CHIME/HIMSS: Covey to CIOs: build trust, and success will follow
NEW ORLEANS—Building and maintaining trust is the core of good medicine and good business, leadership guru Stephen M.R. Covey told an audience of approximately 500 CIOs at the 2013 CIO Forum held March 3.
The forum was hosted by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
“You are part of the solution to transform the healthcare industry,” Covey said. “To accelerate and drive change is a very simple, often overlooked idea we call trust.”
He challenged the audience to think about a person with whom they work and trust: What is it like to work with him or her? How do you communicate with this person? How fast can you get things done? What kind of results are you able to achieve? After these questions, he reversed the directive to a person with whom you work and find very difficult because the relationship lacks trust or is not where you’d like it to be. “The difference is striking, we all know it. We’ve all been there. The difference is night and day. It is economic. It is palpable.”
Trust is key to creating effective teams, such as to implement an EMR initiative, and can be viewed in three ways, he offered. First, trust is an economic driver, not a merely social driver. Trust is a business driver; it has a cost. Second, trust is the No. 1 competency of leadership in healthcare today, citing Harris Interactive data that has shown a significant decline in trust of medical leadership in 2011–30 percent–vs. 2002 43 percent and 1966, 73 percent.
“Trust is the new currency that makes things work better,” Covey said. “Trust is the currency of the CIO to be successful and work with folks across [a facility]. Without confidence, which is trust, character and competence, it is hard to be effective.” And third, Covey calls trust a learnable competency. “It is a skill we can learn,” he said. “And get better at. Make it practical, actionable, tangible.”
In 2013, healthcare leaders need to see the possibilities and open up to see the good, Covey urged. Integrity is the root of the tree – “live what you say you value. Show people what you believe and do it over and over again,” Covey said. The tree’s trunk is made up of intent. “This is your motive. Show you care about your colleagues and peers. Seek mutual benefit and it will be a win-win.”
The branches are the CIOs capabilities, expertise and knowledge. “Always stay relevant.” And last are the fruits of the tree, results. “This is our performance—past, present and future. Our behavior is what we do and how we do it…talk straight, create transparency, clarify expectations, practice accountability and extend trust. Give it and get it back.
But how to do it? “Start with trust and verify,” Covey urged. “Always start with personal credibility, of the team and organization. Then create and extend that trust. Trust makes a group of people a team. And when you get good at trust, you will get better at everything else. Nothing engages people like trust.”
Mary joined TriMed Media in 2003. She was the founding editor and editorial director of Health Imaging, Cardiovascular Business, Molecular Imaging Insight and CMIO, now known as Clinical Innovation + Technology. Prior to TriMed, Mary was the editorial director of HealthTech Publishing Company, where she had worked since 1991. While there, she oversaw four magazines and related online media, and piloted the launch of two magazines and websites. Mary holds a master’s in journalism from Syracuse University. She lives in East Greenwich, R.I., and when not working, she is usually running around after her family, taking photos or cooking.