How Capable Leaders Blow It - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

How Capable Leaders Blow It - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

One of the ablest Executive Director’s I have worked with had an incredible ability to see the heart of a problem. But he was very weak on financial matters. He should have delegated, but he wasted endless hours on budgets and performed poorly.

Never try to be an expert if you are not.

Build on your strengths, and find strong people to do the other necessary tasks.

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The Transition from Manager to Executive Director - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

The Transition from Manager to Executive Director - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Let's start out discussing what not to do.

Don't try to be somebody else. By now you have your style. Use your own style to get things done.

Don't take on things you don't believe in, and that you are not good at.

Learn to say "no".

Effective leaders match the objective needs of their company with their own subjective competencies. As a result, they get an enormous amount done fast.

Next Post: How Capable Leaders Blow It - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

How Community Health Centers Fall Down - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

How Community Health Centers Fall Down - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Make sure the people with whom you work understand your priorities. Community Health Center staff fall down when they have to guess what the boss is working at; and they invariably guess wrong.

The Executive Director needs to say, "This is what I am focusing on."

Then the Executive Director needs to ask the associates,
"What are you focusing on?"

Ask your associates,
"You put this item at the top of your priority list--why?"

The reason may be the right one, but it may also be that this associate of yours is a salesman who persuades you that his priorities are correct, when, in fact, they are not.

Make sure that you understand your associates' priorities.

Make sure that after you have that conversation, you sit down and e-mail them--"This is what I think we discussed. This is what I think we decided. This is what I think you committed yourself to within this time frame." Finally, ask them, "What do you expect from me as you seek to achieve your goals?"

Next Post: The Transition from Manager to Executive Director - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Prisoner of Your Own Organization - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Prisoner of Your Own Organization - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

When you are the Community Health Center Executive Director, you're the prisoner of your organization. The moment you're in the office, everybody comes to you and wants something, and it is useless to lock the door. They'll break in.

You have to get outside the office.

Ask the question, "What needs to be done?" Develop your priorities and don't have more than two. No one can do three things at the same time, and do them well. Do one task at a time or two tasks at a time. Two works better for most.

When you are finished with two jobs or reach the point where it's futile, make the list again. Don't go back to priority three. At that point, it's obsolete.

Next Post: How Community Health Centers Fall Down -Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Creative Abandonment - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Creative Abandonment - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

A critical question for Community Health Center (CHC) leaders is, "When to stop pouring resources into things that have achieved their purpose?"

The most dangerous traps for CHC Governing Boards and Executive Directors
are those near-successes - where everybody says that if you just give it another big push, it will go over the top. They try it once; they try it twice; then a third time. By then it should be obvious this will be very hard to do.

Community Health Center Governing Boards should advise their Executive Directors:
"Tell me what you're doing; and
Tell me what you have stopped doing."

Next Post: Prisoner of Your Own Organization - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Mission Driven - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Mission Driven - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Community Health Center (CHC) leaders need to communicate so people around them know what they are trying to do. They are purpose driven-- mission driven. They know how to establish a mission.

They know how to say “no”.

The pressure on leaders to do a million different things is unbearable; the effective ones learn how to say no and stick with it. They don't suffocate themselves as a result.

Too many Community Health Center Executive Directors and Governing Boards try to do a little bit of 25 things, and get nothing done. They are very popular because they always say “yes”. But they get nothing done.

Next Post: Creative Abandonment - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Check Your Performance - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Check Your Performance - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Effective leaders check their performance. They write down, "What do I hope to achieve if I take on this assignment?" They come back and check their performance against goals.

This way, they find out what they do well and what they do poorly. They also find out whether they picked the truly important things to do.

There are a great many Executive Directors who are exceedingly good at execution, but exceedingly poor at picking the important things. They and their Governing Boards are magnificent at getting the unimportant things done. They have an impressive record of achievement on trivial matters.

Next post: Mission Driven - Thoughts on community health center Governing Boards and Executive Directors