A key component to our Leadership Quest is the lens of the Quest mentality. 

In Arthur W. Frank’s work, “The Wounded Storyteller” he paints the picture of three mindsets we all experience when facing traumatic illness, injury, or change: restitution, chaos, or quest. 

Restitution: those who yearn to go back to the way things were
Chaos: those who’ve lost sight of the past and cannot imagine the future or where to go next
Quest: those who meet uncertain circumstances head on, believing something great can be gained from the experience

We’ve seen significant shifts in this Trinity Health leadership team from where we found ourselves in the height of COVID, to where we feel we are now. We’ve moved from restitution and chaos, to primarily embodying a quest mentality. 

We know there are many big changes ahead with more lessons to implement from the Leadership Quest and the move into the new Healthcare Campus and Medical District (HCMD) next spring. And yet, we’ve come to a courageous stance of the quest mentality, ready to embrace those changes as opportunties for growth and development, positive that as a team we can make these changes a great improvement for all. 

Exercise: Take a moment to look back to your Triannual I workbook to see where you were in Spring 2020, Spring 2021, and Spring 2022. Has your outlook improved?

If you’re not feeling that “bring-it-on” attitude of the quest mentality, reach out to your leader, a mentor, or friend to help you work through what’s holding you back or has you concerned about the future. 

Lean on your team to keep growing and getting better, and let them help support you in these seasons of big change.

The Four Focuses of a Leader give all leaders at Trinity Health a common focus so we can align all of our work, helping us to get all of our energy and efforts pulling in the same direction. 

Our Four Focuses will also help guide all of our goals and conversations as leaders. They are derived from the pillars of our Making More Possible mission: staff engagement, the patient experience, and advanced health.

As a refresher – here are each of the Four Focuses – 

Resilience: building reservoirs of strength for us and our team so we’re emotionally equipped to face any challenge that comes our way in stride
Engagement: creating a culture where each employee is invested in the mission, committed to leaving a legacy, and can maximize their talents and gifts to thrive
Experience: designing the patient and customer experience to create transformational encounters, impacting their lives for the better and inspiring loyalty to our organization
Innovation: discovering a better way to serve our patients and customers, improving processes, and creating sustainable, repeatable, and substantial impact at scale

Revisit pages 8 and 9 of your Triannual II workbook to celebrate your biggest wins in each of the Four Focuses over this last quarter. Then, brainstorm how you can commit more intentionally to engaging these Four Focuses going forward.

Many of us will remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from our psychology courses. Bringing this back to our awareness is a key lesson in continuing to build our resilience. 

Especially in new roles or positions at work, it’s great to tune back into this hierarchy to see where we fall in our position. While we may have mastered our last position and found ourselves at Self-Actualization, when the tables turn, we may start to feel bumped down to that base level of Survival, just trying to get our needs met and not disrupt anything to keep us safe and protected. 

Revising the hierarchy can also give us a roadmap of tangible activities to move us up the ladder and help us feel more secure, more fulfilled, and more able to express our talents and gifts. 

Walk through the slides on this section to see which habits you can build to strenghten your resilience and move up the hierarchy. 

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND MASLOW’S HIERARCHY:
Just as we can build our personal resilience by working through each of the hierarchy’s steps, so too, we can help build our employee’s engagement and investment in their roles by being aware of their internal dialogue at each step.

You may see your employees fall on many of these ladder rungs, and they may shift in and out depending on what’s happening in your department at any given time. 

Examine the core need of each step: survival, security, belonging, importance, and self-actualization and brainstorm how you can help coach and support your team to continue to grow up the hierarchy. 

If a team member is stuck in security – what could be done to help them feel more stable in their role? Have they been given feedback about how their work is contributing to the mission? Do they see a clear path of the work they can do and the impact they can have over the next 30, 60, and 90 days?

If an employee is new to your team or newly appointed to an important committee, how can you reach out to help them solidify their feelings of camaraderie and belonging?

Look back to pages 10 and 11 in your Triannual II Workbook to develop more ideas on how to help your team members feel more valued and engaged. 

Bonus points: Spend some time working through your place on each hierarchy. Where are you now and where would you like to be? What would you need to do to continue to move up and feel more personally resilient and professionally fulfilled?

Use those tips to improve your own experience as an employee and then share that wisdom with your team!

Another major tenant of our Triannual I content was the shift from Traditional Leadership to that of Servant Leadership.

Many of us hear “Servant Leadership” thrown around all the time, yet it can be hard to know what does that mean? What does that look like? What should I actually do? 

We continue with Servant Leadership at this Triannual to keep backing into the idea and showing all sides of it to help this paradigm shift stick.

We can see in comparison what Servant Leadership is, and what it isn’t. 

Servant Leaders – 
-See customers as valued allies
-See employees as resources
-Know their work is all about the people
-Inspire and equip their team to succeed

Tradtional or Power-Reliant Leaders – 
-See customers as challenges
-See employees as tools
-Believe their work is all about them, the leader
-Command and control their team to bend to their will

Servant Leaders are people reliant, human centered, and transformational. 

Traditional Leaders are power reliant, rewards centered, and transactional

Servant Leaders give away all the credit – and take all of the responsibility. They coach their team to improve and encourage their employees to “try again.” Servant Leaders bear the weight of the pressure and protect their team.

Go back to page 14 and 15 of your Triannual II Workbook to see the traits of a Servant Leader and take some quiet, uninterrupted inventory time to assess where you have embodied these Servant Leadership traits and where you still have room to grow.

Remember, leadership is a long game, and wherever you’re at now is just fine. Embrace the quest mentality and take this chance to grow as a servant leader as a fun opportunity to keep getting better and become a stronger, more compassionate leader.

One of the ideas we covered at Triannual II – and will build on as we look toward Innovation at Triannual III – was the power of 1% Improvements, from James Clear’s book Atomic Habits:

“It is so easy to dismiss the value of making slightly better decisions on a daily basis.

Sticking with the fundamentals is not impressive. Falling in love with boredom is not sexy. Getting one percent better isn’t going to make headlines.

There is one thing about it though: it works.”

We can often write off the tiny wins, and the small adjustments, thinking they won’t yield meaningful results, but it’s these little improvements, consistently made over time that exponentially transform our lives.

And, it’s wonderful to know that even if we’re pressed for time, these tiny wins will help us transform our culture and help us live into our bold vision for Trinity Health.

Think about your Four Focuses of a Leader: Resilience, Engagement, Experience, and Innovation. What can you do in each of the Four Focuses to move the needle just 1%?

Resilience: Can you wake up just 15 minutes earlier each day this week and do one item from your bucket list (walk outside, stretch, read, call your family, play)?

Engagement: Can you send one thank you note this week, or pay one compliment each day, to someone on your team?

Experience: Can you look your patients in the eye and smile intentionally before proceeding with care? Can you be kinder and more present with a customer, partner, or vendor?

Innovation: Can you take one tiny step each day to implement a lesson from the Leadership Quest, to continue to improve operations here at Trinity Health?

Revisit your 1% Barriers worksheet on page 16 of your Triannual II Workbook if you need help mapping out tiny adjustments you can implement to start making progress, and continue those 1% interactions like Dr. Sather mentioned – reaching out to your colleagues and building up your team.