| How
To Develop Your Leadership Skills
Let’s face it. Just
being a provider of primary healthcare requires many
different skills, many different hats to wear during
every day. Like it or not, it comes with the territory.
Patients, your community, staff, they all look to
you for direction and guidance on many issues.
Like so many things in practice and
in life, many of these skills are learned, but there
are things you can do the speed the process, and improve
greatly your effectiveness as a leader.
I think there are three areas of the
leadership ladder in which good is separated from
great. These primary areas include:
1. Your organizational skills and
systems.
2. The ability to make rapid, effective decisions.
3. The ability to communicate at an emotional level.
So, what I will do in this article
is to discuss these three, with an eye towards powerful
results.
Let’s take organization first. Specifically,
some how tos.
This is as much a state of mind as
everything else. And this is one area you can’t hide.
Let’s be frank. Sloppiness spills over into many areas
of life. It’s an attitude as much as anything. Remember,
clutter creates chaotic results. As you expand and
grow in practice and life, better organizational systems
need to precede expansion for great results.
If your own office or desk is sloppy,
everybody knows it! If you take a guest to lunch and
your car is a dump, I believe your personal impact
is greatly reduced, like it or not. And your personal
appearance says tons about you, before you utter a
word.
Worse yet, misplaced or lost records
or items in your practice, can spell disaster. Literally.
Law suits. Malpractice even!
The answer here again, lies in systems.
To start with, you may only need very basic ones.
Files, label makers, sharpies and bankers boxes are
low tech solutions in many cases. Even better is electronic,
paperless storage of documents. Do not underestimate
this when planning or redesigning your work areas
either! Get a HIPAA compliant recycler for anything
outdated, or unneeded. This is real short money, way
less cost than professional shredding companies. This
not only frees up space, but valuable time as well.
Just make sure you get that HIPAA certificate up front!
And do not underestimate what clutter
actually does. It’s a mental and physical distraction,
and in a professional setting can weaken your potential
impact with staff, as well as patients and colleagues.
So, get the clutter out! Hire an organizer if you
need. At home, there are people you can hire for little
money to take your unused stuff to sell, recycle,
or give to the less fortunate. Again, do not underestimate
what this does for personal productivity.
Next, let’s tackle decision making
skills. Nothing is worse in my mind than an indecisive
professional. It says “weak” to staff, and colleagues.
It says I am not in the right place to patients.
Here’s the real key. You get better
at making decisions with the small stuff first! Now,
I am NOT saying be hasty, just for expediency. I am
saying just take all the essential data, and then
act. Write it down on paper, in pro and con columns
if need be on complex issues. This is where good old
pen and paper still outperform everything. Of course
if it’s not an emergency, apply more critical thinking
time on potentially life changing issues.
Then just move on! And live with the
results. That is how you gauge progress too. Remember,
your entire life ‘til now is a by product of your
decisions. If you’re not moving in the right direction,
your decision making process still needs work.
Let’s next talk about communications.
Bad communications probably cost more time, money
and energy, than the prior two components combined
and likely the cause of unneeded stress and energy.
The lingering effects of bad communications destroy
relationships, sometimes forever.
Wherever possible, write staff communications
down, so there is no confusion. Issue these at staff
meetings, and keep permanent signed copies with your
compliance manual. With everything else, use all the
modern tools at your disposal, like fax, email and
log books, especially when in comes to office records.
Get in the habit of brevity and simplicity.
Longer is not usually better. There is a time and
place for narrative format, but rarely in day to day
activities. It does not hurt to take a look at style
references, the type you used back in high school
often will suffice. Again, the more clear and concise
the message and instructions, the better the final
products of your efforts will be. Do not make anything
more complex than it must be, especially with staff
and vendors.
Lastly, whenever it’s appropriate
use emotional words that help convey feelings and
reasons why. In reality, these are the real reasons
people act on a request. Reasons also make orders
to subordinates more palatable, and likely to be executed
correctly the first time too. The same goes with patient
care. Patient compliance goes way up, when real reasons
why are made obvious to them.
In summary, good leadership comes
from practice, at the most elemental performance of
duties and decisions. Organization, decision making
and effective communications. Just remember, even
minor changes with these three items can have very
long term, often permanent consequences.
Dr.
John Hayes, Jr.
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