Creating a Creating a Culture of Culture of ExcellenceExcellence

Twenty Practical Strategies Twenty Practical Strategies for Committed Leadersfor Committed Leaders

A Presentation for GA Presentation for GENESIS ENESIS HealthCare SystemHealthCare System

Kendall L. Stewart, MD, MBAKendall L. Stewart, MD, MBANovember 12, 2004November 12, 2004

What’s in this for What’s in this for you?you?• Every executive says she

wants to create a culture of excellence in her organization.

• But only a minority of organizational leaders are willing to pay the price.

• Complacency, impatience and a natural resistance to change are hard to overcome.

• Success is a huge barrier.• For those who are serious

and willing to pay the price, here are some practical strategies that will work.

• After listening to this presentation, you will be able to– List three common

barriers to organizational excellence.

– Identify three practical strategies for creating a culture of excellence.

– Explain why these strategies make sense.

– Explain how to deploy these strategies effectively in your organization.

What are some of the common What are some of the common barriersbarriers to to an organizational culture of excellence?an organizational culture of excellence?

• Executives who don’t “get it.”• Executives who are unwilling

to “walk the talk.”• Executives who are unwilling

to pay the price.• Executives who are too

impatient.• Executives who refuse to face

reality.• Executives who are unwilling

to forego “ladder climbing” for 5-10 years.

• Executives who indulge in temper tantrums and blaming.

• Executives. Period.

What are the What are the foundationsfoundations of of organizational excellence?organizational excellence?

PeoplePeople

PlanningPlanning

ProcessProcessPerformancePerformance

What practical What practical strategiesstrategies will will promote the creation of a culture of promote the creation of a culture of excellence?excellence?• People

– Embrace discomfort.– Identify champions.– Develop emerging leaders.– Define the “Rules of

Engagement.”*– Extrude negative leaders and

trade up.• Planning

– Align the organization around your strategic values.

– Adopt a framework for organizational excellence.

– Adopt a process improvement methodology.

– Deploy a simple strategic planning process.*

– Take the long view.

• Process– Design and deploy an

organizational change process.

– Deploy leadership teams throughout the organization.

– Document key organizational processes

– Empower a limited number of interdisciplinary process improvement teams.

– Engage stakeholders in real work.*

• Performance– Identify key performance

indicators.– Demand comparative data.– Set measurable short- and

long-term goals.– Insist on detailed action plans.– Deploy balanced scorecards

(BSCs) throughout the organization.*

Define the Define the rulesrules of engagement. of engagement.

• Why should I?– Creates discomfort– Clarifies expectations– Identifies

inappropriate behavior

– Sets the tone– Holds leaders

accountable– Marginalizes

negative leaders– Gives the zealots

hope

• How can I?– Identify flawed

leadership behaviors.– Describe appropriate

behavioral alternatives.

– Write them down.– Provide practical

examples.– Sell them to key

opinion leaders.– Confront and extrude

noncompliant leaders.

PeoplePeople

Deploy a simple strategic Deploy a simple strategic planningplanning process.process.

• Why should I?– Engages stakeholders– Allows everyone to

contribute– Converts passive

participants into informed partners

– Changes novices into experts

– Aligns the organization

– Focuses on performance

– Demands action plans

• How can I?– Fire your consultants.– Identify a local

champion.– Design the process

yourselves.– Deploy it.– Focus on results—not

the process itself.– Produce a Balanced

Scorecard—not a binder.– Measure its

effectiveness.– Improve it over time.

PlanningPlanning

EngageEngage stakeholders in real stakeholders in real work.work.• Why should I?

– Invites emotional commitment

– Encourages teamwork– Calls for expertise– Creates mutual history– Promotes pride in

accomplishment– Documents and

preserves intellectual capital

– Results in more effective bonding than mere social activity

• How can I?– Identify an

organizational need.– Outline a project.– Clarify the desired

product.– Organize a project

team.– Sell the value of the

objective.– Invite commitment.– Recognize and

reward participants.– Proselytize others.

ProcessProcess

Deploy balanced Deploy balanced scorecardsscorecards throughout throughout the organization.the organization.

• Why should I?– Clarifies objectives– Aligns focus throughout

organization– Forces deep reflection

about measures that matter

– Emphasizes measurable results

– Calls for comparative data

– Promotes benchmarking and the search for best practices

– Demands ongoing action planning

– Facilitates continuous improvement

• How can I?– Make a religious

commitment to pursuit of excellence.

– Aspire to be data driven.– Decide on your strategic

objectives (values).– Identify meaningful

measures that support each strategic objective (value).

– Report baseline data with brutal honesty.

– Set realistic targets.– Find comparative data.– Monitor organizational

performance over time.

PerformancePerformance

What have you What have you learned?learned?• The pursuit of organizational excellence is hard. • It is an unending process, not a moment.• Few leaders will make the commitment, and fewer still

will stick it out.• For those who do, this journey becomes the foundation

for a meaningful career.• Just getting by is a lot easier, but the pursuit of

excellence is more satisfying.• It actually requires less effort to lead a successful

organization than a mediocre one.• Leaders can’t produce organizational excellence by

themselves, but they can discourage it with no help at all.

• The strategies that successful leaders adopt in their pursuit of excellence—while always customized to their own organizational culture—are remarkably similar.

• Committed zealots are available and at your service.

Where can you learn Where can you learn more?more?• Collins, Jim, Good to Great: Why Some

Companies Make the Leap . . . And Others Don’t, HarperCollins, 2001

• McDonnell, Patrick, Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven: Six Steps to Organizational Excellence, Sunrise Publishing LLC, 2002

• Peters, Thomas and Robert Waterman, The Search for Excellence, Warner Books, 1988

• Stewart, Kendall L., et. al. A Portable Mentor for Organizational Leaders, SOMCPress, 2003

• Stewart, Kendall L. et. al., Rules of Engagement: Some Expectations, An SOMC White Paper, June 2003

How can weHow can we contactcontact you?you?

Kendall L. Stewart, M.D.Kendall L. Stewart, M.D.Medical DirectorMedical Director

Southern Ohio Medical CenterSouthern Ohio Medical CenterPresident & CEOPresident & CEO

The SOMC Medical Care Foundation, The SOMC Medical Care Foundation, Inc.Inc.

1805 27th Street1805 27th StreetPortsmouth, Ohio 45662Portsmouth, Ohio 45662

740.356.8153740.356.8153

stewartk@somc.org Webmaster@KendallLStewartMD.com

www.somc.orgwww.KendallLStewartMD.com

Southern Ohio Medical CenterSouthern Ohio Medical Center SafetySafety QualityQuality ServiceService RelationshipsRelationships Performance Performance

What What questions questions remain?remain?

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