150+ Thoughts on
Hospital Leadership
1.
1. Simpson’s
Law of Simplicity: Either this will work
out OK or it will make for an interesting story.
2.
2, Brock’s
Bylaw: Speed + Execution = Results
3.
Morrison’s
Mantra: Anytime a major charge or
shakeup happens at your hospital, your staff will have 3 questions: (1) What about me? (2) What about me? (3) Oh, by the way, what
about me?
4.
CEO
Caveat: Never let them see you sweat.
5.
Johnson’s
Judgment: Every once in a while, you
just gotta throw a dead body out in the hall.
6.
Viator’s
Verdict: You might as well take all the
undeserved praise, because you’re gonna get all the undeserved blame.
7.
Morrison’s
Maxim: Hospital CEOs should change every
3 years because if you haven’t created enough enemies in 3 years to get
yourself fired, you’re not pushing hard enough.
8.
Prehn’s
Proclamation: If it ain’t working, use a
bigger hammer.
9.
Prehn’s
Prescript (previously known as Prehn’s Rule of Free Drinks at Happy Hour): The cheaper the product, the more consumers
will complain about the quality.
10.
CNO’s
Conundrum: CNOs who seek equality with
CEOs lack ambition.
11.
The
Simpson Elucidation of the Chain of Ridicularity: The longest distance between two points
utilizing as many people and forms as possible in a corporate chain of command
in order to review and analyze any requested decision or action without there
ever having to be a substantive decision.
12.
Prehn’s
Precept: When you don’t know what you’re
doing, walk fast & act worried.
13.
Shane’s
Saying: Show up, act interested.
14.
The
Law of Crisis Management: I’ll panic
when it happens.
15.
Jim
Injunction: Volume cures all ills.
16.
Colin
Powell’s Quote: You can’t make someone
else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
17.
Andretti’s
Axiom: If everything is under control,
you’re not going fast enough.
18.
Weinstein’s
Wisdom: Sometimes its paranoia,
sometimes its just sensitivity
19.
Prehn's
Perrill: My job ate my life.
20.
Aleen's
Advice: When your boss is manic, rise to
the level of their mania to communicate an adequate sense of urgency.
21.
Aleen's
Advice: (to nursing staff) You will
NEVER get in trouble for being nice to a patient/family member. Get them what they need to be comfortable.
22.
Harrison’s Three Laws of the Universe:
a.
Hurry
up, get to the point, I don’t have a lot of time
b.
Don’t
sweat it, most of it turns out to be B.S. anyway
c.
I
don’t have to be the coolest guy in the world, I just have to be the coolest
guy in the room
23.
Lee's
Law of Timing: If you have to have an
answer right now...it's no!
a.
Corollary
- Lack of planning and/or preparation on your part does not constitute an
emergency on mine.
b.
Prehn’s
Expediency Formula: Results are simply a
matter of time & money. The more
money you have, the less time you need.
And vice-versa. R = f [T:$]
24.
Reformation
of Martin Mull’s Observation: Being a
hospital CEO is like having a bowing alley installed in your head.
25.
Granger’s
Grail: Understand reality. Define perception.
26.
The
Law of Distributional Dynamics: When the
sh*t hits the fan, it won’t be evenly distributed.
27.
A
Few Good Hospital
Administrators: “You can't handle the
truth! I have a greater responsibility
than you can possibly fathom. You have the luxury of not knowing what I
know…And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves
lives...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk
about at parties, you want me on that wall….”
28.
The
Bear Bryant Theory of Succession: You
don’t want to be the coach who replaces Bear Bryant. You want to be the coach who replaces the
coach who replaces Bear Bryant.
29.
Captain
James T Kirk’s Advice on Advice: “One of the advantages of being the
captain, Doctor, is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to
take it.”
30.
The Elenbaas Idiom: Honor performance, growth and results. (Ron
Elenbaas)
31.
“Like
Throwing Moon Pies at Mardi Gras”:
Sometimes all your customer, physician, or staff want is a token of
their “special-ness.” It is not the size
or value of the token that matters, it is the fact that they got it and someone
else didn’t.
32.
Ashleigh
Brilliant’s Axiom: “I don’t have a
solution, but I certainly admire the complexity of the problem.”
33.
Dale’s
Dictum: If you want to gather honey,
don’t kick over the beehive.
34.
Carnegie’s
Credo: You can’t win an argument.
35.
Vince
Lombardi on Employee Relations: “If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you’ll be fired
with enthusiasm.”
36.
General
Patton’s Law of Battle Strategy: Pick
your battles so they’re small enough to win and big enough to matter.
37.
The
Physics of Physician Partnerships: Trying
to partner with physicians is like trying to catch a falling knife: difficult
to do and with generally ugly results. (Dennis Murray)
38.
The
Delbert McClinton Rule: “When you’re looking for trouble, trouble’s easy to
find.”
39.
Scully’s
Saying: “Good is not good when better is
expected.” (Vin Scully)
40.
Sorrell’s
Saying: (when asked if a particular doctor was happy, he replied:) “Happy” is a
transient state.
41.
“Do
or Do Not. There is no Try.” (Yoda)
42.
If
“if’s” and “but’s” were candy and nuts it would be Christmas all year long.
43.
Pebbles
on the scale add up to pounds (Casey Sorrell)
44.
Sorkey’s
Saying: “Process is more important than
content.”
45.
Thompson’s
Tome: “Fear is just another word for
ignorance.” (Hunter S. Thompson)
46.
“Call
on God but row away from the rocks.”
(Hunter S. Thompson)
47.
A leader is best when
people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they
will say: we did it ourselves. —Lao Tzu
48.
Where there is no
vision, the people perish. —Proverbs 29:18
49.
I must follow the
people. Am I not their leader? —Benjamin Disraeli
50.
You manage things; you
lead people. —Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
51.
The first responsibility
of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the
leader is a servant. —Max DePree
52.
Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.
—Warren Bennis
53.
Lead me, follow me, or
get out of my way. — General George Patton
54.
Before you are a leader,
success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all
about growing others. —Jack Welch
55.
A leader is a dealer in
hope. —Napoleon Bonaparte
56.
You don’t need a title
to be a leader. –Multiple Attributions
57.
A leader is one who
knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. —John Maxwell
58.
My own definition of
leadership is this: The capacity and the will to rally men and women to a
common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. —General Montgomery
59.
Leadership is lifting a
person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a
higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.
—Peter Drucker
60.
Never doubt that a small
group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only
thing that ever has. —Margaret Mead
61.
The nation will find it
very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground.
—Sir Winston Churchill
62.
The most dangerous
leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to
leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born. —Warren Bennis
63.
To command is to serve,
nothing more and nothing less. —Andre Malraux
64.
He who has never learned
to obey cannot be a good commander. —Aristotle
65.
Become the kind of
leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or
position. —Brian Tracy
66.
I start with the premise
that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
—Ralph Nader
67.
Effective leadership is
not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not
attributes. —Peter Drucker
68.
Anyone can hold the helm
when the sea is calm. —Publilius Syrus
69.
A great person attracts
great people and knows how to hold them together. —Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
70.
The best executive is
the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and
self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
—Theodore Roosevelt
71.
Leadership is influence.
—John C. Maxwell
72.
You don’t lead by
pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place
and making a case. —Ken Kesey
73.
When I give a minister
an order, I leave it to him to find the means to carry it out. —Napoleon
Bonaparte
74.
Men make history and not
the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands
still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity
to change things for the better. —Harry S. Truman
75.
People buy into the
leader before they buy into the vision. —John Maxwell
76.
So much of what we call
management consists in making it difficult for people to work. —Peter Drucker
77.
The art of leadership is
saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes. —Tony Blair
78.
The very essence of
leadership is that you have to have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you
articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an
uncertain trumpet. —Reverend Theodore Hesburgh
79.
The key to successful
leadership today is influence, not authority. —Kenneth Blanchard
80.
A good general not only
sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible. —Polybius
81.
A great leader’s courage
to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position. —John Maxwell
82.
A leader takes people
where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily
want to go, but ought to be. —Rosalynn Carter
83.
The challenge of
leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but
not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but
not arrogant; have humor, but without folly. —Jim Rohn
84.
Outstanding leaders go
out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe
in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. —Sam Walton
85.
A true leader has the
confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the
compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a
leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his
intent. —Douglas MacArthur
86.
A ruler should be slow
to punish and swift to reward. —Ovid
87.
No man will make a great
leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.
—Andrew Carnegie
88.
Leadership is the art of
getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
—General Dwight Eisenhower
89.
The leader has to be
practical and a realist yet must talk the language of the visionary and the
idealist. —Eric Hoffer
90.
Leaders think and talk
about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. —Brian Tracy
91.
A man who wants to lead
the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. —Max Lucado
92.
Never tell people how to
do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their
ingenuity. —General George Patton
93.
As we look ahead into
the next century, leaders will be those who empower others. —Bill Gates
94.
All of the great leaders
have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally
the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is
the essence of leadership. —John Kenneth Galbraith
95.
Do what you feel in your
heart to be right–for you’ll be criticized anyway. —Eleanor Roosevelt
96.
Don’t necessarily avoid
sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership. —Donald Rumsfeld
97.
Education is the mother of leadership. —Wendell Willkie
98.
Effective leadership is
putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it
out. —Stephen Covey
99.
Great leaders are almost
always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to
offer a solution everybody can understand. —General Colin Powell
100.
Great leaders are not
defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear
strengths. —John Zenger
101.
He who has great power
should use it lightly. —Seneca
102.
He who has learned how
to obey will know how to command. —Solon
103.
I am reminded how hollow
the label of leadership sometimes is and how heroic followership can be.
—Warren Bennis
104.
I cannot give you the
formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try
to please everybody. —Herbert Swope
105.
If one is lucky, a
solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities. —Maya Angelou
106.
If you would not be forgotten, as
soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do
things worth the writing. —Benjamin Franklin
107.
If your actions inspire others to dream more,
learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. —John Quincy Adams
108.
In matters of style, swim with the current;
in matters of principle, stand like a rock. —Thomas Jefferson
109.
It is absurd that a man should rule others,
who cannot rule himself. —Latin Proverb
110.
It is better to lead from behind and to put
others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur.
You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your
leadership. —Nelson Mandela
111.
Lead and inspire people. Don’t try to manage
and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed but people must be lead.
—Ross Perot
112.
Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they
are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll
have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal. —Vince Lombardi
113.
Leaders must be close enough to relate to
others, but far enough ahead to motivate them. —John C. Maxwell
114.
Leadership and learning are indispensable to
each other. —John F. Kennedy
115.
Leadership cannot just go along to get along.
Leadership must meet the moral challenge of the day. —Jesse Jackson
116.
Leadership does not always wear the harness
of compromise. —Woodrow Wilson
117.
Leadership is a potent combination of
strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the
strategy. —Norman Schwarzkopf
118.
Leadership is solving problems. The day
soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading
them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do
not care. Either case is a failure of leadership. —Colin Powell
119.
Leadership is the key to 99 percent of all
successful efforts. —Erskine Bowles
120.
Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to
become better. —Bill Bradley
121.
Management is about arranging and telling.
Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing. —Tom Peters
122.
Management is efficiency in climbing the
ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against
the right wall. —Stephen Covey
123.
Never give an order that can’t be obeyed.
—General Douglas MacArthur
124.
No man is good enough to govern another man
without that other’s consent. —Abraham Lincoln
125.
What you do has far greater impact than what
you say. —Stephen Covey
126.
Not the cry, but the flight of a wild duck,
leads the flock to fly and follow. —Chinese Proverb
127.
One of the tests of leadership is the ability
to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency. —Arnold Glasow
128.
The final test of a leader is that he leaves
behind him in other men, the conviction and the will to carry on. —Walter
Lippman
129.
The greatest leaders mobilize others by
coalescing people around a shared vision. —Ken Blanchard
130.
The growth and development of people is the
highest calling of leadership. —Harvey Firestone
131.
To do great things is difficult; but to
command great things is more difficult. —Friedrich Nietzsche
132.
To have long term success as a coach or in
any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way. —Pat Riley
133.
True leadership lies in guiding others to
success. In ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work
they are pledged to do and doing it well. —Bill Owens
134.
We live in a society obsessed with public
opinion. But leadership has never been about popularity. —Marco Rubio
135.
Whatever you are, be a good one. —Abraham
Lincoln
136.
You gain strength, courage and confidence by
every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do
the thing you think you cannot do. —Eleanor Roosevelt
137.
A competent leader can get efficient service
from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the
best of troops. —John J Pershing
138.
A good leader is a person who takes a little
more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the
credit. —John Maxwell
139.
There are three essentials to leadership:
humility, clarity and courage. —Fuchan Yuan
140.
I am endlessly fascinated that playing
football is considered a training ground for leadership, but raising children
isn’t. —Dee Dee Myers
141.
A cowardly leader is the most dangerous of
men. —Stephen King
142.
My responsibility is getting all my players
playing for the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back.
–Unknown
143.
A good plan violently executed now is better
than a perfect plan executed next week. –George Patton
144.
The supreme quality of leadership is
integrity. –Dwight Eisenhower
145.
You don’t lead by hitting people over the
head—that’s assault, not leadership. –Dwight Eisenhower
146.
Earn your leadership every day. –Michael
Jordan
147. Good leadership consists in showing
average people how to do the work of superior people.-- John D. Rockefeller (1839 - 1937)
148. Management is doing things right;
leadership is doing the right things.
Peter Drucker (1909 - 2005)
149. A sense of humor is part of the art
of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 - 1969)
150. Leadership and learning are
indispensable to each other. John F.
Kennedy (1917 - 1963), speech prepared for delivery in Dallas the day of his
assassination, November 22, 1963
151. One of the hardest tasks of
leadership is understanding that you are not what you are, but what you're
perceived to be by others. Edward L.
Flom
152. Leadership is based on inspiration,
not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation. William Arthur Wood
153. The art of leadership is saying no,
not yes. It is very easy to say yes.
Tony Blair (1953 - )
154. Leadership is communicating to
people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in
themselves. Stephen Covey, the 8th
habit
155. The day soldiers stop bringing you
their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost
confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case
is a failure of leadership. Colin
Powell (1937 - )
156. An empowered organization is one in
which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to
personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success. Stephen Covey, Principle-centered
Leadership
157. Men make history, and not the other
way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still.
Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to
change things for the better. Harry S
Truman (1884 - 1972)
158. Leadership should be born out of the
understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it. Marian Anderson
159. Leadership has a harder job to do
than just choose sides. It must bring sides together. Jesse Jackson
160. Jingshen is the Mandarin word for
spirit and vivacity. It is an important word for those who would lead, because
above all things, spirit and vivacity set effective organizations apart from
those that will decline and die. James
L. Hayes, Memos for Management: Leadership, 1983
161. The only real training for
leadership is leadership. Anthony Jay
162. I start with the premise that the
function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. Ralph Nader (1934 - )
163. Whether a man is burdened by power
or enjoys power; whether he is trapped by responsibility or made free by it;
whether he is moved by other people and outer forces or moves them -- this is
of the essence of leadership. Theodore
H. White, The Making of the President, 1960
164. You do not lead by hitting people
over the head-that's assault, not leadership.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 - 1969)
165. Leadership is practiced not so much
in words as in attitude and in actions.
Harold Geneen, Chairman, ITT Corp.
166. The leadership instinct you are born
with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with
it. Elaine Agather
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