By: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA | kbarlow@barlowmccarthy.com
Are you a team player? I bet we all answer an emphatic “Yes!” when asked that question. But, does the answer change when we expand “team” to include the broader organization and more senior leaders? Lifting up the team, the function and the positive impact our team creates for the organization is always better when we provide a cohesive front. So, let’s consider ways we can advance our teams and make our leaders look good.
- Be an expert in your field. Commit to learning leading-edge strategies and techniques. Find methods to improve and enhance the impact you can have in this role. For example, be the “go to” person for insights on the referring physician.
- Embrace their vision. Take the time to learn and understand the vision and then to translate it to your daily work. It’s not their job to provide the details, it’s ours to figure it out. When in doubt, share your plan to bring their vision to light. They will appreciate the effort and you may get clarification if needed.
- Offer solutions. While they don’t always want our ideas, we should always have them ready. It’s important when we bring forward issues – especially when we believe they could be fixed! If you are in a situation where there is more negative than positive, manage how you say it, ask the referring physician about their ideas for solutions and if they make sense, use their words. Prioritize the issues you present and share the impact for the practice and their referrals.
- Provide proactive intelligence. Embrace the idea of providing the voice of the referring physician to your leaders. Whether your target audience is primary care or specialists, the physician relations team is the only source of broad-based insight from the target audience. Leaders may hear from a handful of trusted advisors; we hear from their most desired referral sources.
- Be the right level of nimble. As you read the tea leaves around office receptivity, questions the referring doctors are asking, challenges from the internal service line leaders, listen and adapt. Often, it is small tweaks we can make to ensure our relevance. It almost always requires a little vulnerability to step up before things are noticeably broken. Leader’s need to trust that we can do that.
- Concise communication. Use all the tools – written, meeting presentations, hallway updates, to keep them in the know, but get to the point. Perhaps it’s three bullets at the top of a report customized for the specific leader, maybe it is a quick two statements that share market perceptions for the quarter. Work to be impactful AND brief…. They can always ask if they want more!
- Have their blind side. Nobody, but especially leaders, want to be caught off guard. If there are rumblings, changes, or themes you are hearing, make sure they are in the know. While it will not always change the way they respond, it will allow them to consider how to react and to have a planned response.
Not every boss is great, I get that. However, they are in the role because someone trusts them. They may have skills we don’t appreciate. Lifting the entire team requires that we do our part in the overall success. Take a minute to consider which elements on this list come easy for you. Any you need to work on?