Dye and Garman underscore the importance of leaders communicating vision through a variety of means to ensure it reaches an organization’s diverse stakeholders.
Please enumerate five distinct avenues
(5 bullet points)
through which you might communicate your organization’s (healthcare organization or hospitals) new vision and identify the constituencies each would be useful in reaching and why
.
someTitle 43 C H A P T E R F O U R Competency 4: Communicating Vision This vignette speaks to the heart of successfully implementing vision. Leaders must engage various stakeholders to help them understand the rationale for change; leaders must, in essence, create a compelling call to action. To illustrate this point, Elizabeth Parris was ecstatic. A year after facing many difficult is- sues with her board and several months after hiring her new execu- tive vice president and chief operating officer, John Vardez, she had successfully led the development of Vision 2025, the organization’s long- range strategic plan. Vision 2025 incorporated a $300 million rebuilding and renovation program, the creation of a more distinct ambulatory business unit, and a comprehensive approach to population health management that was coordinated through their health plan. It also included an agreement to partner with two other health systems in two other large cities to create a collaborative, allowing access to a far greater population base than just Barkley, as well as several new horizontal integration initiatives that could truly create the “health system of the future.” This latter part of Vision 2025 was the most challenging to describe. While the financial challenges to fund this project were enormous, an even greater challenge in Parris’s mind was the essential requirement that the entire physician and employee commu- nity understand what this collaborative meant and be totally engaged in the change initiative. Parris had discussed this challenge with her executive coach, who encouraged her to keep focused on linking changes to a systematic com- munications strategy. She began her weekend with the goal of developing a set of outlines that would captivate the physicians and employees when she started her town hall meetings next month. Copying and distribution of this PDF is prohibited without written permission. For permission, please contact Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com Dye, Carson, and Andrew N. Garman. Exceptional Leadership: 16 Critical Competencies for Healthcare Executives, Second Edition, Health Administration Press, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/oks-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5909649. Created from oks-ebooks on 2023-01-29 21:19:10. C op yr ig ht © 2 01 4. H ea lth A dm in is tr at io n P re ss . A ll rig ht s re se rv ed . http://www.copyright.com 44 Exceptional Leadership consider this statement based on Greek history: When Pericles spoke, people said, “How well he speaks.” But when Demosthenes spoke, they said, “Let us march.” In the previous chapter, we discussed what it means to develop vision. Devel- oping and using vision as an instrument of organizational change requires effec- tive communication of that vision—turning a set of strategic and often complex concepts into a compelling story of where the organization is, where it will go, and how it is going to get there. We call this competency Communicating Vision for several reasons. First, we want to distinguish it from the more general concept of communication, which can be almost as broad as leadership itself. In this chapter, we specifically address how highly effective leaders communicate vision, and how they create an environment where staff and physicians feel compelled to move with them toward that vision. WHAT IS COMMUNICATING VISION, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Communicating Vision throughout any change process is essential to its success. At the same time, it is also incredibly challenging to effectively pull off. Most leaders routinely underestimate the amount of communication necessary to drive change efforts; as a result, many employees inevitably feel lost and confused by the change process, which can make them cling even more closely to their old but familiar habits. Effective leaders not only communicate about day-to-day issues but also about vision. In his book Leading Change, noted scholar John Kotter (2012) describes the level of vision-related communication in comparison to total workplace com- munication during a change effort. In his estimation, vision-related communication tends to comprise only about one-half of 1 percent of the communication people receive about their work. With this much competition, communication had better be captivating! Communicating Vision means that you distill complex strategies into a compelling call to action, inspire and help others see a core reason for the organization to change, talk beyond the day-to-day tactical matters that face the organization, show confidence and optimism about the future state of the organization, and engage others to join in. Copying and distribution of this PDF is prohibited without written permission. For permission, please contact Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com Dye, Carson, and Andrew N. Garman. Exceptional Leadership: 16 Critical Competencies for Healthcare Executives, Second Edition, Health Administration Press, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/oks-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5909649. Created from oks-ebooks on 2023-01-29 21:19:10. C op yr ig ht © 2 01 4. H ea lth A dm in is tr at io n P re ss . A ll rig ht s re se rv ed . http://www.copyright.com Chapter Four: Competency 4: Communicating Vision 45 Spending time communicating future vision also helps ensure that everyone is on the same page. It aids in collaboration and enhances the coordination of work effort. WHEN HIGHLY EFFECTIVE LEADERS COMMUNICATE VISION Although there are as many communication styles as there are communicators, several qualities make any communication style stronger. Keep these in mind, and your communication will begin to reflect them. Communicating Clearly Discussing clarity in vision communication may appear trite—after all, who would argue against communication clarity? However, in reality, few among us are as clear as we could be, as frequently as we could be, though most of us would like to think otherwise. We can compare Communicating Vision to marketing. Think about the mar- keting slogans that you have found most memorable. What did they have in com- mon? Chances are they were straightforward, novel, even catchy—and without a single vague or unnecessary word. If they were really good, they stuck in your mind—you could not help but think of them. These same structural elements can be usefully applied to vision communication. You want these ideas to be compelling and to stick in people’s minds. Communicating Widely Effective leaders ensure that everyone who will be responsible for moving the vision forward hear it. They also use a wide variety of communication methods to describe vision so that the message fully permeates. This skill separates exceptional leaders from their well-intentioned but less-effective counterparts. Because com- munication can be labor intensive, shortcuts become tempting—placing a message in a corporate newsletter and considering the communication process finished, for example. This may make sense if all staff are required to read the newsletter and if the expectation is effectively monitored, but it is hard to justify otherwise. Copying and distribution of this PDF is prohibited without written permission. For permission, please contact Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com Dye, Carson, and Andrew N. Garman. Exceptional Leadership: 16 Critical Competencies for Healthcare Executives, Second Edition, Health Administration Press, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/oks-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5909649. Created from oks-ebooks on 2023-01-29 21:19:10. C op yr ig ht © 2 01 4. H ea lth A dm in is tr at io n P re ss . A ll rig ht s re se rv ed . http://www.copyright.com 46 Exceptional Leadership Highly effective leaders will take the communication process even further. Beyond simply ensuring the message is heard, they will ensure that the message is discussed. For example, they might instruct managers to explicitly incorporate a discussion of the vision into their next staff meeting and then report back on what was discussed. Such cascading communication structures can go a long way in making sure key messages are reliably received. WHEN COMMUNICATING VISION IS NOT ALL IT COULD BE When communication falls short of captivating, often one or more of the following may be the reason. Lacking Clarity, Focus, or Information Clarity can suffer because of a number of problems. The communication may lack clarity because the vision itself lacks clarity. Alternatively, the communication may lack focus; it may contain too many elements for people to easily wrap their heads around. Still another problem stems from communicating too little information about the how of the vision. The further the vision is from the current state of affairs, the greater the need for some indication of the path the organization will take to get there. Without this path, staff may dismiss the vision out of hand—a risk made far more likely if there is recent history of abandoned visions. Lacking Meaning for the Audience The challenge of making a broad organizational vision meaningful at department and subdepartment levels is usually beyond the capabilities of any individual leader. Effective leaders know this and work with managers to develop local interpretations of how the efforts of a given division, department, or team will fit into this broader vision. Without this careful linkage, staff may only receive the corporate take on the vision and may have difficulty viewing their roles as part of that vision. Another frequent problem is the articulation of a vision that does not clearly express how the vision affects everyone, and how everyone affects the vision. This risk exists any time a vision communication places special emphasis on a specific Copying and distribution of this PDF is prohibited without written permission. For permission, please contact Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com Dye, Carson, and Andrew N. Garman. Exceptional Leadership: 16 Critical Competencies for Healthcare Executives, Second Edition, Health Administration Press, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/oks-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5909649. Created from oks-ebooks on 2023-01-29 21:19:10. C op yr ig ht © 2 01 4. H ea lth A dm in is tr at io n P re ss . A ll rig ht s re se rv ed . http://www.copyright.com Chapter Four: Competency 4: Communicating Vision 47 aspect of operations. Common examples include vision statements that draw special attention to the physicians, nurses, profitable service lines, or quality improvement initiatives. If poorly communicated, the vision will leave the counterparts (e.g., nonphysicians, non-nurses) feeling excluded. Communicating Infrequently Although communication plans can (and should) be designed to be highly efficient, they are still typically time and resource intensive. Communications is a tempting place to cut corners, and so corners are often cut. The best prevention here is to arrange a review of all internal communications coming from the corporate level to ensure they make some mention of future plans. Think about it this way: Any time the vision of the future state of the organization is not mentioned, the status quo will take center stage. MISUSE AND OVERUSE: HOW COMMUNICATING VISION CAN WORK AGAINST YOU Overcommunication of the vision is not nearly as frequent as undercommunica- tion. When communication fails, it is usually because of a problem with the com- munication itself rather than it being too frequent. The following patterns will cause your communication to be ineffective, regardless of frequency. When Communicating Vision Is Not All It Could Be Communication in the realm of strategic vision can fall short for any of the following reasons: • Lacking clarity, focus, or information – A visual picture is not created, either because it is unclear or it contains too many elements. – Lack of thought about the how makes the vision seem too far-fetched. • Lacking meaning for the audience – The importance of individual roles is not adequately addressed. • Communicating infrequently – The vision is rolled out and then rarely referred to again. Copying and distribution of this PDF is prohibited without written permission. For permission, please contact Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com Dye, Carson, and Andrew N. Garman. Exceptional Leadership: 16 Critical Competencies for Healthcare Executives, Second Edition, Health Administration Press, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/oks-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5909649. Created from oks-ebooks on 2023-01-29 21:19:10. C op yr ig ht © 2 01 4. H ea lth A dm in is tr at io n P re ss . A ll rig ht s re se rv ed . http://www.copyright.com 48 Exceptional Leadership Communicating Vision as an End Rather Than a Means Occasionally, leaders may be accused of talking a great game and getting people excited about an idea or strategy that they are ultimately unable to implement. Leaders may routinely be caught up in the excitement of thinking (or dreaming) about what the future could be like, but the actions needed to make this future happen are conspicuously absent. The vision is