Forced to evolve or else, this is a time of intense transformation for healthcare leaders. As you navigate the current healthcare environment, you’ve likely noticed many established “best practices” that worked well once upon a time (or at the health system across...
Michael Hein
Don’t Overtrain: Avoiding Career & Leadership Burnout
Leaders are corporate athletes. Elite leadership performance requires considerable physical and emotional endurance, mental focus, and determination. The demands that a leader places on their body are substantial. However, few leaders take the time to remember...
When Things Are Brutal: Three Essential Elements of Leadership
For many healthcare leaders, things have been nothing short of brutal. How does a leader stay in a good place and help others do the same when things are so difficult? At MEDI we have noticed three essential elements. Abide by the Stockdale Paradox Confront the brutal...
Ferrari or Rainforest? Why Many “Best” Practices Fail in Healthcare Leadership
Pandemic or no pandemic, you might have noticed that applying a “best practice” from someplace else sometimes fails to produce significant, sustainable improvements in your “place.” After decades of herculean efforts, often drawing upon the free exchange of “best...
Widening Your Perspective as a Leader
My son-in-law and I have many similar physical characteristics. We both stand at 5’10”, are slim, bald and fair skinned. We also wear glasses. Out of admiration for each other’s taste in glasses frames, and to make light of our similarities, we attempted a swap. He...
Belief is Blind
When we believe something to be true, it has a powerful effect. It often leads us to tap into a tendency known as confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the natural propensity to “gather evidence that confirms preexisting expectations, typically by emphasizing or...
Studies Point to Implicit Bias in Healthcare
Recent events and mounting industry data illuminate an uncomfortable truth: Implicit bias is prevalent in healthcare, say researchers, and many are unaware. More importantly, it’s hurting patients. As a healthcare leader, we trust that your aim is to ensure that every...
COVID-19, Complexity, and Dancing with Chaos
Contributing Authors: Eric Norwood, FACHE and Michael Hein, MD Over the past several weeks, we are seeing complexity play out in dramatic ways. Significant changes are likely taking place for you in terms of how you view your role and impact as a...
Defining a Leader’s Reality: Ordered or Unordered?
Below is a short reflection of multiple interactions I’ve recently had with several clients. Let’s imagine a healthcare CEO and leader of a large regional delivery system in the Midwest. The conversation is one you could very well have with me or one of my coaching...
The Unordered World of Healthcare – Part 1: Assuming Too Much
Does it ever feel like leading in healthcare is difficult? Messy? Perhaps it feels like success is just beyond your reach – no matter how much you move forward? I’ve heard all the above from my coaching clients. I assure them (and you) that they (and you) are not...