Motive Healtha

UNDERSTANDING CHANGE
Because autocratic management is a learned behavior focusing on dramatic, short-term results, true change can come only from within. Such change requires an understanding of the need for a new management approach. Motivating yourself to change is the first step in learning to motivate others.

Decisions that incorporate the ideas of a group of people are vastly superior to the single viewpoint of one person imposed on the rest of the group.

Rapid, relentless advances in technology and vast amounts of new information pounding at us every day make it impossible for a single leader to know more than the sum of his or her subordinates. Each team member's knowledge and perspective are essential to good decision making. Decisions that incorporate the ideas of a group of people are vastly superior to the single viewpoint of one person imposed on the rest of the group.

In past generations, employees stayed with a company for the duration of an entire career. Today, people change jobs several times during their working years, and many change careers altogether. This adaptation to change gives employees more options. When a well-trained employee quits, the business incurs not only out-of-pocket hiring and training costs, but the "opportunity cost" of having a less effective, brand-new employee who will require 3 to 6 months before becoming a productive, efficient member of the team.

Fundamental changes in American society also herald the end of the autocratic manager. The extended family unit - two-parent households supported by closely linked (geographically) grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins - is the exception, not the rule. Divorce and geographic mobility undermine the role of the nuclear family. Most managers accept how child care, family leave, and single-parent households are changing the workplace. But what about the void that now exists where once was a powerful family unit of "belonging"?

The role of the traditional family is being replaced by the workplace. More and more employees look for jobs where people matter. Such employees want to work with managers, not for them. This presents a huge challenge for businesses and creates a responsibility for which most managers are unprepared.

BREAKING ESTABLISHED PATTERNS
Autocratic management requires less skill and effort than participatory management, so the decision to change requires true commitment. In the autocratic model, you simply exercise your authority, make a decision, and take responsibility for the results. Participatory management means learning and playing by a whole new set of rules. Such change is never easy.

The first step toward a new style of leadership is deciding that you need and want to change. Involving your staff in decision making requires diverse and refined interpersonal skills. You need to learn the capabilities and aspirations of each subordinate in order to use participative techniques without wasting vast amounts of time. Time constraints, personality traits, and lack of consistent motivation often combine to work against managers' efforts to develop these skills. Behavior change takes time, focus, and practice.

PATHWAY TO SUCCESS
Good management, like good health, is the result of daily conditioning. What qualities lead to successful motivational management? The following sections - plan; teach; delegate, not dump; encourage independent thinking; build a team; listen; set an example; accept responsibility; and share the spotlight - set forth proven strategies for becoming an effective leader in today's business world.

Plan
Planning may be the most important and most overlooked aspect of effective management. Take, for example , a practice in which clinicians are expected to see 30 patients each day, or a hospital where each practitioner routinely manages 20 critically ill patients. To that, add walk-ins and emergencies. Triage is random, with little thought given to support and backup. The clinician loses all control of time, constantly running from one crisis to another.

Consider, too, the clinician who routinely directs clerical staff to begin work on numerous projects, without establishing priorities or understanding the amount of work involved. Many of the projects are never completed; others are rushed and sloppy. A pattern of "false starts" develops, leaving employees feeling disempowered and frustrated.

Good planning involves a sense of strategic direction. What does the team need to do, in a global sense, to get to an established goal? What constraints can be identified, and can each member of the team contribute?

It must be noted that solid strategies are necessary, but not sufficient in and of themselves, for good planning. Detailed action plans based on those strategies are critically important. The key to effective management is how you involve your subordinates in the development of these action plans. Solicit input from all, and listen with an open mind. The people who actually do the work can provide you with invaluable insight into how to get the job done. Negotiate a consensus, and then make certain everyone agrees on who will do what, by when. Once an action plan is adopted, make sure the team has the resources (e.g., funds, equipment, and human power) to execute those plans.

Become a Teacher
A role model for the effective participatory supervisor is the teacher who views any shortcoming as an opportunity for you to grow, someone who always focuses on your potential when he or she works with you. Such managers consistently support their employees, helping them discover the paths to success.

To help yourself reach your potential as a participatory manager, try some of these techniques:

First, list the benefits of becoming a good teacher for your subordinates, and share that list with the people you supervise. There's nothing like a public commitment to keep your own motivation high!

Next, approach teaching as a reflection of your personal values. Know that your personal power is greatly enhanced when you live up to your own principles and values.

Remember that to be an effective teacher you do not need to know everything your subordinates know. Rather, you must invest your energy in creating opportunities for your subordinates to become experts in their skill areas. Then, give them the chance to demonstrate their expertise.

View teaching as your primary responsibility. It is not an also-ran for effective managers. And as your subordinates grow, reward them; nurture their careers and professional growth in every way possible.

Published in the 1996 issue of Clinician Reviews. Reprinted with permission.

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