hear that people – at all levels – are stressed and challenged. They’re wondering about the future and if what they’re doing is sustainable. You may be feeling this way too. What would it look like if it were different for you? 

SHARED UNDERSTANDING AND LESSONS LEARNED: 

So why is it often so hard as a leader to “put your finger on the pulse” to know what is working or not working? It is often in the unseen energy- the beliefs, the mindsets, and the attitudes- that make up the milieu of the team. When setting out to create a thriving and positive culture, there often lives a gap in the optimal environment you aspire to create and the day-to-day reality.

I’ve walked in your shoes. I, myself, experienced how the value of creating a healthy culture became a critical and foundational leadership imperative. When I was a leader in charge of opening an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) and leading that same team through immense challenges during the pandemic, I learned that establishing a continuous healthy team culture took intentionality and communication. It paid off in dividends, as we were able to weather immense storms because the foundational groundwork of trust, respect and professionalism was codified.

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE /WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF NOT ACTING?

Given the challenging current healthcare climate, I offer a way forward. Culture building can be a living, learning laboratory; the cumulative byproduct of small everyday actions formed and shaped over time. Daily informal interactions matter, and they add up to have an impact on a larger scale. Looking through a polarity lens, when individual behaviors AND a culture of shared values are leveraged, you help to create a broader organizational alignment in your mission. 

We all know it requires courage to address what may need improvement or to challenge the status quo. What is the risk of not creating this? The building blocks of a strong cohesive team could be missing. When under stress, we face suboptimal ways of dealing with challenges and ultimately risk caring for ourselves and for others. What is the benefit of intentional culture building? A recent Gallup article supports that a greater sense of belonging can foster well-being and relationships, and serve to create an environment based on accumulated trust and transparency.

WHAT CAN YOU DO? SOME TAKEAWAYS AND SOLUTIONS:

What are a few foundational behaviors you can practice to maximize culture building?

  • Be intentional, curious, and open to create small positive acts everyday
  • Pay attention to the day-to- day conversations and relationships within your team and department. Notice what it is being said and not said, both publicly and privately
  • Observe situations objectively for what is working well and share positive observations
  • Be humble and willing to honestly face when something needs improvement
  • Check-in frequently with colleagues for feedback

Right now, the need to address culture change and caring for the caregivers in healthcare are critical imperatives. Part 3 of this series will offer more on how gratitude and appreciation can support a healthy workplace environment in the face of stress and uncertainty in a healthcare setting.

If you’re curious about the work we’ve done in helping other leaders like yourself create healthy, accountable cultures, reach out at the following link.