Becker's Hospital Review

42 POPULATION HEALTH 42 CEO / STRATEGY How Avera Health CEO overcomes distractions to connecting with employees By Kelly Gooch L eaders must be fully present with their colleagues and staff to effectively hear them and respond to them. A survey of 2,000 employees published by Bain & Co. in 2016 found that centeredness — "engaging all parts of the mind to become fully present" — is fundamental to leadership and improves a person's ability to stay lev- el-headed, listen more deeply and deal with stress. More recently, mindfulness educator Metta McGarvey, EdD, an adjunct lectur- er on education at Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University, encouraged leaders in April 2020 to practice being fully present while working to manage stress and be their most productive. But being present can be challenging with so many distractions that may take a leader's mind away from the other person in a con- versation. e COVID-19 pandemic has also made it harder for leaders to be physically present for safety reasons. Bob Sutton, president and CEO of Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Avera Health, said he thinks about being present oen, especially consid- ering the pandemic. He views it as an essen- tial leadership trait. "For me, it's about more than being there and being present. It's being there with people, that they know you're there," he said. "If you can't be with them physically, it's being with them in mind and spirit and knowing that they feel supported by your presence." This CEO's philosophy about being present From an administrative standpoint, Mr. Sut- ton said it's important that colleagues and staff feel there's enough active communica- tion and familiarity with their leaders that they feel supported in their work. And when he can be physically present, it's about taking away his distractions. "Not saying, 'My phone's ringing' or, 'I need to get to this email quickly' or 'I'm going to get to this text,' but being there, looking in their eyes, listening to the things they say. Not just asking people how they're doing, but re- ally engaging with them and listening to their reply, because if there are things you hear you can do something about, you want to make sure you have that credibility," he said. Whether it's physically or remotely, being present looks different for every leader. Some may prefer being present through verbal communication more than through written communication. But according to global nonprofit Center for Creative Lead- ership, communication is more than words, and attitude and actions elevate spoken and written messages. At Avera Health — a faith-based, 37-hospi- tal health system in South Dakota, Minneso- ta, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota — the marketing and internal communications team has helped with video messages. One sent to staff this year includes an Easter mes- sage and focuses on the organization's strate- gic plan and how every part of the health sys- tem is affected. Hope is also a key component of its messaging. "Spring is a big deal [in the upper Midwest], and we focus a lot on hope — hope the vac- cine is bringing hope with changing spring weather," Mr. Sutton said. Earlier in March, he said he ran into a small group of Avera employees at a restaurant where they were getting lunch and received positive feedback about the video messages. "ey said, 'Even though we haven't seen you over the last year as much as we used to, we HCA shareholders reject ouster of audit director, proposed executive pay measure By Alia Paavola S hareholders of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare voted against several measures at its annual meeting, including one that would increase the role quality metrics play in executive pay calculations and another to oust a director. The proposal to explore increasing the role quality metrics plays in executive compensation came from Kurt Freeman on behalf of the Graphic Benevolent Trust Fund, which owned about 410 shares of HCA stock as of late April. The trust argued in the proposal that while high-quali- ty care is the hospital operator's "primary objective," the formula used for its executive compensation "is strongly weighted toward short-term financial performance." The shareholders voted against the measure at the share- holder meeting April 28. About 9.2 percent of the 308.3 million total shares voted in favor of the measure. A second measure shot down by HCA investors was the removal of HCA Healthcare's director and audit com- mittee chair. CtW Investment Group sent a letter to HCA shareholders April 1 urging them to oppose the reelec- tion of director and audit and compliance committee chair Charles Holliday Jr. The letter came after the investment group accused HCA of excessive emergency department admissions and demanded the company's board address the issue. However, only about 7 percent of shareholders present at the meeting voted against reelecting Mr. Holliday. A third measure rejected by shareholders was a measure that would have allowed them to act by written consent. n

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