August 15, 2023 • 31 mins
Are you ready to tap into the pulse of healthcare leadership?
Join us as we navigate the uncharted waters of this subject with our distinguished guest, Lara Burnside.
Lara, a seasoned executive leadership coach, international speaker, and Chief Experience Officer at C.S.E. Leadership, brings her rich experience and wisdom gathered over 25 years in the healthcare sector.
From discussing the current struggles in the healthcare industry to sharing her inspirations, Lara encourages leaders to reignite their passion and compassion, thereby influencing their teams positively.
To connect with Lara Burnside online, visit:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lara-burnside-mha-cec-ba53b417/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Pelè (00:00):
Hello happy people, welcome to the Profitable
Happiness Podcast.
Hello everyone, this is Dr.
Pelè with the ProfitableHappiness Podcast, and today it
is my pleasure to introduce youto Lara Burnside, who is an
executive leadership coach, aninternational speaker, a chief
(00:21):
experience officer and theleader of CSE, which is Coaching
, supporting and Engaging People.
I love that title.
By the way, CSE is your company.
It's a pleasure to have youhere, lara.
How are you today?
Lara Burnside (00:35):
Thank you so much .
I'm wonderful, thank you, andit's a pleasure to be here with
you.
Dr. Pelè (00:39):
Thank you for having me Awesome.
Now, one of the things I alwayslike to start with, especially
when I'm talking with executivecoaches and leadership coaches,
because that's also mybackground is I want to learn
something I want to learn fromyour unique viewpoint about the
challenges that are out there.
What are we dealing with?
(01:00):
When we go to theseorganizations and they've got
something going on, somethingwrong, and we have to be the
providers of a solution?
What are you seeing?
How would you describe thechallenge in the organizations
today?
Lara Burnside (01:13):
Yeah.
So what we're finding at CSEleadership is that healthcare
leaders and physicians arecoming to us to reignite their
passion and compassion and beable to develop their skills in
a way that allows their peopleto be the best that they can be,
but also connect back to thereason that they went into
(01:36):
healthcare in the first placeand allow organizations and
individuals to achieve theirbest outcomes, and that has
never been more important thanit is today.
We're seeing every metric whenit comes to physicians.
According to research that wasdone in a survey by the AMA last
fall, every one of thosemetrics is going in the wrong
(02:00):
direction.
So, whether it has to do withburnout rates going through the
roof and increasingexponentially over the course of
the last 12 months, or turnoverrates, or depression rates, or
work-life integration rates youname it, every metric is going
in the wrong direction, and Ifeel a personal responsibility
(02:25):
to take what I have learned overthe course of a 25-year career,
typically in healthcare, but Ifind it incredibly necessary to
take what I have learned overthe course of 25 years and give
back.
At the end of the day, I mean,all of us are, in my opinion,
(02:46):
responsible and required to beable to share the gifts that
we've been given and allow andhelp people to become everything
that they want to be and thebest that they can be, so we can
continue to serve each other.
Dr. Pelè (03:01):
Yeah, I have to agree with you.
Every metric, as you'veexplained, is going south and I
wonder if it's the uniqueenvironment of healthcare, the
sort of high stress, highrequirement for patient
satisfaction.
I mean, it's not just that acustomer is happy, A customer
stays alive if you do a good job.
Give us a sense, lara, of howyou came to personally be
(03:28):
involved in this particularhealthcare focus and with this
idea of maybe helpingorganizations do better in that
field.
How did you get here?
What's your story?
Lara Burnside (03:38):
Yeah.
So back in the mid-90s I gotreally lucky and I met a woman
who had a desire to change theway that caregivers provided
care, and the background is hermother was in the hospital and
this woman that I met was soappalled by the treatment and
(04:00):
the care that her mom received.
She decided she was going to dosomething different and she
created a business that had todo with making sure that we had
the right people in the rightplaces, that they were trained
appropriately and that they werefocused on doing everything
that they could in a reallyhuman-centered way.
And so I got really lucky earlyon in my career, and at the
(04:24):
time I was living in Florida,where I spent about 20 years and
had an opportunity to reallyhelp her grow and develop the
central Florida region for herbusiness, and we were quite
successful in doing this, and Ibecame really tuned in to how do
you help not just the patientto receive a better experience
(04:48):
when they're in the healthcarefacility, but there's the flip
side of that, which is those whoare passionate and
compassionate and have thecalling to walk through the
doors and serve anyone who is ina really vulnerable position,
because you know, let's face it.
Nobody decides one morning like,oh, going to the hospital
(05:10):
sounds like a great idea today,or I think I'd like to go to a
doctor's appointment and let'sthrow in a colonoscopy with it
and we'll just have a break.
Nobody wakes up and thinks that.
So what we know is our patientsand their families come into
our facilities generally in asuper anxious way.
(05:32):
They're confused, they'rescared, they're frustrated and
they really have kind of twothings in mind.
One is is there a diagnosis forthis?
And secondly, is there a cure?
And that's a really hard space.
Now you bring in a caregiverwho has their own family life
(05:53):
and their own things going on,and there's a whole support
mechanism that is when done wellis in place to support our care
teams in a way that allows themto want to come back every day,
but also to want to do theirvery best when they walk through
our doors.
Dr. Pelè (06:12):
Yeah.
Lara Burnside (06:12):
Well, I learned that early on Now, almost, you
know, a long time ago, rightlike long ago.
Now, when I look at it, I think, oh my goodness, I could be
people's mother that are juststarting in healthcare.
but this is where we are in lifeand and so so I continued that
and I began working at for aconsulting firm a few years
(06:36):
after, after this encounter withthis, this really wonderful
woman that I met, and and beganconsulting with healthcare
organizations around the country.
I've been in a couple a hundredof them over the years, from
north to southeast to west, biglittle everything in between,
and I just found that my Desireand my heart is in giving back
(07:01):
in the way that I can, and thatis helping people feel inspired
to want to come back againtomorrow.
Dr. Pelè (07:07):
Wow, what a story and, and you know, what a path in
terms of Really knowing yourcustomer.
I think that the healthcarefield and we talked about the
fact that we share thatbackground a little bit as well
I think the healthcare field isunique.
This is not just you know,please, your customer.
This is sometimes life and anddeath, and having a
(07:31):
compassionate approach todeveloping leaders and and
developing you know,capabilities and skills is a
must.
It's just it's.
It's so powerful.
Let's, let's talk about how,because I think we're.
I'm enjoying the idea thatwe're gonna have to spell out
for people that there's adifference.
Sometimes the healthcare fieldis actually quite unique, but
(07:53):
let's talk about how you goabout helping people leaders or
employees in the healthcarefield.
How do you go about helpingthem to, you know, embrace,
finding success in in their, intheir jobs?
Lara Burnside (08:07):
Yeah.
So at CSE leadership, mybusiness partner and I decided
we wanted to do something alittle bit different.
And we want to create not acookie cutter approach to this,
but rather a really tailored,individualized approach,
depending on the organizationthat we're working with and what
their cultural situation is,you know, and what who they are,
(08:31):
you know.
Let's face it, someorganizations are very serious
and and more stoic, and some arenot, and so you have to find
the right approach to be able tofit the mold of who they are
and leverage their strengths inorder to be able to Help them be
their best.
With that being said, though,there are certain things that we
(08:52):
do.
So the first thing is to reallygo in and understand who they
are as an organization.
So we, we actually provideassessments, so we do an
organizational and individualassessments, and we use a
normative tool when it comes tothe individual, on just work
style.
So what is your work style?
So that we can look at it fromthe team perspective as well as
(09:16):
the individual and identifywhere things might be really
easy and Identify where thingsmight be more challenging, and
that allows us to be able tohelp with the coaching side of
that.
So we have a collective teamapproach, and what does that
look like?
So, for instance, if you havean organization who has, you
(09:37):
know, very strong Sociability,for instance, that might be very
easy for them to be able to goout and talk with people and
chit chat and that sort of thing, whereas if you have an
organization who doesn't havethat high of Sociability among
their team, you realize like,okay, then we need to build a
framework in place so that itmakes it easier for them to be
(09:59):
able to be Visible, go out anddo things among their team
members, because, let's face it,at the end of the day, people
want to connect with those thatthey work with and they want to
put their boss.
They don't want to feel like Idon't belong anywhere.
You know, the whole point ofEmployment and successful
employment and feeling goodabout where you work is that I'm
(10:21):
connected to people and I haverelationships that matter right.
Dr. Pelè (10:24):
Yeah, yeah, I.
Lara Burnside (10:27):
We do this full assessment so that we can really
understand the team, especiallythe leadership team as a whole.
We do the same thing with ourphysician leaders so that we can
understand, as a medicaldirector here's what might be in
play, so that we can helpleverage the strengths and look
for any gaps that might be there.
(10:47):
And then, tactically andtechnically, what can we do to
help build those.
That's the first step.
We look at KPIs and goals andall of those things and put
together an organizationalassessment as well.
Then we look at all of the dataand all of the information that
has come through and we beginto build a plan with that
(11:08):
leadership team, with the idealultimate goal that whatever we
put in play can actually berepeated and sustained long
after we're not there.
There's an important element tothis right now that it's not
about it being all about me orall about my business partner.
(11:31):
It is about us coming in thereand helping to coach and support
and engage.
Hence CSE.
What we do is in our name, butwe want to help, coach, support
and engage people at theirhighest levels so that they can
be what they need to be.
(11:52):
Then the last stage is what wecall forward, and that's what do
you need to do as you goforward into sustainability,
accountability, accessibilityfor people to be able to
continue to do the work, muchlike I said, long after we're no
longer on site.
Dr. Pelè (12:13):
Powerful stuff.
I was just about to writeanother acronym Sustainability,
accountability and I was like no, that doesn't go with CSE.
It's a little different.
That's like a littlemasterclass right there on how
to successfully build a case forcoaching and coaching that
lasts longer than just the timethat you spent there.
(12:34):
I'm curious about theorganizational assessment that
you talked about.
I think a lot of people.
First, let me ask you when youtalk about an organizational
assessment, do you actuallyassess and interview several
different stakeholders, or is itjust the leadership team?
Lara Burnside (12:54):
No, we actually do assess and talk to.
I guess we utilize a techniquethat we call connection
conversations.
Everybody's read the HarvardBusiness Study.
I'm quite sure about the 80years that they were studying
what makes people happiest, andit is connection.
(13:15):
Our goal is to help connectpeople and connect two people in
a way that's really meaningful.
We utilize connectionconversations with leaders,
physicians, providers,front-line team members, and we
do a lot of observation.
We will go into a department ora clinic or a floor or whatever
(13:38):
the situation may be.
We will begin asking a seriesof questions that we have
developed based on what we'veseen in the data and what we've
heard and seen within theindividual assessments and that
sort of thing.
We begin to craft that story,if you will, and then we want to
(13:59):
go validate it.
How does this appear to afront-line team member?
How does it appear to aprovider or a physician who may
not really fully understand thebusiness or operational side of
the organization?
Then we pull all of thatinformation together to create
(14:21):
an organizational assessmentthat we would review with the
senior team to say here's whatwe found in your data and here's
what we found when we startedtalking with your team members
and those who work here.
Here's where there aresimilarities, here's where you
might be experiencing somechallenges with your data.
Then here's the interventionthat we can put into play in
(14:44):
order to be able to assist withany of those challenges or
opportunities for improvement.
Dr. Pelè (14:51):
Awesome stuff.
I have a question about twostories that maybe you could
share, Two stories One about asuccess that you experienced out
in the field doing your thingmaybe something fun, no need for
names, just the scenario andone that didn't go so well, and
then I'd love to know what wentwrong.
Is there a mindset that'sembedded that causes things to
(15:14):
just go south like that?
I love these two storiesbecause I think that gives us a
sense of where we all need tofind our path.
So what are your two stories?
The good and the bad?
Lara Burnside (15:26):
So I have two stories, one, but they have the
same answer.
Dr. Pelè (15:30):
Oh OK.
Lara Burnside (15:31):
Oh, the answer is people role model and exhibit
behaviors that are beingdemonstrated and seen by their
leaders.
Dr. Pelè (15:46):
Oh.
Lara Burnside (15:47):
Period.
Dr. Pelè (15:48):
How true is that?
Lara Burnside (15:50):
So the good story we'll start.
There is a hospital that Iworked with that was really
really interested in improving.
The CEO had been there for 25or 30 years.
They highly respected CEO andit was the first time that it
(16:14):
happened to be a.
He was the only CEO that I haveever had in my entire career
that was not actually presentwhen we did leadership
development or even when I cameon site Periodically.
He would be there, but he wasreal active in the state when it
came to the healthcare qualityand healthcare policy and all of
(16:36):
those kind of things, and so hespent a lot of time at the
Capitol going through all ofthat.
So he wasn't always there atthe hospital and so I shared
with him.
At the beginning I said you know, this is kind of a challenge
because my words are only aspowerful as your presence and I
need you to champion everythingthat we're doing.
(16:57):
And he said you've got that.
You have every bit of mysupport and I will make it very
clear that if you're here, youknow it's.
They need to be listening andthey need to be aware that this
is where we're going.
And I said, okay, I am reallyhesitant on this.
I'm thinking this is not goingto work, this is going to be a
(17:19):
disaster.
But you know, it's what I'vegot.
So I'm thinking, all right, howdo I make the most of what I've
got?
And we'll figure it out.
Well, we go to our very firstLeadership Development Institute
and I'm standing up there andhe I had asked him to do an
introduction of me and kind ofintroduce what we were doing so
that they could hear it from himand he said these words and it
(17:42):
really hit me at that moment whythis is so important and
critical to every day bebuilding levels of trust, levels
of engagement and an interestand a connection to your
organization.
And here's what he did.
He said we are embarking onthis entire journey.
(18:04):
We are looking at quality,we're looking at the care that
our patients are given when theycome in, so that patient
experience piece.
We're looking at engagementlevels and we're pulling all of
these things together so that wecan continue to grow as an
organization.
That in a way that we need toand also be financially viable.
(18:24):
But you all know that my roleis pretty big here in the state
and that's going to require meto not be here every single time
, but I need you to know thatwhen you hear her speak, it is
the exact same as what's comingout of my mouth.
She and I have worked on thingsbehind the scenes, and my
(18:46):
absence here is in no way areflection of disinterest or a
reflection of not being reallyinvested and involved in what
this transformation needs tolook like for our organization
to be the best that it can be.
And he went on to talk about,you know, the other things that
the organization was doing andhe said and with that, my
(19:10):
expectation is that you're here,that you're always fully
present whenever we are talkingabout anything related to the
work that we're going to bedoing, and my expectation is
that when we have these types ofsessions, that you will be here
.
And it was the only time in myentire career that my CEO was
(19:31):
not present and I never had aperson miss anything.
Dr. Pelè (19:34):
Wow.
Lara Burnside (19:35):
I thought it was wow.
And you know, this particularorganization has gone on to win
some of the highest qualityawards that there are, and the
highest quality award there is,and it's no doubt why, right.
Dr. Pelè (19:49):
What a demonstration of trust right.
Lara Burnside (19:51):
That's correct, fully aligned, fully aligned.
Yeah, the other story is not sopretty.
Dr. Pelè (19:58):
Okay.
Lara Burnside (19:59):
But again, you know everything rises and falls
on leadership, right.
So I had a small hospital thatI was going to, again very
visible senior team, because itwasn't a very big hospital.
But, the CEO was clearly notinterested in transforming
anything, and so I had gone andit was okay.
(20:25):
And then I came back and it wasnot any better, and so finally
I went out and I had been doingobservations and things were
just getting worse.
And you know, I couldn't hearthat anything had been happening
in the month since I had beenthere, and so it was just kind
of not a pretty scene at all.
(20:46):
And so I sat with the seniorteam and I said I need you to
know I'm not coming back.
Dr. Pelè (20:55):
You drew a line in the sand.
Lara Burnside (20:58):
And they all just stared at me and I said but I
want to tell you why You'respending a lot of money for me
to come here and I want you toget outcomes for any money that
you spend.
We don't have any to waste.
So my goal is that you'realways receiving outcomes, and
it's very clear to me thatyou're not ready for this, and
(21:20):
so I'm not going to waste anymore of your time or any more of
your money and or mine.
Right Like this is, you know,let's just call it what it is.
So I left.
It was very awkward and, I kidyou not, I got to the airport.
You know, I just left, so Iwent to the.
(21:41):
I'm sitting at my gate and Ilook up and the CEO from that
hospital is sitting across fromme in the gate.
We were on the same flight.
Dr. Pelè (21:51):
Oh.
Lara Burnside (21:54):
What do you do at this point?
Right, we're sittingconversation.
Well, this is awkward.
And we laughed and he actuallycame over and sat next to me and
we had the best talk and hesaid you were right, you were
honest.
You know, and that's all I canask for from anyone who's coming
in to consult us on being ourbest is to yeah, it's for
(22:17):
honesty.
And he said so I can't blameyou and I appreciate it and I'm
sorry that it ended up the wayit did.
And I said you know, if you'reever ready, let me know.
Dr. Pelè (22:27):
But anyway, again, not as pretty a story, but yeah,
and and the funny thing is, evenin the second story that wasn't
so pretty looks like you stillearned that key trust capability
and I think that's that's.
That's that says somethingabout you know what you bring to
the table for them.
But you know, I'm inspired toask you a question about how do
(22:48):
we get leaders or just employeesin organizations to To come
back to having fun, to come backto to this trust thing we've
talked, you've talked about inthese two examples More laughter
, more levity.
How do we help people actuallydo that?
We can't force them.
Lara Burnside (23:08):
Well, I think that you know again, it all
rises and falls on leadership.
So Organization where, where Iwas employed for about seven
years, that was actually one ofour rules was that we had to
seek joy and because it wasright there in front of us all
the time it made it okay.
And you know we were, we wererallying around that element of
(23:35):
of having Levity, if you will,when it's not that situation
ever right.
I mean we do celebrate with ourpatients and with our family
members when we get good news,but then, as a caregiver, you're
gonna work with your family.
However, you're gonna walk intothe next room and it could be
something really totallydevastating.
(23:55):
Yeah, emotional swing is verysevere, and so it's really
important for us in healthcarein particular, but in every
organization, to bring laughterand joy and some fun into the
workplace.
It's where people connect.
Yeah it's where people feel likethey can actually be who they
(24:18):
need to be and who they are, andit's also the height of
learning happens at laughter.
But the height of engagementalso happens when there's joy
and I feel joyful.
I feel differently about whereI work and so I I do feel, as
Healthcare has kind of workedits way through the pandemic and
(24:42):
still working its way throughthe pandemic, we kind of lost
that.
Yeah there is.
There is a moment of for everyleader that we work with that
we've got to talk about how canyou bring joy and fun and
happiness to your right?
Dr. Pelè (25:02):
Yeah, yeah.
Lara Burnside (25:02):
Conversation, because that's really where you
reduce turnover rates.
It's where your burnout ratesbegin to decrease.
It's where you have people whoare connecting with each other
in a way that it becomes muchmore efficient.
And so profitability begins toreally expand.
So I love your title.
(25:22):
You know all of that.
But I think it's absolutely anecessity in order for us to be
a profitable and viableorganization today and also into
the future.
Dr. Pelè (25:33):
No, I couldn't agree more.
Of course, that's whatprofitable happiness is all
about, and I appreciate youhelping to really share this
message that you know happinessis not trite.
It's not just, you know,pleasure seeking alone.
It's not just you know, thisraw, raw kind of happiness.
It is the, the catalyst forengagement and, as you say, joy
(25:56):
and all the other wonderfulwords that you've shared here.
You know, thank you for makingthat link between what you've
seen in the real world and justthe basic idea of people being
happy with what they do so thatthey can help their you know
customers be happy, right, theirpatients be happy.
Lara Burnside (26:15):
Yes, it's calling , yeah, and you know if you, if
you have a doctor or a nurse ora laboratory professional or you
know anyone who has spent theirentire life studying something
that is really personal when itcomes to delivery and that goes
(26:35):
through whether it'senvironmental services or
nutritional services or supplychain or any of those things
matter because you can do thosethings at any organization.
So why do you choose to comeinto a healthcare you know
company or a healthcareorganization and there's there's
something to that Because it'sa calling.
(26:58):
We feel very connected to thework.
What we try to do at CSEleadership is connect people to
the place and when you take thatand you have that full
connection of I love what I doand I love where I do it.
Dr. Pelè (27:13):
Ooh, that's a great distinction.
I like that.
Lara Burnside (27:16):
It's very there's a different connection point
for those who are receiving carethere and those who are
delivering.
Dr. Pelè (27:22):
Wow, so I'm going to write that one down.
Got to love what you do and yougot to love where you're doing,
because because you know youcould love what you do, but you
are in absolutely the wrongenvironment.
Hopefully you're in the rightenvironment, though, all right.
Well, you know.
Larry, I have a question foryou what are you excited about
most right now?
What project are you working on, and how can people get ahold
(27:45):
of you to learn more about youand your current projects?
Lara Burnside (27:49):
No sure, absolutely.
I am most excited because whenyou have your own business, you
get to actually innovate andcreate and help people in the
way that they need it, and that,to me, is really important.
It's not about, again, thiscookie cutter approach.
It's about tailoringinterventions to be the right
(28:12):
intervention for theorganization with whom you're
working, and when you do that,there's a ripple effect and an
impact that can be felt for many, many, many generations.
So today, when I go intohealthcare organizations, I'm
now working with the children ofpeople that I worked with years
(28:34):
ago.
And so, and when I get to workwith physicians, particularly
those who are teaching andtraining, I love that, because
they actually get to create alegacy of excellent and what
does excellent care look likeand what type of behaviors do we
put into play in order toprovide that excellent care?
And so they then get to teachthat to others, and so the
(28:58):
amount of patients and theamount of caregivers who get to
experience excellence down theline is so big there's no end to
it right If we do it right.
And so for these physicians ornurses or experienced
professionals, they actually getto leave a legacy behind.
(29:19):
That's really powerful.
And that's what excites me themost is being able to create a
space for them to be able to dothat.
So, yeah, go ahead.
Well, I mean.
Dr. Pelè (29:30):
I was going to say that you know, your passion for
what you do just shines throughand you know you said earlier
that a lot of this has to be tosome degree a calling.
You can learn everything, butif your heart is not in the
where and the what that you'redoing, it's just not the same.
Lara Burnside (29:49):
I do it.
Dr. Pelè (29:50):
I digress, you totally have a passion for this, which
is awesome to see.
Lara Burnside (29:54):
I do, without a doubt, and I think everyone
needs to find their passion,absolutely Everyone needs to
find what their calling is andthen just do and be the best
that you can be in it.
Yeah, but no, we're happy tohelp individuals or
organizations.
Our web address iscseleadershipcom.
Dr. Pelè (30:14):
Okay.
Lara Burnside (30:28):
And I would be thrilled to talk with anyone who
might have a similar passion oranyone who might be looking for
someone that we could assistand be able to help any
organization or individual bethe best they can be.
Dr. Pelè (30:44):
And I will also include your LinkedIn handle in
the show notes here, becausethat's actually how we met, yes,
and I look forward to sharingwhatever I can to contribute to
your vision of helpingorganizations the way you do.
Lara, thank you so much forbeing a guest on the Profitable
Happiness Podcast.
Lara Burnside (31:03):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been a true privilege,awesome.
Dr. Pelè (31:09):
Thanks for tuning in to the Profitable Happiness
Podcast.
For more episodes, visitDrPalletcom.
And remember get happy firstand success will follow.
Hello happy people, welcome to the Profitable
Happiness Podcast.
Hello everyone, this is Dr.
Pelè with the ProfitableHappiness Podcast, and today it
is my pleasure to introduce youto Lara Burnside, who is an
executive leadership coach, aninternational speaker, a chief
(00:21):
experience officer and theleader of CSE, which is Coaching
, supporting and Engaging People.
I love that title.
By the way, CSE is your company.
It's a pleasure to have youhere, lara.
How are you today?
Lara Burnside (00:35):
Thank you so much .
I'm wonderful, thank you, andit's a pleasure to be here with
you.
Dr. Pelè (00:39):
Thank you for having me Awesome.
Now, one of the things I alwayslike to start with, especially
when I'm talking with executivecoaches and leadership coaches,
because that's also mybackground is I want to learn
something I want to learn fromyour unique viewpoint about the
challenges that are out there.
What are we dealing with?
(01:00):
When we go to theseorganizations and they've got
something going on, somethingwrong, and we have to be the
providers of a solution?
What are you seeing?
How would you describe thechallenge in the organizations
today?
Lara Burnside (01:13):
Yeah.
So what we're finding at CSEleadership is that healthcare
leaders and physicians arecoming to us to reignite their
passion and compassion and beable to develop their skills in
a way that allows their peopleto be the best that they can be,
but also connect back to thereason that they went into
(01:36):
healthcare in the first placeand allow organizations and
individuals to achieve theirbest outcomes, and that has
never been more important thanit is today.
We're seeing every metric whenit comes to physicians.
According to research that wasdone in a survey by the AMA last
fall, every one of thosemetrics is going in the wrong
(02:00):
direction.
So, whether it has to do withburnout rates going through the
roof and increasingexponentially over the course of
the last 12 months, or turnoverrates, or depression rates, or
work-life integration rates youname it, every metric is going
in the wrong direction, and Ifeel a personal responsibility
(02:25):
to take what I have learned overthe course of a 25-year career,
typically in healthcare, but Ifind it incredibly necessary to
take what I have learned overthe course of 25 years and give
back.
At the end of the day, I mean,all of us are, in my opinion,
(02:46):
responsible and required to beable to share the gifts that
we've been given and allow andhelp people to become everything
that they want to be and thebest that they can be, so we can
continue to serve each other.
Dr. Pelè (03:01):
Yeah, I have to agree with you.
Every metric, as you'veexplained, is going south and I
wonder if it's the uniqueenvironment of healthcare, the
sort of high stress, highrequirement for patient
satisfaction.
I mean, it's not just that acustomer is happy, A customer
stays alive if you do a good job.
Give us a sense, lara, of howyou came to personally be
(03:28):
involved in this particularhealthcare focus and with this
idea of maybe helpingorganizations do better in that
field.
How did you get here?
What's your story?
Lara Burnside (03:38):
Yeah.
So back in the mid-90s I gotreally lucky and I met a woman
who had a desire to change theway that caregivers provided
care, and the background is hermother was in the hospital and
this woman that I met was soappalled by the treatment and
(04:00):
the care that her mom received.
She decided she was going to dosomething different and she
created a business that had todo with making sure that we had
the right people in the rightplaces, that they were trained
appropriately and that they werefocused on doing everything
that they could in a reallyhuman-centered way.
And so I got really lucky earlyon in my career, and at the
(04:24):
time I was living in Florida,where I spent about 20 years and
had an opportunity to reallyhelp her grow and develop the
central Florida region for herbusiness, and we were quite
successful in doing this, and Ibecame really tuned in to how do
you help not just the patientto receive a better experience
(04:48):
when they're in the healthcarefacility, but there's the flip
side of that, which is those whoare passionate and
compassionate and have thecalling to walk through the
doors and serve anyone who is ina really vulnerable position,
because you know, let's face it.
Nobody decides one morning like,oh, going to the hospital
(05:10):
sounds like a great idea today,or I think I'd like to go to a
doctor's appointment and let'sthrow in a colonoscopy with it
and we'll just have a break.
Nobody wakes up and thinks that.
So what we know is our patientsand their families come into
our facilities generally in asuper anxious way.
(05:32):
They're confused, they'rescared, they're frustrated and
they really have kind of twothings in mind.
One is is there a diagnosis forthis?
And secondly, is there a cure?
And that's a really hard space.
Now you bring in a caregiverwho has their own family life
(05:53):
and their own things going on,and there's a whole support
mechanism that is when done wellis in place to support our care
teams in a way that allows themto want to come back every day,
but also to want to do theirvery best when they walk through
our doors.
Dr. Pelè (06:12):
Yeah.
Lara Burnside (06:12):
Well, I learned that early on Now, almost, you
know, a long time ago, rightlike long ago.
Now, when I look at it, I think, oh my goodness, I could be
people's mother that are juststarting in healthcare.
but this is where we are in lifeand and so so I continued that
and I began working at for aconsulting firm a few years
(06:36):
after, after this encounter withthis, this really wonderful
woman that I met, and and beganconsulting with healthcare
organizations around the country.
I've been in a couple a hundredof them over the years, from
north to southeast to west, biglittle everything in between,
and I just found that my Desireand my heart is in giving back
(07:01):
in the way that I can, and thatis helping people feel inspired
to want to come back againtomorrow.
Dr. Pelè (07:07):
Wow, what a story and, and you know, what a path in
terms of Really knowing yourcustomer.
I think that the healthcarefield and we talked about the
fact that we share thatbackground a little bit as well
I think the healthcare field isunique.
This is not just you know,please, your customer.
This is sometimes life and anddeath, and having a
(07:31):
compassionate approach todeveloping leaders and and
developing you know,capabilities and skills is a
must.
It's just it's.
It's so powerful.
Let's, let's talk about how,because I think we're.
I'm enjoying the idea thatwe're gonna have to spell out
for people that there's adifference.
Sometimes the healthcare fieldis actually quite unique, but
(07:53):
let's talk about how you goabout helping people leaders or
employees in the healthcarefield.
How do you go about helpingthem to, you know, embrace,
finding success in in their, intheir jobs?
Lara Burnside (08:07):
Yeah.
So at CSE leadership, mybusiness partner and I decided
we wanted to do something alittle bit different.
And we want to create not acookie cutter approach to this,
but rather a really tailored,individualized approach,
depending on the organizationthat we're working with and what
their cultural situation is,you know, and what who they are,
(08:31):
you know.
Let's face it, someorganizations are very serious
and and more stoic, and some arenot, and so you have to find
the right approach to be able tofit the mold of who they are
and leverage their strengths inorder to be able to Help them be
their best.
With that being said, though,there are certain things that we
(08:52):
do.
So the first thing is to reallygo in and understand who they
are as an organization.
So we, we actually provideassessments, so we do an
organizational and individualassessments, and we use a
normative tool when it comes tothe individual, on just work
style.
So what is your work style?
So that we can look at it fromthe team perspective as well as
(09:16):
the individual and identifywhere things might be really
easy and Identify where thingsmight be more challenging, and
that allows us to be able tohelp with the coaching side of
that.
So we have a collective teamapproach, and what does that
look like?
So, for instance, if you havean organization who has, you
(09:37):
know, very strong Sociability,for instance, that might be very
easy for them to be able to goout and talk with people and
chit chat and that sort of thing, whereas if you have an
organization who doesn't havethat high of Sociability among
their team, you realize like,okay, then we need to build a
framework in place so that itmakes it easier for them to be
(09:59):
able to be Visible, go out anddo things among their team
members, because, let's face it,at the end of the day, people
want to connect with those thatthey work with and they want to
put their boss.
They don't want to feel like Idon't belong anywhere.
You know, the whole point ofEmployment and successful
employment and feeling goodabout where you work is that I'm
(10:21):
connected to people and I haverelationships that matter right.
Dr. Pelè (10:24):
Yeah, yeah, I.
Lara Burnside (10:27):
We do this full assessment so that we can really
understand the team, especiallythe leadership team as a whole.
We do the same thing with ourphysician leaders so that we can
understand, as a medicaldirector here's what might be in
play, so that we can helpleverage the strengths and look
for any gaps that might be there.
(10:47):
And then, tactically andtechnically, what can we do to
help build those.
That's the first step.
We look at KPIs and goals andall of those things and put
together an organizationalassessment as well.
Then we look at all of the dataand all of the information that
has come through and we beginto build a plan with that
(11:08):
leadership team, with the idealultimate goal that whatever we
put in play can actually berepeated and sustained long
after we're not there.
There's an important element tothis right now that it's not
about it being all about me orall about my business partner.
(11:31):
It is about us coming in thereand helping to coach and support
and engage.
Hence CSE.
What we do is in our name, butwe want to help, coach, support
and engage people at theirhighest levels so that they can
be what they need to be.
(11:52):
Then the last stage is what wecall forward, and that's what do
you need to do as you goforward into sustainability,
accountability, accessibilityfor people to be able to
continue to do the work, muchlike I said, long after we're no
longer on site.
Dr. Pelè (12:13):
Powerful stuff.
I was just about to writeanother acronym Sustainability,
accountability and I was like no, that doesn't go with CSE.
It's a little different.
That's like a littlemasterclass right there on how
to successfully build a case forcoaching and coaching that
lasts longer than just the timethat you spent there.
(12:34):
I'm curious about theorganizational assessment that
you talked about.
I think a lot of people.
First, let me ask you when youtalk about an organizational
assessment, do you actuallyassess and interview several
different stakeholders, or is itjust the leadership team?
Lara Burnside (12:54):
No, we actually do assess and talk to.
I guess we utilize a techniquethat we call connection
conversations.
Everybody's read the HarvardBusiness Study.
I'm quite sure about the 80years that they were studying
what makes people happiest, andit is connection.
(13:15):
Our goal is to help connectpeople and connect two people in
a way that's really meaningful.
We utilize connectionconversations with leaders,
physicians, providers,front-line team members, and we
do a lot of observation.
We will go into a department ora clinic or a floor or whatever
(13:38):
the situation may be.
We will begin asking a seriesof questions that we have
developed based on what we'veseen in the data and what we've
heard and seen within theindividual assessments and that
sort of thing.
We begin to craft that story,if you will, and then we want to
(13:59):
go validate it.
How does this appear to afront-line team member?
How does it appear to aprovider or a physician who may
not really fully understand thebusiness or operational side of
the organization?
Then we pull all of thatinformation together to create
(14:21):
an organizational assessmentthat we would review with the
senior team to say here's whatwe found in your data and here's
what we found when we startedtalking with your team members
and those who work here.
Here's where there aresimilarities, here's where you
might be experiencing somechallenges with your data.
Then here's the interventionthat we can put into play in
(14:44):
order to be able to assist withany of those challenges or
opportunities for improvement.
Dr. Pelè (14:51):
Awesome stuff.
I have a question about twostories that maybe you could
share, Two stories One about asuccess that you experienced out
in the field doing your thingmaybe something fun, no need for
names, just the scenario andone that didn't go so well, and
then I'd love to know what wentwrong.
Is there a mindset that'sembedded that causes things to
(15:14):
just go south like that?
I love these two storiesbecause I think that gives us a
sense of where we all need tofind our path.
So what are your two stories?
The good and the bad?
Lara Burnside (15:26):
So I have two stories, one, but they have the
same answer.
Dr. Pelè (15:30):
Oh OK.
Lara Burnside (15:31):
Oh, the answer is people role model and exhibit
behaviors that are beingdemonstrated and seen by their
leaders.
Dr. Pelè (15:46):
Oh.
Lara Burnside (15:47):
Period.
Dr. Pelè (15:48):
How true is that?
Lara Burnside (15:50):
So the good story we'll start.
There is a hospital that Iworked with that was really
really interested in improving.
The CEO had been there for 25or 30 years.
They highly respected CEO andit was the first time that it
(16:14):
happened to be a.
He was the only CEO that I haveever had in my entire career
that was not actually presentwhen we did leadership
development or even when I cameon site Periodically.
He would be there, but he wasreal active in the state when it
came to the healthcare qualityand healthcare policy and all of
(16:36):
those kind of things, and so hespent a lot of time at the
Capitol going through all ofthat.
So he wasn't always there atthe hospital and so I shared
with him.
At the beginning I said you know, this is kind of a challenge
because my words are only aspowerful as your presence and I
need you to champion everythingthat we're doing.
(16:57):
And he said you've got that.
You have every bit of mysupport and I will make it very
clear that if you're here, youknow it's.
They need to be listening andthey need to be aware that this
is where we're going.
And I said, okay, I am reallyhesitant on this.
I'm thinking this is not goingto work, this is going to be a
(17:19):
disaster.
But you know, it's what I'vegot.
So I'm thinking, all right, howdo I make the most of what I've
got?
And we'll figure it out.
Well, we go to our very firstLeadership Development Institute
and I'm standing up there andhe I had asked him to do an
introduction of me and kind ofintroduce what we were doing so
that they could hear it from himand he said these words and it
(17:42):
really hit me at that moment whythis is so important and
critical to every day bebuilding levels of trust, levels
of engagement and an interestand a connection to your
organization.
And here's what he did.
He said we are embarking onthis entire journey.
(18:04):
We are looking at quality,we're looking at the care that
our patients are given when theycome in, so that patient
experience piece.
We're looking at engagementlevels and we're pulling all of
these things together so that wecan continue to grow as an
organization.
That in a way that we need toand also be financially viable.
(18:24):
But you all know that my roleis pretty big here in the state
and that's going to require meto not be here every single time
, but I need you to know thatwhen you hear her speak, it is
the exact same as what's comingout of my mouth.
She and I have worked on thingsbehind the scenes, and my
(18:46):
absence here is in no way areflection of disinterest or a
reflection of not being reallyinvested and involved in what
this transformation needs tolook like for our organization
to be the best that it can be.
And he went on to talk about,you know, the other things that
the organization was doing andhe said and with that, my
(19:10):
expectation is that you're here,that you're always fully
present whenever we are talkingabout anything related to the
work that we're going to bedoing, and my expectation is
that when we have these types ofsessions, that you will be here
.
And it was the only time in myentire career that my CEO was
(19:31):
not present and I never had aperson miss anything.
Dr. Pelè (19:34):
Wow.
Lara Burnside (19:35):
I thought it was wow.
And you know, this particularorganization has gone on to win
some of the highest qualityawards that there are, and the
highest quality award there is,and it's no doubt why, right.
Dr. Pelè (19:49):
What a demonstration of trust right.
Lara Burnside (19:51):
That's correct, fully aligned, fully aligned.
Yeah, the other story is not sopretty.
Dr. Pelè (19:58):
Okay.
Lara Burnside (19:59):
But again, you know everything rises and falls
on leadership, right.
So I had a small hospital thatI was going to, again very
visible senior team, because itwasn't a very big hospital.
But, the CEO was clearly notinterested in transforming
anything, and so I had gone andit was okay.
(20:25):
And then I came back and it wasnot any better, and so finally
I went out and I had been doingobservations and things were
just getting worse.
And you know, I couldn't hearthat anything had been happening
in the month since I had beenthere, and so it was just kind
of not a pretty scene at all.
(20:46):
And so I sat with the seniorteam and I said I need you to
know I'm not coming back.
Dr. Pelè (20:55):
You drew a line in the sand.
Lara Burnside (20:58):
And they all just stared at me and I said but I
want to tell you why You'respending a lot of money for me
to come here and I want you toget outcomes for any money that
you spend.
We don't have any to waste.
So my goal is that you'realways receiving outcomes, and
it's very clear to me thatyou're not ready for this, and
(21:20):
so I'm not going to waste anymore of your time or any more of
your money and or mine.
Right Like this is, you know,let's just call it what it is.
So I left.
It was very awkward and, I kidyou not, I got to the airport.
You know, I just left, so Iwent to the.
(21:41):
I'm sitting at my gate and Ilook up and the CEO from that
hospital is sitting across fromme in the gate.
We were on the same flight.
Dr. Pelè (21:51):
Oh.
Lara Burnside (21:54):
What do you do at this point?
Right, we're sittingconversation.
Well, this is awkward.
And we laughed and he actuallycame over and sat next to me and
we had the best talk and hesaid you were right, you were
honest.
You know, and that's all I canask for from anyone who's coming
in to consult us on being ourbest is to yeah, it's for
(22:17):
honesty.
And he said so I can't blameyou and I appreciate it and I'm
sorry that it ended up the wayit did.
And I said you know, if you'reever ready, let me know.
Dr. Pelè (22:27):
But anyway, again, not as pretty a story, but yeah,
and and the funny thing is, evenin the second story that wasn't
so pretty looks like you stillearned that key trust capability
and I think that's that's.
That's that says somethingabout you know what you bring to
the table for them.
But you know, I'm inspired toask you a question about how do
(22:48):
we get leaders or just employeesin organizations to To come
back to having fun, to come backto to this trust thing we've
talked, you've talked about inthese two examples More laughter
, more levity.
How do we help people actuallydo that?
We can't force them.
Lara Burnside (23:08):
Well, I think that you know again, it all
rises and falls on leadership.
So Organization where, where Iwas employed for about seven
years, that was actually one ofour rules was that we had to
seek joy and because it wasright there in front of us all
the time it made it okay.
And you know we were, we wererallying around that element of
(23:35):
of having Levity, if you will,when it's not that situation
ever right.
I mean we do celebrate with ourpatients and with our family
members when we get good news,but then, as a caregiver, you're
gonna work with your family.
However, you're gonna walk intothe next room and it could be
something really totallydevastating.
(23:55):
Yeah, emotional swing is verysevere, and so it's really
important for us in healthcarein particular, but in every
organization, to bring laughterand joy and some fun into the
workplace.
It's where people connect.
Yeah it's where people feel likethey can actually be who they
(24:18):
need to be and who they are, andit's also the height of
learning happens at laughter.
But the height of engagementalso happens when there's joy
and I feel joyful.
I feel differently about whereI work and so I I do feel, as
Healthcare has kind of workedits way through the pandemic and
(24:42):
still working its way throughthe pandemic, we kind of lost
that.
Yeah there is.
There is a moment of for everyleader that we work with that
we've got to talk about how canyou bring joy and fun and
happiness to your right?
Dr. Pelè (25:02):
Yeah, yeah.
Lara Burnside (25:02):
Conversation, because that's really where you
reduce turnover rates.
It's where your burnout ratesbegin to decrease.
It's where you have people whoare connecting with each other
in a way that it becomes muchmore efficient.
And so profitability begins toreally expand.
So I love your title.
(25:22):
You know all of that.
But I think it's absolutely anecessity in order for us to be
a profitable and viableorganization today and also into
the future.
Dr. Pelè (25:33):
No, I couldn't agree more.
Of course, that's whatprofitable happiness is all
about, and I appreciate youhelping to really share this
message that you know happinessis not trite.
It's not just, you know,pleasure seeking alone.
It's not just you know, thisraw, raw kind of happiness.
It is the, the catalyst forengagement and, as you say, joy
(25:56):
and all the other wonderfulwords that you've shared here.
You know, thank you for makingthat link between what you've
seen in the real world and justthe basic idea of people being
happy with what they do so thatthey can help their you know
customers be happy, right, theirpatients be happy.
Lara Burnside (26:15):
Yes, it's calling , yeah, and you know if you, if
you have a doctor or a nurse ora laboratory professional or you
know anyone who has spent theirentire life studying something
that is really personal when itcomes to delivery and that goes
(26:35):
through whether it'senvironmental services or
nutritional services or supplychain or any of those things
matter because you can do thosethings at any organization.
So why do you choose to comeinto a healthcare you know
company or a healthcareorganization and there's there's
something to that Because it'sa calling.
(26:58):
We feel very connected to thework.
What we try to do at CSEleadership is connect people to
the place and when you take thatand you have that full
connection of I love what I doand I love where I do it.
Dr. Pelè (27:13):
Ooh, that's a great distinction.
I like that.
Lara Burnside (27:16):
It's very there's a different connection point
for those who are receiving carethere and those who are
delivering.
Dr. Pelè (27:22):
Wow, so I'm going to write that one down.
Got to love what you do and yougot to love where you're doing,
because because you know youcould love what you do, but you
are in absolutely the wrongenvironment.
Hopefully you're in the rightenvironment, though, all right.
Well, you know.
Larry, I have a question foryou what are you excited about
most right now?
What project are you working on, and how can people get ahold
(27:45):
of you to learn more about youand your current projects?
Lara Burnside (27:49):
No sure, absolutely.
I am most excited because whenyou have your own business, you
get to actually innovate andcreate and help people in the
way that they need it, and that,to me, is really important.
It's not about, again, thiscookie cutter approach.
It's about tailoringinterventions to be the right
(28:12):
intervention for theorganization with whom you're
working, and when you do that,there's a ripple effect and an
impact that can be felt for many, many, many generations.
So today, when I go intohealthcare organizations, I'm
now working with the children ofpeople that I worked with years
(28:34):
ago.
And so, and when I get to workwith physicians, particularly
those who are teaching andtraining, I love that, because
they actually get to create alegacy of excellent and what
does excellent care look likeand what type of behaviors do we
put into play in order toprovide that excellent care?
And so they then get to teachthat to others, and so the
(28:58):
amount of patients and theamount of caregivers who get to
experience excellence down theline is so big there's no end to
it right If we do it right.
And so for these physicians ornurses or experienced
professionals, they actually getto leave a legacy behind.
(29:19):
That's really powerful.
And that's what excites me themost is being able to create a
space for them to be able to dothat.
So, yeah, go ahead.
Well, I mean.
Dr. Pelè (29:30):
I was going to say that you know, your passion for
what you do just shines throughand you know you said earlier
that a lot of this has to be tosome degree a calling.
You can learn everything, butif your heart is not in the
where and the what that you'redoing, it's just not the same.
Lara Burnside (29:49):
I do it.
Dr. Pelè (29:50):
I digress, you totally have a passion for this, which
is awesome to see.
Lara Burnside (29:54):
I do, without a doubt, and I think everyone
needs to find their passion,absolutely Everyone needs to
find what their calling is andthen just do and be the best
that you can be in it.
Yeah, but no, we're happy tohelp individuals or
organizations.
Our web address iscseleadershipcom.
Dr. Pelè (30:14):
Okay.
Lara Burnside (30:28):
And I would be thrilled to talk with anyone who
might have a similar passion oranyone who might be looking for
someone that we could assistand be able to help any
organization or individual bethe best they can be.
Dr. Pelè (30:44):
And I will also include your LinkedIn handle in
the show notes here, becausethat's actually how we met, yes,
and I look forward to sharingwhatever I can to contribute to
your vision of helpingorganizations the way you do.
Lara, thank you so much forbeing a guest on the Profitable
Happiness Podcast.
Lara Burnside (31:03):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been a true privilege,awesome.
Dr. Pelè (31:09):
Thanks for tuning in to the Profitable Happiness
Podcast.
For more episodes, visitDrPalletcom.
And remember get happy firstand success will follow.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.