You Can be Great If You Really Want To

In clinical practice we manage change constantly. We manage disease symptoms, response to treatment and complications of treatment. But, paradoxically, we see ourselves as victims of change in health care delivery, reimbursement and regulation. We feel oppressed by government, health insurers and even patients. We physicians are good at dealing with change in physiology and pathology, but not so good at coping with it in our business lives and our leadership strategies.

Our way of thinking is taking us down the wrong paths of health care, health care leadership and medical management. Our resistance saps our energy, creating burnout and dissatisfaction, risking our health. These unspoken costs of health care pile up: discontent, denial and departure from the profession.

SLUDGE CLOGS THE WORKS

This is the sludge of health care change—the build-up of habits, behaviors and preferences that diminish our energy and limit our creativity. Sludge causes the “hardening of the arteries” of health care.

• Indirect communications;

• Drama and conflict;

• Blame and criticism;

• Low accountability;

• Control and command styles of leadership.

To free ourselves and our organizations from a sludge-filled environment, we must create opportunities for change.

FIGHTING SLUDGE

Instead of reflexively fighting tough situations with anger or denial, stop and ask yourself: I wonder why I find myself in this circumstance again and again, and I wonder what I can learn from it? How am I contributing to the problem, and how can I contribute to the solution? Since you have no control over anyone but yourself, commit to your own accountability and face the facts honestly.

To create change in yourself—and by example in those around you:

• Face the unequivocal evidence that change is needed;

• Accept your role in the problem;

• Commit to openness rather than defensiveness;

• Take action in a clear way;

• Sustain yourself and your changes, and face the facts honestly.

These are the FACTS of a prescription for fighting sludge. You can use the following three strategies to shift away from resistance to change and into openness to change:

• Give appreciation;

• Adopt an attitude of curiosity;

• Claim your role in the issues.

Notice enhanced energy and return of joy and satisfaction in your work as evidence of your commitment to change. These learnable skills can profoundly influence your health, the health of our profession and our organizations. Work with appreciation as a strategy for creative change. Creativity is positive; it’s the antithesis of sludge. Get the sludge out of yourself, your staff, and your organization. Instigate change, and see how positive energy can transform you as a leader, your physicians and other caregivers, and the service your organization delivers.

What do you need to be doing to succeed in life? What traps
await you on your path? How much are goals really
important? Is it true you can succeed the most in
conducting the business you enjoy the most, or is it
perhaps better to be doing something else? How to deal with
people so that they love you, respect you and at the same
time listen to you and follow you? These are just some of
the questions most people ask themselves when it comes to
success.

And every question requires a clear answer if you wish to
avoid doubting in your success and so making your path more
difficult. But, is it at all possible to find the answers
to these questions? And, even more important, are these
answers valid for all people in all situations, especially
for you? It depends whether you are dealing with the cause
or the consequence.

If you discover the cause of the problem, which is always
the same, and succeed in solving it, you also permanently
solve the problem and automatically move forward to a
higher level. For instance, if something in your house has
a rotten smell, you can solve the problem by taking that
thing outside, and the stench won’t repeat itself.

This is solving the problem at its cause, which is most
effective. But people sometimes handle their problems
differently. Instead of taking the cause of the bad smell
out, they rather cover it up with something, perfume it,
open windows and such. This is often much easier, but it
doesn’t solve the problem. Consequently the problem repeats
itself and worrying about it only takes too much of your
time and energy that you could invest in something
important.

People become so overburdened with little things and
literally run out of time to create wealth, prosperity and
happiness. Are you doing the same and solving the
consequences instead of tackling the cause? Ask yourself:
“What problems do I constantly repeat in my life?” The
areas where these problems are constantly surfacing are
probably the areas where you deal with negative
consequences when they appear.

This isn’t relevant only for your physical world, your
environment, but also for the world within you. Do you know
of anyone who is always saying: “Why is this happening to
me over and over again? Why are people treating me like
this? Why do I constantly spend more than I make?” It’s
about the consequences. By dealing only with the
consequences this person can never move forward in life.
“The Cause Is Never on the Outside” or “The Cause Always
Originates from Within” This is the Truth because it is
valid for everyone at any time at any place.

If you are ready to admit this to yourself you will
discover within it the key to the solution of all your
problems, because you will no longer blame others for your
problems, but turn towards the real cause – you yourself.

Put in different words, If you are the one holding yourself
back from achieving success and realizing your dreams, and
if you are ready to do something about it, you are already
on your path to your goals – because you will always find
yourself in a situation where you can influence the cause
of the problem.

1) What is a Training Strategy?

Training and development in an organization requires implementation to achieve success. Therefore, the strategy will require vision, focus, direction and an action planning document. A training strategy is a mechanism that establishes what competencies an organization requires in the future and a means to achieve it.

2) Why have a Training Strategy?

Many points can be put forward in favor of why you need a training strategy. The most compelling though rests in the results of a recent study of 3,000 companies done by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.

They found that 10% of revenue –

            spent on capital improvements, boosts productivity by 3,9%

            spent on developing human capital, increased productivity by 8,5%

Remember, anything worth achieving, is worth planning for!

3) What are a Training Strategy’s Components?

There are many important aspects to consider here.  To create the Strategic Training and Development Plan, you will need a detailed profile of your;

Employee Training and Train-the-Trainer needs

Team Building and Team Development

Leadership Development

Executive Coaching

Competency Requirements and Skills Profiling

Objectives and Action Plans

Vision

All of these profiles will further have to be considered within the realms of Equity and Diversity, Organization Values, Business Process Improvement, Change Management and Organization Design and Structure.

Sounds confusing? We have a diagrammatic representation of these elements which can be found at www.SergayGroup.com/training_that_counts2.html

4) How are Training Strategies Created?

After more than 20 years of experience working with Companies and Organization’s, our most successful and profitable approach has been to;

Identify the customer’s training needs in terms of their organizational strategic plan, HR strategic plan, personal development plans and focus on comprehensive interviews or focus groups,

Establish development gaps, present and future,

Set organizational training objectives,

Create a training action plan, which must ensure that the necessary systems are in place, access resources, source or design training and position the training. The training must then be delivered and co-ordinated,

Monitor the training,

Evaluate the training by assessment and verification, and

Revise training and/or training plan.

5) How are Training Strategies Implemented?

A strategy designed but not implemented is worthless!

In order to bring about the best results for the training strategy, the training products or services need to be marketed and promoted by manipulating the following;

Product/Service – keep the training cutting edge and future focused. Make sure there is a practical transfer of learning, put a development support network in place, and ensure alignment to quality standards.

Promotion – commit to a core training value system. Create a slogan or tagline to brand your training. Bridge the gap between perception and reality. Give your training a personality and a brand, and remember your customers (your employees are customers) want to know, “What’s in it for me”.

Price – cost the training accurately and calculate the value received.

Place – decide between on-the-job, classroom, distance learning, web-based and virtual learning. Access, location, and distribution are key to consider.

People’s needs – establish what your customers want and need. Ensure your customers know the training is meeting their needs and that these needs provide a base for decisions in all other areas.

Project Management – Establish roles and responsibilities. Action the Training and Development Strategic Plan. Monitor and evaluate progress and make adjustments where necessary.

These can be viewed diagrammatically at www.SergayGroup.com/training_that_counts3.html.