No previous experience can truly prepare you for a healthcare leadership position. Talented administrators and clinicians of all stripes, no matter how much they do to prepare for leadership roles, will ultimately have to learn on the job. However, if they are aware of some common leadership pitfalls, their chances of success greatly improve.
Mike Harbour is president and founder of Harbour Resources, a leadership consulting, training and talent management firm based in Little Rock, Ark. He has spent over 20 years in the healthcare industry as a leader in hospital operations, leadership development and executive searches. Mr. Harbour took the time to speak with Becker's to outline the 7.5 biggest mistakes that every leader must avoid.
Here are the top leadership mistakes, as described by Mr. Harbour:
Editor's note: Responses have been edited lightly for length and clarity
1. Thinking you must know it all.
"A lot of people think they have to know everything, and that prevents them from asking for help. They are afraid to say they don't know the answer to a particular question because they feel like they were hired to know it all. This false expectation of omniscience prevents many people from asking for help and getting guidance from others. This pushes valuable allies away rather than bringing them closer."
2. Thinking your title makes you a leader.
"Leadership is not a position. Once people have the leadership title, it gives them the responsibility and authority to lead others, but it does not guarantee they'll have followers. Real leaders don't fall for title-based leadership, but earn influence by building relationships and trust."
3. Not listening to people on the team who have experience.
"This is a lesson I had to learn myself. When I was growing as a leader I thought I had to know all the answers without listening to those with experience. Healthcare leaders are potentially the youngest people on a team working with nurses who may have 10, 15 or 20 years of clinical operational experience. Leaders who don't draw on this experience, or the experience of superiors, set themselves up for failure."
4. Listening too much to a complacent team.
"We want to listen to those that have experience in the organization, but one of the most dangerous phrases in the healthcare industry is, 'We've always done it this way.' It's one of the reasons healthcare is in a world of hurt, because we got stuck in our old ways and haven't thought outside the box. New leaders have new ideas and new energy, but they're taking on a team that's been there for a long time. If that team has always done something a certain way, they often say nothing new can be done and they've already tried it all. That's how organizations build a culture of complacency."
5. Trying to change too fast or too slowly.
"Right now I'm working with a vice president at an organization who has the kind of personality where she feels she has 100 things she needs to get done right away. We are working on slowing down and taking the two or three items with the largest impact instead of trying to change everything overnight. We create resistance and rebellion if we try to change too fast, because most people are creatures of habit. New leaders must have patience and trust that their teams will adopt changes without being rushed."
6. Making assumptions about people based on the opinions of others.
"Often times when we are hired into an organization, we initially align ourselves with the person who hired us. If that person has a conflict with a co-worker, they will try to inform your opinion based on their own opinions of that person. I'm a big believer in building my judgments of others based on my own opinions and always going into a situation with an open mind. If I judge you before I know you, then I'm not giving you my best as a leader."
7. Failing to develop self-awareness, emotional intelligence or communication awareness.
"Every new leader deals with challenges due to a lack of awareness of how to communicate with others. We've got to develop awareness about how we as leaders draw people to us rather than repel them, and understand how others communicate and perceive communication. The way we communicate can create a fight or flight response in people, and leaders have to develop their emotional intelligence to cultivate trust among coworkers."
"The most helpful steps for leaders include taking a personality assessment and working with coaches. You have to be willing to look frankly at your own strengths and weaknesses and ask questions about how to improve."
7.5 Trying to lead like someone else instead of being true to yourself.
"I work with a chief human resources officer that sometimes acts one way and other times acts completely different, a real Jekyll and Hyde personality. Her team didn't know which personality to expect and were always on the edge of their seats. They didn't know if they were going to get a nice leader or upset leader. Instead of stepping into who she really was, when she felt her back was against a wall she would go against her natural personality and create confusion. Leaders shouldn't imitate what they think a leader looks like, but be true to themselves and trust their instincts."