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The One Thing You Need to Know
Lessons Learned Katherine Vestal, RN, PhD, FAAN, FACHE
The One Thing You Need to Know Throughout our managerial and leadership careers, we find ourselves in search of the perfect equation for success. As the organization changes and we change, there are literally thousands of permutations that arise either supporting or challenging our beliefs about what makes a successful leader. In many ways it is a career-long search for the holy grail of leadership, a journey that takes twists and turns and is full of surprises. One approach to the pursuit of success as a leader is to incorporate new thinking or at least different thinking along the way. Learning from others, reading a diverse set of managerial literature, and constantly tampering with the success equation are a few ways to meet the challenges of the everchanging organization. Recently there was a book published that takes a new look at personal achievement as a leader. The One Thing You Need to Know by Markus Buckingham1 contends that there is a way to stay laser-focused on operational excellence by identifying the core insights of your business and crafting decisions around that. Maybe this book will offer nurse managers some new ideas that will help us sustain successful careers. The book’s premise is that there are three things we need to excel as managers and leaders: great managing, great leading, and sustained individual success. That idea, for sure, is not new, but does Buckingham really have the answer to the question “Is there really only one thing you need to know?” to achieve these outcomes? It was worth the read to determine if there is a way to greatly simplify the challenges of managing and leading and to ensure career success. Interestingly, the first skill necessary to succeed is focus. The two meanings of focus center on the ability to sort through many factors and filter the issues down to the most critical. Second, there is the ability to focus with laser intent on those critical issues to maintain pressure that leads to resolution. The concept of focus is huge for nurse leaders because the complexity of 6 Nurse Leader
leading in health care brings a constant barrage of issues that often lack prioritization, and thus the ability to focus on the most critical element is difficult. The result is a tendency to deal with multiple issues at a somewhat superficial level, which leads to failure to deal deeply and conclusively with those that are most important to results. So the ability to focus will lead us to spending more time and energy on some things to the detriment of others. We must see that as OK. While some things are important, others are imperative, and that is what we must sort through. This distinction inevitably leads to a situation of imbalance in your managerial world, often construed as the “messy” side of management. Buckingham says a kind of lopsided focus actually increases your capacity and fuels your resilience. In any case, the ability to sharpen your focus will provide you with the capacity to accomplish results as a leader. Given the insight of focus, Buckingham delves into the issues of great management and leadership. He is careful to acknowledge the many gurus of leadership theory but cites numerous cases of managers who excel at meeting organizational goals and explores the one variable that sets them apart from their peers—the ability to clearly understand each employee’s talents and find ways to translate that talent into high personal performance. Again, this is not a news flash for experienced managers, but the truth of the matter is that, in health care, we have made this task increasingly difficult to accomplish. To really understand what each nurse wants and needs and how each nurse is personally motivated is a formidable task. Nurse managers are facing increasingly bigger jobs with more and more employees, and one-on-one personal time with staff members is hard to come by. How can this rapport be accomplished? How can we begin the process of truly knowing and understanding each nurse to capitalize on his or her strengths? The ideas again are not new, but a good reminder of what October 2007
really matters. Praising excellence in performance, demonstrating caring for the individual, and addressing behaviors that are not in keeping with job requirements are but a few. Managers who forge bonds with people, address poor performance, and recognize success are way down the road to managing a good business unit. However, the one thing that seems to differentiate good from great managers is their ability to recognize the unique attributes of each individual and find ways to release the nurse to capitalize on them to ensure individual success. Thus, by not trying to get everyone to look and act the same but allowing them to use their unique qualities to the advantage of the organization and themselves, the manager can build a highly successful employee group. The great manager can identify and understand each person’s unique talents that make him special and different, challenge him to strengthen those talents with practice and discipline, and allow him to earn the respect of the organization for the excellence that he contributes. What does Buckingham say about leadership? Is there one thing that you need to know? He contends that great leaders have the job to rally others toward a better future. They are the instigators to make sure that the future of choice comes true. To do this, great leaders must be able to picture the future, excite people about it, and capitalize on others’ uniqueness to get there. He further believes that great leaders must be preoccupied with painting a vivid picture of the future with a fascination for the changes to get there and a clear dissatisfaction for maintaining the status quo. So leaders who can get you there must have a sense of optimism and the ability to coach others to make the trip. Clearly a difference exists between being optimistic and delusional. Of course there are times when acting like Pollyanna is not going to necessarily rally the group, but for the most part a sense of “can-do” and the confidence to strive toward the vision are a October 2007
part of actually getting there. The ego strength to stick with it and overcome the obstacles is a part of the leader’s skill set that is constantly challenged and second-guessed. So self-belief, self-assurance, and self-confidence are all parts of the leadership equation. The future remains the focus. If successful managers focus on individuals and their unique capabilities and successful leaders focus on the future, how will the two find the synergies needed to successfully move the organization forward? This brings us to the third point that Buckingham makes. We must find ways to sustain individual success and to identify ways to move the majority into the successful category. He cites a Gallup study found that only 20% of people report that they have a chance to do what
Great leaders must be able to picture the future, excite people about it, and capitalize on others’ uniqueness to get there.
they do best every day and that the rest of the workforce feels that their strengths are not being used every day. While it might be construed that that many people are misplaced in jobs, it is far more optimistic to see the situation as a huge untapped resource for managers and organizations. The twenty-percenters have the ability, work ethic, persistence, and opportunity to experience extraordinary, repeated, and sustained success. They have found their niche, prepared for it, executed it well, and shown their organizations that they can perform excellently. Importantly, they do not seem to be worn down by the challenges, but rather energized as they find creative solutions and ways to repeatedly succeed at no one’s
expense and to the benefit of the organization. Every organization has a few of these managers and leaders— and the fervent wish that they could be cloned. Our attention must then be on the other 80% on whom we depend for leadership. Every leader has strengths and weaknesses and, for that matter, likes and dislikes about the job. The question of sustained success is whether you should do more of what you like and less of what you don’t, work to overcome your weaknesses, or take the time to sculpt a career around those things you like and do well. However you direct your energy, the key to sustaining success is to find a way to make the greatest possible impact over the longest period. This requires that you are good at what you do and, more importantly, that you stay good ahead of the learning curve of the general managerial population. Your investment in your own learning starts with finding your flaws and fixing them. Ask your boss what you can do to improve and do it, but don’t dwell on it. Move forward to what energizes you and cultivate your strengths and build your career around them. Sounds so simple, doesn’t it? I found this approach to leadership and management to be both old and new. It was old because it lent credence to what we already know about leaders and managers. It was new because it made me stop and think about how to gain some control and focus over those things that are most identifiable and critical to successful managing and leading. It stands to reason that, if we are successful in these roles, we are more apt to find that we can sustain our success in these roles. Above all this interesting and quick read about the one thing we need to know about managing, leading, and sustaining a successful career made me think about what is important and how to organize a chaotic role in health care. It may also give us some ideas about how to help new managers sort out the pressures and challenges they face as they try to master a new role.
Nurse Leader 7
Maybe it is not just this book that is intriguing; it may just be taking the time to reflect on what we do and why and perhaps find some new approaches to success. All of us need new ideas from time to time, and this is one way to find some that may be helpful to you. Reference 1. Buckingham M. The one thing you need to know…about great managing, great leading, and sustained individual success. New York: Free Press, 2005.
Katherine Vestal, RN, PhD, FAAN, FACHE, is president of Work Innovations Inc. in Lake Leelanau, Mich. She can be reached at [email protected]. 1541-4612/2007/ $ See front matter Copyright 2007 by Mosby Inc. doi:10.1016/j.mnl.2007.07.012
8 Nurse Leader
October 2007
The One Thing You Need to Know Throughout our managerial and leadership careers, we find ourselves in search of the perfect equation for success. As the organization changes and we change, there are literally thousands of permutations that arise either supporting or challenging our beliefs about what makes a successful leader. In many ways it is a career-long search for the holy grail of leadership, a journey that takes twists and turns and is full of surprises. One approach to the pursuit of success as a leader is to incorporate new thinking or at least different thinking along the way. Learning from others, reading a diverse set of managerial literature, and constantly tampering with the success equation are a few ways to meet the challenges of the everchanging organization. Recently there was a book published that takes a new look at personal achievement as a leader. The One Thing You Need to Know by Markus Buckingham1 contends that there is a way to stay laser-focused on operational excellence by identifying the core insights of your business and crafting decisions around that. Maybe this book will offer nurse managers some new ideas that will help us sustain successful careers. The book’s premise is that there are three things we need to excel as managers and leaders: great managing, great leading, and sustained individual success. That idea, for sure, is not new, but does Buckingham really have the answer to the question “Is there really only one thing you need to know?” to achieve these outcomes? It was worth the read to determine if there is a way to greatly simplify the challenges of managing and leading and to ensure career success. Interestingly, the first skill necessary to succeed is focus. The two meanings of focus center on the ability to sort through many factors and filter the issues down to the most critical. Second, there is the ability to focus with laser intent on those critical issues to maintain pressure that leads to resolution. The concept of focus is huge for nurse leaders because the complexity of 6 Nurse Leader
leading in health care brings a constant barrage of issues that often lack prioritization, and thus the ability to focus on the most critical element is difficult. The result is a tendency to deal with multiple issues at a somewhat superficial level, which leads to failure to deal deeply and conclusively with those that are most important to results. So the ability to focus will lead us to spending more time and energy on some things to the detriment of others. We must see that as OK. While some things are important, others are imperative, and that is what we must sort through. This distinction inevitably leads to a situation of imbalance in your managerial world, often construed as the “messy” side of management. Buckingham says a kind of lopsided focus actually increases your capacity and fuels your resilience. In any case, the ability to sharpen your focus will provide you with the capacity to accomplish results as a leader. Given the insight of focus, Buckingham delves into the issues of great management and leadership. He is careful to acknowledge the many gurus of leadership theory but cites numerous cases of managers who excel at meeting organizational goals and explores the one variable that sets them apart from their peers—the ability to clearly understand each employee’s talents and find ways to translate that talent into high personal performance. Again, this is not a news flash for experienced managers, but the truth of the matter is that, in health care, we have made this task increasingly difficult to accomplish. To really understand what each nurse wants and needs and how each nurse is personally motivated is a formidable task. Nurse managers are facing increasingly bigger jobs with more and more employees, and one-on-one personal time with staff members is hard to come by. How can this rapport be accomplished? How can we begin the process of truly knowing and understanding each nurse to capitalize on his or her strengths? The ideas again are not new, but a good reminder of what October 2007
really matters. Praising excellence in performance, demonstrating caring for the individual, and addressing behaviors that are not in keeping with job requirements are but a few. Managers who forge bonds with people, address poor performance, and recognize success are way down the road to managing a good business unit. However, the one thing that seems to differentiate good from great managers is their ability to recognize the unique attributes of each individual and find ways to release the nurse to capitalize on them to ensure individual success. Thus, by not trying to get everyone to look and act the same but allowing them to use their unique qualities to the advantage of the organization and themselves, the manager can build a highly successful employee group. The great manager can identify and understand each person’s unique talents that make him special and different, challenge him to strengthen those talents with practice and discipline, and allow him to earn the respect of the organization for the excellence that he contributes. What does Buckingham say about leadership? Is there one thing that you need to know? He contends that great leaders have the job to rally others toward a better future. They are the instigators to make sure that the future of choice comes true. To do this, great leaders must be able to picture the future, excite people about it, and capitalize on others’ uniqueness to get there. He further believes that great leaders must be preoccupied with painting a vivid picture of the future with a fascination for the changes to get there and a clear dissatisfaction for maintaining the status quo. So leaders who can get you there must have a sense of optimism and the ability to coach others to make the trip. Clearly a difference exists between being optimistic and delusional. Of course there are times when acting like Pollyanna is not going to necessarily rally the group, but for the most part a sense of “can-do” and the confidence to strive toward the vision are a October 2007
part of actually getting there. The ego strength to stick with it and overcome the obstacles is a part of the leader’s skill set that is constantly challenged and second-guessed. So self-belief, self-assurance, and self-confidence are all parts of the leadership equation. The future remains the focus. If successful managers focus on individuals and their unique capabilities and successful leaders focus on the future, how will the two find the synergies needed to successfully move the organization forward? This brings us to the third point that Buckingham makes. We must find ways to sustain individual success and to identify ways to move the majority into the successful category. He cites a Gallup study found that only 20% of people report that they have a chance to do what
Great leaders must be able to picture the future, excite people about it, and capitalize on others’ uniqueness to get there.
they do best every day and that the rest of the workforce feels that their strengths are not being used every day. While it might be construed that that many people are misplaced in jobs, it is far more optimistic to see the situation as a huge untapped resource for managers and organizations. The twenty-percenters have the ability, work ethic, persistence, and opportunity to experience extraordinary, repeated, and sustained success. They have found their niche, prepared for it, executed it well, and shown their organizations that they can perform excellently. Importantly, they do not seem to be worn down by the challenges, but rather energized as they find creative solutions and ways to repeatedly succeed at no one’s
expense and to the benefit of the organization. Every organization has a few of these managers and leaders— and the fervent wish that they could be cloned. Our attention must then be on the other 80% on whom we depend for leadership. Every leader has strengths and weaknesses and, for that matter, likes and dislikes about the job. The question of sustained success is whether you should do more of what you like and less of what you don’t, work to overcome your weaknesses, or take the time to sculpt a career around those things you like and do well. However you direct your energy, the key to sustaining success is to find a way to make the greatest possible impact over the longest period. This requires that you are good at what you do and, more importantly, that you stay good ahead of the learning curve of the general managerial population. Your investment in your own learning starts with finding your flaws and fixing them. Ask your boss what you can do to improve and do it, but don’t dwell on it. Move forward to what energizes you and cultivate your strengths and build your career around them. Sounds so simple, doesn’t it? I found this approach to leadership and management to be both old and new. It was old because it lent credence to what we already know about leaders and managers. It was new because it made me stop and think about how to gain some control and focus over those things that are most identifiable and critical to successful managing and leading. It stands to reason that, if we are successful in these roles, we are more apt to find that we can sustain our success in these roles. Above all this interesting and quick read about the one thing we need to know about managing, leading, and sustaining a successful career made me think about what is important and how to organize a chaotic role in health care. It may also give us some ideas about how to help new managers sort out the pressures and challenges they face as they try to master a new role.
Nurse Leader 7
Maybe it is not just this book that is intriguing; it may just be taking the time to reflect on what we do and why and perhaps find some new approaches to success. All of us need new ideas from time to time, and this is one way to find some that may be helpful to you. Reference 1. Buckingham M. The one thing you need to know…about great managing, great leading, and sustained individual success. New York: Free Press, 2005.
Katherine Vestal, RN, PhD, FAAN, FACHE, is president of Work Innovations Inc. in Lake Leelanau, Mich. She can be reached at [email protected]. 1541-4612/2007/ $ See front matter Copyright 2007 by Mosby Inc. doi:10.1016/j.mnl.2007.07.012
8 Nurse Leader
October 2007