QUESTIONS:

1. Do you agree or disagree with these posts?

2. What are some new ideas I could provide to enhance this person's learning?

A. Which leadership approaches fit you the best? Which approaches are more challenging for you to use?

I feel that being a creative leader fits me best. In the health insurance industry, there is constant turnover and a lot of college graduates are hired directly out of school. Over the years I feel I have adapted well to this turnover and like to give my employees the creative freedom to come up with new and exciting ideas while still meeting our company goals. There are a lot of things that are regulated in the insurance industry regarding reporting and I feel that if you offer your best employees the freedom to be creative with the things used for business decisions, 9 times out of 10 you will be pleasantly surprised. I try to offer suggestions and tips along the way if they veer off course of what is needed and frequently check in on how things are progressing but not to the point of hovering. I find it is more challenging to be the leader that says no to creativity on the flip side. I don't want to stifle someone else's vision or overpower their vision with my thoughts. I have been working on this to keep things moving towards the end goal of the various projects I work o.

B. The Provonost articles describe "adaptive challenges" in health care. What have you learned about leadership and yourself that will enable you to succeed in that world?

I have learned that everyone from the top to the bottom appears to have the "what's in it for me" mentality whether they want to admit it or not. I have also learned that I need to seek to understand rather than judge. We move at a very fast pace in healthcare and need to take a step back to assess why someone may be so resistant to change. I believe we need to take a step back and listen to hear rather than to respond. I have been practicing this more often lately and when you are really listening you have a whole different perspective on why someone is resistant. Rather than formulating a response while they are speaking, I have been actually listening and then discussing the issue after getting all of the details. My employees are more receptive and some great solutions have come from those discussions.