Riders on the Storm

As I have often said, your ability to lead and lead well is tied to your capacity to make decisions - both the tough calls as well as the no brainers. Frankly, leadership is really all about decisions - the skill to navigate choice after choice and keep moving things forward. Of course, when you are new to a leadership position, there is always a bit of an additional learning curve when it comes to directing your organization and decision making.

Well, I am here to tell you, there’s nothing like a once-in-a-century storm coming directly towards your hospital on your twelfth day in a job to kick things up a notch! I am certainly confident about my ability to lead and work hand in hand with the great team here at Tampa General Hospital, but preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Irma made my second week of work a little more exciting than I had expected.

Thankfully this was not my first storm and my team had put all the necessary procedures in place long before I arrived. When all was said and done, we were fortunate that Irma was not as severe here in Tampa as predicted. Still, caring for 700 patients in a waterfront hospital is a major undertaking – and my team handled every aspect like champs. We had 2,700 team members and close to 200 physicians in the hospital around the clock for three days. No patient was ever in harm’s way.

For me, the arrival of Irma was somewhat of a blessing. It allowed me to get an immediate sense of how my team works together and how I can work with them to harness the best possible results. It also got me thinking about some tactics to deploy when leading during an emergency:

• Use the crisis as a learning experience. Seize the opportunity to learn about and from your fellow team members. There is nothing like working together for three straight days to gain more insight into who your team are as people. I also doubt there is a better opportunity to learn from them than during a crisis situation.
• Preparation is vital. Our TGH team has an extensive emergency plan and that preparation allowed us to focus on our mission and care for patients.
• In a crisis, leaders must be present, engaged and focused. It’s important that you stay calm to keep your team calm and focused. Know when to step aside and let your team do the work that needs to be done and conversely, when to step in to keep everybody moving forward or even when to lend an ear or offer a comforting word.

And while leadership is about making decisions, one of the easiest decisions to make was to step out of the way to allow my team to shine during the storm and help out in any way I could.