Candid Conversations

I am often asked for advice on how to manage conflict in the work place. No one likes conflict and managing difficult situations not only takes a great deal of time and energy but it diverts focus away from what is really important—fulfilling the mission of your organization.

Before I share with folks my thoughts on managing conflict, I always like to offer advice on how to positively work with team members in order to create an environment built on mutual trust and respect where conflict is the exception not the norm.

To get the best out of your team, you must work to build team members up rather than break them down. You lead through inspiration and empowerment.  By encouraging their work, celebrating their successes, coaching them to do more, rewarding their accomplishments and tweaking the small things that are not working, you build a sense of trust and commitment. And at the end of the day, you have a team that works as a unit, has everyone’s back, will follow you anywhere and is fairly conflict free.

There are times, however, when conflicts arise that must be tackled. For me, there is no deep wisdom when it comes to dealing with a sticky situation. My advice is simple: address the problem head on and with honesty. There is no benefit to letting problems fester or sidestepping the truth when managing conflict in the workplace. One, nothing good ever comes from avoiding a problem; and two, honesty is always the best policy.

Whether it is managing a conflict between two team members or dealing with an outside vendor or client, getting to the root of the problem and developing an effective solution is the only real path to success. Even if your intentions are well-meaning and you think you are sparing feelings, you are not doing anyone any favors. By being upfront you are actually saying, “I respect you enough to tell you the truth. Let’s resolve this issue and move forward.”

Unfortunately, there are times when managing a difficult situation is not possible. My friend Jack Welch gave me some great advice, “when it’s time, it’s time.” After you have given people the opportunity to grow and flourish in the organization and do their best and it’s still not working, then it’s time to let them go. Be as honest and open as you can with your team about what was not working. If you are leading your team effectively, this will not be an issue.

Whether you are leading a team or managing conflict, it all comes down to fostering an honest work environment that inspires trust, respect and communication amongst all members of the organization. By leading and managing with straight-forward positive talk, you can handle conflicts as they arise and focus your time on the work at hand.

You Say Goodbye and You Say Hello

As I prepare to leave my position as Jupiter Medical Center and transition into my new role at Tampa General Hospital, I have been thinking about best practices when it comes to exiting one organization and moving to another.

I think the true testament of any leader is if they can look around on their last day and know that they have left the organization in a better and stronger place than when they found it. And as a leader, your primary responsibility is to do your best to ensure that your organization is on solid ground with things running as smoothly as possible.

First, you need to put together a strong transition team. You want to assign key strategic efforts that you have been leading to specific members of the team. Armed with your initial input and the institutional knowledge you pass along, they will be responsible for championing and ensuring these programs continue to run smoothly and achieve the objectives that had been set.

You also need to encourage your team to stay the course, remain focused on the goals and strategies that you have all put in place and not do anything radically different in the short term. A calm and steady operation will help soothe the potential concerns of stakeholders and team members that naturally come with a change in leadership.

Finally, you need to work as hard as you possibly can every moment until your walk out the door for the last time. There is no room for short-timer syndrome and you must remain dedicated and focused until the end.

When entering a new organization, as corny as it sounds, you need to spend a majority of your time on a listening tour. By that I mean meeting with all those associated with the organization, from team members to stakeholders, and hear (not only listen but really hear) their concerns, thoughts and ideas. This will allow you to begin to form connections with your fellow team members as well as begin to understand and get a feel for the organizational culture.

Immersing yourself in the organizational culture is the most critical thing you can do when assuming a new role. You never want to walk into a new organization and announce all of your immediate plans and ideas for changes to the place. You want to jump in to the “organizational pond” and swim with the team. You need to work from within and in a collaborative way in order to learn and become part of the fabric of the organization. This will allow you to demonstrate your value—what you will add to an already strong team—to build trust, to begin to make a positive impact and help to initiate transformation and create success.

Leaving one role and moving to another is a time of mixed emotions and can understandably be overwhelming. By helping to ensure a smooth transition and thoughtfully preparing for the future, you can look forward to all the good things to come.

The Future is Bright

On June 5th, I accepted the position of President and CEO of Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a role I will assume on September 1st. Over the last seven years, the team at Jupiter Medical Center has been able to transform a great hospital into a world-class system of care. We have done this through innovation, collaboration, the proliferation of technologies and programs, and the embracing of common goals and organizational culture. And so I leave not only proud of the work that has been done by the entire team, but excited for the future of Jupiter Medical Center going forward. There is great momentum at Jupiter and I look forward to witnessing all the amazing things to come.

While leaving Jupiter will be bittersweet, I am honored and truly humbled to accept this new role at TGH. Moving to TGH represents a return to what I love most—academic medicine. I got my start in academic medicine with Massachusetts General Hospital and working within that model is where my passion lies and what gets me the most excited and motivated.

TGH is an incredible institution run by an amazing team with an illustrious history and deep, deep roots in the community. I feel privileged that I am able to work with this group of people. Everyone from those in senior leadership to the trustees, to the team members and physicians.

For those of you not familiar with the hospital, it is truly world-class and one of the leading medical institutions in Florida and the southeastt. It is home of one of the leading organ transplant centers in the United States. It contains one of only four burn units in Florida and is the only level one trauma center on the West Coast of Florida—transporting patients from all over the region via medical helicopter to receive life-saving care. Finally, it is the primary teaching affiliate of the University of South Florida’s Health Morsani college (USF).

My first task after joining the organization will be to listen—to team members, to physicians, to patients and community members and to learn from them. I plan to immerse myself in all levels of the organization and in its culture in order to truly understand all aspects of the hospital from its successes to its challenges. I also want to understand both quality and patient satisfaction metrics. I believe wholeheartedly that in order to lead effectively you must learn and listen first.

There are also countless people in Tampa who rely on the hospital for their care and well-being. In order to best serve the community, I will spend time getting to know everyone involved—reaching out to its business leaders, its civic leaders, its government officials and its citizens.

In addition, one of the hallmarks of TGH is its relationship and collaboration with USF. This relationship is critical to the current and future success of the hospital and I plan on spending significant time working with our USF partners and physicians to not only understand the great things that they are doing, but also to understand where they want to go in the years to come. We can’t lose sight of the rich history TGH has with its local community physicians so we need to continue engaging and supporting them as well.

Once I have spent time learning and listening, I will begin to work with the trustees and the entire team to develop a strategic plan for the future. Together we will map out the vision and objectives for the next three, five and ten years of TGH. At the end of the day, my goal is to help TGH deliver the highest possible quality care that is met with the highest satisfaction ratings from its patients.

Since I first stepped into TGH, I was blown away by the quality and level of care they provide as well as the world-class programs it offers. I cannot wait to get started and to help drive that tradition of excellence further. I know the best days of the hospital are ahead of us as we lead not only the region but the state of Florida in medical excellence.