The Power of the Past

This week's post was crafted in New Orleans.  The Big Easy.  My time here began this past Friday (Jan 23, 2015) and will end this coming Tuesday (Jan 27, 2015).  I'm in the midst of the 2015 International Chair Development Workshop.  Over 500 Vistage and TEC chairs from around the world have gathered for this 4-day event to learn, share best practices and network.  This was my first such event as a relatively new TEC Canada Chair (www.tec-canada.com).

However, if we go back several months I previously decided not to come to this event.  There were a number of reasons I had offered myself and others for not considering attendance - not having yet formally launched my TEC group, feeling guilty about more time away from family, and being busy with a variety of coaching and consulting engagements.  It wasn't until my rubber arm was twisted by TEC Canada head office in early November that I finally relented and registered myself for this event.

The confirmation didn't alleviate my anxiety about coming to New Orleans.  Rather as the date for departure got closer I became more anxious.  Only in the last couple of weeks before arrival did I finally - and maybe reluctantly - identify the underlying reason for my hesitance to return to New Orleans for indeed I had been in New Orleans once before.  In March 2007 - nearly 8 years ago - I had come to the Big Easy to convocate as a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.  This was to be a formal cap and gown ceremony and all-around big deal.  My wife and I decided that she and our then 6-year old daughter would stay home as the very next week we were heading out to Disney World for a family vacation.  Too much travel and too much missed school.

So began my few days away in New Orleans.  A time when I should have been celebrating a significant achievement in my healthcare leadership career.  Instead these days would ultimately prove to be the worst of my life.

The challenges started early.  Upon arrival I misplaced my portfolio which also contained my passport.  Not a great thing to do on your first day away and with a family vacation set to take place the very next week.  So began an agonizing 24 hours in New Orleans.  The next day, while waiting on any news of my passport's whereabouts, I went down to take in a scheduled learning seminar.  As it turned out, the scheduled speaker was prevented from attending as they were snowed-in back in Boston.  With the learning session pre-empted I took advantage of the free time to head back to the airport where I was miraculously reunited with my portfolio and passport!  Things were looking up.

Passport back in hand, I could relax and now had free time to take in the city sights.  Later in the day, I acted upon a recommendation of the hotel concierge and had dinner accompanied by an amazing jazz performance.  That's where phase two of my misfortune kicked in - food poisoning.  My illness was significant and persistent.  So much so that, despite my best efforts to battle through, I actually pulled myself out of the convocation procession line perhaps minutes away from being recognized by my peers for my professional achievement.  All that I was confident of at that time was that if I decided to keep on walking - or even standing - I would probably pass out near or on the stage.  I went back to my room and passed out for the rest of the day.

The next day, I packed up in a relatively depressed state of mind expecting and hoping that my troubles were behind me.  As events would soon prove out I should have been more cognizant of the saying "bad things come in threes".  I phoned my wife early that morning from my hotel indicating that I was on my way home and that I would call her later when I made my connection in Denver.  When I did so, I got no answer and something made my spider sense tingle.  After several more calls, allowing for any number of valid reasons why she might not pick up, I got more concerned and called two friends to head over and check things out.  My worst possible fears were confirmed within fifteen minutes.  My wife of nearly 13 years was found dead.  I got on my connecting flight from Denver with the knowledge that the life had I led just hours before had irrevocably changed.

Why do I tell you this story?  It's not to gain sympathy or compassion.  Rather I draw you back to my undefined anxiety and reluctance to return to New Orleans nearly 8 years after my wife's death.  I believe my grieving to be over.  In truth it probably took me well over a year to recover and restructure my life - and start to become a better father to my daughter.  Yet what I failed to recognize was how much power this past event still had over my life to this day.  What was that power?  If not grief, what?  My answer - a return to New Orleans was a return to a time of what I still see as a personal and tragic failure on my part.  I failed to save my wife's life.  And when my 6-year old daughter asked me on that day, "Where's mom?", I had to acknowledge that I had failed to save her mother's life as well.

I had failed and it was this sense of failure that I still carried with me 8 years later.

Why do I tell you this story?  So that you can take at least this lesson away with you.  Recognize, appreciate and come to terms with your past "failings" (real or perceived) so that they do not paralyze you from moving forward.  It's clear to me now that I've carried a significant burden for the past 8 years.  In many respects I've moved on - married again to an outstanding, talented and beautiful woman with whom I have brought two more beautiful and spirited girls into the world.  However, it's equally clear from the feelings dredged up in the past months that I have not yet forgiven myself for something that I truly had no control over.  Ask yourself (as I did not) if you have truly failed, if you have garnered the right lessons from these past events and, most importantly, how can you move forward unencumbered (and perhaps even strengthened) by the past?

Each of us in our leadership - and life - journey have had failings perceived or real.  To show true leadership we should objectively and courageously examine and learn from these events.  As leaders we often don't but instead feel that we are tasked with carrying on despite setbacks, showing a stiff upper lip to our followers, convincing them through our mask of strength and confidence that all will be fine.  I did just that in my time of loss, returning to work a mere two weeks after my wife's death.  I buried myself back into work hoping to hide my pain in work.  Ultimately, I have to ask myself how much better off could I have been with opening up to others at that time, demonstrating my vulnerability and getting help to objectively assessing my "failure".

Maybe I could have spent the last number of years in a better state of mind.  Perhaps I could have achieved even more for myself, my daughter and those around me if I had come to grips with my "failure" earlier than today.

Assess your reality and your past objectively and with courage.  Don't let your fears, partial learnings, incorrect assumptions, or other demons prevent you from moving forward positively into the future.  You deserve better, can achieve so much more, and will be a better leader for it.  Don't be paralyzed by the past.  Break the chains.  Move forward to be the person and leader you are.
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Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Go ahead...be selfish!

When I took on my first leadership role in 1986 as administrator of a small rural health centre in Manitoba I was keen and green in equal measure - and probably not a little afraid of a shift far outside of my comfort zone.  Professionally I was the youngest leader in the province by far.  Personally, I had moved to a province where I had no history or connections whatsoever.

What I lacked in experience I more than made up for in idealism and naivety.  Then as now I was motivated to be of service, to make a difference in my chosen profession and in my new community, to continue to learn and strive to be better.  One step in that path was to volunteer to become part of the local emergency medical service.  My rationale was that while I had been academically prepared to be a health care administrator I had very little experience of actually administering anything.  What better way to learn than to become part of some of the services I was responsible for leading!  Bloody brilliant!

I imagined that my service would be time-limited, at most a year of actual service before backing out and focusing solely on the administrative side of my career.  However, as many of you might know its a lot easier to sign up for something in a rural community than to sign out.  My 1-year plan turned into a 4-year mini-EMS career.

In retrospect, that extra 3 years of service was time well spent.  It helped me better understand the front-line experience and gave me enough early familiarity with medical terminology and lingo to be more effective as a healthcare leader.  It also taught me humility - nothing like being covered in the blood of others as you respond to a mass casualty incident, pick up kids not much younger than yourself from some traumatic event, or have someone die in front of you despite your best efforts.  Some of those images and experiences remain with me to this day.

Perhaps most important for me is that I continue to carry one piece of advice given to me as an EMS provider that still has great relevance for me as a leader.  In my training and in subsequent years of service I was taught to ensure safety of any scene before entering.  It was drummed into me that I should not rush headlong in to save the day, like some knight in shining armor, lest I become another casualty putting burden on other emergency services personnel.  In essence I was told be selfish, to guard my life diligently in order to be of effective service to those needing my skills and abilities.

So what relevance does this have to leadership?  The nature of my coaching practice seems to attract many individuals who are extraordinarily selfless as leaders.  They are continuously taking on new duties and tasks, trying to support and advocate for their staff and their clients/customers, and putting in the extra time and effort that they believe could make THE difference.  Work-life balance?  A challenging prospect.  They also take the same approach and have the same level of commitment on the home front.

As they present to me, either at the initial stages of our engagement or as we focus on identifying and working towards their stated goals, I often find myself relating and translating this EMS lesson to their leadership environment.  Basically, I help them identify with the reality that THEY are the KEY instrument of THEIR desired success. Much like myself as the EMS provider, they benefit from understanding that unless they take care of and invest in themselves their ability to be successful is diminished.  Without continuously developing their skills sets, without reflecting on their plans and actions, and without proper investment in their personal health, they will in fact perform at a less than optimal level.  Ironically, by working harder and longer - being entirely selfless - they in fact can be less effective in their ultimate desire to serve others.

Often their first reaction to taking time for self is that any such effort is incredibly and inappropriately selfish.  The very idea of taking time out of their work week to focus on their leadership development makes them twitchy. It takes some discussion but eventually we start to take small steps toward helping them develop an appropriately selfish plan of leadership development and self care.

So what does appropriately selfish look like in a leadership context?  First and foremost it's getting back in touch with what it means for the individual to be a leader.  I find that many leaders have an intuitive or abstract understanding of why they lead but have never taken the time to truly reflect and DOCUMENT their personal leadership vision and values.  This effort is of huge value to leaders both in terms of the process of self-discovery and in respect of the direction it provides them moving forward.  This effort takes time.  It requires uninterrupted, reflective and dedicated effort that should be part of work time.

Second, I often work with leaders to get them to take time out of their work week - even if only a few minutes each day - to reflect on and evaluate their leadership successes or challenges.  Taking a page from the sports world, you need to replay the tape, assess how the "play" went, and then learn and adjust going forward.  Without such self-assessment or reflection there really is no real learning going on and no effective improvement or enhancement to your leadership skill.

The challenge often presented when we discuss these two options, both of which require protected time to accomplish, is just exactly how can this be done with everybody banging on my door and my e-mail in-box getting flooded every hour with new requests.  The simple answer is structure and support.  Most leaders do have the tools to support them in this regard from their electronic calendar to their personal assistant, executive assistant or secretary.  Block time as you would any other appointment and protect it like you would your most important meeting.  Enlist your assistant to help you protect this time as well.

Finally, as part of being appropriately selfish work on identifying and recognizing your strengths and accomplishments.  I find far too many leaders focus on their perceived or actual skills gaps or the things that have not been touched on their to-do list.  That "deficit" mentality becomes a significant weight to keep carrying forward.  Far more powerful is the ability to remain positive and optimistic and focused on the future rather than the past.  And take time to celebrate your wins as a leader.  I'm not talking about buying yourself a new Italian sports car but do provide yourself with some, yet tangible, recognition for your achievement and positive steps forward.

I espouse to be a servant leader but that doesn't mean that there isn't an appropriate time to be selfish in service of your leadership.  In my view this is particularly true if you intend to be the kind of leader you want to be for your staff and for those your organization serves.  It's about leadership and it's about investing in your leadership.
____________________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

The Value, Power and Resilience of TEAM!

Let me paint you a picture.  You've been successful in landing your dream job as a leader, taking on the role of President & CEO of a historically prestigious company.  You've held this job for the past 2 two years.  You've landed this role based on your track record to date and reputation as one of the best "thinkers" in your field.

It's not all been a bed of roses to this point.  Despite the long and venerable history of the company its not been at the top of its sector for over 10 years.  Not only has it been missing on projections but just prior to your arrival the company was in disarray owing to ethical and regulatory violations that resulted in your predecessor resigning under and several of its top talents leaving.  In fact, in your first full year of work you continued to operate under heavy regulatory scrutiny that significantly impeded your ability to attract talent and to effectively compete with your rivals.

Through the effective application of your leadership talent you now enter your third year full of optimism.  What could go wrong?  Let me throw a few curves your way:

• at the end of your second year, your Chief Information Officer and four of his five key people bolted for a Silicon Valley company pursuing bigger opportunities and better pay;
• days before the start of the 2014/15 fiscal year, your highly touted and seemingly indispensable Chief Operating Officer was diagnosed with a debilitating illness and was projected to be off work for the entire year;
• stock market analysts reacted to the news of these key personnel losses by significantly downgrading company projections and share price plummeted;
• it seems that analysts weren't wrong when your company falls stumbles in achieving first quarter targets operating under the helm of your very junior replacement COO.

Despite these amazing set of circumstances you right the ship and the company proceeds to turn things around.  Astoundingly, by the end of the 3rd quarter the company is projected to be on pace for its best year in over a decade.  But at this point fate intercedes again and your junior COO, who has vastly exceeded all expectations, is involved in a car accident that also takes him out of the equation.  Once again the prospects for a successful year appear to be dashed.  Again you are left to dig deeper into your organization, dangerously thin on talent by now, putting in charge your third COO of the year!

How fantastic a fable is this?  How much "fiction" am I expecting you to stomach before you dismiss any leadership lessons I hope to impart to you?  What if I told you that the story noted above is true save for the fact that I have chosen to anonymize (to this point) the real "business" and identities of the key players.  In reality not only did the "company" above survive all of these challenges intact it actually became THE best performing "company" in it's sector as of this past Monday.

This "business fable" is the story of the Ohio State Buckeyes - undisputed national champions of US college football.

The leader of this company is in fact Coach Urban Meyer.  The CIO and his key personnel are running back Carlos Hyde and four graduating senior offensive linemen.  The highly touted COO was potential Heisman trophy candidate and starting quarterback Braxton Miller who had season-ending shoulder surgery before the season started.  The first replacement COO was freshman quarterback J. T. Barret who turned in an amazing run of victories only to break his ankle in Ohio's last regular season game.

Finally, we have the final COO in this year's saga, 3rd string quarterback Cardale Jones, who up until the Big 10 Championship game had not taken a snap of any significance all year long.  With Jones at quarterback, however, Ohio went on to destroy Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship game, then defeated the number 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl, before overcoming another underdog tag to beat the Oregon Ducks in the championship game to become national champions. 

How does a team overcome such adversity not once but multiple times to reach the pinnacle of its sport?  Even in the championship game the Buckeyes had to overcome a quick start by the octane fueled offense of Oregon who scored on their first possession of the game.  Moreover, the Buckeyes had to deal their own mistakes and 4 turnovers before winning the game in convincing fashion.  It would have been easy at multiple points in the season and during their championship run to simply fold up their tent and go home.

So what accounts for this level of achievement when any "team" that faces this kind of adversity? First, there is no doubting that sheer raw talent is a factor.  The reality is that talent doesn't materialize out of thin air or overnight.  Both a culture and a structure to attract and retain that talent has to be established in order to entice skilled and talented people to join you even if only in anticipation of better future to come.  Many companies don't start at a point where they can merely pick from an unlimited pool of applicants. They may not have yet established a track record that will get people of talent to willingly sign on but they are trying to convey with some conviction and evidence that this will be the place to be next year or the year after.

Talent alone clearly isn't enough to ensure success.  All of the other teams in the US College Football playoffs had talent.  They might also make the argument that they endured adversity throughout the year.  The fact is that the Buckeyes also benefited from the experience of a leader who had been down this championship path before.  At some level Urban Meyer was able to translate his own successful experience into building confidence amongst his staff and his players that despite adversity they were still skilled enough to compete at the highest levels and succeed.

Beyond that experience and "corporate memory" a system was established that recognized that success didn't depend on one or two key leaders.  In the lead up to the national championship run, when the 2nd string quarterback went down to injury and everybody was counting out the Buckeyes again, all messages coming out of Ohio State was that success was not going to come down to one man - the 3rd string quarterback.  Rather, there was an expectation throughout the team that it would take a collective team effort to ensure success.  Collective effort, collective success.

Great team message followed up by a structured team response.  Slogans, motivational speeches and bravado aside, the Ohio State coaching staff had to make adjustments in game plan as each of it's quarterbacks (and other personnel) went down to put the next man up in a position to maximize their strengths and their ability to succeed at a personal level and ultimately to promote team success.

At the end of the day, it was also clear from each coach and player interviewed - and in the championship acceptance speech by Urban Meyer - that the adversity brought this team closer together at every step of the championship journey.  This team ultimately played for each other.  As with soldiers in war, they stood together not prepared to not give of their best for fear of letting down their comrades.  They played as a team and not as a collection of individuals, prepared to truly sacrifice to obtain the ultimate objective.

Finally, it was clear that an environment had also been created that understood that mistakes would be made.  This was evident as the team adjusted from an early season - and potentially devastating loss - to the reaction to and recovery from 4 turnovers by the Buckeyes in the championship game.  You could see that responsibility was taken for such mistakes at an individual level but support offered by the team to overcome.  More importantly, once the mistake was past it was truly forgotten with a focus forward to make the next required effort, to make the next play, and ultimately succeed on the biggest stage possible.

Even for a Canadian like me, raised more on hockey than football (much less college football), I appreciate how amazing a year this has been for the Ohio State Buckeyes.  Moreover, I fully expect this season to go down as one of the most historic TEAM achievements in college football history.

More importantly I hope you can appreciate the lessons in leadership, strength of team, and perseverance through adversity that this team and this year brought to mind.  

____________________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.