Have you ever driven down the street and encountered an unseen speed bump? Was it only an unexpected jolt, a temporary inconvenience; or did you really “smack it” and require major repairs? As leaders we will, inevitably impact upon the unexpected. How we assess and respond to those unexpected shoals in the sea of life will shape the opinions of those around us with respect to our Leadership. Here are three suggestions to help assure those opinions are positive.
Take a Deep Breath; It Is the Process and Not the Person
Yes, I know that Deming came up with this first in his 1961 book Total Quality Control. I also realize that ever since JCAHO took TQM up as a mantra in the mid 1990s health care organizations have created whole departments whose sole task it is to implement and execute the TQM principles (and its iterations) on a daily basis. But, I also have seen and experienced that when it comes to crisis, basic human nature wants us to find, blame and punish a person. Some “body”, not some “process”, has to pay for the error.
Be Warned: Don’t Do It! Your reports have heard of, if are not widely read on TQM. Blame a person and you will call your leadership and devotion to process into question. You will also be creating a Machiavellian circus where your reports will find uncertain solace in “covering their backsides” instead of owning the process and prospering your organization. You get to lose twice with blaming.
Assess the Damage then Set About Fixing It, Not the Other Way Around
There are two kinds of boaters in the Florida Keys (excuse me for mixing metaphors, again): those that have run their boat aground and those that will run their boat aground. As one of the former I can tell you with the utmost confidence that when you have run aground the first thing you do is throw out your anchor so you don’t move any further. Then you get into the water, survey the hull for damage, make sure your props are still attached, and determine just what exactly you are hung up on. You NEVER try to re-float your boat as your first act. Of course that is exactly what most boaters and unfortunately many managers-in-crisis do with pretty much the same results, the boat and the project sinks.
In determining the extent of damage before you act accomplishes something major for you and something major for your team. With a contemporaneous assessment you immediately get information about probable causation (and therefore future prevention), the extent of damage and the risks of moving ahead with or without repairs. Your team members see a leader that evaluates, thinks then acts and confidence-in-leadership grows. You get to win twice with thoughtful action.
Asking for Help is a Good Thing
As physicians our training and experience dictate that we hold ourselves ultimately responsible for patient outcomes. One of the characteristics of a Level 5 manager is that they “look in a mirror to apportion responsibility when things go poorly” (Good To Great by Jim Collins). So as a physician leader the conclusion easily becomes “If mine is the responsibility, mine alone is the decision” and thus, we go merrily on our managerial way making decisions with inadequate information and ideas. It is exactly that kind of thinking that robs us of potential “damage control” solutions.
It is not only O.K. to ask for help, especially after we have encountered a set back, it is a necessity! Harvesting the ideas of your team, listening with the intent of uncovering a hidden concept or a new approach to an old problem will pay dividends in team building and ownership of goals.
Take a deep breath, assess the damage and ask for help. If you do these three simple things you will find that not only are you likely to re-float your boat you will also be much less likely to find the hidden shoals the hard way. Your team will become your look-outs as well as the guys that pull you off the reef.
