More examples of what not to do AKA how to stay in the frying pan and not fall into the fire.

This is the second article in the series about what not to do.  The person suggesting this article asked for examples of things that might help you save yourself from yourself.  Please send me your examples and stories of things not to do.  Your confidentiality will be protected unless you want credit for the idea.  Sharing this experience, especially with younger executives is one of the best ways to serve the industry.  I have an outline of a third article and depending upon response, I could probably keep this going for a while since like a consultant friend of mine used to say, “One idiot can keep three consultants busy forever.”

Project planning

Ben Franklin’s adage goes, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”  I have found this profound simple statement to be true time and again.

After being appointed interim CFO in a hospital, I learned that there was a major construction project under way.  The project and the rate at which the hospital was burning money on the project did not make sense to me.  To make a long, complicated story short, no one could produce a feasibility study to support the project’s value proposition or pro-forma analysis to support the project’s underlying  financing.  When no one could produce a sources and uses of funds analysis, I spent a couple of weeks creating my own from scratch.  When I was finished, it was clear that the project was underfunded by over $20 million and the hospital did not have sufficient reserves to cover the shortfall.  When this information was provided to the Board, after they recovered from the shock and horror, they decided to stop the project that would have resulted in a problem with the bonds used to finance the project by drawing reserves below bond covenant minimum requirements triggering a technical default.  The entire organization was oblivious to this looming disaster.

Ole Abe said that, “You should spend twice as much time sharpening your axe as you spend cutting with it.”  The implication of this admonition is obvious to anyone that has ever cut wood with an axe.  Still and yet, executives let distractions and competition for their time lead them to allow ill-conceived initiatives to go forward then they are surprised when the projects blow up on them.  If you want to entertain yourself, pick any executive out at a cocktail party and ask them if they have ever seen a project go bad.  The war stories you will hear are spectacular. Better yet, ask the ‘expert’ if they have ever seen a peer do something stupid.  Apparently, they have not heard or have disregarded the advice of Einstein, “Doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome is the beginning of insanity.”

Project control

Oh boy!  The easy part of a project is the planing and approval.  The hard part is execution.  There are a lot of challenges with project execution.  One is that other unanticipated confounding priorities arise in the organization that bleed capacity from the organization’s leadership to remain focused on a critical project.  Another commonly seen problem with project execution is the loss of key leaders during the course of the project.  All too frequently, critical assumptions underlying the project’s rationalization are proven inaccurate or incomplete once execution begins.  Sometimes, a project’s success is largely dependent upon one person and if that person leaves or is incapacitated, the entire project goes into jeopardy.

To some degree, a project is analogous to a marriage.  In order for it to succeed, more than 100% commitment is required from all sides.  Every effort you make to manage your risk can be thwarted by uncontrollable changes in your business partner(s).  There is no guarantee that the people that sold a deal and made commitments on behalf of your business partner will be around to honor those commitments.  If they made commitments that were not in the contract, they may not be allowed to honor them.  More than once before a project was completed, I have found myself dealing with an entirely different cast of characters.  What about a business partner that gets acquired during implementation and none of the commitments made before the acquisition are honored?  A business failure or overcommitment by a business partner can move into your life like bad in-laws.  This is why business partner selection is so important.  Too often, a decision maker will chose a business partner based on cost alone and in the process buy himself a set of problems that turn out to be exponentially more expensive than the most expensive option that was under consideration at the time the decision was made.

A project does not have to fail to become a disaster.  Delays in a project can be as damaging.  I do not know of a delayed project that resulted in a better outcome.  Sometimes, delays cause cascading problems.  Take a construction project for example where the electrical contractor is contracted to start on a date certain and the project is not far along enough for them to begin work.  This kind of a delay can rapidly spread throughout an organization and create enough problems to overwhelm the ability of the leadership team to address them.  This is the reason you were required to study PERT in school.  How often do you see it applied in practice?

If a mistake is to be made in project management, it should be biased in favor of overcompensation for potential problems.  I am regularly criticized for being too conservative and too hard on pro-forma analysis assumptions. Never the less, time after time I see projected revenues and time lines being overstated and projected expenses understated.

Waiting too long to intervene

I have watched executives demur from engaging an issue in hopes that it would go away.  I have rarely seen this strategy work.  More often than not, a problem in an organization will get worse the longer intervention is delayed.  There are a lot of reasons that this occurs not the least of which is that addressing operational problems most often involves dealing with a personnel problem.  I do not know many executives that enjoy taking on a personnel problem.  Vince Lombardi said, “Hope is not a strategy.”  Failing or refusing to intervene can allow a problem to become exponentially more damaging until it reaches the point that the organization’s financial statements are impacted.  Time and again as an interim, I have been asked, why it was going to take so long and cost so much to address a problem?  I have seen ten or more interim executives committed to address what had been allowed to become a major business problem on more than one occasion.  My answer to this question is always the same.  Cutting costs after an organization finally decides to address a problem only prolongs the time and cost necessary for the mitigation.  All too frequently, organizations create a problem by under-resourcing an area or initiative.  When this leads to a melt-down, the leaders charged with the mitigation are frequently frustrated by the cost and time associated with fixing the resulting mess.  Sometimes, I have to tell them for their future reference that the cost associated with keeping a process or function under control is always a small fraction of the time and resources necessary to straighten it out after it goes catawaumpus.  Every executive I know can relate one or more horror stories to prove this point.  More often than not, the fiasco is related to an I/T implementation where the costs and operational consequences associated with a failed project can exceed the original budgeted cost of the project.

Fire fighters are known for over-commiting resources to a fire.  This strategy is designed to err on the side of having more resource than is needed to address the fire as opposed to running the risk that a growing fire will overwhelm the resources that are available on site.  Once, I asked an interim CEO how it was going relatively early into his engagement in a very troubled large hospital.  His answer that I have never forgotten was, “The platform is on fire.”  A platform is like a ship.  When it catches fire, getting off is rarely an option.  You must fight the fire where it is and failure is not an option.  Remember the USS Forestall?  Skimping on resources when dealing with a problem like this can lead to figurative death in the form of an unplanned career transition.  A business problem is analogous to a fire in the organization.  If you are going to make a mistake addressing a problem, your personal risk will be much lower if you respond aggressively to a problem and err on the side of over-commiting resources until the problem is resolved and the situation stabalized.  The alternative is a potential conflagration.

Non-evidence based decisions

The mantra of UAB’s Doctorate of Administration in Health Sciences program is, “Evidence based practice in Healthcare Administration.”  I have commented before on what appears to be a paradox in healthcare.  On the clinical side, most of what is done is based on evidence gained from objective, peer reviewed research.  The purpose of the research is to yield better outcomes and safer facilities for patient care.  In the administrative suites of too many healthcare organizations, decisions are routinely made based on seat-of-the-pants hunches, historical precedent, little or no analysis, ridiculous assumptions, no assumptions, flawed analysis, systematic ignorance or reckless disregard of applicable evidence and research.  More often than not, harried administrators do not even bother to see if any applicable research is available to help them make better decisions.  In other cases, decisions are made for political expediency or to appease Dr. Huff-and-Puff.  I got into trouble in a Catholic hospital for suggesting the leadership team’s decision making ranged from magic eight ball to Ouija board.  I now keep a magic eight ball on my desk as a reminder to not fall into this trap.  It is funny to have younger people ask me what the magic eight ball is.  They’re not old enough in some cases to have ever heard of the magic eight ball and they are fascinated to see how it works.  It is a wonder some organizations get along as well as they do.

Indecisiveness

I was perusing novelty signs in a gift shop in Indiana when a sign captured my attention.  It said, “Decision making around here is like a squirrel crossing the road.”  Indecisiveness can be dangerous when it is practiced in the front office.  At its least, indecisiveness can lead to project and initiave delays.  At worst, it can wreck not only projects but the credibility of executives with their Boards.  There’s a one liner that says, “The road to failure is littered with run over squirrels.”  In an earlier article I said, “If you are a decision maker, make a decision.”  Not making a decision is making a decision.

As before, I would like to thank Dr. Christy Lemak Professor and Chair of the UAB Department of Health Services Administration for the inspiration or should I say assignment that resulted in this article. I am looking forward to seeing my grade.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any questions or observations you might have about these blogs or interim executive services in general.  As the only practicing Interim Executive that has done a dissertation on Interim Executive Services in healthcare in the US, I might have an idea or two that might be valuable to you.  I can also help with career transitions or career planning.

The easiest way to keep abreast of this blog is to become a follower.  You will be notified of all updates as they occur.  To become a follower, just click the “Following” link that usually appears as a bubble near the bottom this web page.

There is a comment section at the bottom of each blog page.  Please provide input and feedback that will help me to improve the quality of this work.

This is original work.  This material is copyrighted by me with reproduction prohibited without prior permission.  I note and provide links to supporting documentation for non-original material.

If you would like to discuss any of this content or ask questions, I may be reached at ras2@me.com. I look forward to engaging in productive discussion with anyone that is a practicing interim executive or a decision maker with experience engaging interim executives in healthcare.

Further rumination on success

The Wall Street Journal’s lead editorial on June 23 featured an article by Kay S. Hymowitz entitled, “Is there Anything Grit Can’t Do?” The article is about the work of Angela Lee Duckworth.  In my article about career advancement, I talked about hard work, paying a price and the perseverance necessary for career success.  Here we have another excellent example of a researcher that has dedicated their career to the study of a specific topic.  If you do not believe a researcher in academia can become the undisputed authority on a subject, check out Dr. Duckworth’s CV.  For those of you interested in further study of this topic, the list of grants, articles and presentations in Dr. Duckworth’s CV reads like the literature review in a dissertation.   In the case of Dr. Duckworth, her expertise flies in the face of a lot of conventional ‘wisdom’ and political correctness.

The ideology of indoctrination of children in too many failed government schools and universities for that matter vacillates between victim-hood and entitlement insuring the continuing institutionalization of mediocrity and poverty.  In my opinion, public education has deteriorated markedly over the past thirty years.  The US Department of Education was founded in 1979.  In federal fiscal 1980, the department’s  budget was $14 billion.  By FFY 2015, the bureaucracy’s budget had ballooned to $73.8 billion.  Studies have shown an inverse relationship between spending per student and outcomes yet the common proposed solution to every problem is more money.  I do not know anyone that thinks that public education is any better for this spectacular increase in investment.  I have heard Eric Von Hessler and others advocate for the elimination of the Department of Education in its entirety as a means of balancing the federal budget.  I think a lot of people would agree that education is better-managed locally and not from a central federal government bureaucracy.   Too few young people are being taught that the thing that has the greatest potential to make a positive difference in their life is drive or ‘grit’ as described by Dr. Duckworth and not the narrative of the NEA.  There are probably not very many people who have done a more thorough job than Dr. Duckworth understanding how to help children and adults succeed.

If you search Dr. Duckworth on YouTube, you will find a long list of videos.  These presentations are as inspiring as they are compelling.  A lot of Dr. Duckworth’s inspiration and early discovery came from teaching elementary school math.  She became fascinated almost to the point of obsession to understand why some of the smartest students as measured by IQ exhibited lackluster performance while others who did not have the gift of rote intelligence excelled.  Those of us fortunate enough to have parents that were members of the greatest generation of Americans know what grit is.  The greatest generation got their grit honestly from the great depression, WWII and the work involved in building our country into the success it has been.  I will never forget my son’s late scoutmaster, A.H. Friel, a WWII veteran saying, “We were not worried about whether or not we would die in the war.  Our biggest concern was that it was going to be over before we could get into the fight.”   Mr. Friel’s service included a stint on the USS Indianapolis just before its fateful mission.  Contrast Mr. Friel with the current ‘run, hide and tell’ advice citizens are getting from western governments about responding to the threat of terrorism.  Many of us that grew up in these homes learned a ‘git ‘er done’, ‘suck it up’, no griping no whining demeanor.  When those of us that are products of the 60’s and 70’s got to college, we encountered a fiercely competitive environment that extended into our early careers.  Many of us have driven ourselves to the edge in relentless effort to succeed.  This phenomena inspired one of my favorite songs; Luckenbach.  Willie and Waylon lament that, “This successful life we’re livin’ got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys.”  They go on to sing, “We’ve been so busy keepin’ up with the Jones, got a four car garage and we’re still building on.  Maybe it’s time we got back to the basics of love.”  One of the most memorable days in my life was spent in Luckenbach, TX.  I highly recommend you put it on your bucket list.  The inspiration of the song and the ‘town’ led me to start my article on success by posing a question; what does success mean to you?

People that know me know I like motor racing.  Two of racing’s biggest stars are Dale Earnhardt senior of NASCAR and John Force of NHRA.  Both of these men rose from very difficult childhoods.  They grew up in poverty.  They are not well educated.  Yet they became titans in their respective sports and grew massive racing enterprises.  Why?  A lot of people would say grit or drive or in the case of Force, brute force.  They have a refuse to lose, ambitious, opportunistic demeanor that dominates their personality and their performance on and off the track.  This is in spite of vicious wrecks that in the cases of other drivers permanently altered their competitive drive.  An example is Earnhardt’s 1996 wreck in Talladega that was eerily similar to and actually more destructive than the 2001 wreck in Daytona that killed him.  Force has said, “I’ve been on fire from here to Australia” and “I saw Elvis about 1,000 feet down a drag strip one day.”  I have heard a number of professional athletes say that they were not born with their talent or gifted.  Many of them attribute their success to willingness to work much harder than the people around them and to take chances others would not take.  That and a vision of success.  I heard John Smoltz say that when he was nine years old, he was pitching in the World Series in his mind.  There was never a shred of doubt in his mind that he would pitch a decisive game in a World Series.  By the time he became a World Series pitcher according to his account, the reason he was so calm and focused was that he had played the game in his head over 1,000 times.  Napolean Hill said, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”  Les Brown said, “To be successful, you must be willing to do the things today others won’t do in order to have the things tomorrow others won’t have.”

So to sum this up, if you are not happy with how things are with you, you might want to reconsider Pogo; “We have met the enemy and he is us.”  The demons standing between where you are and where you want to be might be mostly between your ears.  All of us can cite examples of people we know and work around that are examples of what I am talking about here.  As I said before, success is not always best measured by career accomplishment.  However you measure success, if you want to increase yours, one of the best strategies might be to resolve to turn up your grit.  My hope for that you have the courage to click some of the links in this article and that you are as blessed and inspired as I have been by what the people I have referenced are saying and doing.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any questions or observations you might have about these blogs or interim executive services in general.  As the only practicing Interim Executive that has done a dissertation on Interim Executive Services in healthcare in the US, I might have an idea or two that might be valuable to you.  I can also help with career transitions or career planning.

The easiest way to keep abreast of this blog is to become a follower.  You will be notified of all updates as they occur.  To become a follower, just click the “Following” link that usually appears as a bubble near the bottom this web page.

There is a comment section at the bottom of each blog page.  Please provide input and feedback that will help me to improve the quality of this work.

This is original work.  This material is copyrighted by me with reproduction prohibited without prior permission.  I note and  provide links to supporting documentation for non-original material.

If you would like to discuss any of this content or ask questions, I may be reached at ras2@me.com. I look forward to engaging in productive discussion with anyone that is a practicing interim executive or a decision maker with experience engaging interim executives in healthcare.

 

 

I got one right

Throughout my blog, I have argued time and again that the development and practice of cognitive ability is one of the key enablers or detractors of personal and organizational performance.   I have encouraged my readers to focus on improving their cognitive skills as a means of empowering improved decision making capabilities.

When I was in undergraduate business school years ago, we were required to subscribe to and read the Wall Street Journal on a daily basis. That assignment started a discipline that has endured through my career.  One of the reasons that I read the Wall Street Journal daily is that its healthcare industry coverage is as good as any.  In addition, The Wall Street Journal is intellectually stimulating on many levels.  For example, one of the things that has been shown to improve cognitive ability is vocabulary study.  Rarely a day goes by that I do not see at least one word in the journal that I cannot define.  I look these words up and record their definition.  When I find myself with nothing to do, I get my list out.  More often than not, these words are found on the Journal’s editorial pages that are written by some of the smartest people alive.

My article on career development has been very popular.  I am honored and humbled by the number of people following my work that are genuinely interested in developing their careers and advancing in organizations.  The comments, feedback and suggestions this article stimulated have been inspiring to me and motivate me to find suggestions and recommendations that will be helpful to my readers.

Many of us know and are motivated by the stimulation that comes from affirmation.  In my article on career advancement, I argue for the development of cognitive ability as a means of building a foundation from which you may advance your career.  One of the things that fascinates me about universities and the people that work there is that regardless of the subject, how arcane or trivial it may seem to be, there is a professor at some university somewhere that is an expert on the subject.  We are so blessed and our society and life is so enriched to have these geniuses among us.

An article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal on June 5, 2017 is a very good example of what I’m talking about. This article confirms my theory that the development of cognitive ability is a critical success factor when it comes to roles and responsibilities requiring the incumbent to be able to do their own thinking.  I had no idea that for many years this very characteristic has been under study.  Not only that, there is a ranking of the degree to which various university programs are or are not successful in developing cognitive skills among their students.  It is very sad and some may argue disingenuous that these data are not readily available to people considering one academic program over another.

The  article title is:  Exclusive Test Data: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

So I’m vindicated.  The admonition of this is that all of us can benefit from  focus on continuous cognitive ability improvement.  So what are you waiting for?  How much more evidence do you need to be convinced that among the highest and best uses of your time is investment in yourself?

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any questions or observations you might have about these blogs or interim executive services in general.  As the only practicing Interim Executive that has done a dissertation on Interim Executive Services in healthcare in the US, I might have an idea or two that might be valuable to you.  I can also help with career transitions or career planning.

The easiest way to keep abreast of this blog is to become a follower.  You will be notified of all updates as they occur.  To become a follower, just click the “Following” link that usually appears as a bubble near the bottom this web page.

There is a comment section at the bottom of each blog page.  Please provide input and feedback that will help me to improve the quality of this work.

This is original work.  This material is copyrighted by me with reproduction prohibited without prior permission.  I note and  provide links to supporting documentation for non-original material.

If you would like to discuss any of this content or ask questions, I may be reached at ras2@me.com. I look forward to engaging in productive discussion with anyone that is a practicing interim executive or a decision maker with experience engaging interim executives in healthcare.

Best of luck – Ray Snead

Examples of what not to do – simple mistakes you have seen that others could avoid. AKA – How many ways can you get yourself into trouble?

One of the items of constructive feedback I have received is that some of my articles are too long.  The subject of this article resulted in an article over 2,000 words long.  I have reminisced with friends in the consulting business that have suggested that we collaborate on a book on this topic based on the experiences we have had.  As a result, this article will be posted in multiple editions.

A very highly regarded friend of mine recommended that I address mistakes that might be beneficial to others.  Nasreddin said something to the effect that, ‘good judgment comes from the experience we get from exercising bad judgment.’  Given the benefit of this insight, I will address some of the things that I have seen as the cause of extreme angst in one healthcare organization after another.  An exhaustive listing is beyond the scope of any article.  However, I welcome tips and stories from my readers addressing vivid memories of things that would be beneficial for others to know, especially those that do not have the experience of some of us.

Blind trust of systems

This is one of the most basic managerial errors and it is seen over and over.  People ‘assume’ that a system will or will not do something without proving the assumption only to be surprised when their blind faith is proven wrong in a spectacular faux-pas.  Rather than assuming that people understand the meaning of the word ‘assume’, I will define it by dissection.  All to often, people engage in assumptions leading to flawed decisions that make an ASS/out of U/and ME.  I wish I could remember how many times I have witnessed flawed assumptions wreaking havoc around me.  Sometimes, these errors result in terminations of the people involved.  Mark Twain and Ronald Regan said that, “It is not what you know that will get you, it is what you are absolutely certain of that is just not right.”

Once upon a time when I had reason to doubt the controls in the hospital’s accounts payable system right after a new state of the art, super whiz-bang accounting application had been implemented, I was assured by my Controller that there were safeguards in the system that he said would guarantee that there was no scenario under which an automated check for more than $25,000 could be produced and signed with my facsimile.  I had set this limit to insure that I had the chance to personally review large disbursements and sign them manually.  About a week later, it came to my attention that instead of keying a construction draw request of less than $25K, the A/P clerk keyed the remaining balance of over $275K to a contractor that the hospital was engaged in an active dispute with.  What do you think happened when this transaction went through the system without interruption and out to the contractor?  If you ass/u/me that he brought the check back, you would be sorely mistaken.  I am sure others can provide similar nightmare stories.

There are thousands of ways to be trapped by our own systems. The more complex the systems, the greater the number of interfaces with other systems and the higher the volume of transactions, the greater the potential for error and the larger the error will have to become before it is discovered by normal control and balancing processes.

Hiring mistakes

Another HUGE area of learning in the school of hard knocks is hiring decisions.  Jack Welsh said something to the effect of, “Getting the right people into the right jobs is a lot more important than developing a strategy.”  As an interim executive I have observed that one of the more common areas that gets organizations into trouble is hiring decisions that result in people being put into roles where they cannot succeed.  Some organizations and hiring decision makers are highly motivated to put the next person in line into a role whether they are qualified or not.  I have been criticized for bringing people from outside of town into the organization to fill crucial roles.  My response is that if  properly qualified local applicants were available, I would hire locally to save travel money if for no other reason.  I have counseled Boards and written on the subject of organizational performance being nothing more complicated than the collective caliber of the team on the field.  One of my mentors taught me by example the potential and value of getting the right people into the right places in an organization and the difference they can make.

Getting the right people is as important if not more important than avoiding hiring the wrong people by making mistakes in the vetting process.

AR valuation

I have seen so many executives brought down by incorrect valuations of their accounts receivable that I have lost count.  So many in fact, that I was inspired to address one of my blog articles to CEOs that all too often become one of the first victims of this error.  The article asks the question, ‘have you been caught looking?’  One of the biggest risks on a hospital’s financial statements is the valuation of revenue and accounts receivable and for every understatement, there are multiples of over-statements of receivable and revenue value.  In fact, I have not seen an undervaluation recorded although I have been in arguments with outside auditors about under and over valuations of revenue and A/R.  It is a lot easier to convince an audit partner to not book an undervaluation than it is an over valuation.   The executive that wishes to avoid becoming a victim of this trap needs to take the advice of my article on the topic to heart.

AR reclassifications

A reclassification of AR is potentially more dangerous and harder to catch than a simple error in calculating realizable value.  For example, consider an organization that holds self pay balances after insurance in the same bucket as the insurance.  This is considerably more common than many managers appreciate.  Suppose a commercial receivable is valued at 70% of the underlying charges and self pay receivables are valued at 5%.  When an amount like $5 million is reclassified from insurance to self pay to clean up a backlog after the insurance balances have been satisfied, the adjustment to the value of receivables will be 65% (70% – 5%) or $3.25 million.  There are other reasons for balances to accumulate in the wrong buckets on the receivable system leading to reclassification adjustments.  The receivables are not wrong, they are just valued incorrectly.  This kind of error is enough to knock an enormous dent into or potentially wipe out the operating income of any enterprise.  There are rarely adequate cushions or reserves in realizable value calculations to absorb a shock like this.

Summary

As can be seen, a text-book could easily be written on the topic of what not to do.  There are plenty of texts that are written on what to do, they are just all too regularly ignored.  Some leaders seem to not have the ability to connect academic learning and practice. These are but a few examples of things that I have seen go wrong in healthcare organization’s business operations.  This discussion is a good example of the value of experience.  Experienced executives operating on evidence based practice have a far better potential to avoid these pitfalls and others.  Sometimes the value of an executive in an organization is more related to what they know than what they do.  Once a patient in an outage accosted a surgeon  over his fee.  The patient took the position that the fee bore no relationship to the time spent on the procedure.  The surgeon replied that 5% of his fee was for the cutting and the other 95% was for knowing where to cut and what not to cut.

My plan is to publish another article on this topic with more examples of what not to do. If you have any stories to contribute, I would love to hear them.

I would like to thank Dr. Christy Lemak, Dean of the Health Administration program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for inspiring this article.  I am looking forward to seeing my grade.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any questions or observations you might have about these blogs or interim executive services in general.  As the only practicing Interim Executive that has done a dissertation on Interim Executive Services in healthcare in the US, I might have an idea or two that might be valuable to you.  I can also help with career transitions or career planning.

The easiest way to keep abreast of this blog is to become a follower.  You will be notified of all updates as they occur.  To become a follower, just click the “Following” link that usually appears as a bubble near the bottom this web page.

There is a comment section at the bottom of each blog page.  Please provide input and feedback that will help me to improve the quality of this work.

This is original work.  This material is copyrighted by me with reproduction prohibited without prior permission.  I note and  provide links to supporting documentation for non-original material.

If you would like to discuss any of this content or ask questions, I may be reached at ras2@me.com. I look forward to engaging in productive discussion with anyone that is a practicing interim executive or a decision maker with experience engaging interim executives in healthcare.

Should I pursue professional credentialing?

I need to start this article with a disclaimer.  I am HIGHLY BIASED in favor of professional credentialing.  If this is offensive to you, stop reading this now.  I am fairly well credentialed.  I have a Masters of Business Administration degree and a Doctorate of Science in Healthcare Administration.  I hold Fellowship certifications from both the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).  I hold HFMA certifications in Managed Care and Patient Financial Services (PFS).  I am in the first class to be certified by HFMA in managed care and I was the national co-valedictorian in my HFMA PFS exam class.  I served a sentence on HFMA’s Board of Examiners (BOE) including a year as Chairman of the BOE.  The BOE is responsible for HFMA’s professional certification program.  Other than this, I have not done much to improve myself professionally or promote professional certification.

Lest this come across as self aggrandizing, you should know that I had a rough time in high school but ended up being the first in my family to earn a bachelor’s degree and that undergraduate degree was bestowed by The University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.  One of the highlights of my service to the healthcare profession is my service on HFMA’s BOE.  A number of changes to the HFMA certification process occurred during my service on the Board and as the Chairman of the BOE that I am very proud of.  Changes that were focused on making the certification process more objective and making the preparation process more efficient.

You’re damn right I think credentialing is important.

More than anything else, I think a professional credential makes a statement about you.  I discuss this in my article about getting ahead.  Holding professional credentials makes a statement  that you have shown willingness to go beyond the minimum required by a job to be recognized by your peers in your discipline as being one of the best among them and an example for others seeking career advancement and improvement.

Professional certifications usually require a combination of education, experience and ability to demonstrate mastery of a discipline.  The effort required to obtain a credential is useful in that in the process of achieving the recognition, it is impossible to not learn something or possibly a lot.  This knowledge is helpful in career development and can differentiate you from your peers in a competitive job or search situation.  Among your peers, those with professional certifications are typically held in higher esteem.

For some credentials and some disciplines, certifications are minimum requirements for certain roles.  There was a time when holding an ACHE Fellowship was practically a minimum requirement for becoming a hospital CEO.  That is not as true today because of the shortage of FACHEs and the effects of some head-hunters focused on making their own jobs easier by convincing Boards of Directors that requiring professional certification will unnecessarily restrict the pool of candidates.  My question of a Board making a decision like this is why would they want to expand their net to catch applicants that did not feel that getting certification in their discipline was important?  Ironically in hospitals, these Boards preside over medical staffs that increasingly require Board Certification of their members.  My question is if they support requiring Board Certification of their physicians, why would they intentionally establish a lower threshold for the executives operating the organization?  If the demand was higher for certified leaders, it could result in an remuneration differential and lead to more executives seeking certification.  If I was advising a Board or a hiring executive, I would and have required headhunters to build a very strong case for recommending consideration of a non-certified executive when certified executives are available.

If you are an executive that is interested in career advancement, my advice is that credentialing is one of the first things you should consider.  The type of credentialing you pursue can vary depending upon your current or desired role.  In nursing for example,  a wide variety of credentials are available.  Many nurses carry several credentials.

We have all heard the adage that if something was simple or easy, everyone would have it. This principle certainly applies to credentialing.  Credentialing can be expensive, time consuming and difficult.  Credentials require a combination of minimum education, in-role experience, examinations, service under the tutelage of another certified leader and the like.  Each discipline has a process for determining the requirements for one of their members to be recognized as the best among them.  Some are more rigorous than others.  An argument can be made that the more onerous the process, the higher the value of the credential and the greater the degree to which a credentialed executive is set off from his peers.  In the case of HFMA, the credential is a Fellowship and it is earned by less than 10% of the members.  If you are a HFMA member, start paying attention to the certified status of your peers and look at their career advancement success compared to the 90%+ of uncertified members.  It should not surprise you to discover that the type of people that pursue professional certification are the same type of people that tend to advance their careers faster than others.  Is it the credential?  To a degree, I would argue that the answer is yes.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any questions or observations you might have about these blogs or interim executive services in general.  As the only practicing Interim Executive that has done a dissertation on Interim Executive Services in healthcare in the US, I might have an idea or two that might be valuable to you.  I can also help with career transitions or career planning.

The easiest way to keep abreast of this blog is to become a follower.  You will be notified of all updates as they occur.  To become a follower, just click the “Following” link that usually appears as a bubble near the bottom this web page.

There is a comment section at the bottom of each blog page.  Please provide input and feedback that will help me to improve the quality of this work.

This is original work.  This material is copyrighted by me with reproduction prohibited without prior permission and attribution.  I note and  provide links to supporting documentation for non-original material.

If you would like to discuss any of this content or ask questions, I may be reached at ras2@me.com. I look forward to engaging in productive discussion with anyone that is a practicing interim executive or a decision maker with experience engaging interim executives in healthcare.

What is a blind reference?

Some people naively think that the only reference checking that is done is with the references given by a candidate or to a head hunter.   Executives recruiting for talent will peruse your CV looking for places where you and they might have common acquaintances.  They will also look for places that some of their friends and professional contacts might have insights.  When these links are found which is most of the time for an experienced recruiter or hiring executive, you are about to become the victim of a blind reference.

A ‘blind reference’ is an investigation into your past by a hiring executive that you know nothing about.

I do not put a lot of faith in  references provided by a candidate although I have had candidates give me references that were not very complimentary of them.  If you are going to give a reference, at least have an idea about what they are likely to say about you.  No one that has any sense is going to intentionally give a bad reference on a candidate to a stranger.  I also disregard reference letters.  No one is going to write a letter that states the candidate is bad.  On occasion, I will write a reference letter for someone as a personal favor but I aways counsel them that reference letters in my opinion are a total waste of time.  The only time I pay any attention to a reference letter is if I know the author.

Because of political correctness and the cold legal realities associated with references these days, the best you are going to get from formal references in most cases is that the candidate was hired on one date and departed on another date.  The most you are likely to learn is that the candidate actually did work for the firm you are contacting for the stated period of time.  They will rarely tell you anything more because references are subjective by nature in most cases.  Subjective references that cause a candidate to be ruled out of a search can become a liability for the person that gave the reference.  This is one of the reasons that blind reference checking has grown in my opinion.

If I get a reference call on a candidate being evaluated by someone I do not know, I refer the call to HR where I know what they are going to be told.  Even if the reference call comes from a friend,  I know the candidate and I know them to be bad, usually instead of giving a bad reference, I will usually refer my friend to HR where they will get the standard, canned response.  The hiring manager gets the message.  If a friend encounters me refusing to give a reference, they get the message.

The more frequent call that I get is from a decision maker that is checking references that are not on the candidate’s list.  These are the calls that are dangerous for candidates because they are blind to the candidate; hence a blind reference call.  The candidate will never know in most cases they were vetted through a blind source.  This is one of the many reasons why it is so important to keep up your networking and to not burn bridges unnecessarily.  If you left a place under questionable circumstances, you need to have a good explanatory story and you need to be forthcoming and transparent.  Of course a blind reference is not necessarily a bad thing.  Under the right conditions, it can propel you to the front of the line.  I received a blind reference call on a candidate I happened to be considering at the same time.  I told the blind reference caller that they could dispense with their questions because my reference will be very simple, “If you do not hire her, I will.”  I had worked with this candidate before and she is outstanding.  She was going to end up with a gig regardless of how the reference checking worked out in this case.

When I get a blind call from someone I know and trust, they are going to learn the whole story.  The reason is that I know I can call them to have the favor returned at some point in the future.  If the candidate departed under less than ideal circumstances or told a story that I know to not be true, I will give the reference to HR as stated above.  This usually surprises the decision maker that hoped to get something from me.  The fact that I refuse to provide a reference for someone that the decision maker knows I know well usually tells them enough, especially when I put off multiple requests for help.   About the third time I refuse to provide any information, the recruiting executive gets the message.  If you are going to engage in this activity, you have to be absolutely certain that your confidence will be protected.  This is the main reason that I resist giving references to head hunters unless I know them personally because it is hard to be certain your confidentiality will be protected.

When you are looking for a job, who will the hiring decision maker call?  What will they be told by people you used to work around?  Time after time, I have received blind reference calls.  Often, these calls are about someone that has done little if anything to endear themselves to me or to even keep in touch.  People like this generally do not return calls, ask of an acquaintance while offering nothing of value i.e., they do not engage in networking, they do not accept meetings or referrals, they do not attend or participate in industry related networking or continuing education activities such as ACHE or HFMA.  I wonder what these people expect I am going to say about them?  And of course, all of this is above and beyond anything I might know about their acumen, experience or capabilities.   I would rather not receive these calls in the first place but I do not control who calls me.

I do not know what it is about some people.  In one case, I reached out to an executive that I thought might benefit from my insight about handling executive turnover in his organization.  He humored me then never called me back in spite of the fact that I specifically requested a call regarding a wealth of information that I volunteered.  I never heard from him and I do not expect to hear from him because his failure to take my advice was at least partially responsible for his own firing a couple of months later.  A few weeks ago, I got a blind reference call.  The guy was seeking employment with a consulting firm and I knew the hiring executive very well.  What do you think happened?

This kind of thing does not have to happen to you.  If you are smart, you will get serious about networking and building as many positive relationships as you can.  Many of these relationships come from active participation in associations, alliances and industry peer groups.  You should volunteer your time to give yourself exposure to people that you might need for a job some day and in the process help them develop a positive impression of  you.

There is a saying that there are three kinds of people;  Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and those that wonder what happened.  You never know when someone is going to make a call to someone that you might not even know; about you – a blind reference.  When that occurs, what will the results of that call be?  If you or someone you know is having difficulty getting a job and their qualifications appear competitive, they may be the victim of blind reference checking which puts them in the category of wondering what happened.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any questions or observations you might have about these blogs or interim executive services in general.  As the only practicing Interim Executive that has done a dissertation on Interim Executive Services in healthcare in the US, I might have an idea or two that might be valuable to you.  I can also help with career transitions or career planning.

The easiest way to keep abreast of this blog is to become a follower.  You will be notified of all updates as they occur.  To become a follower, just click the “Following” link that usually appears as a bubble near the bottom this web page.

There is a comment section at the bottom of each blog page.  Please provide input and feedback that will help me to improve the quality of this work.

This is original work.  This material is copyrighted by me with reproduction prohibited without prior permission.  I note and  provide links to supporting documentation for non-original material.

If you would like to discuss any of this content or ask questions, I may be reached at ras2@me.com. I look forward to engaging in productive discussion with anyone that is a practicing interim executive or a decision maker with experience engaging interim executives in healthcare.

Just a nurse?

Merry Christmas.  This article is my Christmas gift to my readers, especially nurses whether they read my blog or not.  I thank you for your support and wish all of you the very best for this Christmas season and a safe and prosperous new year.

My wife sent me an article that ran in Fox news about an Australian nurse that fought back on Facebook after having her fill of hearing, “just a nurse.”

One of the saddest aspects of our society in my opinion is the general lack of regard that people have for hospitals.  It is especially demoralizing when community leaders are actively engaged in destroying their community hospital and in the process disrespecting the doctors, nurses, volunteers, leadership and hard-working employees who would do anything for them at any time, no questions asked.  It makes you wonder whether the people who engage in this destruction even care about the capability of the hospital should they or one of their loved ones be stricken with an accident or illness.  I tell audiences regularly that it is not hard to see that  people do not care about the hospital . . . . until they need it.  The same people who persecute voluntary trustees and administrative representatives of their community hospital  expect nothing but the best that medicine has to offer when they or one of their loved ones needs the hospital’s services.  Some of these hypocrites will quietly seek healthcare elsewhere while doing nothing constructive to help their community hosptial.  Sometimes I wonder if the people in the towns where these activities occur realistically believe that they can escape an involuntary visit to their community hospital when they are the victim of an accident, a heart attack or some other unanticipated serious illness?

When the people who engage in activities of this ilk intentionally denigrate their hospital, they are disrespecting all of the employees, physicians and volunteers of the hospital by inference regardless of what they say.  Just like the disgusting, duplicative politicians that commit the young people in the military to life endangering missions then withhold resources and/or engage in open criticism of the military.  This disingenuous behavior is too routine in our society when we witness the spectacle of politicians holding hands and praying together before they send the military overseas only to then undermine and denigrate military leadership and increase the number of body bags coming home by their subsequent lack of support.

I view a hospital like an aircraft carrier.  On a carrier, EVERY person aboard the ship has a job that can be directly traced to the support of a relatively small number of airplanes and their pilots.   The ratio is over 6,000 to about 100.  In a hospital, the primary  reason for every person in the organization is to support the nursing function, more specifically, bedside nurses.  The services delivered in hospitals are for the most part ordered by physicians but they are delivered by nurses.  It is the nurse that is in the building with the patient 24/7/365.  It is the nurse that will place themselves between a patient and any source of danger or threat.  It is the nurse that is the first responder to the patient’s every need.  It is the nurse that carries our their responsibilities with dignity and pride even when they are disparaged or abused by physicians and other authority figures in a hospital.  It is the nurse that is the voice of assurance when a patient is afraid.  It is the nurse that is left to pick up the pieces when a tragedy occurs.  It is the nurse that carries out the final preparations following death.

Nurses control resource utilization and therefore the cost of providing healthcare.  It would seem that executives that are interested in getting more out of nursing would see to it that nurses have what they need to do their job.  In my experience, most of the time, no one has to tell nurses what to do.  They know what to do and they will do it gladly if we will facilitate their efforts and get out of their way.   Those of us in healthcare administration should be ever vigilant to remove barriers, policies and procedures that frustrate the efforts of our nurses to give their patients our collective best.  Nurses influence patient satisfaction and patient outcomes.  One of the greatest sins in society in my opinion is activities of any kind in a hospital that undermine nursing, particularity when these activities are carried out by authority figures.

You do not have to teach or train a nurse to be compassionate or focused on error free work.  In fact nurses operate at far higher levels of performance than the rest of us usually appreciate.  Most of us would not make it very long if we had to perform at the level of our nurses.  Nurses understand the grave consequences of errors in their work.  All too frequently, a nurse that is involved in an all too common human error becomes the second victim of a bad outcome.  That these people can function at all under this stress tells the rest of us how incredible our nurses are.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my relationships with nurses over the years.  The type of people who gravitate to nursing are special.  Most of them are motivated to be in a position to do things to help other people in their time of need.  They do not allow those of us that are ‘bad patients’ to detract from their focus to give us their best.  Their attitude is always positive and uplifting even when we are in the mist of having our worst day(s) and showing it liberally.

Most hospitals recognize their nurses by providing badging that clearly indicates that they are nurses.  One of my personal crusades is to make sure that EVERY nurse in the organization whether they are a bedside nurse or not PROUDLY display their RN identification so that no one will mistake these giants of humanity for any one of the rest of us regardless of their role.

What would our world be without nurses?  What would our world be without the type of people that gravitate to nursing?  What are we doing as leaders that is making life more difficult for our nurses?  Are we creating environments more or less conducive to patient safety?

The next time an opportunity presents itself, do not miss taking the time to thank every nurse you meet for their service to the hospital, its patients and your community.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any questions or observations you might have about these blogs or interim executive services in general.  As the only practicing Interim Executive that has done a dissertation on Interim Executive Services in healthcare in the US, I might have an idea or two that might be valuable to you.  I can also help with career transitions or career planning.

The easiest way to keep abreast of this blog is to become a follower.  You will be notified of all updates as they occur.  To become a follower, just click the “Following” link that usually appears as a bubble near the bottom this web page.

There is a comment section at the bottom of each blog page.  Please provide input and feedback that will help me to improve the quality of this work.

This is original work.  This material is copyrighted by me with reproduction prohibited without prior permission.  I note and  provide links to supporting documentation for non-original material.

If you would like to discuss any of this content or ask questions, I may be reached at ras2@me.com. I look forward to engaging in productive discussion with anyone that is a practicing interim executive or a decision maker with experience engaging interim executives in healthcare.

Thanksgiving 2016

As hard as it is to believe, it is Thanksgiving again already.  Thanksgiving is a time for all of us to stop running like we are crazy and reflect upon what we have to be thankful for.  Most of us are blessed beyond anything we deserve with health, family, wellbeing, a career and a lifestyle.  Most of my generation is blessed with a much higher standard of living than we grew up in.  In my case, I am so blessed that I would not know where to start to give proper thanksgiving for all that I have to be thankful for.

I am thankful for each and every one of you, my blog followers.  I am thankful for every person that has intervened throughout the course of my life to save me from myself or to mentor me so that I might be better prepared to serve healthcare organizations at their time of need.  Many of you have played critical roles by providing opportunities that have helped me to grow my skill and relevance to organizations in transition.  Many of you have taken chances on me to provide opportunities that I likely did not deserve to demonstrate that I might make a difference.   I am eternally grateful to everyone that has played a formative role in helping me become the person that I am today.  I sincerely hope that I have not been too much of a disappointment to some of you.

I am eternally grateful for the unbelievable people I have had the privilege of working with.  The incredible demonstrations of integrity, drive and knowledge around me have inspired me to embark on a never-ending odyssey of self-improvement.  I wish I was able to personally thank each and every one of you but time does not allow and I would be certain to overlook someone.

Recently, a CEO of a hospital I had served told me that the place was better for my intervention.  He went on to say that people in the town that never knew I was there owed me a debt of gratitude for the difference my service had made in that hospital and community.  Like so many people like us, this is what we live for; the opportunity to make a difference.  To help an organization and the people that make it up be better for the patients and families we serve.  We are so blessed to work in healthcare where our work improves the abilities of the organizations we serve to save lives and heal people.

Each and everyone of us can always find ways to be better.  This is a heavy burden for those of us serving in the healthcare industry.  In our case, people that do not know us are entrusting their very lives to our ability to insure that the organizations we serve delivers the very best that is possible for them.

I owe my family, especially my wife, thanks for putting up with me .  .  .  through years of education while working.  For getting moved several times.  For suffering with me through terminations and transitions.  For encouraging me and believing in me when no one else believed in me including myself.

I am thankful that I live in the United States.  In spite of the malaise that characterizes our country and the political divisiveness we suffer under, we still live in the best country on earth.  Not deterred by the fact that over the past eight years, we have seen the standard of living begin to fall as opportunities for the young, especially those in the middle class evaporate or are exported over seas;  we can remain thankful and resolved to each do our part to fix this mess for our children and grandchildren.  Now we have a historic opportunity to reverse some of the blight that has overwhelmed our country.

We all need to remember and be thankful for those that sacrificed so much to give us what we have in spite of the thankfully shrinking contingent of consistently incompetent, self-serving, dishonest and sorry politicians that we elected.  This is one thing we can thank the current administration for.  There has never been such a comprehensive sea-change of leadership at every level in our country inspired by disgust at what Washington has become.  Remember, it was around this time in 1941 that the Japanese fleet sailed for Pearl Harbor.

Last but not least, I wish to especially thank those in my inner circle.  Those that report to me directly or work closely with me who collectively have seen to it that I do not fail.  They consistently refuse to let me quit or get down on myself. Not only that, they will not allow me to get discouraged in spite of the daunting tasks I face.  They will not allow me to become demoralized and they continue to sacrifice much of themselves for the cause of the hospital we serve to insure that failure does not occur on our watch.  Thanks to all of you.

Every year, I try to make some calls during Thanksgiving week to thank some of the people that have meant so much to me.  I encourage you to do the same.  Life is so delicate, precious and short.  Among my regrets are things that I wish I had said to some people about how much they had meant to me or my family before it was too late.  Do not let this happen to you.

Here is a thanksgiving toast to you and yours:  Here is to health, money & love and the time to enjoy them – John D. McDonald

THANKS to each of you for being such a positive part of my life.  I wish the very best for you and yours for Thanksgiving and the upcoming Christmas season.  I appreciate each and every one of you.

Ray Snead

Where is Mark Richt?

A lot of people do not understand executive succession events.  It is common for a leader to be liked inside and outside the organization.  The performance of the leader is seen differently based upon the perspective of the viewer.  While many may see a leader as ‘nice’ and ‘trying hard’ others see him as ineffective.  In several of my articles, I make reference to the fact that as you progress in leadership, you are evaluated more on the results of what you do than the effort expended in leadership.  Some times, personal or organizational limitations inhibit the potential of a leader to be effective regardless of how hard he tries.  Ultimately, the people responsible for the leader conclude that in order for the organization to reach its perceived potential, a leadership change is necessary.  It is at this point that executive turnover begins and it is almost always followed by collateral turnover as lower level leaders are replaced in an effort to improve the ability of the organization to better meet its challenges or mission.

In Georgia, we have an excellent example of this phenomena.  When someone asks me what happened to someone or how the organization could do something so harsh to such a nice guy, I ask them, “Where is Mark Richt?”  In November of 2015, the University of Georgia announced that Mark Richt was leaving.  Many wonder why.  This gives me an opportunity to launch a Socratic dialog.  My questions usually go something like this:

Would anyone argue with the following premises?

That Mark Richt was not a nice guy?

That he compiled a record at Georgia and in the NCAA that places him among the icons of sport leadership?

That he did not understand the game of football?

That he did not want to win?

That he did not live an exemplary Christian life?

That he intervened in the lives of dozens if not hundreds of young people to set their lives on a better course?

And in spite of all of this, he is gone.  However painful the transition must have been for him, at least it was a homecoming of sorts as he has returned to his alma mater in Florida.

The reason for the transition is that the people responsible for Mark’s employment concluded that the program was not going to reach its expected potential under his leadership.  Those of us familiar with SEC football know that this means that nothing much matters in GA if you cannot beat Alabama and Florida consistently.

People are inclined to blame a lot of things for a situation like this.  Things like recruiting, the players, the coaches, facilities, funding, the play book, play calling and on and on.  Sometimes a coach like a business leader is handicapped by unexpected loss of talent due to behavioral issues like those pointed out in another of my articles, injuries, transfers or other losses.  The reason is irrelevant.  The leader of an organization or part of an organization is accountable for the results achieved or lack thereof and a responsibility that cannot be abdicated rests upon his shoulders.

Sometimes, leadership turnover induced in an organization makes things worse.  We will see as the season progresses if the Georgia team has achieved improvement.  As is the case in situations like this, it may take some time (several seasons) before the final analysis can be done.  As I have said before, if you are a leader, you have to lead; from the front.  You cannot wait for someone to tell you what to do.  In order to be effective, you must take initiative and frequently risk if you wish to keep yourself ‘off the radar.’  This is unless you have reached the limits of your capability and are falling victim to the Peter Principle.  If this is the case, you still have control of your destiny.  You must continue to invest in yourself though study, professional credentialing, post-graduate education or other means of continually re-inventing yourself and maintaining your relevance to a constantly changing and increasingly challenging environment.

The current healthcare environment is difficult to say the least.  As the industry transitions to value based payment, many of the rules and assumptions of the past are crumbling before our eyes.  Individuals and organizations that are capable of adapting and prospering in this rapidly changing environment will do well while many others will fall by the wayside.  Leadership is hard enough in a ‘stable’ environment if there is such a thing.  It is infinitely more difficult in an environment where the organization is striving to improve itself while it reacts to external environmental forces.

What is the outcome of your self assessment?  Are you up to the challenges?  Do you understand the nature of coming heightened demand to make your area better?  If so, are you up to the challenges and opportunities that are being presented?

One of my personal challenges is that I am ever cognizant of the difference between what I believe are my capabilities those of my team of leaders and what I believe the environment is demanding.  I will never be satisfied that we are accomplishing as much as our collective potential should deliver.  As a result, I spend a great deal of time in continuous study and research in an  effort to improve my ability to understand and properly respond to challenges, opportunities and risks that come my way every day.  I feel the burden of leaders reporting to me, the staff of the organization, the patients, the medical staff and the hope of the community that we will ‘get it right’ for them.  I find the exhilaration of this dynamic environment stimulating and I am up to the challenge.  My hope for you is that through these articles and your development of you own capability you will be inspired to emerge as one of the strongest leaders in your organization.

As the healthcare environment continues to become more challenging, organizations and their leadership teams are being shaken out.  This is what is causing a lot of the consolidation we are seeing in the healthcare industry.  Leaders, systems and processes that worked in the past are failing in this tougher environment.  Some of the problem is government induced problems that are difficult if not impossible for community hospitals to overcome.  An example is the cumulative effects of government healthcare policy on rural hospitals that are systematically being forced out of business.  In spite of these handicaps, some organizations do better in a given environment than others.  There is a dearth of leadership in healthcare just like there is in professional sports, business and other endeavors.  One of the causes of the inordinately high turnover in healthcare administration is a continuing effort on the part of hospital Boards and executive leadership to improve the caliber of talent and this effort is one of the reasons that good people are being turned out of organizations at an alarming rate.  One of the few benefits of this activity is that it is creating growing demand for Interim Executive Services.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any questions or observations you might have about these blogs or interim executive services in general.  As the only practicing Interim Executive that has done a dissertation on Interim Executive Services in healthcare in the US, I might have an idea or two that might be valuable to you.  I can also help with career transitions or career planning.

The easiest way to keep abreast of this blog is to become a follower.  You will be notified of all updates as they occur.  To become a follower, just click the “Following” link that usually appears as a bubble near the bottom this web page.

This is original work.  This material is copyrighted by me with reproduction prohibited without prior permission.  I note and  provide links to supporting documentation for non-original material.

If you would like to discuss any of this content or ask questions, I may be reached at ras2@me.com. I look forward to engaging in productive discussion with anyone that is a practicing interim executive or a decision maker with experience engaging interim executives in healthcare.

What is the value proposition of an Interim Executive?

Interim Executive Services as defined in my ‘About‘ page is not as common in the US as it is in Europe.  On the continent, in order to practice as an interim executive, a person needs to have a certification similar to a CPA in the US.  In the US, it is still the wild west when it comes to interim executives.  A few years back, a private enterprise in NC attempted to establish a credential for interim executives but the effort failed so now it is a buyer beware market.  There are firms providing interim services but in my experience these firms do very little in terms of either training or providing oversight for their interims.  The interims are placed and they are usually on their own from that point.  This raises the question of the value proposition of an interim executive because the proposed pricing is usually higher than the hourly rate for the employee being replaced.

In my experience dealing with buyers of interim services, the first and often most heavily weighed consideration is the cost of the interim resource.  The less sophisticated the decision maker, the more likely that they will be motivated primarily if not exclusively by cost.  This is because they do not get or choose to ignore the value proposition.  This has happened to me time after time.  Each time, I held my ground and demanded a fair premium for my services.  In each case, I told my client that if they did not find value in my services, they could terminate me without cause or notice.  Once they had a chance to experience what a sophisticated interim executive could provide, the cost issue was not raised again.  A decision maker that seizes an opportunity to buy interim services at a small or no premium should be worried about what they will be getting for their money.

I am aware of interim firms that prey on executives in transition that are desperate for income.  Some of these interims will take any job at any price.  The interim firm then sells their services based on price alone and is successful getting a markup of 30% to 50% while providing a price sensitive decision maker just what they paid for.

What would rationalize a premium for a sophisticated interim executive?  There are many considerations that a decision maker should contemplate in addition or in lieu of rate.  I am making repetitive use of the adjective ‘sophisticated’ when referring to interim executives.  There are differences in the sophistication of interim executives and the decision makers that engage them.  These differences are discussed in an earlier article.

The criteria below while useful in understanding the value proposition of a sophisticated interim executive may be equally if not more valuable in evaluating potential interim resources for fit in your organization.

I would advise against hiring the first interim you see unless you have a recommendation from a source that you highly trust.  When I worked with Tatum, they made it a habit to present at least two resources on each project so that the decision maker would have the ability to see more than one alternative and make their own choice instead of letting the interim firm sell them on whoever happened to be currently sitting on their bench with nothing better to be doing at the time.

Experience – One thing worth paying a premium for is experience.  The typical interim executive is a late career individual with a lot of experience, usually in a number of organizations.  The depth and breadth of this experience allows them to assimilate quickly an organization and to begin creating value almost immediately.  This is particularly true if the interim has on-point experience, something you should always look for.

In addition to career experience, it is worth paying a premium for an interim executive with multiple interim engagements on their CV.  The approach to a position as an interim is radically different from what one would take as an employee.  It is worth paying a premium for an experienced interim unless you already have another interim in the organization that can serve as a mentor.

Credentials – In addition to being highly experienced, sophisticated interims tend to carry above average credentials.  Things like advanced degrees, CPA certifications, ACHE, HFMA  and/or fellowships.  These credentials may or may not specifically make one person better than another but the probability that a credentialed executive is going to have a higher level of cognitive capability and an innate drive toward personal excellence is a pretty safe bet.  Another consideration is that no one requires executives to seek advanced education and professional credentialing.  In a situation where everything else is equal, I will always favor a credentialed individual because the very fact that they have obtained a credential is proof of their drive to go beyond the minimum required to get by.  In my experience, credentialed executives are always superior for this reason alone.  As most of us that are credentialed know, you do actually learn something in the credentialing process that might come in handy once in a while.

Expertise – Knowing what you are doing should count for something.  I have seen more than one decision maker hire the first resource they could find that had a heart beat only to make the situation infinitely worse when the interim executive failed.  Most decision makers I have met do not know how to supervise or manage an interim executive.  For example, I would argue that most CEOs do not have the ability to manage a CFO from a technical or risk management standpoint.  I discuss this phenomenon in an earlier article.  The risk for the decision maker is that if the interim fails, the decision maker will usually be held accountable.  The interim will go on to the next gig while the decision maker that may not have been considering relocating finds himself hanging paper from home.

Mentorship – Sophisticated interims are invaluable in the potential they present to mentor rising executives in an organization.  A sophisticated interim executive that knows how to mentor properly can help turn younger leaders into rising stars.  In addition, interim engagements frequently lead to demand for additional interim resources that were not anticipated at the beginning of an engagement.  In this situation, an interim that has the capability to manage and/or mentor other interims can bring a very high value to an organization.  I have engaged a number of interims while serving as an interim myself.  I can say from experience that I believe I have delivered substantial value by making sure that the other interims were doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Judgment – You have probably heard the one liner that says, “Good judgment comes from the experience we get by exercising bad judgment.”  I would argue that having the ability to bring above average experience and judgment to bear on a problem is worth paying for.  Experienced executives, especially interim executives can be expected to have better judgment than a decision maker might be accustomed to.

Stability – A transition situation is unstable by definition.  My practice has shown me that the only thing you can be certain of in a transitory situation is that you cannot be certain of anything.  Some people have difficulty dealing with unstable, unpredictable situations.  After or arguably before a decision maker initiates a transition, they should be thinking ahead about their next steps and high among them should be an effort to stabilize the situation so that a business interruption or a bad outcome may be avoided.

Morphing deals – Some people need predictability and stability in order to function effectively.  They are unnerved by constantly changing circumstances and seize up.  An experienced interim executive knows that as a project progresses, things will happen and changes will become necessary that were not initially expected.  The project morphs from one set of circumstances to another.  It is worth paying for experience that can not only help stabilize a situation but experience that can adapt to unforeseen challenges.

Easy to sever – I have seen interim engagements fail.  There is no way that I know of  to accurately predict in advance if the interim executive will be what was expected or whether or not they will be effective in your organization.  In the event that the engagement is not working, you should have the ability to have the interim replaced immediately without cause or notice.  I discuss this in my article about contracting.  If the interim deal is not working, it is highly unlikely that it will improve.  I have had to terminate an interim before the end of their second week in an organization.  In the event that something like this occurs, the sooner you act, the less the potential for damage.  The other side of this is that the issue may not be anything worse than a bad fit.  I am happy to be the easiest person in the organization to get rid of but if I am expected to bear this risk, part the premium I receive justifies me taking this risk.

Interim services firms will endeavor to mitigate this risk by asking for minimum engagement time periods.  My advice would be to pay the premium and refuse to accept a minimum term as explained in my contracting article.

Velocity – In my article about contracting, I talk about the importance of velocity as it relates to interim engagements.  Frequently, decision makers procrastinate about making a decision but once they make up their minds, they want the resource TOMORROW.  Providing this kind of flexibility is worth paying a premium for especially if the resource you want has been waiting for you to make a decision.  If you want a resource to sit around waiting for you make a decision and be at you beck and call at any time, you need to be prepared to pay a premium for this luxury.

Rapid acclimation – When I was at Tatum, the firm’s mantra was ‘Velocity.’  The connotation is that the firm focused on rapid response.  What I have learned from the stages of an interim engagement is that once a decision maker decides to bring an interim executive in, they want them tomorrow.  Part of the premium a decision maker pays is to get  an interim executive  to get to their site quickly,   Sophisticated interim executives also know how to assess a situation quickly.  This skill and experience allows them to become productive much faster than would be expected of an employee.  Decision makers tend to vacillate and procrastinate about a decision to bring in interim resources.  They should not be unhappy about paying a premium for a resource that can help them compensate for the time it took to get the interim on their site.

No benefits – An interim deal is simple from the perspective that it usually only involves the professional fee and out of pocket expenses.  Unsophisticated decision makers will compare the salary rate of the departed employee with the billing rate of the interim and conclude that the interim is expensive without taking into consideration that the employee had benefit cost somewhere in the range of 25% of their compensation.  Not having an interim executive on the organization’s benefit plan is clean and can be a cost saving aspect of the engagement.

Living and travel burden – If you don’t think an interim executive deserves a premium, try living in a hotel and traveling every week.  Not only does this create an expense that substantially adds to the cost of an interim engagement, it is very hard on the interim executive.  The longer the engagement lasts, the harder this becomes on the interim.  It is too easy for decision makers to forget the interim executive as they are going home a warm meal and the privilege of going to bed with their spouse while the interim is separated from their family, eating out and going to sleep in a cold bed.  This aspect of interim executive consulting by itself warrants a premium.  I accept that the burden of travel goes with Interim work but I wonder if the price my family and marriage have paid for me to do this work has been worth any amount of money.  I have lost my sensitively about what I ask for my services primarily be causes of the burden that the interim lifestyle places on the consultant.  I discuss this in detail in my article about becoming a an interim executive.

While I could take the position that it is not a problem of mine, I deeply resent the cost associated with being an interim executive.  Travel, food, temporary lodging and other costs associated with an interim executive is a significant proportion of the total cost of an interim resource.  It drives me crazy to pay these costs or incur them on behalf of a client.  This is one of the strongest reasons for making sure that you are getting your money’s worth from any interim you engage.

Hired independently or via a firm – My experience is showing me that there is a growing population of ‘free agent’ interim executives.  Firms that place interims will take somewhere in the range of 30% – 50% of the total professional fee for their overhead and profit.  In addition, because of what I would describe as oppressive government overreach, most if not all firms now require their interims to work on a W-2 instead of a 1099 or K-1.  This can result in the interim losing tax benefit in the best case and paying tax on out-of-pocket expenses in the worst case.  While free agent interims can be harder to find because you have to know how to network to find them, they can be less expensive because they are not taking a hair cut in a direct deal.  In my experience, a free-lance interim is likely to be much better than interims that come from firms for a variety of reasons that are beyond the scope of this article.

Summary – I could go on but I trust that as a decision maker or an interim for that matter, you can see that there is plenty of justification for a premium for interim executive services.  The premiums I have seen run 50% or more over the base salary of the executive being replaced.  If you are a decision maker, you should not be afraid of paying a premium to get superior skills and resources brought to bear quickly on complex or dangerous business problems and or transitions.  Quibbling over rate can slow down the process of getting the right resource and can prevent you from getting the best possible skill in place.  One of the most profound value propositions of an interim executive is their ability to raise the probability that the decision maker that hired them will not also become a victim of the transitions that created the need for the interim in the first place.  In my experience, decision makers routinely discount this aspect of an interim engagement’s value that is in  my opinion one of the strongest reasons for paying a premium for the right interim.

If you are an interim executive, you should not ever sell yourself short.  I took a haircut on a deal that was only supposed to last 3 months to mitigate on behalf of the firm something that I had nothing to do with.  After three months, the firm would not get my rate corrected and the engagement ended up lasting thirteen months.  I will not work with that firm again because they have demonstrated in more than one case involving me that they cannot be trusted.  As an aside, from my perspective in this case, the firm detracted significantly from its value to me while adding insignificantly to the client’s value.  If you have experience as an interim, you know that one certainty is that you are probably going into a situation that will turn out to be significantly different from what was described and invariably more challenging.  You also know that there is a very high probability that you are going to be in the organization much longer than the decision maker assumes at the onset.  In my  experience once you have proven your value, decision makers will take considerably more time getting you out than they took getting you in.  I have helped decision makers over the cost hump by reminding them that hiring me is a no risk proposition.  They can send me packing the day that they decide that the engagement is not working or that I am failing to produce more value than they expected.  I am happy to take this risk as long as I am being appropriately compensated.  I have yet to be sent packing.  In every case, I have remained much longer than initially expected or planned.  Some interim firms prey on unsophisticated executives in transition by buying them at or below what they were receiving as an employee and reselling them at a market consulting rate.  If you allow yourself to be prostituted in this manner it is your own fault.

In closing, I believe there is substantial justification for paying a premium for interim executive services.  I postulate that the time usually lost by decision makers that struggle with the decision to bring an interim in can quickly create costs and/or losses that far exceed any premium.  As I said in an earlier article, if you are a decision maker, make a decision.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss any questions or observations you might have about these blogs or interim executive services in general.  As the only practicing Interim Executive that has done a dissertation on Interim Executive Services in healthcare in the US, I might have an idea or two that might be valuable to you.  I can also help with career transitions or career planning.

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This is original work.  This material is copyrighted by me with reproduction prohibited without prior permission.  I note and  provide links to supporting documentation for non-original material.

If you would like to discuss any of this content or ask questions, I may be reached at ras2@me.com. I look forward to engaging in productive discussion with anyone that is a practicing interim executive or a decision maker with experience engaging interim executives in healthcare.