SixSEED Partners

polarity thinking

Leveraging Individual AND Community

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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.

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.

Leveraging Knowing AND Not Knowing

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Practicing knowing and curiosity in our new home

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

Background:

At SixSEED Partners, we coach leaders in managing many seemingly competing priorities.  In healthcare, we like to KNOW.  Being the person who has the right answer is often seen as a strength, and many healthcare leaders are promoted for their problem-solving capacity.  What happens when you can’t know due to massive uncertainty (prevalent in our world) or because you are thrown into totally new territory?  Follow me on my journey adjusting to life in a new country.

Strategy:

Survival and happiness!  Two weeks’ ago, my husband, myself and three cats moved from our home of twenty-plus years to Portugal. We had leveraged learning and knowing over the past year as we completed documents and processes necessary for the move.  We had some inkling that it might feel a bit like Dorothy in her declaration of: “we’re not in Kansas anymore,” yet the beauty, peace, and access to the rest of Europe was propelling us forward. Once in Portugal, we were flooded with “not knowing.”  We don’t know how to speak nor understand the language; we don’t know what stores to go to for common, household items; we don’t know how to navigate the phones, mailing a letter home, reading food labels, and navigating the healthcare system.

The Solution:

Being immersed in this totally new and unfamiliar world, we must leverage the other pole of knowing:  we must leverage “not knowing” and curiosity.  We have to ask questions and rely on others and google translate to find our way.  As we work with leaders in healthcare on their development, there are two capacities which often are under-used and require humble practice:  asking for help (admitting not knowing) and leveraging an attitude of curiosity, wonder, and awe.  A healthy dose of humor also helps in navigating this terrain.  

Here in Portugal, we’ve had many Expats and native Portuguese residents help us in our learning.  There are times we will relapse and I will admit to being in tears at least once in my feverish desire to “know.”  And the moment passes and I channel humility and laughter to be able to say to myself: “Ah, yes: another opportunity to practice and learn!”

Impact:  

First and foremost, this capacity of leveraging knowing and not knowing helps improve and maintain a sense of wellbeing.  We tame our inner critic who is usually at-the-ready to barrage us with self-flagellation.

Secondly, the practice creates space for others to shine, offer what they know and to offer us support.  As a master care-giver, receiving is also an under-used muscle.  How glorious to be able to exercise that muscle in my new home.  Will you join me in the practice of “not knowing?”  I’d love to hear of your experiences.  You can let us know by going to www.sixseedpartners.com/contact.

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.

Healing Drama in the Workplace

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An Application of Three Models to Heal Healthcare

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

The Drama:

Let’s see if this situation sounds familiar to you:  You have a senior, C-Suite leader, or high-volume surgeon, or your flagship hospital CEO who is widely perceived as demonstrating obstructionist behavior.  In polarity language, they tend to over-leverage the “I” focus: they over-advocate for their organization/ service line/ system entity to get more resources to the detriment of the rest of the system.  They are perceived not as team players and are perceived as being an “urban legend” in the systemic fear of their power and intimidation.   You may hear the following spoken in hallways or in private zoom chat rooms: “Everyone knows that “he/she” wants total control and you best not mess with him/ her because there will be repercussions!”

The Impact:

When systems perpetuate these urban legends and make up stories around motivations for behavior, everyone suffers and healthy cultures are undermined.  There is toxic energy that is spent on workarounds, defensive positioning anticipating a negative outcome, disrespect to the senior leader with many talking behind their back, and a crystal-clear message to everyone witnessing this behavior of: “it’s not safe here.”

The Solution & Invitation:

There are three frameworks we use to help shift these cultures from unhealthy, unsafe and low trust cultures to engaged, supportive, healthy and safe cultures:  @theconsciousleadershipgroup ’s “Above and Below the Line;” The Collective Leadership Assessment from the Leadership Circle,  and Polarity Thinking—adding both/and thinking to traditional problem-solving thinking. When used recently with a group of nursing and patient care leaders, over a series of several sessions spanning six months, their comments included: “we now call each other for support;” “we are more solution-oriented,” and “we can be vulnerable with each other since we now share a common language.”

Let’s hear from you:  

We’d love to hear your perspective on what you and your organizations are doing to shift your cultures from blame and persecutor-victim relationships to healthy, trusting partnerships.  Please post your responses on our LinkedIn page or send us an email here.