In its 2016 global CEO survey, Price Waterhouse Coopers reported that fifty-five percent of CEOs think that a lack of trust is a threat to their organization’s growth.

Stephen M. R. Covey, in his book: “The Speed of Trust,” asserts, "The ability to establish, extend, and restore trust with all stakeholders – customers, business partners, investors and coworkers – is the key leadership competency of the new, global economy."

Paul Zak, in the January/February 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review and the feature article: “The Neuroscience of Trust,” states that employees in high trust organizations are more productive, have more energy at work, collaborate with colleagues and stay with their employers longer than in low trust cultures. Regardless of industry, your job as a leader is to create a culture of trust.

In our work with clients, we coach them around the following five behaviors which are scientifically proven to promote trust:

1. Model transparency and vulnerability: While it may seem ironic, there is great power in admitting when we’ve made mistakes. In healthcare, we strive to create just accountability cultures. The most powerful and impactful leaders are those who stand up in front of their organizations and tell stories about their mistakes and the critical learning from those mistakes.
2. Leverage inquiry AND advocacy: Judith Glaser, in her book: “Conversational Intelligence,” describes three levels of conversation. All are necessary in certain circumstances, yet we tend to overuse the first two: telling, and trying to convert others to our perspective (levels I and II), and we underuse the last: transformational discussions (level III) with a mutual sharing of perspectives and an attitude of curiosity. This sharing stimulates our pre-frontal cortex which allows for our most creative thinking. “Imposing our perspective: telling behavior” can trigger another’s primitive brain (amygdala) and can result in fight, flight, or freeze reactions. Through coaching, one of my clients re-defined the 80/20 rule where it now means that she talks only twenty percent of the time and listens eighty percent of the time. The impact on her engaging with others, her talent selection success, and her ability to make strategic decisions has been powerful.
3. Identify and honor your values: What do you stand for? As I coached a physician client, she discovered that her words and actions were not honoring what she said she held as most important. She was torn between caregiving needs for her aging mother and her work demands. Through coaching, she transformed her thinking from reactionary: worrying what others might think, to purpose-driven: honoring private time AND work responsibilities.
4. Make it easy for others to provide you constructive feedback: the higher you go in organizations, the fewer people there are who feel comfortable providing you constructive feedback. My clients expect that I will offer observations of their behaviors and/or thinking that is interfering with their leadership effectiveness. One simple question you can ask on a routine basis is: “What can I do differently that would support my being a more impactful leader?” And then do it.
5. Deliver on promises and do NOT promise anything you cannot deliver: Sometimes as leaders we believe we must respond immediately to a request. In doing so, we risk promising something that we later determine is less of a priority or can’t be done. Trust means following through with commitments.

While not always easy, leaders who are committed to creating a culture of trust will continue to be disciplined around these 5 behaviors- especially in hard situations. As employees become more emotionally engaged with leadership, productivity and retention will naturally increase.

Joy W. Goldman RN, MS, PCC, PDC
Executive Director, Leadership Coaching
Wiederhold & Associates

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Culture of Performance Excellence: A simplified Approach

Physician alignment, integration and engagement in integrated delivery systems are essential elements in navigating the complexity of healthcare service delivery. Healthcare organizations need a simplified approach to realize organizational vision of comprehensive and successful alignment and integration strategies. Creating a common Vision is essential. Thomas Edison is quoted as saying “Vision without execution is hallucination.” My expertise in leading physician alignment and integration strategies leads me to believe: “Vision without execution is worse than having no vision at all.”

A vision of developing highly integrated, well-coordinated and person-centric care is essential to success in today’s healthcare market. Best practice in integration and alignment will begin with key stakeholder engagement in executing organizational vision. Physicians, as key stakeholders in care delivery, respond well to a establishing a common vision. Healthcare organizations that focus on a vision of “maximizing success in the ever-evolving healthcare industry through physician alignment and integration” will ultimately build capability to meet and exceed consumer expectations in navigating the path to value-based care.

As previously highlighted, multiple organizational gaps may contribute to not fully realizing a vision of success in a high performing integrated delivery system. This article expands on development of a philosophy of performance excellence to achieve a vision of success. The schematic shown above provides a roadmap for navigating the performance excellence journey toward becoming a fully integrated and well-coordinated care delivery system, focused on the value-based equation of healthcare.

Vision and Execution

Today’s ever-evolving healthcare industry requires a comprehensive vision of performance excellence:

• Operating/Financial Excellence (low cost, highly efficient and cost effective service delivery),
• Service Excellence (service delivery exceeding patient and family expectations), and
• Clinical Excellence (best clinical outcomes for every patient and patient population).

More importantly execution of that vision is imperative. Most healthcare organizations have developed a vision of service delivery that meets the value-based equation of operating/financial, service and quality excellence. Direct employment of physicians and other providers is one model of integration. Other models, including developing a Clinically Integrated Network, create other opportunities for integration and alignment. Either way, it is essential to build a culture of inclusion.

Execution of an organization’s vision for the future is best achieved through fostering and developing a culture of comprehensive performance excellence. Measurable results are achieved when time and energy are devoted to:

• Key Stakeholder Engagement,
• Knowledge Management/Knowledge Transfer through data analytics, and
• Formal Process Management.

Physicians, as irreplaceable key stakeholders in care delivery, should be engaged in decision making and in charting the course for success. Physicians and other key stakeholders can quickly become disenfranchised when the vision of integration is not well executed. Having physicians actively engaged at the table to participate in decision making is essential. Whether healthcare organizations are focused on growing and developing an employed physician network, or seeking to align and integrate through other means, physicians should be formally and informally engaged in:

• Governance,
• Leadership, and
• Management

This article focused on physician engagement in Governance of a Physician Enterprise Organization. The article in this series will focus on establishing Leadership and Management Structure to execute the organizational vision.

Governance:

Hospital organizations have been inviting physicians to be members of governance structures for many years. In addition to representing medical staff activities, physicians can help foster a physician friendly culture at the board level. Gaining the physician perspective of hospital operations and embracing input will contribute to an environment of high performance. Physicians are typically viewed as customers of hospital based services.

Governance within a physician enterprise organization (employed model or clinically integrated network) requires a very high level of engagement among physicians. Physician enterprise organizations have a profound impact on a physician’s practice and physician’s entire livelihood. A high level of governance to oversee and provide direction is needed. A physician led governing board is recommended. Physicians should be viewed as key stakeholders and leaders in care delivery.

While physician governance is recommended, organizations may adopt a formal governing body with corporate bylaws which define scope of responsibility and accountability, or less formal governance oversight in an advisory capacity. Scope of responsibility and accountability of the physician led governance and reserved powers of higher governing authority at a system-wide level must be clearly defined. The majority of governing body membership should be comprised of physician members with predetermined representation from medical and surgical specialties from within the group. Administrative leadership is tasked with facilitating and directing physician governance through a high level of trust and credibility.

The Governing Body of a physician enterprise organization may be structured to include the physician led board, as well as several sub-committees with defined functional oversight as defined by committee charters:

• Policy and Procedure
• Regulatory Compliance
• Physician/Provider expectations:
• Productivity
• Access
• Guiding principles related to citizenship and behavioural standards
• Quality performance
• Service performance
• Operational/Financial performance.

Sub-committees of the governing board are recommended to foster a broader level of engagement and participation among physician members of the group. The board may consider delegation of oversight to subcommittees to create focus and subject matter expertise through measuring, monitoring, reporting and improving performance. Sub-committees to consider include:

• Finance Committee
• Oversight of provider productivity
• Oversight of financial measures
• Capital allocation and approval
• Oversight of Revenue Cycle
• Clinical Quality Committee:
• Regulatory required quality reporting
• Non-regulatory quality improvement activities
• Growth Committee:
• Growth Committee
• Provider manpower planning
• Provider recruitment and selection
• Provider retention
• Provider engagement and satisfaction
• New service development
• Service Excellence/Patient Experience Committee:
• Patient experience survey process
• Patient experience expectations
• Patient experience improvement initiatives
• Informatics and Automation Committee:
• System selection
• System implementation
• System performance and optimization
• Physician Compensation Committee
• Create a common understanding of fair market value for physician compensation models
• Create incentive based compensation and align with value
• Communicate broadly among all physician members of the group
• Payer Relations and Contracting Committee:
• Contract negotiation
• Engagement in value-based initiatives

Key Take-Aways:

• Active engagement of key stakeholders is essential to fostering a culture of performance excellence
• Physicians can quickly become disenfranchised when not engaged in developing organizational vision
• Physician engagement and satisfaction in improved when organizational vision is well executed
• Execution is best achieved when the organization is focused on performance excellence in operations, service and clinical activities
• Developing and fostering a culture of performance excellence requires physician engagement Governance of the Physician Enterprise

Next Steps:

• Assess and design the Leadership and Management structure of the physician enterprise to enhance the performance excellence culture
• Knowledge management and transfer through data analytics:
• Determine the most important operational, service and clinical data analytics needed
• Process Management through formal methodologies:
• Determine the process management for the organization
• Develop leadership, management and staff to focus on processes to:
• achieve results,
• standardize operating norms,
• reduce variation, and
• hardwire best practices.

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Everyone has a passion for something. When networking with others, make it a point to find the other person’s passion. Why? People like talking about what’s important to them. How do you find out what’s important to them? Ask them. Ask what they do for fun. Ask about their family. Ask what they would do if they weren’t in their current job. Ask where they volunteer. Then simply listen. Many times you will find what’s important to other people is also important to you. That’s your connection.

When discussing yourself be sure to include information that could be potential connecting points- spouse’s name, children’s names, where you grew up, where you went to school, what you like to do, etc. Recently I was speaking with an individual about adding this type of connecting information so I mentioned my wife was from the Twin Cities area. I explained the rationale for sharing such information by stating this would be our connection if his wife happened to be from the Twin Cities. What did he say next? His wife is from the Twin Cities- that is now our connection.

People instinctively want to connect with other people. Listen for people’s passions, make meaningful connections and you’ll network successfully./p>

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Last year your employer gave you a bunch of money- what did you do for it? If you cannot clearly answer this question, you are vulnerable. In today's competitive market it is imperative to create value for your employer. Employers have problems- executives are hired to solve these problems. You must be able to clearly demonstrate a ROI on your salary- otherwise you are simply unnecessary overhead. If you cannot measure improvement in profit, sales, quality, customer satisfaction, efficiency, or cost reduction from a year ago I guarantee your employer is wondering if they are getting commensurate value with the money they are giving you.

How do you create value for your employer? First, make certain you completely understand your boss's goals- they are your goals. Second, make sure these goals are quantifiable. Third, achieve those goals. If you rinse and repeat this process year after year you will continue to create value for your employer. In turn your employer will keep giving you fistfuls of cash.

As an executive it’s easy to lose touch with staying marketable in today’s competitive environment. We all get busy doing our own jobs- it’s easy to forget about maintain and growing our network, keeping a current resume, and understanding the needs of employers. Here are a few tips on staying marketable:

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• Perform in your present job. Create value for your employer. Be intentional about achieving the results that your employer desires.
• Build and maintain a network. Ideally you want to make 5-10 phone calls per week to grow an active network.
• Help others, including recruiters and colleagues. Helping others is a simple way to maintain your network.
• Maintain (or better yet, have a professional do it) a current resume. Resumes change every 2-3 years. You want to stand out and appear relevant. You do not want an old resume as this makes you look out of touch.
• Know and communicate your value proposition.
• Know your number (X-Y’s). How have you moved the needle on service, quality, growth, market share, profitability?
• Grow professionally. Earn a degree, certification, or extra training.

If you need to sharpen your competitive edge, contact us at www.wiederholdassoc.com to learn more about staying marketable in today’s competitive environment.

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After six years of partnering with Jim Wiederhold in growing Executive and Physician Leadership Coaching within Wiederhold & Associates, Joy W. Goldman RN, MS, PCC, PDC, has been named as Executive Director of Leadership Coaching.

"We not only want our clients to find their next job; we want them to excel and grow into the best leaders they can be," states Jim Wiederhold, Founder of Wiederhold and Associates.

"Now, more than ever, our world needs effective and values-driven leaders. Joy is a person that naturally embodies those characteristics and is passionate about passing on quality leadership characteristics to others."

Coaching is a natural complement to Wiederhold & Associate’s strong reputation for providing transition services to Healthcare Executives across the nation.

"As I’ve come to know Jim and his organization, I respect not only what they do, but how they do it," states Goldman. "In relationships, we used to hear about the 'six degrees of separation.' With Jim, that is often cut down to three degrees of separation, and that’s because he’s built his business around value and trust. People trust Wiederhold & Associates to deliver excellence in what they do and put their customers’ success first with a spirit that demonstrates integrity in all that they do."

In 2017, Joy has the privilege of serving as the President of the International Coach Federation (ICF)-Maryland Chapter. She will be leading ICF MD’s board in connecting coaches throughout Maryland; supporting their professional development, and promoting the coaching profession to those who can most benefit. She will be working with regional and global coaches to support ICF’s mission of leading the global advancement of the coaching profession. As part of this effort, she will be partnering with over 200 coaches throughout the globe when she attends the ICF Global Leaders’ Forum next year in Warsaw, Poland.

In the future, we look forward to sharing success as told in stories that are co-created with you, our clients. Nothing makes us happier than to celebrate YOUR victories.

Here's to your success,

Jim

Do you have years of experience or one year of experience, repeated each year? We want to grow each year and create real, tangible value for our employer. Now is the perfect time to write down and record the value you created in 2016. I’m not talking about serving on committees, task forces or anything that is activity based or simply spending time. I’m talking about real results- the kind your employer pays you to produce.

Take a look at improvements over the year in the following areas:

• Customer service,
• Employee engagement,
• Community perception,
• Quality,
• Sales,
• Revenue growth,
• And profit.

Any noted trends or themes (especially across multiple years) become your value proposition. This is what you’re known for - your personal calling card.

As you look forward to 2017, make sure to build on your successes in 2016 while working on any developmental gaps. We want to continuously grow and develop as this helps shape and improve the value we bring to our employer.

Happy New Year!

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The time to kick your transition work into high gear is right now, while everyone is celebrating. The minute you finish reading this get out your list of healthcare executives you know.

Why? December is the very best time to raise your visibility and re-establish connections, personal AND professional. Don’t bring an agenda, apart from extending cheer and good will. Hand write a short note in a holiday card, even if it is just to say you hope they have a prosperous new year. And don't forget to hand address the envelope too. Don’t ask about job opportunities, instead sincerely ask about them. If you only know their email address send them a personalize note that way. But send something so they know you are thinking of them.

If you are asked about your work or your search, be ready with a short, honest and upbeat answer. Of course, follow the conversation if your colleague wants to talk about work, but don’t press it. This is networking of the joyful kind – strengthening bonds to your family, friends and community that will nourish you the rest of the year.

I suggested this a few years ago and here is what one of my clients experienced.

Try it and see what kind of response you get!

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When I picture a great leader, I picture someone who never lets their temper get out of control, no matter what problems they are facing. I think of someone who has the complete trust of their staff, listens to their team, is easy to talk to, and always makes carefully informed decisions.

What I have described is an emotionally intelligent leader.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to be keenly aware of your own emotions, and the emotions of those around you. These individuals are aware of the root cause of their emotions and how their emotions affect those around them.

According to Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist who helped to popularize Emotional Intelligence (EI),
there are five main elements of emotional intelligence:

The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence.

To be effective, leaders must have a solid understanding of how their emotions and actions affect the people around them. The better a leader relates to and works with others, the more successful he or she will be. The good news is, Emotional intelligence can intentionally be developed.

We are facing a critical era of transformation in healthcare and success is entirely dependent upon strong leadership. As you rise through the leadership ranks you must master Emotional Intelligence as a key component if you hope to become a great leader.

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Every journey starts with the right attitude, passion, and confidence.

Many people find networking to be challenging. Most people find a way to do the things they are passionate about. If you're not passionate about networking, it is possible that you simply do not see the wealth of value that comes from developing a healthy network.

I've interviewed over 1500 people in the last 23 years. Not just a surface interview, but an in-depth interview. I always ask the question, "Where did you find your current job?" In 70% to 80% of the cases regardless of level, people found their next opportunity through their network, a relationship built over years.

The Value of a Healthy Network:

• Competitive Edge: A large and deep network will give you information, you could never reach in isolation. Too many of us become trapped within the four walls we work in.
• Resources: Tap into subject matter experts, fill positions, and gain valuable Industry information from known, credible sources.
• Reputation Management: Being attacked on the internet can tarnish your reputation. A large and deep network that supports and believes in you can minimize that situation.
• our Next Opportunity: I can't tell you how many times an opportunity was offered to a particular person because they were known within their network and "believed it would be a good fit." You can secure your next opportunity and your career with little competition through networking.
• Time in transition: It has been proven that there is a direct correlation between the size and depth of your network as it relates to the time you are between jobs. The better your network is, the shorter your transition will be.

Now that you understand why it is important to have a solid network, it should be easy to get passionate about expanding it. If you are unsure about where to begin, below are a few ideas to get you started

Keys to Expanding Your Network:

• Be intentional: Dedicate yourself to at least two calls a week.
• Choose wisely: Reach out to both people you already know but are not in regular contact with and new people you would like to connect based on your next career step, resources, influence, and information.
• Plan your call: Do your homework- there is so much information out there that you shouldn't have any problem knowing with confidence your opening line or question.
• Be Reciprocal: Give your audience as much value as they give you.

Enjoy the Journey

Not everyone will want to join your network, and that is ok! Keep trying. Expanding your network is a learned skill that will improve with practice. Develop a system that will help you recall information from past interactions and keep you on track to follow up in the future. As long as you are moving relationships forward, YOUR EFFORTS WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.

If you would like more tips of how to add value to your network including in-depth training on what makes a great network call, then let me know. I am ready to share my secrets to success!

Jim

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Leadership is such a broad subject with many important subcategories.

We are in a time of great challenge to our leaders both inside and outside of healthcare. Great challenge creates great stress. Our leaders live and work in a fishbowl and must realize that every move they make whether it's verbal or nonverbal will be noticed and analyzed.

Good leadership, as with anything else, starts with character. Everybody wants it, but it has so many definitions. Everybody sees a lack of it in others but not in themselves.

I'm in the process of reading the book, "Louder than Words," by Andy Stanley. I'm not finished with the book but I'm enthralled with the subject matter. It focuses on the definition of character. Because I'm faith-based, I will adhere to Andy's following definition:

Character is the will to do what is right, as defined by God, regardless of personal cost.

So easily stated, it's so difficult to achieve. Perhaps it's like mastery, we strive for it, but never get there. For others who are not faith oriented, I would suggest defining what the right thing is but not changing the second half of the definition.

Leadership Starts Here: Doing the Right Thing

Secondarily, leaders did not get to where they are today without utilizing strengths that have made them successful. But under stress, those same strengths can become weaknesses. Beyond that, everyone has certain "derailers" that can be triggered by stress as well as other influencers. By giving into these triggers, the ability to keep good character intact becomes difficult.

Recognition, or awareness, of the "derailers" is not always present within the leader. Leaders should develop feedback mechanisms that they can rely on and will accept. Gaining awareness of these triggers/influencers is a highly valuable personal investment. Once these triggers are identified, passionately pursue how to change them.

In stressful challenging times, these two components are essential to successful long-term leadership.

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Tell me about yourself… (hint - you only have two minutes!)

The famous question, “Tell me about yourself.” This is not an open invitation to incessantly talk for minutes on end about your life from start to finish in exquisite detail. I used to think everyone else thought my life was as interesting as I thought it was - wrong! The fact is, no one really cares (that much). You have two minutes to answer this question. And, it needs to be a structured answer that includes the following:

• Humanizer - make a connection and be likeable/personable
• Career progression - make sense of your career moves
• Value proposition - what are you known for?
• Personalize - what do you like to do? Make a connection and humanize.

If you only remember two things, simply be brief (around two minutes) and clearly communicate your value proposition. What are you known for? What is your calling card? Remember, organizations have needs and people have skills. Be clear about your skills and match them with the organization’s needs.

Coaching comes in many forms but the goal is to help you become the very best version of yourself as a leader, executive, and whole person.

As you know, I have been coaching executives for years to help them become their best. Through the power of technology, my coaching capabilities have been extended into a new dimension. I am excited to present the 2016 Webinar & Telebridge Series.

Webinars:

Once a month, Wiederhold & Associates will be inviting renowned speakers to address leadership topics in healthcare in this interactive online series. The next scheduled webinar is in April and will be free to ALL registrants. Beginning in May, we will continue to offer these webinars free to only our Premium Active Network Group members and current clients. There will be a nominal registration fee for everyone else. There are limited spots for each session so make sure you register early and take advantage of this opportunity to learn from national experts! Email us to request topics and dates.

Telebridge Calls:

As a new benefit of our Premium Active Network membership in 2016, Wiederhold & Associates will implement the following program each month. I am hosting a Telebridge (conference call) meeting with any of our premium active network members who want to participate. In that meeting, I will answer questions you may have related to your career, whether you are gainfully employed, in transition, or thinking of looking for a new position. This is sure to be a time of enrichment that will aid you in developing a lifetime of success.

Before each TeleBridge meeting, we will announce the initial topic of discussion. Once we conclude that topic, we will move on to other subjects relevant to the group. Our first meeting was an excellent discussion of interim work in the healthcare Industry from both sides of the equation. This will be the initial subject of our next TeleBridge Premium Active Network meeting. After the initial topic is addressed, any subject that the group wants to talk about is fair game.

I will facilitate these meetings as well as disseminate a summary to the participants from these sessions. The Telebridge calls are an excellent opportunity to learn and engage with relevant healthcare subjects.

Through these programs, you are sure to make valuable connections & gain critical industry insights throughout the year. I look forward to connecting with you.

Here's to your success,

Jim

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I constantly hear the statement that nothing happens between Thanksgiving and New Year's day. That idea becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that can prevent you from moving forward in the new year.

The time between Thanksgiving and New Year's day is what I referred to as Relationship/Gratitude month.

It is the perfect time to build and solidify relationships by giving thanks to those that have helped you in the past year as well as those that will help you in the new year. This show of gratitude, when done without an agenda and with great sincerity, will strengthen business partnerships that can carry you into the new year and beyond.

As you all know, the opposite of gratitude is ingratitude. When you don't express gratitude and you assume the other person understands your perspective, what you really are expressing and certainly not intending to, is ingratitude.

Call up those people that have given you so much over the past six months to a year and just say thank you. Use the holiday season to send out cards to those you don't call. Individualize each card with a note and your own signature. Make your audience feel special. Remember, this is about quality not quantity.

Here's to a prosperous new year!

Jim

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Even though it's later in December it's not too late to make the right impression. December is always the month that I focus on my established, new relationships and potential relationships. Take time to thank those that have helped you and that can potentially help you. Be creative in your communications and find ways to differentiate yourself. Whatever you do, personalize it and make sure the receiver feels like this was made just for them. Get outside your comfort zone and always be sincere in what you say. Try to focus on the personal side, don't have an agenda.

It doesn't have to be about business at this time of year.

Please don't hesitate to share some of your creative ideas with me.

What should you do when an opportunity goes away?

The opportunity represents the short term; we now need to focus on the long-term.

How to do this:

FOCUS on the recruiter you worked with, how will you stay in touch; the employers you connected with, how will you stay in touch; the other contacts you reached out to for information about this opportunity, how will you stay in touch?

You now need to think through:

• How will you stay in touch, what will the process look like?
• How did you react to the news, demonstrate your professionalism?
• People feel guilty when they deliver bad news, how will you take advantage of it?
• How can you ensure getting some honest feedback from the people in the process so that you can improve your process?

In 2013, I will celebrate 20 years of being an entrepreneur. In 1993 when we started our focus was on the recruiting side, but over the years our business has become strictly focused on transition. It was initially only external transition, but now involves internal transition as well as executive coaching. A very wise person once said to me, “since you know so much about why people separate or fail in their careers/jobs, why don't you take that information and also use it to help people stay gainfully employed?” We listened and that's when we started the executive coaching part of the program.

In those years, as I worked with executives and senior managers it became apparent to me why in most cases people separate from their organizations. And when I say separation, I am focusing on individuals that have been on some level asked to leave or left through mutual agreement. Those reasons have little to do with performance and understanding the task at hand or having the technical skills to execute their jobs, but around what I would label “soft skills”. Soft skills would include things such as communication, listening, emotional intelligence, messaging, relationship building, and conflict resolution. In most cases as we tracked back their last 60 to 90 days of employment, it became apparent that, first, this was no surprise and second, it had more to do with key relationships and politics.

My job is all about talking with people and the majority of them, despite rising high in the organization, are very much focused on task. I by no means, am saying that that is not important, but it is only half the equation. The other half is the soft skills. And then the next question becomes: why do we not pay attention? Here are some of my observations over the years; this is by no means a comprehensive list:

• Do not see it as important
• Are not comfortable with the soft skills
• They are difficult to measure
• They are the first thing to be neglected in a stressful situation

My point is this: life is about balance and one must strike a balance between achievement and mastering the soft skills. If people would do that, they would be in much greater control of their own destiny career-wise. It's time to start paying attention or continue to repeat the past.

Kyle and I just returned from an eight-day engagement with an organization that will probably be purchased by a for-profit system. This particular hospital is faith-based and has been part of this community for a very long time. I have had the privilege of working with their VP of HR over the last 5+ years with individuals who transitioned out from this organization. He had the foresight to bring us in to work with his executive team and key vice presidents and directors facing an uncertain future. Our focus was to give reassurance, provide new options and give them superior knowledge of the transition process both external and internal. This involved two days of group sessions and 17 individual video interviews with specific feedback for each individual. This not only required a great deal of hours during the workday as well as many hours afterward burning these DVDs and preparing for the next day.

Our takeaways:

• We made a difference. The journey may not always be what we want it to be, but knowing what will happen and how to prepare will make it that much easier. Going into this journey with a positive attitude makes it even better.
• If the way these individuals welcomed us and went out of their way to make our visit comfortable is the way they treat their patients, then the next time I have to be in a hospital as a patient, this is the place I want to be.
• Communication is the key on all levels. People can accept most anything when they are effectively communicated with in a timely manner, without information gaps, and with a focus on sending the right message.
• You would think that 17 people would all look the same after a while, but they all had a unique story worth our attention. Those differences made it easy for us to not become repetitive in our counsel, but to find something unique for every individual. That made the experience even more exhilarating.
• We all need to better understand the difference between what we can control and what we cannot. There are times that we have done all we can do and still the final outcome is not what we hoped. By not understanding this delicate balance we can do irreparable damage to ourselves and our careers.
• What I have always know, but was again reinforced, is there is no more powerful relationship builder than the face-to-face meeting. Other communication options pale in comparison.
• We can always continue to learn. Interviewing has always been the strongest part of my repertoire and doing these 17 interviews back-to-back I learned some things that will make me even more effective.
• The leader sets the tone for the organization. His/her personality is reflected in the leadership team. The leader here, in my estimation, set the right tone.
• These individuals and this organization have faced some serious challenges, much of which have been outside their control yet they have never given up. They have much to be proud of and I wish them the best and we will continue to help them in any way we can. With these individuals this is not the end, but a new beginning.

Both Kyle and I are returning home, feeling good about our efforts. We are hopeful that our newfound friends will end up exactly where they want to be.

I am not naïve enough to suggest that every process is perfect, but I am convinced that well-thought-out ones, when followed, produce outstanding results on a consistent basis. My question and challenge to you today is why do we ignore them and attempt to circumvent them only to ensure our own failure? I see this so much in career transition where I am focused. In my mind, I see three possible reasons. First one: I have not used this process before so I'm not convinced completely that really works. Second one: I am impatient and I want the results yesterday. Third one: I know everything and I can ignore or change this process and be more successful. Now keeping this in mind let me relate it to a real situation I'm currently involved in.

I am currently in Denver, Colorado, actually about 50 miles southwest of Denver Colorado at about 9000 feet. I am here training for a half marathon on May 19th in Denver. I have some wonderful friends that allow me to stay with them during this two-week period. This is my second year. Let me share with you what I experienced the first year. First, I accepted the fact that I'm not an expert in this area and I needed to seek out experts. Why did I need to seek out experts? I did because most of my running takes place in Houston and in Atlanta. The cities are at approximately 34 feet above sea level and 900 feet above sea level respectively. As you all know, Denver is the mile high city that puts it at approximately 5280 feet. This fact alone created much concern and apprehension on my part. So after talking with many experts I developed a process that would help me adjust and perform at this level respectably. I had never executed this process but I knew I had to stick to it. I had to be patient and have faith in it. Believe me, that was a challenge on many days. When I say many days I felt like I was coughing up a lung, most you would understand that. I didn't feel the process was working for me, but I said I'm going to stick with it because people who knew better said it would work. And in the end, when I ran the event, it was one of the best runs of my life. As I mentioned, I am now back in Colorado and using the same exact process. The major difference this year is that I know the process works. Last year, I had to do it on faith and by accepting my experts’ expertise. Having experienced the process with success also added to my confidence.

What is my point? We cannot be experts in everything, accept that, and find an expert to help you build the process. Now once you are done with the experts, create the process. Then comes the tough part. Adhere to the process without circumventing it or changing it and no matter how impatient you become or concerned over your progress, stick with it. Stay focused on incremental gains not huge ones. Accept that you will have minor setbacks and you will have your bad days but in the end you will have a successful journey. Proven processes are tools for success. Stick with them and you will improve your chances for both significant and consistent success greatly. When you become the expert in that area, then you can make those changes to the process, but not before.

Whether you're in transition or not, the concept of controllable versus non-controllable and desires versus goals is key to your success. When people are frustrated more than likely what they're doing is focusing on what's not controllable versus what's controllable. Here's a simple example; I can control the phone calls I make. The number of calls, the frequency of follow-up, the message I deliver, and the attitude I convey, but I can't control somebody calling me back, I can only influence them. If we would learn to focus this way, we would be much more successful and much less frustrated. I think we can all agree that frustration is a pretty useless emotion.

So the first thing we work on with our clients in transition is to start defining what controllable and uncontrollable is by the use of very definitive examples like making phone calls and receiving phone calls, asking somebody to expand your network and having them deliver a name. We need to stay focused on what we can control and not on what we can only influence. This applies to transition and everything else whether it’s business or personal.

Now let's add goals versus desires. When someone begins their transition we talk about goals that we can control versus desires, which we can only influence, and are not controllable. How does that translate into transition? We focus on four things which are controllable. First, the number of hours you dedicate each week to the search. Second, the number of calls you make each week which does not include those you receive. Third, asking for people to expand your network and not necessarily receiving a name, you can't control that and finally, getting out pieces of paper which translates into resumes and cover letters to recruiters and employers for specific openings. This also includes direct marketing letters to organizations you may have an interest in working with.

If something is a desire, it can always be broken down into specific controllable goals that will get you there. It can apply to anything business or personal. Try it on and see if it fits.