Becoming a Teaching Organization, First and Foremost…
What does this really mean?
It means that a CEO must become an effective teacher… The key word here is effective. If a CEO can’t teach well, the CEO can’t give (teach or coach) what they don’t have… You can’t reproduce what you are not…
This is the single bit of advice that will cause your hospice to go from ordinary to extraordinary. The great mistake is that most people deceive themselves as to their teaching skills… or are simply ignorant of the direct cause and effect relationship. Understandably, most people take their cues and images from “teachers” and instructors from their past… which are dismal examples when you are aware of those that turn teaching into an art form…
Want to grow your hospice’s census? Then grow its value. How do you grow its value? Grow your people. You may say, “Andrew, I don’t have talent at my hospice. I don’t have super leaders or special people.” Neither does anyone else. The same people with different names work at all organizations. They live in your community. The real question is whether you and I have the intelligence to recognize talent and develop it. With that said, most people are average or mediocre by definition. Your job as a master teacher is to inspire them, via the way you conduct your life, to be go beyond average or mediocre. Your job is to be impressive… Impressive without being haughty, boastful, or arrogant. You will teach through humility with confidence, enthusiasm to understand, compassion for the welfare of others and by increasing your personal power by becoming an individual with off-the-charts integrity and love.
Your tools for teaching are all around you…
- You have an office or an environment that you can fashion to maximize the central ideologies that you deem your people need.
- You get to conduct the business of hospice in order to demonstrate integrous actions and prove that your words match your integrity level.
- You have the ability to craft “precise” language. You can also eliminate “sloppy” language where your people use any words or phrases that they want.
- You have ACCOUNTABILITY as a structural tool. As a teacher, you will master the topic of accountability to a high degree. You will hold yourself and your students accountable for their learning.
- You have compensation as a powerful teaching tool to shape the behaviors and performance your elite organization needs in order to serve at world-class levels.
You have been provided all of the tools you need. If you believe in Divinity at all, do you think you would be placed here and in your position without the proper resources and equipment?
With all of this said, I will round back to the idea of “you”, – the CEO, as a teacher. How well are you teaching? Are you as effective as you should be? The answer is in your MVI Benchmarking. Yes… it is indeed specifically there! “How can you say this Andrew? After all, it’s primarily financial information right?” Here is the fact: You CAN’T be a world-class hospice without world-class profits. There is NO separation of “quality and profits” on a long-term basis. You in fact, need fantastic profits in order to fund world-class quality! And “throwing money” at things or people does NOT increase quality! The government has proven this point! It takes no special talent to spend money! What increases quality is intention, caring-enough, deliberate actions and meticulous attention to details. THIS IS HOW TO INCREASE QUALITY. And where will this intention, caring-enough, deliberate action and meticulous attention to detail come from? Your People Development System! With the CEO as the head of People Development!
Of all of the MVI Tough Training Programs, the People Development & the Model is most valuable. It was the most difficult program to put together (over 2-years of dedication), yet it changed our world… and it is changing hospices. If you are unfortunate enough to be competing with an MVI hospice that really “gets” this… you and your market are in trouble… unless you retool your People Development System. But here is what most hospices do… the CEO sends the education leaders to People Development & the Model when he or she is the one that needs to be there! This is how I know that the message of “People Development is the center of the universe” has NOT gotten through! If the #1, numero uno teacher is not skilled, the leaders of People Development are handicapped. The CEO needs to know the specific techniques/methods/practices as well as the rationale behind them in order to make sure that effective teaching is being done! Teaching is the CEO’s 1st Duty! Lead by Example! Lead from the Front! Become an extraordinary teacher!
When I teach, I teach from a disposition of “we are on an adventure together” and not trying to be Mr. Big. I am a teachable student… always… willing to put aside my prior learning and ideological investments in order to pursue truth. I try to attend all high-value learning events I know of in this field and set aside a month per year just to increase and deepen my knowledge of teaching. How can I afford not to since it is the key to everything? And don’t you expect me to do this? That is, to be on top of my game in this department? I will hold myself to a higher standard than anyone else will… And the best practices will NOT come from academics! I’m always shocked how much you have to train “out” of academics! Your teachers are individuals and organizations that operate in the 90th percentile and make things happen in the real world. In life, we must major in REALITY. I have my BS in Reality now… working on my Masters and my PhD!
I love you and want the best for everyone!
~Your objective friend, Andrew
