Carrying the Ball Successfully Can Be a Bad Leadership Play in a Down Economy

What serves clinicians well may serve leaders poorly - particularly in lean times such as we currently face. In her December 2008 Harvard Business Review article, Give Me the Ball!" Is the Wrong Call McKinsey Award-winning author Tamara J. Erickson counsels leaders to resist their instinct to carry all the water for their organizations in times of economic crisis.

But it is counterintuitive for many physician leaders to heed Ms. Erikson's advice which is: "Instead of hogging the ball during a downturn, [leaders] ought to tap the ideas sand the energy of the entire organization." Leaders will inject more value into their organizations, in her view, by asking the right questions of others, by building interdependence within the organization, and by pushing back against conventional wisdom than they will by solving problems or fixing operations independently.

As caregivers and clinicians we have most likely been trained to "own responsibility for the patient," to "be personally accountable for tying up all the loose ends," and to "never abandon the patient in times of need." Unfortunately, these don't do much for building organizational confidence or a sense of shared destiny. Recruiting the participation of others even if we don't absolutely need their help to survive, holding accountability through others rather than acting directly and preemptively, and soliciting alternate assessments and options when our own solutions appear to be viable and pragmatic, are as critical to building organizational strength and cohesiveness in health care as they are in industry.

In down times, when morale is low and anxiety is high, the solo leader sends a strong message that it's everyone for him/herself. The strategic leader will use this opportunity to model inter-reliance, reinforce the message that all organizational assets are valuable, and to tap into the generative potential of the organization. This behavior signals optimism, encourages the spirit, and provides hope for better times. It holds the team together.