Summary
When I look back over my 30 years of leadership in healthcare, I am most grateful for and remember most fondly, of many fond memories, the teams of talented, caring, hardworking colleagues that I have been truly blessed to work alongside. I want to highlight the 5 characteristics of the best teams / teamwork I’ve been a part of in my career. Then highlight three of these remarkable, high performing teams, concluding with my most recent example, the team of COVID-19 pandemic heroes.
Characteristics of great teams and teamwork:
- Power of mutual encouragement
- No failure of imagination
- Allegiance to the purpose
- Active trust in one another
- Share a controlled urgency
The three best teams from my career:
- The new hospital team (StoneCrest)
- The cultural turnaround team (CHS home care)
- The COVID-19 pandemic team
The “so what” as we have all worked with great teams – what can we all take away from this to do better or do differently. Nothing earthshaking here, but a good reminder…
- Be intentional about selection / coaching / communicating with your team
- Be grateful for your colleagues…individually and the team they create
Enjoy every minute of working with great teams and teammates. Take some time to enjoy and celebrate your team more. Often healthcare leaders move to the next problem. But I think it might revitalize ourselves and our organizations if we did pause brief moments to celebrate and recharge.