Change-management guru and motivational speaker Mark Thompson got the final day of the Healthcare Financial Management Association's Annual National Institute in Orlando, Fla., off to a self-reflective start with a 45-minute keynote address on how healthcare organizations can thrive during a time of turbulent change in the industry. Thompson is the former chief customer experience officer for Charles Schwab & Co. and author of
Success Built to Last.
Thompson outlined five principles to successfully manage change and provided examples of how some executives and managers undermine those principles with bad behavior. The principles were: define reality; build buy-in; mentor others; build trust; and define success.
Explaining the first principle, Thompson said healthcare organizations must face what he called “the brutal truth” about whatever situation they're in. “Only then are you in a real position to redefine the landscape for the future,” he said. To build buy-in from staff, healthcare executives need to recruit participation in goal-setting, stay focused on stakeholder benefit and recognize achievement, according to Thompson. Regarding mentorship, healthcare executives need to “fight for each other” rather than against each other, Thompson said. “Organizations start tearing themselves apart under the pressure and start playing the blame game.”
To build trust with staff, healthcare executives need an equal dose of competency and empathy, Thompson explained. “Caring is equally essential as what you know,” he said. And defining success isn't just about the overall strategic goals of a healthcare organization; it's about defining success with every interaction with staff from e-mails to phone calls, Thompson said. “Never assume you know someone else's definition of success,” he said. “Ask!”
Thompson illustrated each of the five principles with brief video interviews with leading healthcare financial experts and HFMA executives, including HFMA President and CEO Richard Clarke.
(You can watch a Modern Healthcare interview with Clarke here from this edition of Live@HFMA.) More Live@AHLA Coverage
