What does your company look like from the point of view of staff? In this Let’s Define video, I define the “Employee For a Day” concept and why it’s so important.
Read my definition of “Employee For a Day” and what happened when I tried this experiment as a new manager.
Continue reading “Let’s Define… What is an “Employee For a Day”?”
Are your staff afraid to share what is going wrong in your company? Do problems keep happening, and you don’t know why?
A great solution is to step into the roles of your staff and see the situation first-hand.
One fantastic technique is what I call “Employee For a Day.” It is a simple, hands-on activity where an executive leader leaves their role, and she or he sits in the seat of employees to see the organization from their point of view.
In my previous post, I describe what happened when I entered the day-to-day world of my staff. It humbled me, challenged me, and ultimately led to several changes in the organization.
There were a few drawbacks as well. Here are all the dirty details of how to get started.
Pain isn’t something most of us want to experience. We are hard-wired to avoid unpleasant conversations, experiences, and memories. And most of the time, this instinct serves us well.
But when it comes to recognizing risks — vulnerabilities and threats that could cause harm — avoiding pain is dangerous.
This is the first in a 3-part series about Pain and Decision-Making.
In this post, I will review the basics of pain, our unique thresholds, corresponding fears, and how to evaluate and properly both pain and managing risk. Continue reading “What Happens When We Avoid Pain in Decision-Making?”
Diversity, transparency, empathy.
When organizations welcome these qualities while maintaining structure and stability, they’re ahead of the game.
It is often difficult to find the right balance between an aggressive approach and a passive one when managing a business. In this article, I will describe the 5 types of risk, the 5 risk roles of executive leaders, and how these apply to balancing the Yin and Yang of Management.
Continue reading “Yin and Yang and the 5 Risk Roles of Executive Leaders”
Do you ever go through an “a-ha moment” that suddenly makes you aware of a totally new perspective?
That happened to me a few years ago. Like many top-level leaders, I had slowly and imperceptibly developed “Corporate Ladder Bias” during my transition from employee to executive. This subconscious change occurs when our field of vision is consumed with all the problems and headaches at the management level. We become blind to the day-to-day frustrations of what I call the “Foundational Staff.” These are employees at the lowest levels of an organization, including:
What are blind spots, and why do leaders struggle with them? In this Let’s Define episode, I will explain the 3 types of blind spots and how to overcome them.
Read my definition of Blind Spots
Evaluating your own professional worth can be very difficult. As mentioned in previous posts, our underlying discomfort with transactions can cause us to make long-lasting mistakes.
Even outwardly “successful” business owners often struggle with Imposter Syndrome: the fear that eventually, someone will find out we were faking it all along. As a practitioner, you may feel uncomfortable discussing costs with your customers. You might wonder when you’ll get paid but take extreme measures to avoid discussing the topic of money.
These are all signs of Transaction Avoidance.
If you are having trouble charging what you’re worth, here are some tips:
Continue reading “What is Transaction Avoidance Syndrome? Part 3 of 3”
A transaction is what happens at the end of a business exchange. The word comes from the Latin: trans- (“through”) and -agere (“to drive”).
As discussed in Part 1, many things can go wrong when we exchange payment for a service or product. A lot of us feel an underlying discomfort when we receive money.
This discomfort can look harmless at first. As a practitioner, you might spend “a few extra minutes” with each patient, or put off discussing payment options until the end of the visit. But the subconscious avoidance can have a very damaging effect on our business profitability.
Let’s take a look at why this happens.
Continue reading “What is Transaction Avoidance Syndrome? Part 2 of 3”
Have you ever whittled a stick before? When I was 8, my grandfather taught me how to carve wood in his workshop. For weeks, my favorite pastime was finding a nice block of wood, chopping off the bark, smoothing it down, and cutting off all the excess pieces until a final image appeared.
If you’ve ever watched a master woodcarver or ice sculptor, you know how it feels to see an ordinary object transform into a work of art.
Every natural health practitioner has the opportunity to serve a very specific, clearly defined group. Instead of meeting all needs and conditions for a vast number of people, niching your practice allows you to be selective. When you “whittle down” to just a handful of options (thus avoiding the Paradox of Choice), people actually start to pay more attention.
Continue reading “11 Compelling Reasons to Niche Your Healthcare Practice”
What is so great about naturopathic doctors? Well, I’m glad you asked, because I want to share 10 things I like the most about NDs.
As a consultant to natural health practice owners, and a former Risk Officer and data management specialist, I have observed the good and the bad in healthcare facilities around the US. Here is my perspective.
Watch this video, or continue reading below.
Continue reading “10 Reasons Naturopathic Doctors are Awesome [Video]”
