7/17/2018 0 Comments How Do You Lead Your Practice?Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, is considered to be one of the best and most dynamic leaders in the world. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally courted her to come to Facebook from Google and help him run the operation. She knows leadership. Speaking on the topic, she says, "The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have." You may be thinking, "But I learn all the time! I read, study, attend CEs, etc.!" But do we, as leaders, take time to learn more about leadership? The default for many leaders today is to resort to "team building" or a "my way or the highway" approach when it comes to improving the performance of their employees, but, as we all know, this rarely yields the desired results. There has to be a better way, right? Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee are three of the leading thinkers on the topics of emotional intelligence and leadership.
Their book, Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead With Emotional Intelligence (click here to view on Amazon), was published by the Harvard Business School Press and is considered a "must read" for leaders in any industry. This book, along with their other published works, pushes back against the age-old theory that emotions are best kept out of the work environment. Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee state that there are six emotional leadership styles: Pace Setting Leader, Commanding Leader, Visionary Leader, Democratic Leader, Affiliative Leader and Coaching Leader. The reason this is a worthwhile topic to dive into is two-fold. First, no leader, absent a willingness to learn, possesses all six of these styles. Second, each individual within a practice will respond to each style differently. There is a time and place for each leadership style and, for the sake of a healthy practice, a leader must be able to implement each one at the appropriate time. What type of leader are you? Which areas can you improve in as a leader to best benefit your practice? Below is a brief summary of each leadership style and how it is most effectively used in the work setting. The Pace Setting Leader A pace setting leader is built for a fast-paced environment and fast results. You may be struggling to think of a time where this leadership style might be applicable to a medical practice but, assuming you have a highly motivated and skilled team, this style can be utilized to sprint and push through a busy day or one where things are behind schedule. According to Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, the potential downside to this style is that it can easily result in micromanagement, demotivation and low morale amongst employees. This style is best thought of as a switch that can, and occasionally must, be flipped when needed to get your practice through a tough day or a ton of work. Be careful, though. Don't forget to flip the switch back off at the end of the day. Commanding Leader Maybe this style sounds a bit more familiar? The problem with this style is that it is the default for many leaders. It sounds like, "Do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it." If you're a parent, you probably know that this doesn't always work with your kids. It doesn't typically work with your employees, either. This style should be utilized when employees have been given an opportunity to figure problems out on their own, when employees are extremely problematic, or when all other options have been exhausted. If this style is regularly put into play in your practice, it can easily result in disgruntled employees and high turnover. Visionary Leader This is your typical CEO. The visionary who brings an idea to life! Maybe your practice needs a new direction? Perhaps your employees could use a little extra motivation? If so, activate the visionary within yourself and you will likely see positive results. How could this possibly go wrong? Well, visionaries often cast a vision that is unattainable. Any vision set for a practice has to be concrete and achievable by your team. If not, the team will feel defeated and the practice will ultimately suffer. There is a time and place for vision casting. Use it when necessary, but make sure you and your team don't live up in the clouds. Democratic Leader Do you really value the approval of others? If you do, this is probably you! "What do you think about this?" is probably regularly asked in team meetings and one-on-one settings. This approach can be great if you are looking to give your team ownership of their work or if you're brainstorming to find the best possible solution to a problem. Often times, however, leaders place the burden on their teams to make decisions they are ill-equipped to make due to either a lack of knowledge or information. If you hold all of the cards in your hands, make the best play for your practice and your team will follow. Affiliative Leader An affiliative leader takes a people first approach. This leader is all about building up the team by using positive reinforcement. The pros and cons probably don't need to be explained in too much detail here. Too much positive reinforcement leads to low standards and a lack of direction while no praise for the team will result in unsatisfied employees who have no way to gauge their performance. Take the affiliative approach when your practice is going through a hard time or is suffering from low morale. If this style is your default, you are likely just avoiding conflict. Coaching Leader Every practice has employees that want to learn and be better. This is where the coaching style comes into play. This requires time and a willing employee, but the benefits can be huge! But if this style is used in the wrong setting, you and your team will definitely fall behind. There is a time for diligent coaching and there is a time for pace setting. A leader must be able to distinguish between these two and use them at the appropriate time. While this is a brief, 30,000-foot view of the work of some of the most prominent thinkers on leadership, we hope it serves as a tool for self-examination and growth. A few of these styles come easier to leaders than others, while the remainder must be learned. Taking the time and putting forth the effort to think through, learn and implement each of these styles will be challenging, but the rewards can be great for you and your practice.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThe staff and doctors at VisionAmerica are committed to providing relevant information for you, your patients and your practice. We hope you find the information in our blog post helpful. Archives
August 2019
Categories |