Plan Ahead and Manage Effectively

From my experience working with executives over the past 27 years I have learned a great deal about how executives tend to do a poor job in managing and planning for advancing their own career.

Before I share my observations with you on advancing your career, let's define manage and plan:

Manage: Be in charge of, administer, run

Plan: Decide on and arrange in advance

Though desiring to advance, many healthcare professionals have plateaued in their career and are unsure how to regain momentum. Obviously, they had an idea of where they were going when they started, but never took the time to actively and consistently plan and manage their careers which have resulted in advancement delays.

Gaining the Right Focus

It is also not uncommon for well-meaning professionals to overlook particular skills that create the opportunity for advancement. Even if they were lucky enough to have a mentor, most of that effort and time was focused on expertise rather than the soft skills necessary to become an excellent leader. Aiming at the right target will yield the best results.

How much more successful would you be if you knew

how to plan effectively and manage your career?

Please join us for our upcoming webinar on May 25, at 2:00PM ET, where I will be sharing key ideas that will help you put momentum back into your career journey.

Learn More

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Everyone recognizes nursing plays a huge and vital role in our hospitals and healthcare systems today. Nursing, like any other area of healthcare, needs experienced coaches and mentors.

Please remember the optimum word here is experienced.

Here are some of my observations from my 27 years of healthcare experience:

• The aging of America will create more need for nurses and nursing leadership.
• Nurses don't seem to be very well represented in the CEO role.
• Because of their training, they seem to struggle with their assimilation into that role.
• Nurses move up into management roles within the nursing department because they were good nurses which doesn't always guarantee they'll be good managers.
• Like many others who are promoted into management roles, nurses are generally not offered a great deal of assistance as they move into these new and challenging positions.
• The chief nursing officer role is not attractive to younger nurses developing their careers.

Wiederhold & Associates believes that Nurse Leadership is an important area to invest in. We know that the very skills that make effective nurses (great communicators, creative problem-solving abilities and leadership acumen) are also the skills that make great leaders. With proper guidance, the transition into a senior leadership role can be very successful.

To maximize the success of our nursing clients, we have partnered with Nursing Leadership Coach Diane Scott. With her strong clinical background, Diane has a deep understanding of the nurse executive role.

Diane explains, "Senior nursing leaders usually are in charge of the majority of theworkforce of any healthcare organization. They are often promoted through the ranks and experience challenges with increasing their ability to critically think at their new leadership level. However, once they reach that level, the new challenge is the overwhelming desire to meet the mission of patient care and balance a seemingly polar opposite of managing the numbers, especially financials. They also struggle with developing a self-strategy for their career, finding it too self-serving and not patient driven.

The most successful senior nursing leaders learn that by increasing their own abilities, they can achieve their own potential, develop their managers as well as provide excellent patient care. In this way, everyone benefits under leadership that understands needs from the ground up."

At Wiederhold & Associates, we know an organization can optimally increase a nursing leaders’ capacity for successful outcomes through professional Nursing Leadership Coaching. It is the single most powerful way for a leader to achieve their potential for superior leadership, strategic thinking, and measurable results.

If you would like to learn more about our Nursing Leadership Program, download a tri-fold brochure here

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A big piece of onboarding is the ability to manage up- how you effectively work with your immediate Manager. My experience in this area indicates that we don't give this enough attention. The conflict that begins here usually ends up in one being asked to leave the organization or perhaps exiting too soon on their own.

Often, different styles, as well as egos, get in the way. Change the way you look at this relationship, and you will be more successful in building it. I haven't come across many people who “manage up” t extremely well, and it's such a necessary skill to one's future success. Embracing the employee/manager relationship is a critical skill to hone and managing up helps you master it.

Managing up means that you go above and beyond the tasks outlined on your job description. You continuously go the extra mile. Your job is to make your immediate manager’s life easier.

Ways to effectively manage up:

• Listen well
• Learn his/her style
• Jump in when needed
• Project a positive attitude
• Deliver quality work
• Keep him/her well-informed
• Build key relationships
• Sell/negotiate when appropriate
• Recognize what he/she respects and honors
• Create early wins
• Execute great follow up
• Establish a comfortable level of transparency
• Establish the rules of effective pushback
• When you have a challenge, always offer a solution
• Communicate, communicate, communicate
• Close information gaps
• Have a voice beyond your boss
• Keep commitments
• Apologize when you are wrong
• Don’t make excuses

Learning to effectively "manage up" can put you in a great position to align with your immediate supervisor, integrate effectively with the organizational culture, receive great recommendations, and ultimately help you on board effectively.

First and foremost, I want to wish you much success in 2016.

The new year is a time to start new journeys. As you know there are journeys we choose and journeys that choose us.

So with that in mind, we took a real good look at the people we work with in career transition and found that the most successful ones had three consistent behaviors. Those three behaviors were passion, attitude and confidence.

Passion is one's intense desire or enthusiasm to do something. The level of passion for these successful individuals kept them on track even when there were challenges and bumps in the road. They did not roll over or quit when things got tough.

Attitude is how an individual's behavior reacts to a person place or thing. We live in a world where most individuals focus on the negative side of a challenge. Successful individuals took a more positive look at the challenge of career transition and focused in on the benefits that would result from this journey.

Confidence is one's assessment and feelings about their own skills and qualities. These successful individuals realized that they live in a deposit/withdrawal system. Unfortunately, withdrawals are automatic and deposits have to be made manually. They have learned how to make necessary deposits.

So as you begin your journeys in this new year remember to pack the right amount of passion, attitude and confidence. Because a good start usually means a good finish.

Here's to your success,

Jim

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Are you creating and executing a roadmap that will assist you in moving up within your organization?

The whole concept of internal transition or advancement for executives I find is often neglected. Like overall career planning, without a roadmap, executives have no rudder or direction in mind.

As a result of having no real advancement direction or plan, these are the most prevalent outcomes:

• Career growth in their current company is slow to nonexistent
• They leave the organization too early and possibly create a negative ongoing pattern predictable change

Neglected areas are often:

• No plan for growth within the organization
• No key stakeholder list
• Lack of appropriate self-promotion
• Poor outcomes alignment with immediate boss
• Weak political acumen
• Ineffective soft skills
• No clear vision and strategy
• Lack of developing a strong team

These are certainly not all of the issues but key ones I often see. Setting a roadmap, following the path and focusing on the key areas needed for your success will help you reach your end goal. That next stop on the career path may be within your existing organization or you will be well positioned for that next opportunity outside the organization.

What is that old saying?

What is that old saying? "If you don’t know where you are going you will never get there."

Enjoy the drive!

Jim

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As the health care system confronts the need to change and adapt in the new era, leadership is required throughout the entire organization.

Nursing Leaders are the centerpiece of care delivery and are extraordinarily vital and influential in carrying out the mission and vision of any healthcare organization. As a result, their leadership has a direct effect on the quality and fiscal outcomes that are of vital importance to an organization.

At Wiederhold & Associates, we know an organization can optimally increase a nursing leaders’ capacity for successful outcomes through professional Nursing Leadership Coaching. It is the single most powerful way for a leader to achieve their potential for superior leadership, strategic thinking, and measurable results.

Coaching is customized to every situation and organization, with outcomes driven models implemented to ensure success.

Who can benefit?

• Senior Nursing Executives
• Nursing Directors and Managers
• Newly hired Nursing Executives who wish to position themselves out of the gate for great success
• High potential Nurse Executives who can benefit from expanding their strategic thinking
• Nurse Executives who want to continue to provide optimal leadership for the patients and the people who care for them

Nursing Leadership Teams

Team Coaching is different from training in that it specifically targets the needs of a group, while providing direction to challenge them to meet a targeted outcome. Teams that can benefit from our approach include:

• High functioning teams wishing to expand their capacities
• Teams experiencing significant changes or challenges
• Newly formed Nursing Leadership Teams

Want to move your organization forward?

Invest in your core: Nursing Leadership.

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The majority of us plan for our children’s college education, or to get married or stay single but unfortunately very few executives plan their careers. Many potentially successful executives fail to climb the executive ladder because they don’t plan where they want their career to advance to.

Healthcare professionals can progress in their careers, but only if they position themselves for success.

In my experience, less than 5% of healthcare executives plan their career. Most, as I would say, “wing it”; taking advantage of opportunities as they present.

I describe career planning like building a straight fence. You define where you want to go and then identify the points and steps it takes to get there.

Successful executives complete a gap analysis: what are they missing for experience and skills. Skills fall in two categories: hard skills and soft skills. Executives often focus on the hard skills areas and miss the needs for developing soft skills: communications, conflict management, effective messaging, emotional intelligence, relationship building etc.

Through my work with executives in transition, 95% of people in transition lost their job due to a lack of emphasis and engagement in the soft skills.

Preparing to climb the ladder requires a plan that includes the skills both hard and soft to be successful. Successful executives must master emotional intelligence and navigating the political landscape to stay at the top of that ladder.

Here’s to your success!

Jim

Are You Ready to Embrace the Possibilities?

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. Executive coaching is like a blend of therapy, strategic discussion, and athletic training.

The focus is on your advancement as you define it, a definition that usually evolves over time. It is important to find a coach with experience working within your industry and the vision to help you realize your evolving personal goals.

What does Executive Coaching aim to accomplish?

Coaches facilitate a process of change or development which enables individuals and organizations to realize their potential.

If you're considering coaching, here are several key benefits:

• Better Performance - greater productivity, career advancement, business results

• New insights - about yourself, how you're perceived, where you can improve
• Accelerated action - advancing faster and with greater precision
• A safe place to dialogue- talk through challenges and gain perspective
• Greater Awareness -of perspectives, beliefs, and attitudes that may be limiting your success
• Support and encouragement - it feels less lonely at the top
• Feedback that others won’t share
• Help with improving specific skills - communication, delegation, conflict management, team building, persuasion, etc

Effective coaching requires someone to have a desire to learn and grow.

If you're the type of person who wants to grow and improve, and is willing to trust someone to support you, I highly recommend working with a coach.

Ready to get started?

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Early in my 30 year career in executive recruitment and coaching, I was responsible for recruiting and training sales executives at NCH Corporation. I find my background in sales training to be extremely helpful as I work with executives in transition.

When I was in my sales position with NCH corporation, I learned several key things:

• We had clear plans and targets for sales and we didn’t go home until those were met. We had the tenacity to reach out and make contacts and have clear goals to achieve.
• People buy from people they like. The primary focus is to build relationships with clients as part of the sales cycle.
• Practice is essential and role playing is a key part of training.

Executives in transition are shifting from leading and operating organizations to selling a commodity, themselves. A successful transition, like a successful sale takes focus, energy, a clear plan, and intentional action. You have to know your product, have a clear brand, a value statement, know your market, identify your sales targets, and be confident in representing your product.

I find most executives have no formal background or training in sales and often feel very unprepared for the demands of a successful job transition and search. My role is to be a coach and guide, to help executives in transition find their rudder, set their course and make a successful journey.

Executives successful in transition are the ones who use the time in transition to learn more about themselves and their goals for the future. Creating the right attitude and exuding confidence is a key to mastering your transition and achieving your goals.

In my practice I primarily work with healthcare executives. So I know the market, the role demands, and the key tools required to be successful. I not only provide my clients the tools, I provide the coaching and support for clients to learn through their journey and find a successful path forward.

I’m proud of the many executives I have helped through my 30 years and find the wisdom and experience to be a valued commodity for my clients.

Here’s to your success!

Jim

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After 21 + years in the career development business, I have seen the unique skill sets required for effective healthcare leaders. One key I have discovered is that effective leaders are continuous learners who never stop growing and developing their skills and talents.

I have found important learning traits that effective leaders require:

• New levels of perception and insight into the realities of the world and also into themselves
• Extraordinary levels of motivation to go through the inevitable pain of learning and change
• The emotional strength to manage their own and others' anxiety as learning and change become more and more a way of life
• New skills in analyzing and changing cultural assumptions
• The willingness and ability to involve others and elicit their participation
• The ability to learn the assumptions of a whole new organizational culture

An essential part of effective leadership and growth is networking. Wiederhold & Associates has developed the most in-depth premium network of senior healthcare professionals in the country. The Premium Active Network program was developed for individuals who see the value of networking, gaining visibility in the industry and building mutually beneficial relationships.

At Wiederhold & Associates, we are a leading provider of career development, transition services and executive coaching to the healthcare industry. We help individuals and organizations with the tools and resources to develop and sustain exceptional leadership performance. Through networking and coaching, we are always focused on relationship building with a personal touch.

Throughout the year, I will be sending periodic communications through email and social media that will keep you informed of topics on leadership effectiveness and managing your career for a lifetime.

Here’s to your success!

Jim

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This week I’d like to bring to your attention another key resource for hospital executives. It’s a book that’s part of the ACHE Management Series, titled, “Leading a Hospital Turnaround: A Practical Guide.” Whether or not you may be currently involved in a turnaround situation, this book is an excellent resource that will also help you recognize the early warning signs of impending financial problems.

The author, Anthony K. Jones, has served as CEO of two health systems and COO of four large medical centers. He also has extensive experience improving the performance of hospitals in financial difficulties. To learn more about what this book has to offer, visit the ACHE website via the link below.

Also on the subject of turnarounds, Becker’s Hospital Review published a brief article this week about the traits of a successful “Hospital Turnaround CEO.” In the article, Raji Kumar, CEO of Dallas Medical Center, shared her thoughts on five key traits that helped her transform the hospital. When she accepted the CEO position in 2010, the medical center was losing approximately $2 million per month. Last year they reported a $5 million profit.

During the turnaround, Dallas Medical Center added service lines, including cardiovascular, spine, and gastroenterology, and they recruited nearly 100 physicians to join their staff. Here’s a brief summary of Ms. Kumar’s thoughts about leading a successful turnaround:

Have a Clear Vision – Establish a plan/roadmap for attaining the vision and then follow through to implement the plan.

Communicate Effectively – Use the plan/roadmap to engage employees, communicate the big picture, and inspire them to buy into the strategy.

Make Decisions – Avoid “analysis paralysis” and take prudent risks based on available information.

Recruit and Develop the Right Staff – Assess the need for changes in management when departments prove to be problematic.

Manage Resources Efficiently – Find ways to empower employees and inspire them to take ownership of problems.

For more information, visit these websites:

ACHE: https://www.ache.org/publications/Product.aspx?pc=2240

Becker’s Hospital Review:
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/leadership-management/what-makes-a-great-ceo-5-thoughts-from-dallas-medical-center-ceo-raji-kumar.html

Key trends for 2014 have been identified by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as well as Premier, which is a healthcare improvement alliance of 2,800 hospitals and health systems and more than 93,000 non-acute care sites. Both firms analyzed data during late 2013 and have recently announced their findings.

“Top 10” List from PwC:
1. Companies are rethinking their roles in the new health economy
2. Corporate funds are invading the healthcare venture capital space
3. Employers are exploring the use of private exchanges
4. Healthcare industry accelerates the pace of price transparency
5. Social, mobile, analytics and cloud are converging
6. Technology is the new workforce multiplier
7. Advances in scientific tools are transforming clinical trials
8. To truly innovate, be ready to fail fast, frequently and frugally
9. States are pursuing Medicaid managed long-term care
10. New rules are combating the counterfeit drugs

Premier’s “Big 8” List:

1. Chronic Care—more healthcare providers will get involved in ambulatory care to improve management of chronic conditions.

2. Health Coaches—the key to managing chronic conditions is having health coaches who know patients on a one-on-one basis.

3. Home-Based Care—technology improvements are increasing opportunities for patients to receive medical treatments outside of the hospital.

4. Employer Health Incentives—employers are increasingly motivating employees to remain healthy through the use of free online tools and financial incentives.

5. Private Health Insurance Exchanges—employers are increasingly using these exchanges, which allow people to have more options and customize their insurance coverage.

6. CMS Policy Changes—more healthcare policy changes from CMS will address the growth rate in Medicare and Medicaid.

7. Open-Source Software for Big Data—to help drive innovation, healthcare providers will push for “big data” applications that allow more customization by independent, third-party software vendors.

8. Expanding Healthcare Partnerships—these partnerships will increasingly expand to include social service agencies and other non-healthcare service providers such as community-based groups and even fitness centers.

Also noteworthy is news out of CMS… The number of Americans age 85 and older is accelerating and will increase by 300% to 18 million by 2050. As a result, according to an analysis conducted by Truven Health Analytics for CMS, the expansion of long-term care support programs offered by Medicaid is accelerating. The number of states with these programs grew on average by one per year between 2004 and 2012 (from 8 to 16), but the pace is now five per year (growing from 16 states to 26 states in the last two years alone.

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?

Navigating Your Career Path

Over the past 20 years, we have all witnessed significant change in the healthcare industry, as well as the advent of the flavor of the month/week mentality. We react quickly to changes in thought without truly exploring the consequences of the change or reflecting on our current course. What’s more, we often don’t give that current course the time it needs to develop in order for us to know whether or not it will be successful. It has, at times, seemed as if so many found themselves looking and acting like a deer in the headlights or the boat floating wherever the wind or current would take it. Why? Are people trying to keep up with the changes/reform? Are they struggling to figure out how to comply? Regardless of how you view healthcare reform, the boats have found a sense of direction and the deer have scattered.

Read the full article as published by the Healthcare Executive.

Message from Jim Wiederhold, president of Wiederhold & Associates

As many of you are aware, we are in the transition business, career development and executive coaching. We believe that transition should be an holistic approach meaning not just getting people through the transition to the next opportunity but adding skills and knowledge that will make them even more productive in the next opportunity. We have been talking up for several months the introduction of three new programs. The first one is ready to launch and we want to make you aware of it. With the arrival of healthcare reform, we have developed the concept of the three-legged stool. Each one of these legs is extremely important for any healthcare executive to be successful in their careers. These are: quality, strategy and finance.

Our first program is focused on quality. The process will work as follows. Each individual that we work with at the appropriate level will be assessed by our expert. Once the assessment is completed and reviewed by our expert, she will meet with that individual by telephone one-on-one. During that meeting she will review their results and make suggestions that may include additional training in the area of quality. If any additional training is needed, this individual can create an agreement with our expert. The assessment part will fall under the Wiederhold & Associates program. Any additional training will be handled by the individual and our expert.

I do not think anyone can disagree that quality will be a major focus of healthcare reform and that anyone who lacks in that area will have his/her challenges. We are very fortunate that we have located an expert in this area who brings a long history of success in healthcare. Let me introduce you to Debra Honey.

Debra Honey is a visionary Nurse Executive with more than 30 years of progressively responsible and diversified Nursing Leadership experience. She excels at leading healthcare transformational change initiatives and promoting impeccable standards of care within the industry.

Honey Consulting, Inc.
Debra is President of Honey Consulting, Inc., a progressive, hands-on consulting firm offering practical solutions for opportunities and issues facing healthcare organizations today. She provides expertise in nursing services, nursing operations leadership, and operations support to assist and facilitate improvements in performance and outcomes. Debra also provides Chief Nursing Executive coaching and interim Executive Nursing support.

Catholic Health Initiatives, Denver, CO
Debra was previously Vice President for Clinical Operations and Clinical Leadership Development for Catholic Health Initiatives, a national not-for-profit healthcare organization comprised of 68 U.S. hospitals located in 19 states. In this role, she was responsible for nursing clinical operational support for system initiatives and market based organizations. She served as the Executive responsible for system-wide strategy for and implementation of clinical competency programs including competency assessment and staff development for all hospitals. She was a valuable clinical resource on a diverse set of national work groups and task forces.

Signature Leadership Qualifications
Debra is a member of the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow Program, 2008 cohort, and her diverse leadership experience and areas of expertise include:

• Overall Clinical Operations
• Medical Staff Operations
• Performance Improvement
• Board Communication & Collaboration
• Quality and Safety Initiatives
• Accreditation & Regulatory Compliance
• Patient and Staff Satisfaction
• Service Line Assessment & Optimization
• Staff and Leadership Assessment, Development, & Coaching

She earned valuable direct patient care experience working as a clinical nurse in critical care, emergency services, and surgical services. In addition, Debra taught Nursing at the diploma, bachelor, and masters levels.

Education and Certifications
Debra earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and graduated Magna Cum Laude. She holds a Master of Science in Health Administration from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. She is a Registered Nurse in the states of Tennessee and California.

Debra prestigious healthcare certifications include:

• CENP - Certified in Executive Nursing Practice, American Organization of Nurse Executives
• FACHE - Fellow Status, American College of Healthcare Executives
• CPHQ - Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality, Healthcare Quality Certification Board

The program that Debra Honey has designed for those individuals needing additional training in this area will include the assessment process, an individualized learning plan, the learning modules, individual coaching and consulting, and simulations.

The program is designed to be customizable to best meet the needs and goals of the individual executive. Gaining expanded competencies and quality and safety in healthcare provides a demonstrable competitive advantage to senior executives in the field.

If you have any questions or comments. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us. On an additional note, we will offer Debra's services beyond just those individuals involved in the Wiederhold & Associates transition/career development program.

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.

Let's call this a sequel to my blog on Adhering to the Process. As most of you are aware I just returned from Denver and a successful completion of my second half marathon. I have attached a few pictures from that event in the charity section of the website. The gentleman that ran with me is Rick Newsome who works with Kaiser in Denver and is a friend. Why was it successful and how does it relate to my favorite subject of transition? First, in my mind the term transition has expanded, it now includes both external and internal transition and both the gainfully employed and gainfully unemployed.

Now back to why my run was successful. First, I made a commitment I kept. Just like anyone going through transition, I stayed the course. Second, I stayed focused on incremental gain. I bettered my last time by approximately 4 to 5 minutes.

I had obstacles that came my way, but I did not quit or blame others. I dealt with and overcame them. Over the last month I developed runner's knee. This made running painful and impacted the frequency of my training, diminishing it considerably. I made the necessary adjustments, but my commitment to the end result never changed. No transition, on any level will ever go exactly to plan and one will have to make adjustments to ensure success rather than blame others for failure. I took responsibility for the injury and moved on. I did not look for excuses. The last two miles were grueling because I had not trained as much as I wanted to because of the injury. I felt like quitting and I know many others have felt the same way under similar situations. In the end I stuck it out and finished the race. What kept me going was that I remembered that feeling, that wonderful feeling, when you accomplish something challenging. On the other side of that, I didn't want to deal with waiting another year to finish the event. That's too long to suffer and deal with that shortfall. We all have these kinds of experiences in transition. We need to stay focused on that wonderful feeling we get when we reach that next opportunity and push on through the pain. Remembering the feeling can keep us going. I also remember someone saying to me, and I'm not sure who to give credit to, but it went like this: when you’re closest to a failure, you are also closest to success. I do believe that.

As I write this, I'm on a plane back to Atlanta from Denver. I'm tired and I'm in a little pain, but I feel good about staying the course. No, I did not injure myself permanently and I am not asking you to do that. There will be those times when staying the course will be impossible because the reward sought does not come close to the potential downside. At those times, one may have to save it for another day. But then I remember another little saying that I adhere to. You don't become a good sailor by sailing calm seas. So remember that wonderful feeling of success and, whenever possible, stay the course.

Transition provides a great opportunity for many changes and I am talking about good changes. A great opportunity to find some balance, and one area to enhance, is exercise. We owe it to ourselves and the ones who love us to get involved. I have personally benefited from exercise without a coach, but would without hesitation recommend the use of one. Before doing so I would ask that you do your due diligence and check references and make sure, if you are a bit more mature, to get one who has experience working with your age group. I found the younger coaches are little bit too zealous with people middle-aged and above.

My job is, as is many of yours and also for those in transition, extremely stressful. The benefits below, I have personally experienced. They have come with consistency balanced with intensity.

• A much better attitude
• Increased confidence
• Higher energy
• Better health
• Sharper focus
• Better self-image
• A greater ability to work through the dips/valleys that we all experience.

Of course we all know the positive outcomes when we produce endorphins through exercise. And, of course, for the older group like myself, a much more youthful look and feel.

We, as a company, have seen the benefit of a consistent exercise program with many of our clients. We are so committed to this component of transition that I have often thought of making it part of our program. Perhaps through hiring an experienced coach to have a one-on-one discussion with each of our clients to help them develop an appropriate program for their transition. We are still giving this serious consideration. Another observation since I started this business in 1988, is that I have seen a real change in the image of C-level individuals. That image today is much more health oriented and image oriented. Right or wrong, it has started to play a great role in candidate selection.

Exercise, like everything else, requires balance. Too little and the benefits are limited too much and lead to possible injury. I also believe it must be a combination of cardio and weight lifting. As we get older, it is a known fact that we lose muscle mass which impacts our metabolism rate which can help us control our weight. Also please do not forget, if there are medical issues, see a doctor before you begin any regular exercise program.

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.

Another thought from my stay in Chicago at the ACHE meeting. Over the years, I have discussed this situation with many candidates and interestingly it has come up several times over the last month.

When you are with an organization and you've reached the crossroads. The crossroads being “I'm not getting out of this position/job what I have in the past, I am no longer enjoying the journey.” You have three choices… But let me preface this by saying, usually when you are thinking in this direction, your work situation has already become somewhat more stressful. So choice one becomes continue on and put up with stress. Not typically a good decision and why? This situation will eventually lead to both mental and physical challenges because it doesn't support or meet your needs or desires. Choice two; Make a decision to leave and transition to a new organization. Not a particularly bad choice, but not always the best choice depending on the situation. We often leave before we should or we leave too late. There is a great deal to be learned by working through these types of situations before you make a decision to leave. I've seen people negatively impact their own stability because of their inability to adjust to these types of situations. And choice three (always the best); work on your own perception of the situation and change it in order to make it work. Will this always be the case? Absolutely not, some situations require a change.

The point I'm trying to make is this – we have three choices but we tend to carry on living with the situation or leaving the organization. Both of these have the potential for negative impact. We are not spending enough time on adjusting our perception and looking at ways to grow within our current organization. Why do we not do this? Because we don't understand the process, we’re afraid or apprehensive about asking the tough questions, we may not like what we're hearing or we may be unwilling to change. But you can learn more from taking this path than you will ever learn from choosing the other two. This choice will force you to be introspective and get a better understanding of who you are and how you're viewed within your existing organization. And even if you still decide to leave, you will do it, knowing that you made the right choice.