Building Engagement and Trust Through Leadership (Podcast)

At the heart of every scientific breakthrough and clinical victory are the caregivers, whose ongoing engagement is essential to the success of every healthcare organization. It's no secret that when caregivers feel trusted, supported and valued, they are more resilient and better able to deliver the kind of care every patient deserves.

This special podcast series by Beyond Leadership introduces L.E.A.D., an innovative, action-oriented framework built on four human-centered behaviors: Listening, Empathizing, Adapting, and Developing. Here, we explore how leaders can foster psychological safety, build resilient teams and create environments where employees thrive.

"Trust is always earned — it's never given for free — and it is a function of the integrity with which you interact with your team and your caregivers," says Brian Harte, MD, president of Cleveland Clinic Akron General. "There is a big difference between leading a team as a content expert and leading a team in which each person has a profound depth of expertise. Effective leaders know when to defer to others. A leader's job is not to know everything — it's to facilitate the conversation, synthesize the available information and guide the team toward the best decision possible."

In this episode of Beyond Leadership, Dr. Harte and Serpil Erzurum, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Research and Academic Officer at Cleveland Clinic, will:

• Discuss how trust and transparent communication drive caregiver engagement, psychological safety and high team performance.
• Identify and apply strategies for increasing self-awareness and welcoming feedback to enhance leadership effectiveness.
• Share techniques for creating inclusive environments and rebuilding trust when it has been compromised.

Click the podcast player above to listen to the episode now, or read on for a short, edited excerpt. Check out more Beyond Leadership episodes at https://my.clevelandclinic.org/podcasts/beyond-leadership or wherever you get your podcasts.

Podcast excerpt

Podcast host Jim Pae, MSOD: As a leader, how do you maintain a sense of self-awareness to ensure you are creating a trusting organizational culture?

Dr. Harte: We all have blind spots; we don't fully appreciate the ways in which we are perceived. Some advice I got from Gus Kious, the last president of Huron Hospital, was that a great leader always welcomes feedback...from everyone around them.

In fact, when I start a new role, I tell people that I'm going to ask them for feedback: It is part of your job to be honest with me and tell me how I am perceived. And sometimes [the feedback] is reactive. Like you might ask, "Hey, how did that go?" But I also think you can be proactive and say, "Jim, I'm about to go give a talk, and I'd like you to give me feedback afterward on how I presented myself. Here is what I'm trying to accomplish..."

And [it's important to] show that...even when the feedback isn't sterling, you still take it well. Nobody likes to be criticized, but honest feedback is a way to make our blind spots as small as possible.

Dr. Erzurum: I agree with Brian. I think you have to be active in the pursuit of feedback, and I try to do something very similar. I'll think about a meeting [after it ends] and will ask others how they think it went. What were their feelings during and after the meeting? Was there clarity in the communication? What do they think I said, as opposed to what I believe I said? You cannot make assumptions.

I also think you have to welcome criticism...people can pick up when you are not sincerely looking for it. [Receptiveness] is a great gift to your colleagues because it is a lot of work — and some risk — for the individual providing feedback, especially when it's being given to a leader. So, you have to be sensitive to that dynamic and open to the input.

Regarding self-awareness, sometimes I'll have a certain response...a gut feeling when I'm listening to others. My [emotional] response might be great, bad or indifferent...but when my reaction is immediate, I'm always a bit suspicious of myself. Why did I like or dislike that so much? What caused me to feel fearful of it?

In those situations, I have to walk away and take time to process the interaction...examine why I felt that way when the person said or did a certain thing. I really explore that feeling. Where is my reaction coming from, knowing that my colleagues are here to serve the enterprise and are well motivated? Once I understand a bit more about my own feelings, I'll come back to the conversation later...maybe even sleep on it before reacting. That's one way I try to maintain awareness of what is going on inside of me in response to others.