Motivation | Martin Willoughby

15 Feb 2016

Sticky Post By overseer Posted in Attitude Permalink

HOW TO GROW YOUR WILLPOWER

Sticky Post By overseer On February 15, 2016

At the 2009 U.S. Open, Serena Williams lashed out at a lineswoman in a profanity laced tirade that not only cost her the match, but also $82,500 in fines. Serena, a former No.1 ranked tennis player in the world and holder of 27 grand slam titles, had a lapse in self-control.? Our ability to self-regulate has tremendous impact on our lives.? The lack of self-control by many politicians and celebrities has led to public displays of the disastrous results (e.g. Rep. Anthony Wiener, Gov. Mark Sanford, Charlie Sheen, etc.).? A study published in 2010, tracked one thousand children from birth to age thirty two and found that the greatest predictor of ?success? in life was the trait of self-control.? Interestingly, in a study with over one million survey responses, participants were asked to list their personal strengths, and self-control was dead last. We seem to know our own limitations when it comes to our willpower. ??Unfortunately, the challenge of self-control has led to alarming rates for crime, divorce and sexually transmitted diseases in our modern times.? In fact, social psychologist Dr. Roy Baumeister in his 1994 book ?Losing Control? argued that, ?Self-regulation failure is the major social pathology of our time.?

For entrepreneurs and business leaders, the ability to exercise self-control is extremely important.

In today?s business environment, we have constant distractions competing for our focus and energy.? We have the vast array of information of the internet readily available ? just tempting us to explore.? We can watch our favorite movies and television shows any time on portable devices we carry around with us.? Even going to the grocery store presents us with a dizzying array of choices as local groceries have now grown into megastores.? Author and performance coach Tony Schwartz noted, ?Self-control is the ability to say no, in the face of temptation, and to take sustained action, despite the difficulty of a given challenge.?? I have the good fortune to interview leaders on a regular basis. One of the common themes I hear is that it is critical for leaders to separate ?the great from the good? by learning to say no.? By saying ?no? to very good things, we are able to ?yes? to the truly great opportunities. Leaders have to make difficult decisions and lead by example.? Nobody wants to follow people who routinely exhibit poor self-control.

Schwartz also emphasized, ?Over the years, we?ve learned that nearly everything people tend to believe about self-control is wrong. Most of us assume the only way to resist our impulses, or persevere under pressure, is to grit our teeth, furrow our brows, steel our nerves, and tough it out. Precisely the opposite is true.?? In his recently published book entitled ?Willpower,? Baumeister shares the results of over two decades of rigorous scientific study on this topic which I believe will reframe how think about self-control.? Baumeister and his co-author John Tierney share that ?willpower is a form of energy in the brain. It?s like a muscle that can be strengthened with use, but that it also gets fatigued.?

What the authors found was that our energy is the key to our self-control.? We all have a pool of energy to complete our physical and mental tasks each day.? Each time we exercise self-control in an important or even trivial matter, we draw down on this available energy.? The energy source in our bodies is glucose, the simple sugar produced in our body from the foods we eat.? Researchers found that there was a direct correlation between glucose levels and self-control.? In fact, they found that, ?As the body uses glucose during self-control, it starts to crave sweet things to eat . . .?? I know when I skip a meal that I become ravenous and my own willpower to eat healthy tends to go out the door ? just give me a piece of pizza!

As we learn more about how our brains and bodies work, we can put this information to use in our daily lives. By learning to improve our willpower, we can create a huge competitive advantage in work and life.? To have more self-regulated lives, we have to learn how to manage our energy.? Below are some of the core concepts from this emerging of field of research that we can start to apply today.

Maximize Your Energy

Based on the research, we could draw the wrong conclusion that we need to have Snickers? bars with us all the time to fuel our glucose so we can exhibit better self-control.? This is obviously not the way to go. However, the key is to maintain healthy glucose levels throughout the day.? Nutritionists would tell us to accomplish that by eating more frequently throughout the day (5-6 times a day).? My own research on this topic has convinced me to be a ?grazer? throughout the day and avoid large meals.? This research also validates the advice your mother gave you to ?eat a healthy breakfast!?? Starting your work day without having a good breakfast puts you at a competitive disadvantage from the beginning of the day.? We also know that we should eat low-glycemic foods which provide sustainable sources of energy throughout the day.? When our bodies crave the afternoon snack, we need to refuel with good sources of glucose and not the cookie or Coke.? ?In addition, the research is clear that regular exercise and sleep all help us maintain the right levels of energy.? The average American only gets six hours of sleep, but performance expert Dr. Anders Ericcson has shown peak performers sleep eight or more hours a night on average. ?The bottom line is that we can be intentional about improving our willpower by better managing our energy levels.

Make Your To Do List

Baumeister and Tierney also found that one the keys to improving our willpower is have a good ?to do? list.? However, this does not mean creating pages of things that we need to get done.? Instead, they noted, ?an executive?s daily to-do list for Monday often contains more work than could be done the entire week.? We tend to have too many goals and to-do?s which diffuses our focus and energy.? Baumeister and Tierney shared a best practice for team members to weekly share up to three goals that they plan to focus on for the following week and to create a weekly accountability loop on those goals.? It is also important to pre-plan your reward for achieving your goal. ?I enjoy the great feeling of scratching an item off my to-do list. It is a simple act but brings me joy!

Clean Your Room

Research has also found that having a messy workspace leads to less self-control.? Unfortunately, those stacks of paper piled up on our desks actually are hurting our ability to exhibit willpower and achieve our goals. By ordering our workspace, we create positive momentum and don?t deplete our willpower resources. ?In fact, a clean workspace is an integral part of the Japanese 5S system of workplace organization used by many companies.

Conclusion

One of the interesting findings from research on willpower is that people with more self-control are more altruistic.? They give more to charity, volunteer more, and are more likely to be concerned about others in society.? ?It is also encouraging to me to learn that I am not a slave to my weaknesses, but that I can actually learn to have better willpower to accomplish positive things in my life.? Through implementing some of the findings described in this article and others from this emerging field of research, we have the ability to improve not only our own lives, but also those around us.? For entrepreneurs and business leaders, reclaiming this character trait of willpower and learning how to grow it could be the most important element of future success.

27 Jan 2016

Sticky Post By overseer Posted in Business Development, Leadership, Managing Your Business Permalink

ARE YOU CONTINUALLY IMPROVING YOUR BUSINESS?

Sticky Post By overseer On January 27, 2016

Is your organization getting better all the time??

Most business owners would like to think that their business is always improving; however, very few people are willing to actually do the heavy lifting to create an enterprise that is systematically improving on a regular basis. In the world of manufacturing, these concepts have been around for awhile.? American consultant Edward Deming was a pioneer in? quality improvement with Japanese industry post World War II. The Japanese term kaizen has become synonymous with continues improvement and this method was popularized by Masaaki Imai in ?Kaizen: The Key to Japan?s Competitive Success.? In his book which was first published in 1986, Imai introduced the ?LEAN? philosophy to the world and shared the secrets behind the success of Toyota and other Japanese companies.

The core principle of continuous improvement is the ?self reflection? process.? This is essentially a feedback loop that requires a willingness to be brutally honest about your organization. The purpose of this process is the identification, reduction, and elimination of poor processes. Using a commonsense approach, minor improvements are continually made in small, incremental ways in the organization with a strong emphasis on the customer.

As a company successfully embraces continuous improvement then it moves from being a best practice to becoming part of the fabric of the organization. While these concepts may have originated in the manufacturing sector, they are rapidly being adopted by service businesses, particularly in health care and technology.? There is a tremendous opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by committing your company to a path of continuous improvement.

Mississippi entrepreneur Jill Beneke formed Pileum Corporation in 2002, and she has successfully built a management consulting firm by relentlessly focusing on improving her organization. Beneke worked for over twenty years in financial services, and she was Senior Vice President of the Capital Management Group for AmSouth prior to forming Pileum.? Her father was an entrepreneur as well as her husband, so it was a natural shift for Beneke to launch her own venture when the timing was right. Pileum acts as a trusted partner to companies in multiple industries to help with their information technology and their most important asset ? their data management.? Because of this critical role the company plays for its customers, Beneke and her team have to stay ahead of the constant evolution of technology and meet the real time needs of their customers.

While Pileum may not use phrases like kaizen or LEAN to describe their internal process, they are very much committed to the path of continuous improvement.? The management team and staff continually ask the question ?How can we do things better?? According to Beneke, ?our management team gets together frequently, and we are open and honest about trying to improve.? This means that we can?t be afraid to be self-critical.?? Pileum also provides a significant amount of in-house training for its employees and pays for its employees? external training and industry certifications.? Their goal as a company is to be getting better all of the time.? For Pileum, this commitment to continuous improvement has helped separate it in the marketplace and establish the company as a leading technology consulting business.? The company now has over 30 employees and services a large number of clients in the Mid-South.

If your company is not embracing the principles of continuous improvement then time is of the essence because your competition probably will be soon.? As a leader, you can demonstrate a commitment to continual improvement and set the direction of the organization.? In order to be successful, you also need buy-in of the members of your team and for them to embrace this kaizen mindset.? While dramatic changes may not occur overnight, your team will daily be embracing a way of thinking conducive for long term success.

20 Jan 2016

Sticky Post By overseer Posted in Leadership, Motivation and Encouragement Permalink

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MOTIVATIONAL DRIVERS

Sticky Post By overseer On January 20, 2016

I have made my fair share of mistakes as a manager of people.? In my first business out of college, I co-owned a company that managed private and public tennis complexes.? One of our key staff members was the head tennis professional who was a leading tennis teacher in the area.? He had students lined up to take lessons from him which was great for our business.? In my brilliance, I went out and hired another tennis professional without consulting our long time head pro.? Within a few months, my long employee left and went to work for a competitor taking all of his students with him.? In his exit interview, I learned that he enjoyed being the sole head professional and that he did not get along well with the person I hired.? Ouch! This was a painful lesson in managing people and learning to communicate better.

Later in my career, I was apparently not much wiser.? I personally don?t like much oversight or micro-management when someone is managing me. Just point me in the right direction and let me go.? Therefore, my default is to manage that way as well.? Unfortunately, that style does not work for everyone.? I had a very talented law clerk that I hired to assist me with my law firm.? I would share some big picture ideas with him and turn him loose to work his magic.? Unfortunately, when we would reconvene, I would be very disappointed in the work product.? After several failed attempts, he finally said, ?Could you please just tell me exactly what you are looking for, and I will be glad to do it!?? I needed to hear that as a good reminder that many people need clear direction and want more detail in how to accomplish a project.

I have had my occasional good moments as a manager.? In one work setting, I shared an assistant with another co-worker. ?She was a very nice young lady who worked very hard.? The colleague I was working with had a very different management style than me. My colleague had a very stern approach and would become very upset if the work product was anything less than perfect.?? I watched my assistant leave this person?s office many times in tears.? I personally believe you ?catch more flies with honey than vinegar?, and I tried to be an encourager and challenge my assistant in a positive way to be her best.? What I learned from that experience is that my assistant would expend extra effort to get projects done for me, but would do the bare minimum not to get in trouble with my colleague.? In other words, she cared enough to give me her discretionary effort.? That lesson has stuck with me.

How we lead and inspire others in the workplace matters.? Gallup has some very interesting research on our workforce in the United States and the impact of employee engagement versus disengagement. ?They have been tracking employee engagement since the late 1990?s, and they have administered over 25 million employee surveys to measure employee engagement.? In a?recent report, they found that only 30% of the U.S. workforce is engaged in their work, and the ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is roughly 2-to-1.? For work groups with engaged employees, the results are phenomenal ? ?higher productivity, profitability, and customer ratings, less turnover and absenteeism, and fewer safety incidents than those in the bottom 25%.? ?In addition Gallup found that, ?Organizations with an average of 9.3 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee in 2010-2011 experienced 147% higher earnings per share (EPS) compared with their competition in 2011-2012.?

However, in contrast those with an average of only 2.6 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee experienced 2% lower EPS compared with their competition during that same time period. ?Gallup also estimates that active disengagement costs the U.S. $450 billion to $550 billion per year.? These disengaged employees are more likely to steal from their companies, negatively influence their coworkers, miss workdays, and drive customers away.

What I have realized in my journey is that most businesses today are PEOPLE businesses.? We either win or lose based on how well we have engaged employees working together to accomplish organizational goals. That is how you build a great brand and create loyal customers.? As we continue to distance ourselves from the industrial age into the knowledge economy, it is paramount that we as leaders understand that our employees are not cogs in a machine but living, breathing people who have hopes, desires, dreams, and NEEDS.? If we are going to unleash the greatness in our organizations then we have to unleash the greatness of our people.??

In my work with organizations, I frequently use personality tests like DISC? or Myers Briggs?; however, my favorite tool is the Birkman? assessment because it helps you understand your ?needs? as well.? If a person?s needs are not being met then they are unlikely to be a productive employee in an organization. The challenge is that people don?t walk around with their ?needs? spelled out on their resumes.? They may not even be clearly known by the individual.? As a leader, we can learn how to inspire and motivate our team members by understanding what truly motivates them.

In my search for an efficient way to practically apply these principles, I discovered a tool to help streamline this process.? Dr. Carl Hicks, a native Mississippian, co-developed with Birkman International a new tool called Understanding My Motivational Drivers.? This assessment combines the objective statistical input from millions of people who have taken the Birkman with Dr. Hicks? practical experience in working as a business consultant for several decades.

The assessment produces a short report which addresses five key topics for individuals:

(1) How to work with me

(2) How to talk to me.

(3) The biggest mistakes you can make with me.

(4) How to incentivize me.

(5) What motivates me.

I asked Dr. Hicks about this tool and he shared, ?I believe that being your best requires that others treat you as you want to be treated. This report can serve as the vehicle that permits you to review, confirm, share and discuss your expectations in an objective manner.?

I believe that tools like the ones that Dr. Hicks created are extremely important because they help individuals increase their self-awareness and leaders better understand how to unlock the greatness in their employees.? I encouraged leaders to follow the Platinum Rule which means that we treat people in the way that they want and deserve to be treated. The harsh reality in life is that the only person you can truly change is yourself.? Therefore, one of the ways that YOU can change is to make sure that you are seeking to understand what motivates your teammates and seeking to be a positive example of how to lead by helping people meet their needs. You may just be the catalyst for helping to take your organization to the next level!

08 Jan 2016

Sticky Post By overseer Posted in Health Care Permalink

THE CRITICAL NEED FOR TEAMWORK

Sticky Post By overseer On January 8, 2016

Teamwork has been a buzzword around the business culture for some time.? Leading businesses know that well performing teams are the key to profits in a business.? However, teamwork takes on a whole new level of importance in life or death situations such as military combat, airline travel, and healthcare. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, which was a revealing review of the U.S. medical care system and the inadequacy of safety practices used in the treatment of patients. The IOM report estimated that medical errors result in 44,000 to 98,000 deaths annually?more than automobile accidents (43,458), breast cancer (42,297), or AIDS (16,516). Since then, there have been a number of initiatives and task forces to address this problem, including the development and research of team based training to improve patient safety.

While the focus on teamwork in healthcare has brought improvement, there is still work to be done. The study, “Medical Errors Involving Trainees: A Study of Closed Malpractice Claims from 5 Insurers,” appeared in the October 22, 2007, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The lead author, Hardeep Singh, M.D., M.P.H., noted, “Our study confirms the relationship of poor teamwork to preventable errors and quality of care.”? The Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. stated about this study, “This study reminds us that we have a lot to do to ensure that hospitals are providing appropriate supervision to trainees and implementing team-training programs, both in the inpatient and outpatient setting.”

In addition to the obvious importance of teamwork for patient safety, there is also a critical need for effective teamwork to create the efficiencies needed to deal with increased patient volumes and decreasing reimbursements. Physicians today need to make sure they have expert teams, not just teams of experts.? Expert teams aren?t created overnight.? It?s a process and takes purposefulness and commitment.? Teams typically begin in the formation stage where people are learning, leaders are directing, and people are getting to know one another. Unfortunately, this is usually followed by the storming stage where clicks can development, a great deal of supervision is required, and disagreements can ensue.? While many teams get permanently bogged down in the storming stage, better performing teams will enter a norming stage.? In this stage, the team starts to actually work together as a team, goals and directions become clear, and the overall performance improves. Truly high performing teams will enter a performing stage where team members all exhibit leadership, self-motivation is high, and the team members all have strong skills and knowledge.? The reality is that most teams will move up and down this spectrum as they progress and decline in their teamwork.

For some, discussions about teamwork and team building conjures up images of warm and fuzzy games and retreats.? Working on teamwork can be seen as a waste of time and money and not ?real work.?? The reality is quite different.? From 1955-2008 there were over 300 empirical articles on teamwork studying over 10,000 teams. For example, a study by Eduardo Salas, Diana R. Nichols and James E. Driskell Small Group Research 2007; 38; 471 entitled ?Testing Three Team Training Strategies in Intact Teams: A Meta-Analysis? found unequivocally that team training improved performance.

There are a number of training methods that can be used to deliver results including: cross-training, event-based approach to training, scenario-based training, self-correction training, stress exposure training, team adaptation training, and team leader training.?? The reality is that physician team settings vary dramatically from emergency room, to general surgery, to primary care physicians.? The key is adapting your training to your specific environment. For those considering team training, it can be a waste of time and money unless the design and delivery of the training is based on scientific principles, the physicians take ownership, teamwork is rewarded and encouraged, and there is feedback loop to debrief and measure success.? True team development should focus on building the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of your team members and should be an ongoing process.

The handwriting is on the wall.? There is no doubt that quality of care will continue to be scrutinized with greater intensity, particularly with the shift to electronic medical records.? The link between pay and quality of care is only going to get stronger.? Physicians will have to continue to do more with less.? There will be increase pressure to see more patients and be highly efficient. At EMHC, we are continuously striving to stay up-to-date on the quality of our patient care. While more studies need to be done, we have enough data from the commercial airline industry and the military to show us that we need to strive for better teamwork in healthcare to improve safety.? Since many physicians are also entrepreneurs, they must keep an eye on the bottom line and the work of business has shown us undoubtedly that it?s hard to be profitable with a poorly performing team. In the near future developing your healthcare team won?t be a luxury, but a necessity.

30 Dec 2015

Sticky Post By overseer Posted in Culture and Worldview, Uncategorized Permalink

LEADERSHIP RESOLUTIONS

Sticky Post By overseer On December 30, 2015

The New Year brings a sense of renewal and change.? Studies show that almost half of Americans make New Year?s resolutions. Unfortunately only about 10% of those will actually achieve their goals. As you might imagine, resolutions to improve health and finances rank at the top of the wish list. ?One of the key ways to achieve resolutions is to let them become a habit.? Psychologist Williams James noted, ?All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits.?? While it is frequently said that it only takes 21 days to make a new habit stick, my review of the scientific literature on the subject indicates that it takes our brains closer to 60 days to actually rewire around a new habit.? As we enter 2015, here are a few leadership ideas to consider making a habit.

Just Say No

It?s tough to say no.? We might offend someone or miss an opportunity.? A friend of mine describes the need to ?chase shiny things? versus staying focused.? However, great leaders know that the ability to say no is critical.? As Gandhi said, ?A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.?? Leadership expert Tony Schwartz similarly emphasized, ?Saying no, thoughtfully, may be the most undervalued capacity of our times.? We have more options than ever and countless opportunities vying for our attention.? It is more important than ever to be purposeful about what we say yes to.? However, this is no easy task.? We often have to say no to many good things.? However, unless we say no to the ?good? then we will never be able to focus our time, talent, and energy on the ?great.?

Show Appreciation

Studies have shown that for knowledge workers, money alone is insufficient to motivate performance.? Dan Pink summarized this research in his book Drive and noted that workers are best incentivized by creating an atmosphere of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. ?In addition, I believe that people need authentic and genuine appreciation.? As I interview employees in organizations, I am amazed at the number of them who have never been shown appreciation in any form.? Appreciation is like a gift.? There is no reason as a leader to be stingy with this gift. ?Whether a subordinate, co-worker, or a boss, I highly encourage people to get in the habit of showing appreciation.

Follow Up

I believe one of the most difficult aspects of leadership today is living by the motto ?say what you are going to do, and do what you say.? ?As I was beginning my career, a wise businessman told me that if I would do good work, return phone calls, and do what I said then I would always have plenty of work to do.? I believe there is great truth in his advice.? As leaders, we need to make a habit of being excellent at follow up and execution.? In addition, if you have people that you are delegating to then you need to be very intentional about follow up.? One of my early mentors kept a legal pad where he wrote down every promise someone gave him regarding delivery on a project or task.? If you missed a deadline, you could expect an immediate phone call from him.? My observation was that his team knew that when they were assigned a task and deadline that he meant it.

I hope these ideas will be an encouragement to you to be the best leader you can be in 2016.

18 Dec 2015

Sticky Post By overseer Posted in Attitude, Healthcare, Managing Your Business, Operational Excellence, Uncategorized Permalink

CREATING AN ENGAGED WORKFORCE

Sticky Post By overseer On December 18, 2015

One of the key habits of entrepreneurially minded physicians is developing an engaged workforce. The Gallup Organization has done extensive research on the engagement level of employees in organizations and the overall impact on company results.? According to Gallup?s research, engaged employees are more productive, profitable, customer-focused, safer, and less likely to leave.? In the average organization, 30% of the employees are engaged, 50% are disengaged, and 20% are actively disengaged.? In comparison, in world-class organizations, 63% of employees are engaged, 29% are disengaged, and 8% are actively disengaged.

Engaged employees are those who have a positive attitude, take personal responsibility for their actions, are passionate and committed to the company?s goals, contribute discretionary effort, and are solution oriented.? These are the ?A? players on the team. Disengaged employees are those who ?punch the clock.?? They do just enough to keep their jobs and are resistant to change.? They don?t give the organization their discretionary effort and tend to react passively to problems.? Finally, disengaged employees are those who are poison pills in the organization.? They stir up trouble and recruit others to their cause s.? They blame other people for their problems and make excuses.? They erode a company?s bottom line and bring down the morale of an organization.

Physician leaders, like other organizational leaders, spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with actively disengaged employees.? They are the squeaky wheels on the staff.?? We often are forced to ignore our engaged employees as we clean up the messes of the disengaged and actively disengaged members of our staff.? Effective leaders know how to raise the bar and increase the level of engagement of their teams.? They know how to actively listen and learn what the root causes of the problems are.? They don?t ignore issues, but instead, deal with them head on.? Leaders can raise the level of engagement by sharing a compelling vision, coaching their team members, communicating clearly, raising expectations, and insisting on accountability.

In a medical setting, a poorly engaged team can lead to disastrous results.?? Patient care and safety is obviously first and foremost.? Disengaged and actively disengaged employees are apt to ?let balls drop? that can lead to safety issues for patients.?? This could include forgetting to follow up on medications or testing, or even mishandling paperwork or other instructions.? Beyond safety issues, disengaged and actively disengaged employees project their poor attitudes to patients.? The patients (customers) have plenty of options for healthcare services.? Rude treatment by staff can run off patients in a hurry.? For better or worse, these staff team members are the front line representatives.? The quality of the patient experience will largely be dictated by the treatment from the medical staff.? The net effect is that the level of engagement of a practice?s employees has a direct impact on the bottom line.

Interestingly, Gallup?s research found that engaged organizations have 2.6 times the earnings per share growth rate compared to other lower engagement organizations in the same industry.?? The engagement level of employees has a direct impact on key performance areas including absenteeism, turnover, safety, customer satisfaction, and profitability.

Creating an engaged workforce is easier said than done.? First, sometimes we have to ?get people off the bus.?? This means we have to recognize and deal with actively disengaged people.? While some employees may be salvageable, sometimes the best thing to do is to let someone go.?? A disengaged employee is obviously not happy.? We don?t do them favors by keeping them in a miserable job.? For salvageable disengaged employees and the generally disengaged, we need to learn how to be better coaches.?? We do this by observing our employees better, questioning them to learn more about their motivations, truly listening to their responses, and giving candid feedback.? Finally, we have to rally them to action.? This means that we? establish clear expectations and standards, and I prefer to put these in writing.? It is critically important to have regular accountability meetings to track progress towards goals and expectations.

It is important to remember that employees do things for their own reasons, and not their leaders.? In the end, all motivation is self-motivation.? While we can yell, scream, and threaten someone into doing their job better, they are not going to become an engaged worker utilizing that management style. Engaged employees respond best to visionary and coaching leadership styles.? The dilemma for physicians is that they are extensively trained on their clinical skills, but not on the entrepreneurial skills of being a great leader.?? Learning to be a great leader can be accomplished by first embracing it as a real priority.? Books and podcasts can be used to grow these leadership skills.? Ultimately, it is a process that the physician must undertake in conjunction with his or her team.

Regardless of your practice setting, you will likely be working with people that either work directly for you or with you.? There is no reason to allow your practice to be an ?average? organization with almost 70% of your employees disengaged.? Just imagine the patient satisfaction and enhanced profitability that you could experience if you were able to reverse that and have at least 70% of your employees be engaged.? Creating an engaged workforce is a habit that you can start today in reshaping your practice and planning for tomorrow!