leadership

As we come into the home stretch of 2011, we are on track to double the number of high- performing unit-based teams by December. It has us thinking about what structural elements exist in places we consistently find high-performing teams. We find that the facilities with the greatest number of high-performing teams have some consistent ingredients. Our recent visit to the Fresno Medical Center in Northern California demonstrated what facilities with lots of high-performing teams have in common.

One of the themes of the 2011 Union Delegate Conference is the Coalition’s effort to move collective bargaining beyond the confines of wages, hours and benefits and into a broader social dialogue about the welfare of the whole company, the community and the world. In this video blog, John August, the executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, says that means having an honest dialogue not just between unions and management, but with consumers and our broader community.

The theme of this weekend’s Union Delegates Conference is transformational leadership--leadership that causes change in individuals or systems. LMP senior VP Barb Grimm says in her book, a transformative leader is someone who strengthens the capabilities, voices and visions of the people around him or her and helps create change. In this short video blog, Grimm reveals whom she sees as the leaders and transformers of Kaiser Permanente.

Our theme for this year’s Union Delegates Conference is “Transformative Leadership.”

Many people equate transformation with change. That’s not it, really.

While it’s true that the world of 2011 is very different from the world of 1961, 50 years ago, we know from our personal life experience that the world did not simply change—no one flipped a switch. The world transformed over time.

Remember those great toys called Transformers? Kids would sit for hours manipulating human forms into mechanical creations, all the while imagining the process of going from one form of life to another. Pretty amazing!

Our 2011 Union Delegates Conference has the same dynamic in mind. Our theme is transformational leadership.You can become a transformer! (Actually, many of you already are!)

As we get  ready for the 2011 Union Delegate Conference scheduled for the end of March, I have been thinking  a great deal about definitions of transformational leadership, our theme for this year’s conference. My thinking has  not so much about leadership, but rather about the experience of everyday life, and how transformational leaders have the capacity to observe and internalize all the wondrous things that go on everyday--all the wondrous things that people do at work, at leisure, in caring for their families.

President Obama appointed Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) this week.

Ever wonder why it’s so hard to work with a co-lead or colleague on a certain issue? The information shared at the Leading in Partnership workshop at the 2010 Union Delegate Conference shed some light on this sticky situation.

It’s all about our personality styles.

The importance of leadership and support for UBTs stood out for us in San Diego when we visited in April. We met with Tony Minks, assistant administrative chief and Bill Cory, MD, administrator, part of the leadership team for the San Diego Medical Center. Both are progressive thinkers and get the importance of connecting business success to team performance.