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Becker's Hospital Review 5th Annual Meeting - call (800) 417-2035 66 I 've found people who are most successful in aligning actions to achieve desired results have one overarching skill: the ability to con- nect with both the heart and mind of those they lead, work with, or care for and serve. Healthcare people are both scientifically minded and deeply passionate about their work. When we connect to the mind, we're appealing to their logi- cal, data-driven, evidence-seeking side. When we connect to the heart, we're appealing to that pas- sion and the values they bring to work every day. With patients, too, we need to be able to explain a diagnosis, lay out a treatment regimen, discuss medication doses and instructions, and so forth. That's the mind part. We also need to provide com- fort, reassurance and hope. That's the heart part. High-performing leaders who have this ability exhibit certain characteristics. Here, I'll examine eight of the most effective. Authenticity Authenticity creates the trust necessary to instill a culture of high performance a culture of high performance one person at a time. Becoming an authentic leader is not necessarily easy, but it is simple. We just start by telling the facts, even when it's difficult (especially when it's difficult). We stop sugarcoating. We stop practic- ing we/they. We learn how to have the tough con- versations rather than avoid them. We start being who we are no matter who we're talking to. When we can become more authentic, those we lead are more likely to believe us and comply with what we ask them to do. Empathy Every data point I have read says that when some- one feels cared about, they listen better, work harder, are more comfortable asking questions and seeking help, and are more likely to stay in the organization for the long term. Being an empathetic leader doesn't mean we get caught up in the emotions of our staff or try to "fix" them and take on their burdens. It means we really focus on employees when they are talking. While we may not agree with them or give them the answer they want, we make sure they know they were heard. This requires leaving the proverbial "ivory tower" and connecting with staff regularly. Many of the classic Studer Group tactics — rounding for out- comes, 90-day meetings and employee forums, among others — help us become part of our staff's world. To accomplish this we need to be open about our own shortcomings so others can learn from them. We don't mind saying, "I made that mistake my- self, so I know where you are coming from. Let me tell you about it." Moving a conversation back to point Tom Cassidy, a longtime healthcare professional, taught me this. When he met with any leader or group of leaders whose results had not met expec- tations, he asked why. He noticed a lot of energy would was then focused on all the reasons results were what they were. He shared with me that what he finds to work best is to move right into the question, "What is go- ing to happen to get back on track?" Whenever he asked this, defensiveness went down, a sense of relief set in and all energy was spent on moving forward. The faster one can move into the present and fu- ture, the better the present and future will be. When to push…and when to hold back Being a leader is about being able to manage the gap between where a person is and where they need to be. Too much pushing can shut the person down. Too little pushing will not create enough action to achieve the goal. After observing many highly effective people at work, I've come to see that the best time to push is when things are going well. That's when people are feeling the most confident. On the flip side, when an organization or person is not achieving the desired outcome, support may be the best way to lead. The key is to build self-confidence. This doesn't mean accepting poor performance. It means pulling a person or an or- ganization out of their self-defeating mindset. Limiting and sequencing changes When my Studer Group colleagues are asked to assess an organization, it's usually due to incon- sistent results. By this I mean they're seeing too much variability in outcomes, or outcomes have flattened or decreased after some positive gain. While there are many reasons for the two issues, we find one cause shows up more often than oth- ers: Because healthcare people are so passionate about making things better, we may try to do too much too soon and get overwhelmed. Too much too soon is passion's sneakiest side effect. I have read, and I believe it to be true, that the less change a person tries to make, the better chance for success. My suggestion is to be patient and select one or two items to implement or enhance. Do them fre- quently and long enough to see the outcomes, and then decide if another action is needed. Breaking actions into understandable steps Any process will be more successful if it is broken into doable steps during implementation. In fact, phenomenal results are achievable. For example, a very effective technique in patient communication is what we call AIDET®. It's an acronym that stands for Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation and Thank You. Quite of- ten leaders say, "We are now going to use AIDET during every encounter to reduce patient and family anxiety." Even though the staff sees the why, there can still be concern. People will say, "How can we possibly do this? We are so busy." My suggestion is to take it one letter at a time. One emergency department selected the letter D. They focused on making sure patients and fami- lies were aware of how long it would be until they were seen, when they would get test results back, when they would be moved to a room, when they would be discharged, and so on. After some months, the ED's patient experience results showed marked improvement and every- one enjoyed a better work environment. Duration had been so incorporated into staff's daily work that it was now second nature. Now the staff was Connecting with Hearts and Minds: A Set of Qualities and Skills Every Leader Needs By Quint Studer, Founder of Studer Group