Reacquainting your team with their purpose

Hospital life continues to be hard in what I believe/hope is the beginning of the “post-pandemic” period of COVID.  At a time when health care professionals are still reeling from the trauma they endured as a care giver during COVID, I think about how to keep our spirit alive.  Those in healthcare professions typically choose healthcare because they want to make a difference in the life of another.  This inspiration carries them though the difficulties that emerge.

I have come to believe that a person’s inspiration comes from within them.  Simon Sinek calls this your “Why”.  So, perhaps it is not a matter of “keeping the spirit of inspiration alive”, but instead, reminding our staff that inspiration is alive within them.  Helping our staff rekindle and reconnect with their “why” is the secret.

The past 3 years have been exhausting – but it has also brought out the best in our healthcare workforce. Our healthcare staff has pushed themselves to the limit to successfully manage a once-in-a-century pandemic and save lives. Now they are doing the same to overcome the residual effects of the pandemic: a scarce and burned-out workforce, a resurgence of viruses like RSV, and a society that is seemingly becoming more uncivil.  We are amazed by our healthcare staff and we thank them; but are we actually seeing and reflecting back to them what they are doing?

If we actively “notice” what staff are doing and reflect this back to them, like holding up a mirror, it helps them to rediscover their “Why”.  Furthermore, if we observe from a different level of understanding; from a perspective of innovation, you will find that the solutions they implement are quite groundbreaking.

One of my tactics is to send out a weekly message.  The purpose of this message is not to communicate announcements or news items.  In my communication, I find a story about someone who did something amazing and I tell that story to the rest of the workforce.  These are stories of incredible human caring and kindness to patients, of a unique process that served to make something easier or better, of people going the extra mile to do something special.  At first, it was very hard to seek out and collect stories for a weekly message.  Now, people are so inspired by these weekly messages that they send me story ideas – lots of them!  The workforce has taken up the task and are sharing their inspiration with each other!

Healthcare staff seldom recognize that what they are doing is inventive and even revolutionary.  These are unique moments we need to recognize, capture, celebrate, reflect back, and build into new and better processes.

Find ways to reacquaint your staff to their “Why”. It needs to come from within them but we can remind them that it is there.

Please share your thoughts on reminding staff about the spirit of inspiration and innovation that is within them.