Self Leadership

It seems impossible to me, but I have been blogging now for about 2 years. I started when I came off the road from consulting and moved into an individual contributor role. If you have been following me than you know that I started this blog, Keep Looking Up, because I wanted to ensure that I was keeping the big picture in mind.

The big picture is so important and gives you the ability to observe and correct or improve things that might otherwise be missed. It is an opportunity to ask yourself, “How can I make things better?”

I knew I wanted to be a person that removed obstacles and aligned with other teams before anyone knew there were obstacles or that there was alignment needed. I wanted to step in when I saw somebody going down a wrong path. I wanted to offer training when I saw others lacking crucial skills, I knew that I could teach. I wanted to go the extra mile to research when I lacked an answer. In a nutshell, I wanted to deliver outstanding work that inspires others to reach the same level of quality. I wanted to be thought of as a leader by my peers regardless of my role.

Over the past several weeks, I have been looking at that list above and thinking about how I would score myself. I must admit that in doing so, I realized I have a lot of opportunity for improvement. I thought sharing what I thought I should be doing, you may see some opportunities yourself.

Actively listen to colleagues

I listened to a LinkedIn Learning some time ago led by Elizabeth (McLeod) Lotardo. She shared: “If you focus on mindful listening, you can garner more authority without saying a word. Mindful listening helps you sort and frame information and when you do speak, they listen because they know you've taken in everything including – most importantly, their point of view. If you want to be seen as an authority figure, stop talking, take a break and just listen.”

Mindful listening means focusing on what is being communicated, reading body language, and maintaining eye contact. This may sound intuitive, but mindful listening requires conscious focus on what an individual is saying and how it is being delivered.

Listening is an area I think we all continually need to improve upon, but for me it is an area where I know I need to do better. I have improved over the years, but when I feel a loss of control or I am a part of a project that is going awry - I go into what I call "control mode" and take over. It is not something I am proud of and something I am constantly working on. I want to be a great listener. When you feel heard and understood it is the best feeling in the world, and I want to be the one that makes others feel that way.

Share knowledge

Knowledge sharing is a great way to have a lot of impact, because you act as a multiplier. It is so important especially in technology fields since it evolves so quickly.

In Healthcare IT, much of the knowledge is very single threaded. No one wants it that way, but the sheer volume of work and the way that different Electronic Medical Record vendors have their information separated, lends itself to a few holding knowledge on a topic. So, in my world it is usually easy to find a niche where my knowledge might be valuable to others on the team. You can share a presentation in a weekly meeting or provide it at a lunch and learn, but ensure that you pass the knowledge on in a way that it grows your peers.

This is not about trying to manage the people you work with or attempting to give unsolicited advice on projects they work on. This is about bringing your expertise to the team. This is about helping your peers build out a better understanding of problems at hand and how those can be tackled, based on your own experience. Be the catalyst on your team who is sharing knowledge in a way that benefits everyone within your range of impact.

Understand the Big Picture

At the end of the day, every product that we build serves a purpose. In my industry, my work is to make healthcare better. Whether it is making a provider’s life easier, increasing revenue by finding opportunities where it is lost today, or using metrics to show outcomes so the organization can make thoughtful decisions. In my opinion no one can design well without understanding how it all feeds into the larger set of business goals (i.e., The Big Picture).

Spend time with the metrics in your organization. Understand the goals and how what you are building contributes to those goals. Be intentional in determining what drives the most value for your customers or your business. When you are asked questions about why certain things are being done, you should be able to paint a clear picture of the efforts supporting the business goals.

Look for root causes, not quick fixes.

This is the definition of what a good analyst does - we solve problems. When things go wrong, it can be tempting to either gloss over the problem or look for a quick fix. It is important to identify and resolve root causes. There are several tools/methods that can be used for root cause analysis, but it boils down to:

• Identifying the problem

• Gathering data

• Analyze data

• Identify solutions

• Define solution

Share your passion.

Passion is contagious. If you are passionate about your work, share it!

I had a great opportunity to work on a data project many years ago. We were able to create a self-service product that allowed our providers and leaders to drill down into data that was meaningful and told a story. They were able to see populations where housing might be contributing to asthma, or see how different providers treated different diagnoses and which proved to have shorter hospital stays, etc. One of the primary developers was more of a heads down data guy, but I encouraged him go to a couple of presentations with me, because what he created had had changed the way providers and leaders could consume data and understand outcomes, etc. It was amazing!

Having a passion for your job and then sharing that with your colleagues goes a long way!

Leading by example

If you show hard work and passion, you will inspire the people around you to do the same. Show how important a task or project is to you by putting in your best work. If you want others to show up on time, show up on time yourself. If you want others to go the extra mile, go the extra mile yourself.

“A brave leader is someone who says I see you. I hear you. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m going to keep listening and asking questions.” - Brene Brown

Conclusion

I have a deep internal hunger to make a difference. Some days it is exhausting, but I do not ever want to lose that hunger. Whether or not you hold any leadership authority or a role that requires you to provide direction to others, there is one person you are always responsible for leading - You! Leadership starts with taking an active role in how we direct our own lives.

I would love to hear about how you show leadership at work and your challenges.

Until next time …. Leigh