Building trust by Asking How

Working with one of the biggest healthcare organizations in North America, we’re with the, you know, it’s the top leaders. They’re losing HCAP funding, they’re losing patients and they said “Dave, we actually need to do something differently so we’re, you know, it’s the people with letters behind their name. They got CEO and MD and ADD, they got it all. And so we’re sitting there and the top leader says “clarity, “this is the pillar we need to work on “if we’re gonna build trust.” I said great.

He stands up in front of everybody and said “clarity. “That’s what we’re gonna work on.” I said “okay, how are you gonna do it?” He sat down and talked to his team. When he was ready, he stood up in front of everybody. “We’re gonna communicate more.” Great, I said “how are you gonna do it?” He sat down. He talked to his team.

When he was ready, he stood up in front of everybody and said “okay, we’re gonna “hold each other accountable.” I know what that means, not gonna do anything and gonna blame everybody else. I said “okay, how?” And they asked how seven times that day until they came up with something they were going to start to do differently today or tomorrow and eight years later, they point back to that moment changing the trajectory of their organization.