Enhancing Team Dynamics in Healthcare: A New Approach to Leadership (#010)
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[00:00:00] The statement you made at the beginning was like, when you work with the energy. So what do you mean by that? Yeah. So what I mean is working with energy is exactly as I, as I said before. So I invited this team into an experiment. Welcome to Safe Space Made Simple, a practical podcast that guides clinical leaders and healthcare managers to create trust and support with their teams.
[00:00:27] I'm your host, Trace Hobson. Join me for weekly interviews, practical tools, and inspiring transformational stories of bringing people together in healthcare. Now let's dive in. Hi everybody. Welcome to today's episode of Safe Space Made Simple. I'm your host, Trace Hobson, and I'm looking forward to today's episode because we're going to be talking about something that might on the surface.
[00:00:53] Seem a little bit woo, woo, or. A little fluffy, and that is working with [00:01:00] energy in health care. Now, have you ever had the experience where you know you'd love to make changes in the health care system? You'd like to see the health care system change. And maybe even on your unit, or in your department, or on your site, you'd like to see the system change.
[00:01:19] And yet at the same time that you'd love that you feel overwhelmed by that prospect, because let's face it, the healthcare systems we work in today are immense. They are overwhelming at times and the complexity and the complications are sometimes just too mind boggling to really understand. How do we actually change a complex system like this?
[00:01:43] Now in healthcare today, in leadership, we are still doing a lot of those sort of top down command and control hierarchical approaches. And unfortunately, in complex systems, that just doesn't work anymore. Linear leadership. And that sort of [00:02:00] idea of critical path management, uh, just in complex systems doesn't work.
[00:02:06] At least it doesn't work in a sustainable way. And so today my co host Caroline Vierman and I are talking about how do we work with the energy of a system? How do we work with the energy of a team? And does that have an impact on the team's way of being way of working? And can we Solve practical problems with this approach.
[00:02:30] Now, this episode will be a little bit of a preparation for a future episode. We'll do with systemic team coach, John Leary Joyce from the UK, who teaches systemic team coaching. And in that conversation, that'll be up and coming. He and I get into a big discussion about how to change systems in, in large, complex situations.
[00:02:52] Now I believe that even though we work in these really large systems, the truth is that we have one access [00:03:00] point that is constant for each of us and that is our body. We can work with the, the system within us, the nervous system we have, the onboard human technology to be a system input wherever we go and, and our, to have our, our presence be that system input.
[00:03:21] Now, maybe I'm oversimplifying it, and for me, that's exactly what I needed to do in large complex systems. I needed to simplify this and make it something that was manageable for me. And one thing is for sure, I oftentimes was distracted from working with that system that is me. And, and constantly looking outside of myself to try and affect change, but until I actually slowed down to the speed of my presence, I couldn't make any difference to anybody else.
[00:03:50] And that's why I had to slow down and look at my own system and how I could actually work with that rather than working with the large, [00:04:00] overwhelming, complex problems and complications and complexities around me all the time, because ultimately I believe, even though those. complexities are happening, that we are the system.
[00:04:12] And in some way, the system is a reflection of me. Now, without further ado, let's move right into the episode. It's amazing what happens when you work on an energetic level with The things in a team that stagnate, that really bother the team, that are the things that are not really helping the team forward.
[00:04:39] When you work with it on an energetic level, it's amazing what Can happen on the surface and in the whole dynamic of the team. Okay. So let's make this practical. What kind of problems are you talking about? Yeah. So one of the problems, one of my teams were [00:05:00] experiencing was that the inflow of new clients stagnated.
[00:05:06] So with this team, I now got to the point where we had to decide, are we going to stop with Are we going to end it? And it really wasn't what I wanted for this team because they have a very specific expertise and a very specific knowledge on working with little children with left blindness. Here in the Netherlands, they are almost the only team who have expertise on this.
[00:05:38] Right. So if you dismantle this team, then there's not going to be any availability for clients. Exactly. How did the team feel about this as it was happening? Yeah, they, they, too, after two years of, yeah, making things work and making ends meet also, because we [00:06:00] all feel that it is so important to keep this team alive.
[00:06:04] But now they felt, uh, we have to make a decision because Let's face it, we don't have a future when there's no clients. So basically the team already was there, already had decided there's no future for us. Let's end this suffering because also for the team, it has been, it had been a team of. Suffering and really a lot of insecurity also for themselves.
[00:06:38] So, yeah. Is there no need for their specific, like maybe the need in the Netherlands is not there for that particular service though. Like maybe it is time for the teen to end. Like there are children who are born with, with problems with their. hearing and their vision that they're [00:07:00] still born those children.
[00:07:01] So where are they? They didn't come to us. And we were like, where are they? Because they must be somewhere. Because your organization is one of the few that provides. Support and education and therapeutic approaches for hearing impairment and sight impairment in the country, right? So what did you, so now the statement you made at the beginning was like when you work with the energy, so what do you mean by that?
[00:07:28] Yeah, so what I mean is working with energy, exactly as I, as I said before. So I invited this team into an experiment because they are not used to working on an energetic level with What is going on? I invited them into an experiment and do a work with a constellation, a organizational, a team constellation.
[00:07:56] Okay. So before you go on, what is constellation and [00:08:00] where does it come from? Constellation work comes from a system constellation systems work from Virginia Satir, for example, but also here in the Netherlands from Bert Hellinger and, uh, he and Virginia, they have created this, uh, these frameworks, this systems approach where it's You can reveal the system to itself by working with anchors, for example, positioning someone in a certain team position in this case.
[00:08:39] Yeah, so one of the things that I know about systems work as it relates to constellation and Virginia Satir's, her expression of that was to sculpt systems and to raise awareness, especially in family systems. About, like you just said, to reveal the system to itself so that [00:09:00] they, the awareness of the family would raise and they'd realize things in a different way.
[00:09:05] And so she would literally take a family and sculpt them into positions while she didn't sculpt it. What was already there positioned them, and then they became more aware and then the system could shift and move. So now constellation is a new phenomenon from there. Virginia Satir obviously has passed away many years ago and her work, but her work continues to live on.
[00:09:30] So in the way that you're doing this, what exactly are you doing to create a constellation with this particular team and what happened? Yeah, so I explained very briefly. What, uh, a system constellation is or the team constellation is not too much because the more I would, uh, say about it, the more questions and the more, um, [00:10:00] complicated it, uh, would have become very briefly.
[00:10:03] And then we together, we decided on the question we wanted to. Explore, because we wanted to explore or to work with this constellation around the question. And the question was, so what's the future of this team? And, and then basically you start a constellation with positioning three elements of the system.
[00:10:30] And I worked with, I asked one of the team members to be a representative for the team as a whole. And I asked another one, do you want to represent the clients and another one, the future, something like that. And then it all starts bringing those representatives into a space. And there they start moving and find a [00:11:00] position opposite and relative to each other.
[00:11:04] So you have representation of each of the stakeholders in this particular system and you invite them into the room in that you're in. To begin to move in a way that represents whatever they're representing. So if they're representing the client, what sort of things are you saying to them so that they can discover the movement of that particular stakeholder?
[00:11:28] What kinds of questions or statements are you using to create that space? Yeah, I assign a certain space being the space for this constellation representing the field of everyone, all the stakeholders that are connected to the team. And then it starts by inviting them to step into that space, start walking and moving and find a place.
[00:11:59] as I said [00:12:00] before, opposite and relative to each other, that they feel represents where they are now. And that feels okay. Who's deciding what feels okay and what doesn't feel okay? They're representative. Of that particular stakeholder. Okay, got it. Yeah. Yeah. So just like a solar, like our planetary constellation, there's planets in the solar system that we have that moves in relative, um, nest with each other.
[00:12:28] Now you're saying that you're creating that kind of same experience where the stakeholders Involved. In this case, it's the team, the client and the future and how they move in relativeness with each other. Okay, cool. Then it unfolds. It's like a story that unfolds and the representatives, they are at first surprised to how much information they have access.
[00:12:57] Once they. Step [00:13:00] into this role of representative and start moving in that space that is assigned for the constellation work and they are really amazed because they have access to all the information that is relevant for that particular part. Stakeholder and role in, in the constellation. So yeah, once the three members, the three representatives with which the constellation starts, find a place, I, you, I ask them, so tell me, share with us.
[00:13:38] Why are you standing where you're standing? What's happening? How is it feeling? Etcetera. And from that, there's a story that unfolds. And then, for example, one of them said, I don't feel any connection with the ones who refer. new clients [00:14:00] to this team, so then there's a possibility and also an invitation to bring in a new representative, the ones who refer clients.
[00:14:13] to this team. Okay. And so in the facilitation, you invite another person in as a representative of the referrer. And so now they come into the constellation too. So already awareness is starting to change. Yeah, exactly. In that way. And then they, one of the amazing insights of this particular constellation was the realization that the team and the referrers were standing back to each other.
[00:14:42] So they didn't even see each other. And that was, of course, represented in that there was no inflow of clients because they weren't even seeing each other. So then in the, as the constellation [00:15:00] unfolds, there's really healing happening. In the system and that healing is visible when the referrers and the team, for example, in this particular case, start turning around, seeing each other and saying what needs to be said.
[00:15:22] Okay. And so things are moving until there's a situation that feels whole and complete. And then the constellation finishes for now. Okay. So it finishes. What's the actual practical takeaway for the team now going forward? Because I can imagine that they're coming to the end of that. They feel whole, they feel complete with the facilitation.
[00:15:52] But now they're like still got the circumstance where we don't have any clients. What are we going to do? Exactly. So we come [00:16:00] back to the table and we talk about, so what are your insights? What do you know now that you didn't know before? And from that realization of what they know now, actions can be planned.
[00:16:16] So one of the realizations was we need to do something in relation to the referrers. So we are going to schedule an appointment with referrers and talk with them, meet with them, share maybe some content about what we're doing, actions like that. So after this debrief around the table, there was this action list of five actions that were really informed by the constellation and therefore were different from actions that we would have Come up with, if [00:17:00] we weren't, if we wouldn't have done a constellation.
[00:17:04] Okay. And so when approximately in time, did you do the constellation with this team? And now what's happened since? Yeah, so we did this constellation early December and now it's halfway January. And since then there's five new clients and don't ask me where they come from, they just show up. They just showed up on their own.
[00:17:30] No, of course. I don't know. I know, I know where they come from, but it's a miracle because we haven't had inflow for two years, only one at a time, every half year or so. And now in a month's time, five new clients. So what does the team think about this? They are flabbergasted. They don't understand. So from a practical perspective, I love the facilitation, the [00:18:00] constellation, the awareness that it brings to the team members, and even the action steps that they took to connect with different people and take action.
[00:18:08] So were the clients coming in connected to their actions? Have you been able to tell whether or not they're coming from the actions or? It seems to me that because something very profound has shifted in the relation between the team and the referrers, that is why those clients now show up. Yeah. So there's something powerful about what you're sharing.
[00:18:35] And it's also challenging too, because I know a lot of the people that I work with, there's a couple of different things that comes up and at times for leaders and managers. So I don't, don't give me the woo. I, this is wooey, I don't understand this, or they might say, this is fluffy. I don't really understand it either.
[00:18:55] And I totally understand why somebody might say that, [00:19:00] but there's also this sense that. In complexity and in systems approaches for leadership, we need to learn how to work with the complex energy of the system in a different way, because If you try to keep up to the system, you're just, it's going to kill you.
[00:19:16] There's just no way that we can keep up to what's going on in the complexity of what day to day work now in healthcare, or for that matter, any complex system. And this brings to mind also a story for me too, of my first experience with a system or an exercise like this. And that was probably about 15 years ago when I was trained in Satir and somebody Who led the class asked for a volunteer that had a family issue, a systemic family issue.
[00:19:50] And so before I knew what my left arm was doing, my hand was in the air and I was like, what are you? Because I, this is a funny story because [00:20:00] I was in a classroom full of. clinical counselors, psychologists, social workers, people who had a real business being in that room. I was at that point, an executive leader, and the only reason I was really there was to try and help my family figure things out because we were in trouble, right?
[00:20:19] And so, I remember the first day when they went around the room. So why are you here? And we had like, people say, in my graduate studies at this university, I decided in clinical counseling, I wanted to learn this. Then the next person was like, I've been working with this population for the last 20 years.
[00:20:37] And then they came to me and I'm like. I manage projects and I lead teams in the executive where it just, I was like a purple elephant in a room full of, uh, zebras. So anyways, fast forward, probably about, I don't know, that course was last about three months, but maybe six weeks in. This [00:21:00] leader invited somebody to volunteer.
[00:21:02] And so what they did is a sculpting of my family system. And so they had representatives from the group who were my mom, my dad, my sister, and I represented myself. And they asked me questions about my family system and Scott, we moved and sculpted the system based on my responses and the facilitator.
[00:21:27] Continue to ask questions as well. And so we went through this whole journey of the story of my family, just like you had said, and we got to the end of it. There wasn't a dry eye in the group because our family has been through a lot of different things that have been very challenging. And so. When I was able to express how I would love for the system to be and to position those people in that way, it was very, the experience itself was very cathartic.
[00:21:57] It was very healing for me to do that [00:22:00] for sure. And it was also a beautiful teaching moment for everybody in the room to understand how to do this for their clients and the systems they worked with. But at the very end, the facilitator said something I will never forget. And she said, So now that we've had this experience, she turned to me and she said, one of the things that we can't guarantee, but we do understand is that oftentimes after a facilitation like this, there is a ripple effect that begins to take place in the life of the system that's outside of this room and outside of this facilitation.
[00:22:36] And I thought, okay, what do I know? I. That sounds nice, but I don't, I have no idea how that's going to happen. As I said, that's 15 years ago, but over the course of the next five years, our family began to shift and change in ways that I can't really explain. I don't really have a lot of explanation for it, because [00:23:00] the willingness and the awareness of the individual members of that system began to change and express desire for transformation and relationship in a different way.
[00:23:12] And now, we've been able to heal things in our family that were long standing, multi generational, What were systemic distress and trauma. And as I look back at that and I just go, yeah. So working with the energy, it might feel fluffy or woo, because it stretches us into a different realm of understanding what we're doing, but it definitely has tangible results that are associated with it.
[00:23:42] Yeah, and it is something you can learn to facilitate. It's not so fluffy and not so woey that it is only a privilege for some few people or so. Everyone can learn to [00:24:00] facilitate. Every leader also can learn to facilitate a constellation or a systems work. So I think it's time for you to come back to Canada and teach me and teach us how to do that.
[00:24:13] I'm happy to. I know you and Harm loved the trip last time. I think it's time for another trip pretty soon. Yeah, let's talk about that beyond or after. We'll make that a working vacation for you. But it's very important to know that it is something you can learn that it and that it requires courage. As a leader, also myself, I'm a manager in this healthcare organization.
[00:24:42] It requires courage to do something differently and to bring in something that is not maybe mainstream. And that is maybe strange for people in the team. It really, I remember. [00:25:00] Very vividly the first time that I ever stepped a bit forward with a toe over the edge and asked my manager at the time, if she was all right with me doing a pilot and she was, and I was like, Oh, she's all right with that, but doing it in a way that is safe for you as a leader is also important to, to work with.
[00:25:29] courage and safety, et cetera. Yeah. That's where it starts on an individual level. And then you can create this safe space for the team where the team can go a little bit beyond what is comfortable for them. But Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate what you're sharing there because I think that when, to your point, we create a safe space, there is so much that happens that's creative and collaborative and [00:26:00] vibrant for sure.
[00:26:01] But on a neurobiological level, it actually gives us Permission to just let the pressure off and have some relief if we're under stress and pressure Constantly a space like you're describing actually gives relief people take a deeper breath And they can just let go and then we begin to realize that Yes, we can learn to facilitate spaces like you're describing, but this is actually our innate ability to tune into the nervous system and this energy technology that, that we've got on board called our body that gives us all the information we need to be able to live, lead, and create a safe space for ourselves and for other people.
[00:26:49] And I love the work that you're doing in that way, because. Yes, the team got referrals and that's all true, but I'm betting that they also experienced what it's [00:27:00] like to be in a different kind of environment at work. Yeah. Awesome. Very true. Thank you so much for staying to the end of the episode. I trust that this served you, that you enjoyed it.
[00:27:12] And I hope that if you did, that you'll share it with some of your colleagues. Thank you again. And until next time, remember to be a safe space. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. I appreciate you as an expression of my gratitude and appreciation for the work that you're doing. I've created a downloadable resource for you that is a safe space checklist.
[00:27:35] This is a checklist that you can use that will give you an immediate win by increasing your awareness of where you and your team are at right now when it comes to creating a safe space. To receive your safe space checklist, simply click the link in the show notes of this episode. I hope you have a wonderful day.
[00:27:55] And remember, be a safe space for yourself, the people around [00:28:00] you, and for your life.
