Impressions. As caregivers, we leave lasting impressions on virtually every patient and family we touch. We strive, of course, for those impressions to be positive. But the reality is much of what a patient experiences while in our care is anything but positive: pain … a devastating diagnosis … a discouraging prognosis. These unescapable “scars” are unfortunately part of illness or injury. As caregivers, perhaps one of our most important roles is finding ways to diminish inevitable distress. Recently, a physician leader in one of our partner hospitals related a compelling story that had a profound influence on how he thinks about his role as a caregiver. The story he shared has had a lasting impact on the way I’ll now think about what our

Sometimes sports analogies are applied too often and are taken too far in thinking about effective management practices. But since we borrowed the term “huddle” from football to describe a brief team meeting, revisiting what makes sports huddles effective – and where we may have lost our way in translation in health care – seems appropriate. Whether you are a personal fan or not, it is hard to argue that Peyton Manning is one of the greatest professional football players is history. Manning was great not only because he was a talented quarterback but also because he was a gifted leader who brought out the best in the entire team. Arguably, he understood leadership as well as Peter Drucker, Jack Welch or any other management

At every hospital across the country this week, there were surely heartwarming – and heart wrenching – stories of families coping with life-threatening injury and illness during the Thanksgiving season. We often hear families tell us how thankful they are for the superb care provided by doctors, nurses, techs, housekeepers and other members of the care team, especially during this season. And, indeed, we all should be grateful for the skill, compassion and dedication of our fellow health care professionals. But my favorite story this Thanksgiving season is not about the care provided by the health care team but instead by families caring for one another. The Neuro ICU at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in my hometown of St. Louis cares for some of the most seriously

Developed over 30 years ago, the widely-used S.M.A.R.T. goals model has helped thousands of organizations write more effective goals. But what about implementation? Our smarter S.M.A.R.T. goals approach focuses on how to use goals to change behavior and drive higher performance in healthcare organizations. For more information on how to use goal-setting to improve outcomes and advance employee engagement, download our latest whitepaper: Stamp&Chase LeaderBriefing – A Smarter Approach to SMART Goals.