Note from the Associate Editorial Director: Countdown of top leadership qualities

by Melissa Varnavas

You know those somewhat helpful hints you most often find in Women’s Day magazine but which have cropped up recently on web browsers’ homepages? They’re usually things like “8 great meals to make for dinner tonight!” or “10 helpful hints to make your bathroom better.” Inevitably I find myself sucked into these tasty lifestyle tidbits.

Sometimes they’re ridiculous, like the one I read recently about how to operate e-mail effectively, and sometimes they surprise me by offering a little ray of insight, like this one, from US News & World Report, offered “7 Things Your Boss Should Never Say to You.” While I disagree with the negative premise of the piece (why not address the article in the affirmative and speak about what to do rather than what not to do), I found the following excerpt motivational:

“Leaders lead by inspiring, teaching, encouraging, and, yes, serving their employees. Good leaders never need to threaten. So keep your word, set a good example, praise in public, criticize in private, respect your employees’ capabilities, give credit where credit is due, learn to delegate, and when you ask for feedback don’t forget to respond to it.”

Sounds like a lot to live up to. But it reminded me of Stephen M. R. Covey’s “13 Behaviors of High Trust Leaders,” a bookmark of which I posted on the bulletin board above my desk. They are:

1. Talk straight
2. Demonstrate respect
3. Create transparency
4. Right wrongs
5. Show loyalty
6. Deliver results
7. Get better
8. Confront reality
9. Clarify expectations
10. Practice accountability
11. Listen first
12. Keep commitments
13. Extend trust

No matter what your leadership “position” may be at your facility, you no doubt play a leadership “role” in your CDI program. Would you ever walk up to Dr. Adam Adams and criticize him for not writing renal failure in the discharge notes while he was in the middle of a conversation with several other physicians? Of course not! You’ve got that “praise in public” aspect of effective leadership down! You’re a born leader!

Through your interactions with coders, physicians, managers, even other CDI team members you have an opportunity to effect change and improve physician documentation. To do this consistently you must, even at a subconscious level, employ these effective leadership tactics. Why not spend a few minutes every once in a while considering them on the conscious level? Take a moment to think back over you action today and give yourself a little two minute self-evaluation. Did you set clear expectations for yourself and others? If you demanded that Dr. Sally Sallison be sure to get that documentation into the record before days end, maybe not… But if, instead, you listened to the needs of others, clarified your expectations in order to deliver positive results, leadership may well be your forte.

If you have good example of CDI leadership at your facility leave a comment here on the ACDIS Blog. We’ll give a prize to the best example of effective leadership.

Editor's note: Varnavas is the associate editorial director of ACDIS. Contact her at mvarnavas@acdis.org.