By Mark Watts
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Click here for Part 1.
As health care imaging leaders strive to guide their organizations through complex and uncertain times, they face increasing workloads, conflicts between time for care and time to meet regulatory demands, and a sense of loss of control. Burnout is common.
No margin, No mission
Changing payment models make it even more challenging than usual to find a path to positive margins, and many imaging leaders become preoccupied with that path. However, even though “no margin, no mission” remains as true as it ever was, I believe it is a mistake to place dominant emphasis on financial performance. In my study of transformational health leaders, I suggest that it is possible to achieve both mission and margin – and avoid burnout – by focusing first on the personal and organizational values that fulfill the triple aim of better care, better health and lower cost. While money is still part of the equation, these leaders keep it in its proper perspective.
One such transformational leader, Sister Mary Jean Ryan, founding CEO and former chair of multistate system SSM Health, once said, “I worry about finances, capital and so on. But none of it matters if we can’t provide safe care.”
This message was made repeatedly from the 10 CEOs I studied in the book “The Heart of Leadership.” They were chosen by polling contacts, and their contacts, for the names of leaders they considered transformational. The 10 that we chose, all nominated by multiple people, have sustained higher levels of performance compared with their peers in similar circumstances across a range of measures – including safety, quality, financial health and public recognition. They came from different kinds and sizes of health care institutions, varied geographies and a range of backgrounds. By training, four were nurses, three were physicians and three were non-clinicians. They were interviewed in depth and the author spoke to their employees, colleagues and board members.
I found that the same emphasis on patient-care values was more powerful from the employees of these organizations. They were just as passionate, committed and energized as their leaders. All were engaged and felt positive about what they could accomplish together, and they exhibited no signs of burnout.
I was interested in what made these CEOs tick and how they influenced organizational performance. I read the interviews and it showed that they all shared personal values and similar approaches to shaping organizational priorities, culture and decision-making.
We identified four personal values and five organizational values that all our study subjects share. (The quotes each refer to a different leader.) The personal values are:
- Passion for care. Some of our subjects had been involved in a family member’s care, while others had some other type of direct experience with patient care that fired their enthusiasm. Regardless of its origins, these leaders share a personal passion for care that they communicate to those around them: “The patient matters most to her”; “He is unwavering about the mission – he has a constancy of purpose”; “She has a strong sense of integrity of what’s right for patients – she lives and breathes it.”
- Hunger for learning and reflection. These leaders are intelligent, eager for learning and able to find time to be reflective. They see these priorities as an essential part of their responsibility: “She continues to expand her personal management toolkit and inspires me to do the same”; “He is a tremendous learner and listener”; “She has a great capacity to integrate information – a student of leadership.”
- Authenticity. These leaders’ words match their actions and are marked by authenticity and humility: “ ‘I’m here because of you’ is a quote from the CEO to all staff after a major national presentation”; “She is impeccably true to her words – she is a servant leader”; “I trust him with any decision because he will always do the right thing for patients, the business, employees – and he will not accept otherwise.”
- Genuine interest in people. It is obvious to employees and colleagues that these leaders care about them and trust them: “There’s a ‘thereness’ when she’s with others. She will swivel her chair, move in and doesn’t look at her computer while listening”; “He has a desire to be with and around people to hear what is important to them, what they need.”
Imaging leaders and clinicians alike must evaluate the degree of personal alignment at every level of their organizations. Otherwise, as you dive deeper into health care transformation, you will encounter a lot of friction and wasted energy.
In the face of the new force in the transformation of health care delivery it is important for us to consider our leadership traits and purpose to create alignment to “change for good.”
Mark Watts has over 20 years as an imaging professional with vast expertise in imaging informatics and IT issues. He has served in many roles in both hospitals and industry as a health care vice president, imaging director, and IT consultant. His knowledge and experience in the convergence of IT and imaging has made him a sought after author, speaker and consultant. He has authored a textbook on informatics and was a pioneer in the adoption and development of PACS and VNA technologies.