CEO Leadership
Creating an Organization Open to Change and Disruption
By Barbara Carey, President, TCI
At the recent Beckers Annual Review Conference, many panelists discussed the need to embrace change and disruption as the key to future financial stability and growth. Because of the current dynamic environment of healthcare, maintaining the status quo does not seem viable.
If you are leading a single hospital or a 22 hospital system like the Cleveland Clinic, how does your organization “embrace change and disruption” at all levels from the c-suite to the maintenance
crew? How can your organization meet this critical challenge?
From what was discussed at this conference of healthcare leaders and innovators, I learned that the CEO must establish a strong culture in his or her organization that simply embraces change at the governance, policy and operational levels. If the CEO sets that cultural change as a critical goal it is like “teaching elephants to dance.” It can be done but with significant effort. The CEO must inspire, motivate and persuade. CEO messaging takes on a new level of meaning.
What are the key characteristics of CEO messaging that successfully changes the culture?
Must grab the audience’s attention from the start. People remember a story that is different, an analogy that is relatable or a very dramatic fact. For example, I opened my recent remarks to a healthcare group with “We are in a Battle for the Hearts and Minds of Our Communities and We Can WIN! But we must overcome this challenge….” I truly believe this statement and I think it comes over as being authentic.
Must use stories to reinforce your message. These stories can be from your experience or from someone in your organization’s experience. For hospitals who are working on their reputations, I tell the story of a hospital whose nurses would turn their hospital badges around in the grocery store because they didn’t want to be associated with the hospital. After two years of intense public relations and community outreach efforts, the CEO was approached while parked in his car by a person who knocked on his window.
Instead of complaining about the hospital he said, “Aren’t you the CEO of the hospital? You are doing a great job!” This was evidence of a remarkable turnaround.
Must be authentic and show some positive emotions. This is the hardest attribute that I have found for CEOs to master. However, when talking about culture and values you are touching people’s hearts and that is something that just facts cannot do. Numbers do not speak to the heart. Facts are important and employees and communities want the facts but they also want genuine remarks.
Must address the question that each member of your audience has: “What’s in it for me?” If an individual in your audience adapts the new values and culture that you are proposing, how do they personally benefit. If the CEO addresses that significant question, he or she will “win the hearts and minds” of the listeners.
Must ask for and answer hard questions. Anticipating questions and preparing good solid answers, increases a CEO's leadership and credibility. However, just being open to questions and genuinely trying to address them goes a long way to making the cultural change that is the goal.
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