Leadership Under Pressure: Mastering Presence in Healthcare Management (#012)
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[00:00:00] Yesterday I had a meeting with all my treatment coordinators, it's a group of 10 treatment coordinators and they struggle with work pressure and they struggle with their own amount of work and the pressure that comes from it but also With, uh, the experience of work pressure in the teams they work with, uh, staff can become a bit grumpy and, uh, irritated.
[00:00:28] So yesterday I worked with this team of, uh, treatment coordinators and we looked into Welcome to Safe Space Made Simple, a practical podcast that guides clinical leaders and healthcare managers to create trust and support with their teams. I'm your host, Trace Hobson. Join me for weekly interviews, practical tools, and inspiring transformational stories of bringing people together in healthcare.
[00:00:57] Now, let's dive in. Good morning, everybody, and [00:01:00] welcome to another episode of The Safe Space Made Simple. Do you ever feel like you are in survival mode? Or do you ever feel like, as a leader, you have voices in your head, a committee that isn't always the most positive? Well, in today's episode, we're going to talk with my co host and colleague, Caroline Vierman, and we're going to explore some of the things that she's learning in a sole leadership program.
[00:01:26] That she is delivering in Holland. Now, this program is designed for leaders who want to lead more consciously and from a place of presence and relationship rather than reaction and busyness. This is a short episode that explores some practical tips on how you can show up. In your setting, no matter what the circumstances are or how busy you are or what sort of pressures you might be feeling now without further ado, let's get right into the show.
[00:01:54] It was so interesting this morning. Um, we had a second session [00:02:00] in, uh, a six session manifestation module, which is part of the soul leadership journey. And so leadership is another word, a fancy word or a fluffy word for conscious leadership, or I also talk about it leadership from the inside out. And it's all about presence and being before doing.
[00:02:26] So in this, so leadership, you first work on really anchoring yourself in your own presence in your essence, identity, the deeper I, and then from coming from that deeper I and the essence, stepping into the world and living your. Mission your soul mission and bringing your the greatest gift you have to bring into the world.
[00:02:56] And, um, and then in this manifestation [00:03:00] module, it's all about conscious manifestation and learning about, uh, the dance or the co creation between What is going on inside of you and what's coming towards you and what you want and what what serves the whole and being with all of that and creating consciously working with what is and wants to happen.
[00:03:29] So let me ask. So let me get this straight. You're teaching people how to identify the reason why they're on the planet, their sole mission. Yeah. And then also how to manifest in their lives. In a way, and in their work, so that it's, it's conscious, they're conscious of what it is they're manifesting, they're intentional.
[00:03:52] The first question that kind of jumps to mind for me is, why do you think that people have such a difficult time identifying what their mission is? So [00:04:00] first of all, what do you notice about that? Like, why are people struggling to find their mission? And then what happens when they do? Yeah, it's difficult because we're so caught up in doing in, uh, in our lives and, uh, we're also identifying with, uh, the story we run in our minds about who we are and our lives and the story of our life is very much.
[00:04:29] Uh, based in, uh, in experiences we've had over the years and, uh, what we learned in our family and in our culture, et cetera. And when we fully identify with that, we're basically identified with, uh, the surface. I, the personality, but there's something so much deeper to all of us than the surface identity.
[00:04:58] I call that essence [00:05:00] identity or soul or, um, presence or, well, any other words that resonates with you, but it's something that is. Not, uh, related or not dependent on the story you run in your mind over your life. It's something that is, um, that is pristine. I think that's the, that's the word. Yeah. It's pure.
[00:05:28] It's pure. When you are teaching people to find their soul mission and then they find it or they begin to explore that. What is it that starts to happen naturally. Yeah. So what's happening and what, um, uh, yeah, what, what is facilitated by this program is not only connecting with this deeper eye, the essence identity [00:06:00] or presence or whatever, by slowing down to the speed of presence or whatever you call it.
[00:06:06] But, um, it's, uh, It's mostly and foremost about connecting with that layer inside yourself and then staying in connection with that essence identity, remaining in connection with it while living your life, doing your work, being in the world. So what's happening for people is that they experience, um, more flow, uh, more fulfillment also.
[00:06:45] And it's not that there are no challenges anymore because they keep coming. Life offers challenges. It's part of. Everyone's experience, uh, in life and they keep coming, but, [00:07:00] um, there's a different relationship with those challenges. They, uh, don't, uh, necessarily bring you into this state of unhappiness or something, but there's a bigger, a greater resilience in people to deal with that because they know themselves.
[00:07:21] Deeper than the part of them that is stirred by what's happening in their lives and in their work and et cetera. So this makes me really curious because you're a leader in an organization in healthcare and I know that Every leader that I talk to in health care, they've got a lot of things to get done.
[00:07:44] They have got a long task list. They go to their email inbox after coming back from holidays. And there's lots of emails to catch up on. So when you're talking about this way of leading and this way of being. Um, I [00:08:00] have to be a bit of the devil's advocate here and go, okay, that's great. But how do you get things done and how is it different?
[00:08:09] Yeah. Well, my experience is that when I'm in alignment in myself and, uh, in, uh, what I tend to call jewel attention, having a part of my awareness. Rooted, uh, in this deeper dimension while doing the things I have to do in my work as a leader or whatever, I have access to much more creativity than I have when I'm in survival mode.
[00:08:40] So I noticed that I don't fall so easily into, uh, what I call survival mode where I'm irritated and maybe angry or Frustrated or, uh, in a hurry or whatever, but there's more, [00:09:00] I'm, I'm, I mentioned it before. There's more resilience inside of me too. There's more presence. And with that presence, my brain remains in an open creative mode.
[00:09:14] So I don't fall in a fight, flight or freeze mode. Yeah, it's interesting because what you're sharing is like what Dr Stephen Porges was would talk about with this is that you've got this neurobiological safety inside of you that's being produced and generated, um, and he calls it polyvagal safety. And so, uh, and it's based on his polyvagal theory, but he literally talks about how your brain and Um, when you're not in a state of reaction, can access collaboration, um, social connection, uh, and really dynamic solutions.
[00:09:57] But when you're in reaction mode or, or, [00:10:00] or busyness mode, your brain literally can't access that stuff. So it's really interesting the way that you're sharing that and how that, how that lands, um, And it also makes me curious about something else as well that you were talking about, like, so all the things that come up for you that block you or distract you from your presence, for me, what I notice about that is they become the practice point.
[00:10:26] It's not about changing everything outside of me, um, or dealing with all the problems externally first. It's about going inside first and noticing those places in me that are reactive, are resistant, that are sort of reclusive, um, or even sometimes retaliatory. And instead of doing that, doing something else.
[00:10:53] So that makes me curious, what do you think about that? And also what are three steps that you [00:11:00] take? To be able to go to that place inside the, all that busyness that's around you. I just noticed how my tendency, my conditioned tendency is to try and fix the problems and really what you're describing is to.
[00:11:17] For me, go inside instead first. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because, and that's what I do, or if I'm not able to go inside, I, uh, I, I don't go into a conversation or into doing something if possible. Um, I first, uh, what I typically do is, uh, I, uh, check inside. Um, Where I am with myself, and also the voice in my mind, which voice is loud and clear and is sitting in the front of the [00:12:00] bus?
[00:12:01] And is that a helpful voice in this conversation or in this particular circumstance? Because I know that the quality of my presence determines the quality of this video. Whatever it is that I'm doing, the action I'm taking, if the quality of my presence is poor, when I'm, for example, irritated or in a hurry or tired or something, the quality of the action I undertake will also be, uh, meager or even poor.
[00:12:43] So, um, I, that's the first thing I do checking where I am and that determines whether I, um, well move forward with something or I try to [00:13:00] postpone a conversation or a meeting or something. And this is also what I teach my staff to be aware of that. In fact, yesterday I had a. Uh, meeting with all my treatment coordinators, uh, it's a group of 10 treatment coordinators.
[00:13:20] They're all, uh, leaders, um, not the formal leader maybe, but their leader, uh, uh, with regard to the treatment of the clients, uh, that we have, and they struggle with, uh, work pressure. And, uh, they struggle with their own amount of work and the pressure that comes from it, but also with, uh, the experience of work pressure in the teams they work with.
[00:13:50] And then, uh, staff can become a bit grumpy and, uh, irritated or well. what we spoke about before. So [00:14:00] yesterday, I worked with this team of treatment coordinators, and we looked into the voices in our heads and whether or not they're supportive to the way we handle work pressure and the way we have a conversation with the team if they experience um, work pressure.
[00:14:24] And the insights Just amazing. And, uh, one treatment coordinator said, uh, uh, that she, uh, for her, it became clear that she had to exercise her power of choice more. And, uh, Yeah, that's, I think, what really captures, um, it, we all have a power of choice. And um, uh, to use it means that you need, [00:15:00] uh, awareness and self awareness or any awareness that is needed in a certain, uh, circumstance, and then choose what serves.
[00:15:11] the situation and brings it forward. So yeah, that's what, and that's also what people are learning in this soul leadership journey. That's awesome. All right. So let's, let's give people three steps that they can take. So number one is to check in with yourself and to see, um, and check in on the committee in your head and see is the committee kind today or is the committee, or maybe, maybe very, uh, concrete.
[00:15:42] Which self or which voice is at the wheel in the bus, and your mind being the bus? Who is sitting at the wheel? So who's driving the bus? Number one, check in with yourself and who's driving the bus. So number two is what? [00:16:00] Decide on who is driving the bus. When you get to choose exactly, you get to choose the driver, exercise your power of choice.
[00:16:10] Yeah. Exercise your power and your responsibility of choice. So exercise your power of choice is number two. Okay. So you've done number one and you've done number two and now you're heading into the meeting when you're in the meeting with whoever you're in with, what's the third step that you're doing in there?
[00:16:28] Yeah. Um, what I am personally doing is remaining present. And that means that a part of my awareness is in, in my body. So I can feel and Notice what is happening in my body also. So I'm interacting and working with the energy, working with what is not being set and what is [00:17:00] under the surface. Right. And, um, and that's really practical when you think about just being able to notice your chest and whether it's.
[00:17:10] Constricting or your throat or your gut and, and slowing down to listening to that information so that you can hear what might be there. And then of course, using the three questions that we've both been able to, um, experience from Alan seals work, what wants to happen? Like what's, what is it? I actually translate that a little bit and say, well, what's this ache in my gut trying to tell me?
[00:17:35] And then I listen, you know, I take a deep breath. And, and then it's, well, who is that asking me to be, or who is that, what is the characteristic that wants to emerge that is in my highest and best good in it, in the highest and best good of the people around me? And so that's the second question. And then the third question from there is, okay, well, what's the action step that that asks me to take?
[00:17:58] What's the words that that [00:18:00] asks me to say? Maybe it asks me to just say nothing at all. Exactly. Maybe it's just about being still and it might even be like to just put my hand on somebody's shoulder and say, Hey, it's going to be okay. It might be, it's different every time, but those three questions I find really served me in that practice that you're talking about.
[00:18:18] Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. All right, Carolyn, that's great. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks so much for sharing that with us. Thank you so much for listening. I trust that this episode served you and I look forward to meeting you either online or in our programs. Until then, remember to be a safe space. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast.
[00:18:42] 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. This is a checklist that you can use that will give you an immediate win by increasing your awareness of where you and your [00:19:00] team are at right now when it comes to creating a safe space.
[00:19:04] To receive your safe space checklist, simply click the link in the show notes of this episode. I hope you have a wonderful day and remember to be a safe space for yourself, the people around you and for your life.
