Greetings, Kentucky
Print this Article | Send to Colleague
Joe Taylor, President
Hoping you all have enjoyed a rest and family-filled Christmas, and are as excited as I am about what lies ahead for 2020. Happy New Year! I am taking the opportunity to re-read the bestselling book Good to Great by Jim Collins, and would encourage you each to give it a look before the new year becomes “just another year!” It is helping me focus on what’s really achievable this next year as I apply some of the findings about leaders and leadership to my own work at Owensboro Health.
In Chapter 3, Collins makes an intriguing statement about where a leader should be focusing her/his attention. He says “…that managing your problems can only make you good, whereas building your opportunities is the only way to become great.” Collins is not speaking about “you” personally, but about your organization; your hospital, your health system, your department. If all we do is spend eight (or 12) hours a day dealing with problems, then go home at night only to wake up and repeat the same thing for another day, and the next - we can be GOOD, but we’ll never be GREAT. To be GREAT, Collins says, we need to find or create opportunities and put our best people on these opportunities.
Let me encourage you to make your 2020 the year to discover and act on opportunities. KSHE and ASHE are both positioned to help you in this. Encourage your team to sign-up for and utilize ASHE’s “All Member Community.” Today for example there are ongoing discussions about clinical sink requirements, personal appliances, and employee electrical safety training. Also on the ASHE website are monographs in areas such as compliance, electrical systems, disaster preparedness, facility management, and patient experience. Sign up to attend any of KSHE’s free “lunch & learn” webinars. Make plans for you and your team to attend the annual Healthcare Coalition Conference in September 2020 – Owensboro Convention Center. Participate with the KSHE Board on one of its committees, or think about becoming a KSHE Board member.
Give it some thought. 2020 doesn’t have to be “just another year.” Make it the year that you move yourself and your team from GOOD to GREAT!
Happy New Year!
Joe Taylor
