4 Leadership Lessons I Learned from the Front
In the midst of this pandemic, I have had the privilege of coaching front line health care workers — anesthesiologists, critical care and emergency room physicians who put themselves on the line every day to save lives. I have tried to do what I can, as their coach, to support them through this ordeal. I have also learned a lot about leadership.
When I asked my clients how they cope so well with the crisis, they shared multiple ways in which their leaders have risen to the occasion. There are many lessons that we can learn from them: strategies that can be implemented by any leader who wants to bring out the best in his or her people, not just under duress. Here are four of them:
1.Balance Command and Control with Connection and Collaboration: One area where hierarchy still reigns (as it should) is in the ER and operating room. When a patient is in a crucial state, we want physician leaders to take charge and demonstrate authoritative leadership. Yet, when the team — nurses, pulmonologists, technicians and specialists — is fearful for their own safety, it becomes crucial to take their anxieties seriously, to foster connection, trust and a sense of collaboration.
One of my ER leaders shared about how he makes this happen: “We drop the hierarchy and pair up before we see patients, suiting up with PPE (personal protective equipment) together as equals. I will often go through the PPE protocol with a resident, or a nurse — demonstrating in real time that I may be the boss but I also need their eyes and ears — and support — as much as they need mine.”
The crucial leadership lesson: high performance teaming is not about dropping the hierarchy altogether or engaging in leaderless decision-making. It is about having the agility to shift back and forth — in the moment — between command/control and connection/collaboration — striking just the right balance to ensure a sense of trust.
2. Smile with Your Eyes: The Vice President was roundly criticized on his recent visit to the Mayo Clinic when he entered a patient’s room not wearing a mask. His response when asked was that he wanted to be able to connect and offer empathy. Yet, what all my client docs know to be true is that one can easily demonstrate empathy, compassion, even condolences, with a mask on — by being intentional with your eyes.
Eye contact, as researchers into micro-gestures have demonstrated, is a crucial, almost instantaneous neurological factor determining whether you face friend or foe. My client docs wear masks and other protective face coverings throughout their shifts, but they still manage to connect, reassure, and be present for all of their patients. They do it with direct, friendly eye contact.
A simple strategy perhaps, but when holding a zoom call with a team spread out at homes around the world and the leader gets distracted with texting, everyone feels the disconnect. So a simple, crucial strategy for building trust and conection no matter whether you are wearing a mask or staring into a screen: maintain eye contact, smile with your whole face (and if your kids interrupt, be transparent about it. You don’t have to be perfect, just real). Your team will feel it.
3. No Agenda is a Crucial Agenda: According to one of my anesthesiologist clients, one of the most supportive strategies that her department implemented early on in the crisis was a “command center” — a conference room designated for physicians, nurses and staff to drop in for breaks, coffee, food — simply a place to share a moment of respite from the stress of patient care. Manned by a rotation of leaders, this round-the-clock agenda-free zone enabled some of what would normally have been “water cooler” time to be streamlined and coordinated in a way that was visible, supportive, and a respite from constant directives and tactical planning.
With many of us working remotely, the most effective leaders find ways to bring the water cooler online by providing “office hours” at set times, and agenda-free connections where they dispense with hierarchy and to-do lists, and instead take time to be present, listen, and empathize. Perhaps agenda-free zones will become a new “norm” for high-performing teams going forward.
4. Slow Down to Go Fast: When I asked one of my ER physicians to share how he manages to keep up the pace with an endless stream of patients, he surprised me with his response: “We take it slow.” I asked him to elaborate and he explained that in order to work fast and with precision, he and his team slow down deliberately, follow protocols, and check in with each other at a methodical, thoughtful pace.
Leaders typically want to “move fast and break things” — which sounds like a recipe for innovation and breakthrough thinking. Yet it is actually a bad habit that can lead to stress, burnout and a lack of creative thinking. Human inventiveness actually works best in conditions that enable a sense of calm, grounded reflection, which requires a pace that may appear “slow” but brings out the best in everyone.
There may not be many silver linings in the middle of a pandemic — and I wouldn’t wish the kind of leadership dynamic my front line clients are dealing with on anyone. Yet, they are rising to the occasion in ways that point towards a new paradigm of effective leadership, one that balances authoritative competency with a deep sense of humanity. Together, they unite as one for the fight, as should we all.
