“Sometimes I feel the physicians demonize us for the decisions we make because they don’t understand why we’re making them.” This quote is from a healthcare administrator lamenting the tension between his department and his physicians. Several colleagues of mine and I conducted 25 administrative interviews. As a professional listener who specializes in physician and…
Careful! So you think you’re looking at a remedial circumstance because one of your physicians or executives is behaving poorly. Behavioral issues are often developmental needs in disguise. When dealing with “problematic behavior,” consider instead that you’re dealing with a normal human being who needs support. No one got up one morning, rubbed their…
Your leadership team does not have a brain. It does, however, have shared perceptions, shared biases and memory, collective thinking, and mutual assumptions. In other words, just as individuals have minds, so does your leadership team have a mind. Many leadership teams are too busy to objectify and examine their own collective mind. The price…
Shame is antithetical to effective leadership. It’s a fear-based emotion that keeps you thinking about yourself. Competent leadership requires altruism. Shame, sometimes referred to as insecurity, can impede or debilitate new, young, and sometimes even seasoned leaders. Worse yet, shame will prevent some of your most talented people from stepping up, speaking out, leaning in,…