Ongoing study of what makes a great leader.

With the shift in mind-set towards value-based care and preventative treatment, an important step for healthcare leaders is to communicate their vision to the teams they work with and consult them on key decisions and then the experience will be a smoother transition.

Anytime making a decision – The 4 questions approach – Result: better outcomes. Ask questions – test it out – anytime making a decision – Ask the 4 questions:

  • Why
  • What if
  • What could go wrong
  • What are our options

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal by Joann S. Lublin, “Going from Big Fish to Small Fish” with subtitle “Understanding a new company’s culture and finding connections can help a leader’s switch to a larger firm from a smaller one” (May 30, 2019):

  • “I have gone from being the captain of a dinghy to a deckhand on an aircraft carrier” said Andy Dunn, after Walmart, the biggest retailer, purchased a small men’s clothing retailer that he co-founded and led for years. “It has been really humbling” he said. Mr. Dunn is an example of an executive who changed from a powerful position at a relatively small business for a lesser role at a much bigger company.
  • “Executives can thrive in bigger ponds if they forge ties with key internal players. devise ways to influence colleagues despite their diminished authority and gain attention for their critical expertise.”
  • “The switch represents the hardest smart move an executive can make – you’re guaranteed immediate frustrations – ranging from corporate politics to risk-averse cultures“, per chief executive of an executive recruitment firm.
  • Mr. Dunn improved his ability to listen patiently because he said “a large enterprise needs a lot of folks rowing together to get things done.”
  • “The skills it takes for an executive to get something done in a huge, bureaucratic organization are very different from those needed at a smaller concern where nimbler decision-making and action are not only possible but expected.” – said a managing partner of an executive-search firm.
  • “When big fish transform into small fish, things don’t always go swimmingly” per the article regarding someone and their leadership styles allegedly differed.
  • “Don’t become a smaller fish is a bigger pond until you know what you find fulfilling in your work life” advised a person who said she doesn’t mind her reduced status because “I am able to make an impact.”
  • “Executives considering such a leap should dig deep to fully understand the bigger business’s management team, coaches say.” As an example, as part of a person’s due diligence during her six-month recruitment process at a company, she conferred with nearly executive at the company she would work with inside and outside of her area and she realized “people (there) don’t make a decision until they get buy-in. The culture is very consensus-oriented.” In her situation, someone she initially considered an ally soured on her collaboration push to offer customers a more cohesive voice about its products. The run-in led her to quit the company and take the helm of a tech startup.
  • Another example, how a person left a top management position at a small hospital system to become a strategy director for a global management consultancy company. He was a blockchain expert and he realized he would have to establish those credentials before pursuing a higher level role. He was able to show-case his know-how advising a health-care client that was considering blockchain for its information technology system. He won extra duties leading blockchain initiatives and said “There are a lot of eyes on this role. It has given me a pathway to rise.”