"Here's what we doctors say about administrators," a cardiologist said recently, "They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."
The comment is painfully accurate. Most leaders squander their best power: To make life better for caregivers & patients.
As a trial lawyer entering hospital leadership in 1975 I asked myself a core question & got an answer that changed my life & the lives of hundreds of thousands since.
Who is my client?"
I sat in the ER & watched patients come go. Untrained in anything but law, I wondered how I could help? A Code Blue was called. I took a few steps & stopped. What was I going to do, draft a will? I knew I could use the law to warn of the need for better care but I was given the chance to do more.
That is how it came to me. I was responsible for several departments. Maybe those caregivers were my "clients". If I took loving care of them they would take better care of patients & each other. As a side point, we would also minimize lawsuits & practices that lead to them. I had the power to impact the quality of their lives & they had the power to heal people in need!
I did not want to "miss this opportunity."
For the next forty-five years I led tens of thousands of caregivers in three different health care systems, a healthcare company & two charitable foundations. The simple leadership mission of "taking care of the people who take care of people" resonated through every place I led. Employee & patient satisfaction (also quality & finance) soared in every setting. That work continues in hospitals that practice Radical Loving Care® (RLC).
What is being squandered? Most leaders fail to practice RLC. Instead of nurturing, they threaten. Instead of removing bad leaders they tolerate mediocrity. Instead of loving their work they demean it as just a job.
Culture determines behavior. Leaders determine culture. Leaders have a massive opportunity to create cultures of loving care. When they waste that they betray the mission of the hospitals where they lead.
Please share this. Ask leaders to sit in the ER & ask themselves one question: How can I impact patient care? What if I took better care of caregivers: encouraged & inspired them, made sure they had supportive leaders, had them tell me how they give loving care & thus empower them as teachers. What if I practiced a core element of Radical Loving Care: humility.
-Erie Chapman
