Have you ever witnessed the transformative power of a leader who truly connects with their people? Dr. David Schreiner, joins us to unravel the art of leadership communication and presence. His journey reveals the critical shift from underperformance to excellence through the power of attentive engagement. In our conversation, David shares his stories from the healthcare sector, illustrating how small acts of gratitude can ripple through an organization, lifting both leaders and their teams to new heights.
Embark on an exploration of the 'engagement imperatives' as Dr. Schreiner breaks down the three pillars crucial for leaders to enact meaningful change: personal connection, intent engagement, and mission-focused unity. This episode isn't just a lesson in leadership; it's a call to embrace the humanity within the workplace. We discuss actionable steps that anyone can take to foster a culture of appreciation and care, with David's real-world examples guiding the way. Witness the incredible impact of leaders who make being the best part of someone's day not just a goal, but a reality.
Connect with David @ www.drdavidschreiner.com and purchase his book Be the Best Part of Their Day on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Part-Their-Supercharging-Communication/dp/1642257605/ref=sr_1_1?crid=LG534D8AAEV2&keywords=be+the+best+part+of+their+day%2C+schreiner&qid=1698690014&sprefix=Be+the+best+part%2Caps%2C203&sr=8-1
About David:
Dr. David Schreiner who is an inspiring and values-driven leader who is a passionate advocate for engaging in a meaningful way with the people that matter the most. His best-selling book helps us to learn and implement communication skills that lead others to describe the time spent with us as the best part of their day!
BelemLeaders–Your organization's trusted partner for leader and team development. Visit our website to connect: belemleaders.org or book a discovery call today! belem.as.me/discovery
Until next time, keep doing great things!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right.
Well, hey there, and welcome toConversations where today we
have Dr David Schreiner, who isan inspiring and values-driven
leader, who is a passionateadvocate for engaging in a
meaningful way with the peoplethat matter the most.
His best-selling book helps usto learn and implement
communication skills that leadothers to describe the time
(00:23):
spent with us as the best partof their day.
For all you, strengths,enthusiasts, dr Schreiner leads
with arranger, activator,relator, competition and
maximizer.
David, welcome to the show.
How are you today?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm great.
Dr Kelly, Thank you so much forhaving me.
I'm so excited to spend sometime with you.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Awesome, I'm glad you're here too.
I'm glad you're here too.
I'm glad you're here too, andcongratulations on the book.
Thank you, it's really been afun run, and you know,
previously you had said, let'ssay, that you love sharing how
we can engage in a moremeaningful way with the people
that matter to us most.
(01:03):
So where did this stem from?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Kelly, this goes all the way back to 2019.
And I promise not to bore youwith a five-year story, but I
was CEO of our hospital.
I had been so for about eightyears, nine years and our
hospital was doing well.
We were hitting all of our keymetrics and our board believed
that I was doing a good job.
And I felt like I wasunderperforming.
(01:28):
And when I really dug into that, I found that I was not
listening and respecting thepeople that were in front of me.
I wasn't in the moment and Iwasn't giving people the
attention that they deserved andI wasn't appropriately
following through on things.
So for me, that started aprocess that ended up in me
doing a doctorate and reallydiving into executive
(01:50):
communication and finding outhow I can do a better job of
telling people that I appreciatethem.
I love the work that they doand I wanna be there to be a
positive part of their life.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, there's something about that leadership
presence and really you know,helping others and I love that
your book is about you know thatcommunication piece but really
being there as a leader andbeing present is so important.
Many times we think about oh,we're in a leadership role and
so we're doing what leaders do,but what leaders do so many
(02:24):
times are those soft skills thatpeople don't think about.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So well said, and I also found that as we move up
the organizational chart, wealso get less feedback and it's
easier to get farther away fromthe people that matter the most,
that are doing the true work ofour organization, whatever that
might be, and I think we reallyhave to guard against that and
stay connected with the peoplethat are doing the true work of
our organization, whatever thatmight be, and I think we really
have to guard against that andstay connected with the people
that are doing the work on thefront lines.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
That's right, you know you said something really
interesting there about thatmoving up the ladder and that
you do.
You know the feedback reallyisn't there.
What do you and this just kindof popped into my head when you
think about your own leadershipare you asking for feedback now,
like, have you had a shift withhow you're thinking about
(03:08):
things?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I was blessed to have the presence of a couple of
really good executive coaches,kelly, and that made a world of
difference for me in seeingthings that were perhaps my
blind spots and going throughsome testing, such as you
started this podcast with todayabout trying to find out how I'm
wired, how I think, learningmore about that, and then also
(03:31):
just seeing some of theseexecutive coaches watching me in
the wild, in the environmentwhere I practice, and giving me
suggestions on what I can do tobe more effective.
So it's really hard for me tosee from the inside out.
However, when I get thatfeedback from people that are
important to me and people thatI trust, it's easier to
incorporate that into our style.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
That's right.
Yeah, coaching is is importantand and you know I love doing, I
love executive coaching, teamcoaching and with with teams
it's.
It's even a different dynamichow you're actually coaching in
the moment or watching at theirbusiness usual meetings in the
moment and coaching during thatand helping them understand that
(04:13):
you know and giving themfeedback.
So that's amazing.
So congratulations for you.
Doing the work on yourself Onbehalf of those you serve is
really what it's about.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Oh, it absolutely is, and in the healthcare space,
and I think in all leadership,it really is about the idea of
what can we do to make apositive difference.
One of the goals that I set formyself is I want people to go
home that evening and whenthey're having dinner with their
partner they talk about.
That was the best part of myday the time that I spent with
him.
He listened to me, he waspresent in the moment.
(04:45):
He talked to me, not justtelling me what I wanted to hear
, but he asked great questions,and that's an aspirational goal
that I have.
I don't always meet that, butthat's what I wake up in the
morning, hoping to do throughoutthe day.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Good stuff.
So your book it came throughthe research that you mentioned,
right Through the doctoralresearch that you did.
Do you want to talk a littlebit more about that, Like how it
ended up in a book, a sellerbook?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Well, it did start as a doctoral dissertation and
other than my mom, I'm not sureanyone has ever read it and I
wouldn't suggest anyone everdoes.
But what I kept running up toKelly in my dissertation is my
dissertation chair, who was awonderful professor.
He kept telling me that's astory, that's an opinion, that's
an experience that you've had.
(05:35):
You can't put that in anacademic paper.
And so I developed thesestories from these brilliant men
and women from around thecountry.
I had the chance to interviewpeople from five different rural
hospitals, from all parts ofthe country, and I interviewed
their chief executive officer,the chairman of their board of
directors, the president oftheir medical staff or their
(05:56):
chief medical officer, a vicepresident that reported to the
CEO and an hourly employee.
And I began to see these themesof these high-performing
leaders, some things that theywere all doing, and that's where
the book came from.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Okay, I've got to ask this because I know that you
work in the rural space and yourresearch was based on rural.
What did you see in yourresearch and I would have read
your dissertation what did yousee in your research when you
think about, or when you, whenyou've studied rural versus
(06:31):
non-rural?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I'd love to hear what , what, what you found with that
I found out that not only wasthis not a rural versus urban
thing, but it wasn't ahealthcare versus other industry
thing.
Kind of things that I foundabout love and respect and faith
and the way that we deal withothers in our own community had
(06:54):
nothing to do with the type ofwork that we did.
It really had to do with whothe person is, that we are and
who we want to be and I use thatword aspirationally earlier.
We want to be our best.
What's that look like?
And so I quickly found out itwas really exciting for me to
discover that these traits thatthese leaders had were things
that I wanted to betterunderstand and be able to
(07:15):
quantify that if more of thesethings are present in our
communication, then we're ableto engage in a more meaningful
way, and that was so much fun togo through that process.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that, and you do talk
about pillars in your book.
I'd love to hear maybe a littlebit about these three
engagement pillars that youspeak of.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I did so as I went through that painful process and
you've done the same thing.
I think of coding these 26interviews that I did.
I would have had 25, but oneleader couldn't decide between
two people, so I interviewedboth of them.
I've had these three pillars,and the first one was engage and
connect at a personal level.
The second was engaging withintent through various mediums.
(07:57):
And the third is being missionfocused through united
leadership, and I found thateach of these leaders kept
coming back to these engagementimperatives, and there are five
of them under each one of thosepillars.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, engagement is so important, and that's another
thing.
Typically, you know you'regoing about your day and
organizations, if they, you know, have an engagement survey,
it's like they may have anengagement survey, but what are
they doing with the data thatit's showing?
Right, yeah?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I was a master at doing what we call rounding,
which other people call thingslike manage, by walking around
and get through our entireorganization, and it was just a,
it was a flyby.
It was like, hi, how are youdoing?
How's everything going?
And that's not rounding.
I learned from these leadersand from others that it's really
the process of stopping andslowing down and asking what you
(08:54):
can do to make their day better.
Talking about a concept that Ilearned called appreciative
inquiry, about trying to findfrom people what are they doing,
what's existing when they're attheir best, and that just leads
to such rich conversations andit fills up my bucket when I get
a chance to do that.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
We all need our bucket filled.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
We do.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
So tell us a story about one of those engagement
imperatives, Imperatives.
Am I saying that right?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Exactly.
That's right.
So one of them is aroundfinding ways to express
gratitude, and I had theopportunity to work with a
executive, a health care leaderin the state of Vermont, and
this gentleman came from a largeCatholic family and in his
family when good things happento family members, they
celebrate it over food.
They bring everybody togetherand have this big meal, and so
(09:46):
what he decided is for hisorganization every three months
they were going to have theirexecutive team and members of
their board of directors servepeople that worked in his
hospital Second shift, thirdshift, weekends, the 24-7, 365
approach and through those meals, while their executive team was
there again, they had a chanceto say thank you for the
(10:08):
difficult work that you're doingfor our patients and for each
other.
We love you for everythingyou're putting into this for the
people that we care for, andthe results that he got from
that were overwhelminglypositive and this is a very
successful hospital.
So they had a lot of things tocelebrate.
But he shared with me that ifwe got to that three-month point
and we didn't have a newrecognition or award, I would
(10:30):
make something up.
It was Arbor Day, it wasHalloween, it doesn't matter,
we're just going to come up withsomething because it's so
important.
We want to do this at leastquarterly throughout the year,
and that was really meaningfulfor me.
That's something that webrought back to our organization
here, and we try to extend thatsame concept.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
What's interesting is that it doesn't even have to
take money, Like you talkedabout earlier.
Even just stopping and slowingdown and having the engagement
with those what I like to callquick connects it's so important
.
So, whether it's you'reproviding a meal or you're
stopping and having, you know,that meaningful conversation and
(11:12):
really inquiring as to theperson, it doesn't have to cost
a thing.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
That is so insightful for you to pick up on that
because if you think about thatstory, they could have said
there's a free meal in thecafeteria.
That's giving the same thing,right.
But that's not what they did.
They had the executive teamserving the meal and that's that
opportunity for that quickconnection, even if they're just
going through the line.
You know people love to see meput a hairnet on.
(11:39):
They'd laugh about that forhours and we need to do those
kinds of things.
We need to put ourselves inpositions where we're with them.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Okay, if you're listening to the podcast, the
audio version of this, there isnot much hair on the head.
Oh gosh, that's funny.
Yeah, that's funny.
Yeah, that's.
That's interesting, and I andit's.
I think it takes a mindsetshift for leaders to be able to
(12:10):
recognize that there are thingsthat they can do that actually
do fall within their role, ifyou will, and it may not be in
their job description Maybe itshould be in their job
description, but yeah, I thinkthat's interesting.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I think you're right and I believe there are 15
things that we can do and thoseare part of the book.
I mentioned the three columnsand then the five things
underneath, and what I like todo is ask people to look at that
and do a self-analysis and sayam I doing 12 of those?
Am I doing eight?
Am I doing four?
And maybe see if there'ssomething that I'm not doing
today and say does that interestme?
(12:50):
Is that something that I wouldlike to learn more about?
Can I hear about a story abouthow that's done?
But then you have to do it,Kelly.
It's like any muscle right.
You have to use it to getbetter at it.
And so pick that one thing andstick with it for two weeks,
three weeks, four weeks, andthen, if you enjoy that, then
(13:11):
move on to the next thing.
And what my research showed isthat the more of the 15 things
that leaders are able to do, themore meaningfully they can
connect.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Yeah, the intentionality piece.
Yeah, the intentionality piece.
And I think people willgravitate and do more of what
they like right, because theirbrain is telling them oh, I like
this.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
The response is good.
I think it's.
That second piece of theresponse is good and that's
really helpful for me.
When I try to pick up one ofthese and I look at this chart
and I say that's my focus forthis week, when I see the way
people respond to that, thatencouraged me, encourages me to
keep doing that, to keep doingmore of that, and it becomes
natural.
And that's what we want, right?
We want it to become a naturalthing.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
So so those are some practical, practical steps for
people to take, Are there?
Is there anything else that youwould suggest?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, we talked about gratitude.
One of the other things that Ifound that was really important
if you have time for a reallyquick story is using multiple
channels to communicate themessage, and so this is one of
my favorite stories, through theresearch that I did is much
like today.
You know, when you do a Teamscall and I had to do all of my
interviews virtually because itwas in the middle of the
(14:23):
pandemic and we couldn't traveland go into hospitals the middle
of the pandemic and we couldn'ttravel and go into hospitals,
and so when we did this, whenthe sound came on, it sounded
like it was a race car or atornado or something was
happening here.
And then the video came on andthis lady was holding a child
and vacuuming.
This was in the state ofMichigan.
I'm thinking what in the worldis going on here?
(14:45):
And the vacuum turns off andshe goes on to tell me that
she's an intensive care unitnurse.
She works full time in that job, she has a second job in a
nursing home and long term carefacility, she has six children
and one of them is special needs.
And what she tells me Kelly andI remember this, like we had
the interview yesterday thislady told me that I'm not going
(15:08):
to watch a five-minute videofrom our CEO.
I just don't have time to dothat.
But if you give me atranscription and I can see that
there's something at thethree-minute and 20-second mark
that I want to watch, then I'lldo that.
And that afternoon the videosthat we do here in our
organization we startedtranscribing them because it
made so much sense to me.
We have to meet people wherethey are and you might
(15:29):
appreciate a video.
Someone else might preferface-to-face meetings or a text
message or an email, andsometimes, as leaders, even
though it feels like it'soverwhelming, we have to find
ways to do and not or.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
That's right, absolutely.
And you know you hit the nailon the head with.
We have to meet our peoplewhere they're at, because that
way, them meeting us right andhaving communication with us is
going to be the best part oftheir day.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I hope so.
And the other thing and thankyou for that and the other thing
from that is in order to knowwhat that is, we have to ask
them what that is.
We have to ask them.
We did a survey in ourorganization and we found, you
know, there's so much datathat's going out there.
You're trying so hard tocommunicate with us, but we
(16:18):
don't have the time to go 15different places to find it.
So what we did is we came upwith what we call a three-minute
message.
So we have three items that goout once a week on Wednesdays,
and these are what our executiveteam thinks are the three most
important things going on in anorganization, and you can do a
quick read, you can see theheadline and you can decide if
you want to read more about itor not.
But we try to consolidatebecause the people that we ask
told us we just don't have timeto go hunt and gather the
(16:39):
information.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
You're trying to.
That's just like social media,you know, as people are
scrolling through.
If it's quick, sure.
If it's longer than a minute,forget it, you're never going to
get there.
Well, what is important for youto bring forward about, either
the work that you're doing as aleader, your book.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
I think the most important thing, kelly, for me
is the love and respect thatwe're able to show people, and
it took me a lot of work to beable to be better at that and I
still have so far to go tocontinue to improve.
But being able to tell peoplewe love them for what they do is
really important and it's ithas resulted in some of the most
meaningful relationships thatI've had, the most meaningful
(17:22):
interactions that I've had withpeople, and it can freak people
out a little bit when they hearit for the first time, because
we all have different familiesof origin and we all have
different histories that webring to where we are today.
But I think if it's done withauthenticity and with the
respect that it deserves, thenthose kinds of conversations, in
a way that are comfortable toyou as an individual leader, are
(17:47):
so important, and I think thatyour listeners can find so many
ways to interact in a moremeaningful way to the people
that matter to them the most.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
So you know we may have people listening to this
and if they've listened to otherpodcasts, they've heard this.
However, when you talk aboutlove and leadership, it may be
foreign right to some.
How would you help anotherleader understand and we know
the importance of it in ourpersonal relationships but when
you bring it into the workplace,what does that look like?
(18:19):
Or how could you help a leaderunderstand loving your people
and loving them well?
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I think the better that I'm able to do that is
driven by how well I know theperson that I'm working with and
I have to allow them for me tonot enter into a space where
they don't want me.
That's the last thing that Iwant to do.
But I also know that there aresome people that I work with
that they accept that and it isit's sincere and it's wonderful
for them to do more of that andand just try to know our people
(18:49):
better and to begin to get anunderstanding of where that line
is, so to speak, and maybeevery once in a while just kind
of gently touch one toe over itand see what happens, because
you'll know I mean, you can feelit if that's uncomfortable and
that's never our intent is tomake anyone uncomfortable but at
the same time we have to tellthem that we appreciate them and
that we're grateful and weappreciate them as individuals.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Yeah, no, that's good stuff.
All right, dr David Schreiner,people can get your book on your
website correct, they can.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
It's also available on Amazon and at all major
resellers.
So all the website does is takethem out to the places where
they can buy it.
So Amazon's really the easiestway to go.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
But there's other things on that website that they
can look at too and they canconnect with you that way, and
we'll have that all in the shownotes so people can click the
links and whatnot.
I'd love to give you just thelast word.
What say?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
you Well.
First of all, thank you so muchfor having me as a guest.
It's an absolute honor to getto meet you and to be a part of
this, so thank you.
The last word for me is justtell people you care about them,
find the thing that feels bestfor you and telling people that
they matter.
I think we all need to hearthat.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
All right.
Well, Dr Schreiner, thank youso much for sharing your
expertise today.
It was a wonderful message andI know that leaders are going to
be piquing their interest ingetting your book from what you
shared today.
So I appreciate you appreciateyour wisdom around this topic
(20:27):
and, until next time, keep doinggreat things and we'll see you
soon.
All right.
Well, hey there, and welcome toConversations where today we
have Dr David Schreiner, who isan inspiring and values-driven
leader, who is a passionateadvocate for engaging in a
meaningful way with the peoplethat matter the most.
His best-selling book helps usto learn and implement
communication skills that leadothers to describe the time
(00:23):
spent with us as the best partof their day.
For all you, strengths,enthusiasts, dr Schreiner leads
with arranger, activator,relator, competition and
maximizer.
David, welcome to the show.
How are you today?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm great.
Dr Kelly, Thank you so much forhaving me.
I'm so excited to spend sometime with you.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Awesome, I'm glad you're here too.
I'm glad you're here too.
I'm glad you're here too, andcongratulations on the book.
Thank you, it's really been afun run, and you know,
previously you had said, let'ssay, that you love sharing how
we can engage in a moremeaningful way with the people
that matter to us most.
(01:03):
So where did this stem from?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Kelly, this goes all the way back to 2019.
And I promise not to bore youwith a five-year story, but I
was CEO of our hospital.
I had been so for about eightyears, nine years and our
hospital was doing well.
We were hitting all of our keymetrics and our board believed
that I was doing a good job.
And I felt like I wasunderperforming.
(01:28):
And when I really dug into that, I found that I was not
listening and respecting thepeople that were in front of me.
I wasn't in the moment and Iwasn't giving people the
attention that they deserved andI wasn't appropriately
following through on things.
So for me, that started aprocess that ended up in me
doing a doctorate and reallydiving into executive
(01:50):
communication and finding outhow I can do a better job of
telling people that I appreciatethem.
I love the work that they doand I wanna be there to be a
positive part of their life.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, there's something about that leadership
presence and really you know,helping others and I love that
your book is about you know thatcommunication piece but really
being there as a leader andbeing present is so important.
Many times we think about oh,we're in a leadership role and
so we're doing what leaders do,but what leaders do so many
(02:24):
times are those soft skills thatpeople don't think about.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So well said, and I also found that as we move up
the organizational chart, wealso get less feedback and it's
easier to get farther away fromthe people that matter the most,
that are doing the true work ofour organization, whatever that
might be, and I think we reallyhave to guard against that and
stay connected with the peoplethat are doing the true work of
our organization, whatever thatmight be, and I think we really
have to guard against that andstay connected with the people
that are doing the work on thefront lines.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
That's right, you know you said something really
interesting there about thatmoving up the ladder and that
you do.
You know the feedback reallyisn't there.
What do you and this just kindof popped into my head when you
think about your own leadershipare you asking for feedback now,
like, have you had a shift withhow you're thinking about
(03:08):
things?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I was blessed to have the presence of a couple of
really good executive coaches,kelly, and that made a world of
difference for me in seeingthings that were perhaps my
blind spots and going throughsome testing, such as you
started this podcast with todayabout trying to find out how I'm
wired, how I think, learningmore about that, and then also
(03:31):
just seeing some of theseexecutive coaches watching me in
the wild, in the environmentwhere I practice, and giving me
suggestions on what I can do tobe more effective.
So it's really hard for me tosee from the inside out.
However, when I get thatfeedback from people that are
important to me and people thatI trust, it's easier to
incorporate that into our style.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
That's right.
Yeah, coaching is is importantand and you know I love doing, I
love executive coaching, teamcoaching and with with teams
it's.
It's even a different dynamichow you're actually coaching in
the moment or watching at theirbusiness usual meetings in the
moment and coaching during thatand helping them understand that
(04:13):
you know and giving themfeedback.
So that's amazing.
So congratulations for you.
Doing the work on yourself Onbehalf of those you serve is
really what it's about.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Oh, it absolutely is, and in the healthcare space,
and I think in all leadership,it really is about the idea of
what can we do to make apositive difference.
One of the goals that I set formyself is I want people to go
home that evening and whenthey're having dinner with their
partner they talk about.
That was the best part of myday the time that I spent with
him.
He listened to me, he waspresent in the moment.
(04:45):
He talked to me, not justtelling me what I wanted to hear
, but he asked great questions,and that's an aspirational goal
that I have.
I don't always meet that, butthat's what I wake up in the
morning, hoping to do throughoutthe day.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Good stuff.
So your book it came throughthe research that you mentioned,
right Through the doctoralresearch that you did.
Do you want to talk a littlebit more about that, Like how it
ended up in a book, a sellerbook?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Well, it did start as a doctoral dissertation and
other than my mom, I'm not sureanyone has ever read it and I
wouldn't suggest anyone everdoes.
But what I kept running up toKelly in my dissertation is my
dissertation chair, who was awonderful professor.
He kept telling me that's astory, that's an opinion, that's
an experience that you've had.
(05:35):
You can't put that in anacademic paper.
And so I developed thesestories from these brilliant men
and women from around thecountry.
I had the chance to interviewpeople from five different rural
hospitals, from all parts ofthe country, and I interviewed
their chief executive officer,the chairman of their board of
directors, the president oftheir medical staff or their
(05:56):
chief medical officer, a vicepresident that reported to the
CEO and an hourly employee.
And I began to see these themesof these high-performing
leaders, some things that theywere all doing, and that's where
the book came from.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Okay, I've got to ask this because I know that you
work in the rural space and yourresearch was based on rural.
What did you see in yourresearch and I would have read
your dissertation what did yousee in your research when you
think about, or when you, whenyou've studied rural versus
(06:31):
non-rural?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I'd love to hear what , what, what you found with that
I found out that not only wasthis not a rural versus urban
thing, but it wasn't ahealthcare versus other industry
thing.
Kind of things that I foundabout love and respect and faith
and the way that we deal withothers in our own community had
(06:54):
nothing to do with the type ofwork that we did.
It really had to do with whothe person is, that we are and
who we want to be and I use thatword aspirationally earlier.
We want to be our best.
What's that look like?
And so I quickly found out itwas really exciting for me to
discover that these traits thatthese leaders had were things
that I wanted to betterunderstand and be able to
(07:15):
quantify that if more of thesethings are present in our
communication, then we're ableto engage in a more meaningful
way, and that was so much fun togo through that process.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that, and you do talk
about pillars in your book.
I'd love to hear maybe a littlebit about these three
engagement pillars that youspeak of.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I did so as I went through that painful process and
you've done the same thing.
I think of coding these 26interviews that I did.
I would have had 25, but oneleader couldn't decide between
two people, so I interviewedboth of them.
I've had these three pillars,and the first one was engage and
connect at a personal level.
The second was engaging withintent through various mediums.
(07:57):
And the third is being missionfocused through united
leadership, and I found thateach of these leaders kept
coming back to these engagementimperatives, and there are five
of them under each one of thosepillars.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, engagement is so important, and that's another
thing.
Typically, you know you'regoing about your day and
organizations, if they, you know, have an engagement survey,
it's like they may have anengagement survey, but what are
they doing with the data thatit's showing?
Right, yeah?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I was a master at doing what we call rounding,
which other people call thingslike manage, by walking around
and get through our entireorganization, and it was just a,
it was a flyby.
It was like, hi, how are youdoing?
How's everything going?
And that's not rounding.
I learned from these leadersand from others that it's really
the process of stopping andslowing down and asking what you
(08:54):
can do to make their day better.
Talking about a concept that Ilearned called appreciative
inquiry, about trying to findfrom people what are they doing,
what's existing when they're attheir best, and that just leads
to such rich conversations andit fills up my bucket when I get
a chance to do that.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
We all need our bucket filled.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
We do.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
So tell us a story about one of those engagement
imperatives, Imperatives.
Am I saying that right?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Exactly.
That's right.
So one of them is aroundfinding ways to express
gratitude, and I had theopportunity to work with a
executive, a health care leaderin the state of Vermont, and
this gentleman came from a largeCatholic family and in his
family when good things happento family members, they
celebrate it over food.
They bring everybody togetherand have this big meal, and so
(09:46):
what he decided is for hisorganization every three months
they were going to have theirexecutive team and members of
their board of directors servepeople that worked in his
hospital Second shift, thirdshift, weekends, the 24-7, 365
approach and through those meals, while their executive team was
there again, they had a chanceto say thank you for the
(10:08):
difficult work that you're doingfor our patients and for each
other.
We love you for everythingyou're putting into this for the
people that we care for, andthe results that he got from
that were overwhelminglypositive and this is a very
successful hospital.
So they had a lot of things tocelebrate.
But he shared with me that ifwe got to that three-month point
and we didn't have a newrecognition or award, I would
(10:30):
make something up.
It was Arbor Day, it wasHalloween, it doesn't matter,
we're just going to come up withsomething because it's so
important.
We want to do this at leastquarterly throughout the year,
and that was really meaningfulfor me.
That's something that webrought back to our organization
here, and we try to extend thatsame concept.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
What's interesting is that it doesn't even have to
take money, Like you talkedabout earlier.
Even just stopping and slowingdown and having the engagement
with those what I like to callquick connects it's so important
.
So, whether it's you'reproviding a meal or you're
stopping and having, you know,that meaningful conversation and
(11:12):
really inquiring as to theperson, it doesn't have to cost
a thing.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
That is so insightful for you to pick up on that
because if you think about thatstory, they could have said
there's a free meal in thecafeteria.
That's giving the same thing,right.
But that's not what they did.
They had the executive teamserving the meal and that's that
opportunity for that quickconnection, even if they're just
going through the line.
You know people love to see meput a hairnet on.
(11:39):
They'd laugh about that forhours and we need to do those
kinds of things.
We need to put ourselves inpositions where we're with them.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Okay, if you're listening to the podcast, the
audio version of this, there isnot much hair on the head.
Oh gosh, that's funny.
Yeah, that's funny.
Yeah, that's.
That's interesting, and I andit's.
I think it takes a mindsetshift for leaders to be able to
(12:10):
recognize that there are thingsthat they can do that actually
do fall within their role, ifyou will, and it may not be in
their job description Maybe itshould be in their job
description, but yeah, I thinkthat's interesting.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I think you're right and I believe there are 15
things that we can do and thoseare part of the book.
I mentioned the three columnsand then the five things
underneath, and what I like todo is ask people to look at that
and do a self-analysis and sayam I doing 12 of those?
Am I doing eight?
Am I doing four?
And maybe see if there'ssomething that I'm not doing
today and say does that interestme?
(12:50):
Is that something that I wouldlike to learn more about?
Can I hear about a story abouthow that's done?
But then you have to do it,Kelly.
It's like any muscle right.
You have to use it to getbetter at it.
And so pick that one thing andstick with it for two weeks,
three weeks, four weeks, andthen, if you enjoy that, then
(13:11):
move on to the next thing.
And what my research showed isthat the more of the 15 things
that leaders are able to do, themore meaningfully they can
connect.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Yeah, the intentionality piece.
Yeah, the intentionality piece.
And I think people willgravitate and do more of what
they like right, because theirbrain is telling them oh, I like
this.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
The response is good.
I think it's.
That second piece of theresponse is good and that's
really helpful for me.
When I try to pick up one ofthese and I look at this chart
and I say that's my focus forthis week, when I see the way
people respond to that, thatencouraged me, encourages me to
keep doing that, to keep doingmore of that, and it becomes
natural.
And that's what we want, right?
We want it to become a naturalthing.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
So so those are some practical, practical steps for
people to take, Are there?
Is there anything else that youwould suggest?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, we talked about gratitude.
One of the other things that Ifound that was really important
if you have time for a reallyquick story is using multiple
channels to communicate themessage, and so this is one of
my favorite stories, through theresearch that I did is much
like today.
You know, when you do a Teamscall and I had to do all of my
interviews virtually because itwas in the middle of the
(14:23):
pandemic and we couldn't traveland go into hospitals the middle
of the pandemic and we couldn'ttravel and go into hospitals,
and so when we did this, whenthe sound came on, it sounded
like it was a race car or atornado or something was
happening here.
And then the video came on andthis lady was holding a child
and vacuuming.
This was in the state ofMichigan.
I'm thinking what in the worldis going on here?
(14:45):
And the vacuum turns off andshe goes on to tell me that
she's an intensive care unitnurse.
She works full time in that job, she has a second job in a
nursing home and long term carefacility, she has six children
and one of them is special needs.
And what she tells me Kelly andI remember this, like we had
the interview yesterday thislady told me that I'm not going
(15:08):
to watch a five-minute videofrom our CEO.
I just don't have time to dothat.
But if you give me atranscription and I can see that
there's something at thethree-minute and 20-second mark
that I want to watch, then I'lldo that.
And that afternoon the videosthat we do here in our
organization we startedtranscribing them because it
made so much sense to me.
We have to meet people wherethey are and you might
(15:29):
appreciate a video.
Someone else might preferface-to-face meetings or a text
message or an email, andsometimes, as leaders, even
though it feels like it'soverwhelming, we have to find
ways to do and not or.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
That's right, absolutely.
And you know you hit the nailon the head with.
We have to meet our peoplewhere they're at, because that
way, them meeting us right andhaving communication with us is
going to be the best part oftheir day.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I hope so.
And the other thing and thankyou for that and the other thing
from that is in order to knowwhat that is, we have to ask
them what that is.
We have to ask them.
We did a survey in ourorganization and we found, you
know, there's so much datathat's going out there.
You're trying so hard tocommunicate with us, but we
(16:18):
don't have the time to go 15different places to find it.
So what we did is we came upwith what we call a three-minute
message.
So we have three items that goout once a week on Wednesdays,
and these are what our executiveteam thinks are the three most
important things going on in anorganization, and you can do a
quick read, you can see theheadline and you can decide if
you want to read more about itor not.
But we try to consolidatebecause the people that we ask
told us we just don't have timeto go hunt and gather the
(16:39):
information.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
You're trying to.
That's just like social media,you know, as people are
scrolling through.
If it's quick, sure.
If it's longer than a minute,forget it, you're never going to
get there.
Well, what is important for youto bring forward about, either
the work that you're doing as aleader, your book.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
I think the most important thing, kelly, for me
is the love and respect thatwe're able to show people, and
it took me a lot of work to beable to be better at that and I
still have so far to go tocontinue to improve.
But being able to tell peoplewe love them for what they do is
really important and it's ithas resulted in some of the most
meaningful relationships thatI've had, the most meaningful
(17:22):
interactions that I've had withpeople, and it can freak people
out a little bit when they hearit for the first time, because
we all have different familiesof origin and we all have
different histories that webring to where we are today.
But I think if it's done withauthenticity and with the
respect that it deserves, thenthose kinds of conversations, in
a way that are comfortable toyou as an individual leader, are
(17:47):
so important, and I think thatyour listeners can find so many
ways to interact in a moremeaningful way to the people
that matter to them the most.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
So you know we may have people listening to this
and if they've listened to otherpodcasts, they've heard this.
However, when you talk aboutlove and leadership, it may be
foreign right to some.
How would you help anotherleader understand and we know
the importance of it in ourpersonal relationships but when
you bring it into the workplace,what does that look like?
(18:19):
Or how could you help a leaderunderstand loving your people
and loving them well?
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I think the better that I'm able to do that is
driven by how well I know theperson that I'm working with and
I have to allow them for me tonot enter into a space where
they don't want me.
That's the last thing that Iwant to do.
But I also know that there aresome people that I work with
that they accept that and it isit's sincere and it's wonderful
for them to do more of that andand just try to know our people
(18:49):
better and to begin to get anunderstanding of where that line
is, so to speak, and maybeevery once in a while just kind
of gently touch one toe over itand see what happens, because
you'll know I mean, you can feelit if that's uncomfortable and
that's never our intent is tomake anyone uncomfortable but at
the same time we have to tellthem that we appreciate them and
that we're grateful and weappreciate them as individuals.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Yeah, no, that's good stuff.
All right, dr David Schreiner,people can get your book on your
website correct, they can.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
It's also available on Amazon and at all major
resellers.
So all the website does is takethem out to the places where
they can buy it.
So Amazon's really the easiestway to go.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
But there's other things on that website that they
can look at too and they canconnect with you that way, and
we'll have that all in the shownotes so people can click the
links and whatnot.
I'd love to give you just thelast word.
What say?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
you Well.
First of all, thank you so muchfor having me as a guest.
It's an absolute honor to getto meet you and to be a part of
this, so thank you.
The last word for me is justtell people you care about them,
find the thing that feels bestfor you and telling people that
they matter.
I think we all need to hearthat.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
All right.
Well, Dr Schreiner, thank youso much for sharing your
expertise today.
It was a wonderful message andI know that leaders are going to
be piquing their interest ingetting your book from what you
shared today.
So I appreciate you appreciateyour wisdom around this topic
(20:27):
and, until next time, keep doinggreat things and we'll see you
soon.
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