"Leadership in the Modern Pathology Environment" - 2009 Siemens Academy

SIEMENS ACADEMY May 5TH – 7TH 2009

Leadership in the Modern Pathology Environment

Larry SiedlickCEO Sunrise Medical Laboratories - USA



Sunrise Medical Laboratories Overview

Located Just Outside New York City

Founded in 1972 as Local Community Lab

Comprehensive Clinical/Anatomical Services

Approximately 400 Staff

~ 1.7 million patient encounters annually

Became part of Sonic Healthcare July 2007


Market Share of Lab Testing in the New York City Area

LabCorp7%

Sunrise6%

Other labs10%

Quest62%

Bio-Reference12%

Enzo3%

Source: Laboratory Economics January 2007

Estimated Total Market Size = $ 1 billion


Lead·er·ship [lee-der-ship] – noun- the ability to guide, direct, or influence people

Based on that definition – “Who are the leaders in your laboratory?”

Leadership - not to be confused with management.

Laboratory Leadership Defined


Challenges Facing Laboratory Leadership

Control demand for tests and stop unnecessary testing

Improve delivery of the service

Shrinking Talent Pool

Less Financial Resources

Services may be competitively awardedCould mean only low price wins

Future Consolidation of Laboratories


Challenges Facing Laboratory Leadership

New Quality Metrics

Training/Career Paths for laboratory staff

Maintain existing staff expertise across services

Customers are more demandingWho is the customer – clinician, patient, government?

Developing organization-wide Customer Service Culture

Leading staff through CHANGE to higher performance

Finding the single magical “Silver Bullet” that can fix all of the above.


“And now,for something completely

different.”- Monty Python – Famous English Philosophy Group


Lab Leadership – Rule # 1Welcome to Healthcare

“It’s not supposed to be easy”

No Whining Please


Lab Leadership Rules 2 and 3Rule #2 – Leadership Matters

Rule #3 - Rules 1 & 2 applies to ALL organizations

● Private for profit ● Not-for profits ● Government● Unionized ● Non-unionized● Large and small organizations

“The only easy day was yesterday.”


Today’s Goal “Scratch the Surface of Understanding”

Purpose and Passion - Role in Leadership and Performance

Leading the Way to High Performance

Leadership Responsibility

Basic Characteristics of Leadership

Perception vs. Reality

Competencies to Lead

What is the “Meaning of Life? “

And other small stuff you probably already know


“What is the Meaning of Life?”What is your organization’s purpose?

Not to be confused with “what you do”

Lab tests influence ~70% of all medical decisions

Purpose inspires people

Passion – Powerful magnet for talented people

Passionate Workplace = Passionate Performance____________________________________________________________________________________________

“We provide advanced medical laboratory services to prevent, diagnosis and treat medical diseases to positively impact human health.”


Passion’s Role in LeadershipNew Organizations/Projects: Rarely without passion

Mature Organizations/People: Passion can be lost in the "operationalization“

Are you "passion-challenged?“50% of leaders struggle with maintaining the passion.Question: ‘Can we really evoke a strategy, a compelling saga, if our leadership is passionless?’

_____________________________________________________________________________

“One person with passion is better than 40 people who are merely interested.”


Re-Discover Your PassionWhere do you look if your passion is lost?

Introspection

Define what we are passionate about because we are “language-beings.”

“Languaging passion” makes clear in our own minds what we are up to, and to be able to articulate it to others.


“Languaging” My Passion

“My passion is to revolutionize leadership in a way that would allow us to significantly alter

the future.”


Passionate Leadership to Achieve High Performance

Be purpose-drivenPeople follow and embrace that passion and purpose as their own

Know your peopleLeaders know the people who work for them Commit to developing skills and helping them reach their full potentialPeople want to contribute meaningfully; create an environment where they can do so.

Get people involvedParticipation vs. “Following Orders”Creates a personal interest in the decisionsEnable people to contribute

_______________________________________________________________"High-performance organizations are purpose-driven, while all others just

operate day by day.”


Leadership DNASurvey of 300 CEOs Worldwide

"Is leadership predominantly something you are born with or something that you develop through experience?“

• 40% said leadership was born• 60% said it was gained through experience

“What they considered to be the most important aspects --and the most difficult -- of being a leader?”

• Most Important: Having the right people was second only to creating vision

• Most Difficult: Having the right people just behind maintaining momentum and developing people.


Connecting the Dots… to Having the “Right People”

Attracting/motivating the right people … requires great organizational culture…

Great Organizational Culture is … determined and driven by great leadership…

Great leadership … worked on EVERYDAY...

Everyday … the laboratory offers new opportunities to lead____________________________________________

“ Attracting, retaining and motivating good people is directly proportional to your organization’s culture.”


Hire/Promote the Right People“Hiring for Dummies”

Being “customer service minded” and a “hard worker” are personality traits and NOT learned technical skills.

Most organizations hire/promote people for what they know… then they fire them for who they are

Spend more time in the hiring/promotion process finding out who people are

Hire for behavior; train for performance _______________________________________________________

“To select the wrong person for a job is a common mistake; not to remove them is a fatal weakness.”


Customer Service Culture“Why is it so hard for some lab staff?”

One Possible TheoryTechnically Driven Culture vs. Customer Driven Culture

Lab Leadership – Total Commitment to Internal and External CustomersLeaders must recognize they set the tone for service cultureThen – Leaders must set the tone with “ruthless consistency”

___________________________________________________________________

“Hello, this is a recording, you’ve dialed the right number, now please hang up and don’t do it again.”


Lab Leadership Culture at Sunrise“Customer Service Culture by Example”

#1 Priority is our Internal Customers

Management recognizes our staff as customers

Strong emphasis on both teamwork and responsiveness to individuals

ALL levels of management are accessible and place strong emphasis on work environment

“Perception is Reality”We understand that our staff’s perception of culture is their reality – no matter what we think.


How Leaders Motivate Staff to High Performance “A million things to do in your spare time”

Giving Verbal and Visual Recognition Say thanks to someone everydaySmile - Keep the workplace friendlyGive recognition in front of peers“Walk the 4 Corners”Praise someone everydayGive credit where credit is dueNon-monetary awards Asking Questions and Listening Carefully

Listening tells you what staff needs (“Perception is Reality”)Act on staff ideas and suggestions that make sense


Other Leadership Things That Get People Working

Provide Opportunities for GrowthWithin the position and, if possible, beyond the position

Empathic and Thoughtful Leadership• Do what you say you're going to do • Keep all your promises• Involves staff in decisions that directly affect them • Go out of your way to help staff• Be sympathetic to personal problems


How do leaders get the right people working?

Thru Leadership that is …

Effective

Passionate

Emotionally Intelligent


Emotional Intelligence for Leaders“With Apologies to Daniel Goleman”

Key Traits of High Emotional Intelligence

Optimism

Self-Awareness

Empathy

Impulse Control

Reality Check


Basic Competencies for High Performance Leadership

Know yourself (Self Awareness)Leaders serve to remind people what is most important, but first they must know what's important to them.

Be optimistic and empathic (Social Awareness)You set the tone for those around you.

Connect with others (Relationship Management)Understand what makes your staff perform at their best and what they need to help the organization succeed.

Self Control of, and responsibility for, your actions (Self Management)

Assume responsibility yourself.


Basic Leadership Competencies (Continued)“Vision without action is daydreaming.”

Make timely decisionsMake a sound decision and move on

CommunicatePerhaps a leader's most significant function - the good news and the bad“Intent vs. Impact” (Leaders choose and deliver their words carefully)

Punctuate these words "woman without her man is nothing".

Men wrote: "Woman, without her man, is nothing."

Women wrote: "Woman! Without her, man is nothing."


Leading the Change“Change is good – you go first.” – Dilbert - famous American philosopher

Guide people toward the desired objective:

Say what you mean. Be straightforward and credible. People who understand what the leader wants stand a far better chance of working things out on their own.

Empathize, don't disdain. Strive to understand a person's circumstances and help him develop a plan to improve the situation.

Have respect. People should feel responsible for their own actions and ideas. Respect their personal values, rather than forcing your own upon them.


The Role of a Leader “The future isn’t what it used to be.”

Strategist for FutureLook three years out into the futureAsk the most important strategic question: “How will our organization survive and improve in the future?”

Ambassador to important staff and customersIncreases staff’s trust in you and establishes your credibility

InventorFind your staff and external customer’s pain and develop new processes or services to relieve it. Ensures that the strategic direction of the laboratory aligns around the staff’s and customer’s pain


The Role of a Leader in High Performance Organizations

Coach, teacher to your direct reportsCulture of learning at all levels Learn and Teach the big picture perspective no matter what your positionLearn and Teach some basic financial/budget facts so you and your staff understands what is really happening from a financial standpoint.

InvestorTreat your organization (and your career) as an investment of a life timeStrive to constantly increase it’s value Striving to increase value leads you to good decisions and creates a stable work environment for you and people

Student for LifeStay active in some form of continued professional development


Organizational Trust Theorem

“The level of motivation in an organization can never rise above the level of trust.”

The staff …Accepts and executes decisions even if they don't fully understand them

Gives up short-term benefits for long-term, mutually beneficial rewards

Shares the burden in difficult times

Responds with understanding to work emergencies

Invests their ideas and suggestions in the future


Leading Your Team‘s Creative Energy

An inspiring purpose

A sense of urgency that is shared by all

A "we're all in this together" attitude

Goals that broaden people‘s abilities

A belief that teamwork can meet these goals

Know what your team really wants_____________________________________________

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”


What People Really WantWant to feel like members of a great team

Want to know the work they do is necessary

Want to know the work they do is important for the organization's survival.


Does all this “Lab Leadership Stuff”really work?

You Decide


Leadership Results at SunriseProductivity Metric - Annual Transactions/Full Time Staff Member

Quest is 3,639 and LabCorp is 3,820* Sunrise is 3,776

Financial Benchmark – Revenue/Full Time Staff Member Quest is $151,053 and LabCorp is $143,632* Sunrise is $206,220

Financial Results - Similar to Largest US National Labs

High organic growth rates

Low staff turn-over at all levels

High customer retention


One Final Theory

“The Ultimate Quality Metric”

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavour.”

– Vince Lombardi, US Football Coach

Contact Information: Larry SiedlickSunrise Medical LaboratoriesEmail:[email protected] Phone 631-435-1515

Documents

"Leadership in the Modern Pathology Environment" - 2009 Siemens Academy