It is Getting Tougher to Be a Successful CVSL Leader

Thursday, January 25, 2018 | Ginger Biesbrock

“The best leaders are not interested in selling their own ideas, but in finding the best ideas. They are not interested in having their own way, but in finding the best way.”   Dan Zadra

At the last few MedAxiom member conferences, I have noticed many of you looking less bright-eyed and more fatigued and frustrated. Whether it’s trying to navigate all the changes coming down the road (like MACRA, AUC, and Bundled Payments), or trying to figure out what to do with physician recruitment, call coverage, managing more with less, and burned out physicians/overworked staff — today’s CVSL leaders have a lot on their plates. This is true whether you are an administrative leader or a physician leader. So how do you navigate all of this while remaining innovative, visionary and moving your program to provide the best patient care possible?

I am not professing that I ever got this right as a CVSL leader; I often felt that it was one step forward and two steps back. But there are several leadership concepts I have learned over the years that I tried to live by, and think are very relevant today.

First, I had to constantly remind myself that I had two main responsibilities: to develop and support a program that provided the best possible patient care, and to assure that the providers and staff had what they needed to do their jobs on a daily basis. Taking time to step out of the administrative office suite to see the care being provided by the teams – talking with patients, talking with the physicians and teams − will keep you grounded in the “why” we are here. Sitting in meeting after meeting will not provide that same level of insight. In addition, getting out into the world will be invaluable to the teams – knowing that what they do every day and those daily challenges they face are known by you, will create connection and bring solutions you wouldn’t otherwise get. There are challenges that you have no influence over, but a team that knows you are aware of those challenges will work hard to build respect and a healthy relationship. This brings me to my second point.

A leadership strategy that still resonates with me is the concept of “Servant Leadership.” (Again, I will admit that am not sure I was all that good at this.) A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, and puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.

I recently read a book where the author apologized to her early readers as she looked back and found her writing difficult to follow and not well articulated. Well, I may say the same to those who I had the opportunity to work with in my early days of leadership. I did not understand this concept and found myself trying to manage a lot of the work, which actually took away from the ability of the team to perform—very dissatisfying for all. I think the key learning for me was that most, if not all, the folks on our teams want to be part of the vision, the developing of the right program and hitting the challenges head on when they arise. If, as leaders, we carry all the weight and shield them from this, it is dissatisfying and in some cases disrespectful. In fact, carrying all the weight will also lead to burnout and frustration for the leader. The old mantra that “it takes a village” definitely rings true. The effective leader is one who empowers his or her team to grow, develop and perform. I would also say that a good leader always has a succession plan. Who on the team is being groomed to take on the next challenge or set of responsibilities or maybe your job? It’s a healthy and rewarding position to be in if you have that person or person(s) on your team.

The effective leader is one who empowers his or her team to grow, develop and perform.

Finally, I want to share something I learned recently. I had always heard the phrase, “governance and leadership.” I thought of them as one and the same, but they really aren’t. Leadership is the developing and leading of the “vision.” It’s inspiring and empowering your team. It’s the cheerleading. Governance is the “management” of the team. It’s developing the rules of engagement and assuring that all are living by those rules. Without some level of governance, teams don’t function well; inequity is built, trust is lost and resentment within the team sets in. Governance sets expectations that are the same for all and consequences of not meeting those expectations are understood. Now, I do believe that if the leadership portion of the equation is effective and you have all the right players on the team, the management portion diminishes, but it should always exist.

So how do we maintain effectiveness and reward in our roles as leaders with all the constant changes, pressures, challenges and frustrations? I leave you with this summary of my three key learnings:

• Take a walk – go and get reacquainted with your patients and your team – remember the “why” of what you do.
• Delegate – you likely have folks on your team who would love the challenge and there is nothing more rewarding than watching people rise to the occasion.
• Have (and enforce) a few rules – don’t be afraid to have those tough conversations. We all need a “boss” once in a while and the rest of the team will appreciate it.

 

 

Ginger Biesbrock, PA-C, MPH, MPAS, AACC, is Vice President, MedAxiom Consulting. She is a respected executive, provider and teacher with 20+ years of experience in the health care industry with a concentration in clinical care and operations. Before joining MedAxiom Consulting, Ginger was Director of Operations at West Michigan Heart, a 39 Physician practice with 24 mid-level provider. At West Michigan Heart, Ginger oversaw all operations for ambulatory services, tertiary care and rural health practices. Prior to that Ginger was the COO of the Cardiovascular Group at Centra-Health.

Her areas of consulting expertise include APP Utilization, Care Team Optimization and Transitions of Care. You may contact Ginger at [email protected].

 

 
Illustration: Lee Sauer

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MedAxiom Consulting is the nation’s leading cardiovascular-specific consulting group, working with a range of private practices, hospitals and health systems across the country to improve the delivery of CV health care. To learn more about our team, please visit our website.                     

 

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