Emotional Intelligence:
Aligning Intent & Impact
I have no relevant financial disclosures
My Assumptions
Physicians are leaders
Practicing medicine is different than studying it
You accept that you need other humans in order to achieve your professional goals
Humans have the ability to change thoughts and behavior
» Their own
» Those of others
Industry change is occurring at an unprecedented speed and amount
“Physician leaders are working in rapidly evolving systems and must respond to increasing and changing
demands. Emotional Intelligence correlates significantly and positively
with job performance beyond that which can be explained by cognitive ability and other personality factors.”
(Monroe & English, 2013)
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence is not about being nice all the time—it is about being honest.
Emotional Intelligence is not ‘touchy feely’—it is about being aware of your own feelings and the feelings of others.
Emotional Intelligence is not about being emotional—it is about being smart with your emotions.
“We are being judged by a new yardstick; not just how smart we are, or by our
training and expertise, but also how well we handle ourselves and each other.”
--Daniel Goleman, Ph.D.
How’s your day?
What do you notice about differences between ‘good’ days and ‘bad’ days?
Elements of Good Days
Compassion—Genuine connection with others
Capacity—The ability to manage the planned and the unexpected
Clarity—Of goals & direction
Compassion
Please do not reproduce without permission from Lisa Goren lisagoren.com
A Physician’s Impact
Being ‘on stage’
Having the loudest voice
Setting a tone
Changing a mood
Creating ‘truths’
Modeling what is acceptable
Mood Contagion
Unintentional imitation of mood behavior
Induces mood state
Induces behavioral congruence
The person with the most power sets the tone
(Neumann & Strack, 2000)
Emotional Intelligence (EI)
IQ and technical skills are considered ‘threshold capabilities’— they are entry level requirements, or “what helps you get the job”
EI is proving to be the strongest indicator of success in the work world – contributing to leadership success as much as 85-90%
*Nadler, Reldan S., Leading with Emotional Intelligence
PERSONAL
COMPETENCE
Self
Awareness Self Management
SOCIAL
COMPETENCE
Social
Awareness
Relationship
Management
Emotional Intelligence (EI)
Learning Emotions
Growing up
Medical school
Practice
Life events
Emotional Abundance
Empathy—Creating understanding & support
Humor—Creating space for learning and growth
Courage—Taking risks and sticking with it
Vulnerability—Revealing and making mistakes
Optimism—Encouraging hope & innovation
Emotional Avoidance
Creating distractions- Mindless behaviors, addictions, electronics, crammed schedule
Choosing a default- Anger, joking, sadness, blame
Shutting off- Disconnecting from any emotion
Cultivating Compassion
Perform an emotional check up
Clarify & own your desired impact
Seek feedback
Admit that you’re a leader
Enact forgiveness toward yourself and others
Capacity
Carrying Capacity
Carrying Capacity
The maximum population of a given species that can survive indefinitely in a given environment
Dependent on the conditions and resources available in the specific area, and the consumption habits of the species
Measures sustainability within these changing conditions
Change Capacity
Your ability to sustain a changing environment given the current conditions and resources
» Time, effort, skills, motivation, heartiness, personality, focus
At Risk
One-third to one-half of physicians meet burnout criteria
Physician job dissatisfaction is the most powerful predictor of departure
Work hours or a lack of career fit to one's values, life goals, or passion increases risk of dissatisfaction
1. Shanafelt TD, West CP, Sloan JA, et al. Career fit and burnout among academic faculty. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169:990–995.
2. Shanafelt TD, Boone S, Tan L, et al. Burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance among U.S. physicians relative to the general U.S. population. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(18):1–9.
At Risk
Physician satisfaction is strongly linked to patient satisfaction as measured through standardized patient satisfaction surveys
Physicians professional fulfillment positively correlated with patient adherence to medication, exercise, and diet regimens
1. Shanafelt TD, West CP, Sloan JA, et al. Career fit and burnout among academic faculty. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169:990–995.
2. Shanafelt TD, Boone S, Tan L, et al. Burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance among U.S. physicians relative to the general U.S. population. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(18):1–9.
“The capacity of an entity—such as a person, an institution, or a system—
to withstand sudden, unexpected shocks, and (ideally) to be capable of
recovering quickly afterwards. Resilience implies both strength and flexibility; a resilient structure would bend, but would be hard to break.”
—Jamals Cascio
On Resilience
Optimism! Learned helplessness
“We are what we repeatedly do.” --Aristotle
Are you a human being…
Or are you a human doing?
Building Your Capacity
Recognizing what is in and out of your control or influence
Taking care of your basic needs—food, water, shelter
Maintaining energy, optimism and forward movement; don’t dwell
Assessing your will and skill—start small with incremental changes
Clarity
Cultivating Attention
Attention is constantly under assault from internal and external stimuli
Effective leadership is based on knowing what to focus on
Cultivating the ability to harness one’s attention is a differentiator
Focused leaders can command a full range of their own attention
You can’t be mindful if you’re mindfull
Imagine if you could…
Be in touch with your internal world,
Control your impulses,
Be aware of how others see you
Weed out distractions
What would be possible?
The Dangers of Distraction
In 2011, 1.3 million auto accidents in the U.S. involved cell phones – about 23% of all crashes, killing 3,331 people
For drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes, 21% of the distracted drivers were distracted by the use of cell phones.
Text messaging while driving makes the chance of an accident 23 times more likely.
Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds; at 55mph, that’s the equivalent of driving the length of an entire football field, blind.
(Disalvo, 2013)
What causes distractions?
Our inability to manage interruptions
24/7 access to technology/each other
Unclear boundaries
Lack of focus on a reasonable number of items/people/tasks
All goals become urgent or emergent
Constantly shifting priorities
An epidemic
Medical errors would rank 5th on the list of top ten causes of death in the US
Lack of effective communication and collaboration as leading contributor to medical errors
A contributing factor to ineffective communication is distractions (speed, multiple priorities, etc.)
(Joint Commission, 2005)
If you don’t know what’s important, how will anyone else?
Barriers to collaboration
Working in silos
Autonomy
Low trust
Poor communication
Power
Unclear roles/responsibilities/accountability
Disruptive behavior
Which best describes you & your team?
Renters Clock
punchers/watchers Use words like ‘they,’
‘them’ and ‘management’
Say ‘that’s not my job’ Meet minimum
standards Expect leaders to fix
things and have all the answers
Owners View work as goal-
based Use words like ‘we’
and ‘us’ Serve as connectors
within the organization and ambassadors of the company
Pursue excellence Develop solutions
Providing Clarity
Ensure priorities are clear on a regular (daily, weekly, monthly) basis
Provide people with a clear path to a brighter future
Make ownership desirable
Model and celebrate the wins
Can EI be learned?
An Equation for Change
Willingness + Ability = Change
A Sucker’s Choice
You don’t have to choose between thinking & feeling
Value both forms of intellect
Learn to integrate and leverage strengths of both
This will just be a little uncomfortable…
Building EI Muscles
Minimize distractions through cultivating mindfulness
Perform a brief emotional check up Check in with others directly and through
observation Air, food, water, shelter Engage optimism Watch yourself from the outside Find an outlet Take accountability Exercise forgiveness & empathy
Please do not reproduce without permission from Lisa Goren lisagoren.com
The ideal destination…
The ideal destination…
journey
Is not always the ideal
journey…
desintation
desintation
Please do not reproduce without permission from Lisa Goren lisagoren.com
Thank you!
Lisa Goren [email protected]