15. Influential and Effective Leadership for Good w/ Michael Frisina, PhD, MBA, LTC(R)

In this episode, we explore the four fundamental human needs, strategies for developing your influence as a leader, and best practices to not only increase your effectiveness but also build your character as a person who does good in the world.

What are our four fundamental human needs as individuals and leaders – and how do highly collaborative relationships and social networks meet our needs as individuals and leaders? Tune in and find out!

Our guest is Michael E. Frisina, founder and president of The Frisina Group, LLC. and The Center for Influential Leadership who is responsible for teaching, publishing, and speaking on the current trends in organizational performance.

Dr. Frisina serves as Chairman of the Health Administration Advisory Council for the American Public University/American Military University and is also an Executive in Residence with The University of North Texas School of Public Health.

Dr. Michael Frisina links:

https://www.thefrisinagroup.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-e-frisina-phd-ltc-r-united-states-army-717a9614/

Music Credit:

Jason Shaw from www.Audionautix.com

THE IMPERFECT SHOW NOTES

To help make this podcast more accessible to those who are hearing impaired or those who like to read rather than listen to podcasts, we’d love to offer polished show notes. However, Swift Healthcare is in its first year. 

What we can offer currently are these imperfect show notes. The transcription is far from perfect. But hopefully it’s close enough - even with the errors - to give those who aren’t able or inclined to audio interviews a way to participate.  Please enjoy!

Transcript:

Influential & Effective Leadership for Good w/ Michael Frisina, PhD, MBA, LTC(R)

[00:00:00] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:00:00] Welcome folks to another episode of the Swift healthcare video podcast.

[00:00:03] I'm Patrick Swift. And I'm delighted that you're here listening, watching, and we have a fantastic show for you. And the focus of our show is influential and effective leadership for good. And we have the illustrious Michael  E. Frisina . Michael, welcome to the show.

[00:00:22] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:00:22] Thank you, Patrick. Great to see you. Great to be with you.

[00:00:25] Hello everyone.

[00:00:26]Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:00:26] . Thank you Michael, for being here and folks, let me share with you. Michael's bio. This is impressive. And here we go. Michael E. Frisina is founder and president of the Frisina group and the center for influential leadership. Responsible for teaching. Publishing and speaking on the current trends and organizational performance, Dr. Frisina  is a retired career officer of the United States army medical department, and a former civilian healthcare executive. He served in multiple roles in his career. Uh, currently he serving as, uh, including all the work he's [00:01:00] doing as chairman of health administration advisory council with American public university American military university.

[00:01:06] He's the author of two books, influential leadership. Change your behavior, change your organization, change healthcare. I love that title and leading yourself to a higher level of performance. And he's working on a third book right now. All right. With the ACHE . Is that right? Michael? Yeah.

[00:01:22] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:01:22] Health administration press titled effective leadership behavior.

[00:01:26] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:01:26] Awesome. This is great. I'm excited. I'm looking forward to seeing that, um, you've authored over 50 papers and published articles on leadership and organizational effectiveness, and he's a longterm ACHE faculty member in the executive leadership track and two-time educational grant awardee. And lastly, I'll share he's an executive in residence with the university of North Texas school of public health. Welcome Michael.

[00:01:50] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:01:50] Thank you, Patrick.

[00:01:52] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:01:52] Yeah, man. And as a salute to Texas, um, for those of you watching the show, I've got my cowboy hat here. This is a 10 gallon resist all [00:02:00] hat and being a native Texan. I just have to, I have to throw out some, some heres to Texas, uh, for, um, for the show. And Michael, I want to begin by saying thank you for your service,

[00:02:11] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:02:11] well, thank you. I'd still be doing it. If they didn't tell me I was too old, but I still, I can still pass the old physical fitness test. I don't know. I can do the new one, but I can still do the old

[00:02:20] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:02:20] one. That's fantastic. I wish I could say that. Um, but thank you for your service and my pleasure in honor of, um, veterans.

[00:02:28] Um, there's two things. One I want to bring up folks, um, is I'm a regular contributor to the wounded warrior project, monthly contribute my wife and I support the wounded warrior project. Um, very supportive of that. Um, and if you watch my show, you know, I drink a lot of coffee. And, um, I'm constantly sipping on my coffee as I'm talking to my guests and I have some coffee that someone sent me.

[00:02:51] This is not a paid endorsement. Um, this is just, uh, a dear colleague of mine sent me Trident coffee, um, which is a veteran owned business. So we need to support our veterans. [00:03:00] And it sounds a little like mariachi and their son of a son of a sailor is, um, uh, organic Mexico, choppa Chiapas , us and my Mexican grandmother.

[00:03:09] I is from Chiapas , the, the birthplace of, uh, some very, um, uh, socially progressive, uh, leaders in Mexico for a revolution. And certainly we need a revolution in healthcare. So a lot of good stuff to throw out here in the beginning of our show, and

[00:03:25] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:03:25] it's not bad coffee. Uh, if you'd like to, uh, Try it, um, it's Navy coffee.

[00:03:30] It's not army, you know, army good army coffee. You can stand a spoon up inside a cup of coffee, but as the Navy goes, you know, go army beat Navy, um, former faculty at West point, I've got to make sure I stay true to the core. So, um, go army beat Navy, but it's not bad coffee.

[00:03:50] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:03:50] Uh, for an army guy, uh, saying that about me coffee that's high praise. So, uh, Dr. Frisina , thank you. And, and, um, we've got a good sense of humor at the same time. [00:04:00] You know, we've got some good content for you. Um, uh, and we're going to be talking about, um, effective leadership, influential and effective leadership for good. So let's get right to it. So starting with influential leadership, you and I had a little brief conversation before, and what we started touching on was fascinating to me.

[00:04:16] And I want you to you to ask you to share with us. From your framework in all your experience and the perspective you've had. You've distilled a lot of great content for folks who are listeners, whether you're a leader or you're an aspiring leader. I don't care if you're in high school. I don't care if you're a 68 year old CEO of a hospital, we all can learn about leadership.

[00:04:36] And this show is about best practices. As about understanding leadership and new, a new, a new, even if you're a black belt, if you maintain a white belt attitude, you can learn more and you can be better and you can do good. That being said, let's talk about the four fundamental human needs. Dr. Frisina .

[00:04:53] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:04:53] Sure. If, if leadership is anything, it's a social activity. We live our lives in a variety of social [00:05:00] networks. Our family is a shelter network. You have a group of friends and colleagues you can serve and service organizations, and then you have work. And if work isn't anything, the workplace, it's a network of social activity.

[00:05:12] So because of that, we can look at what, what I. Like to base the majority of our work on is the brain itself and how the brain functions from a physiological perspective, not psychology, but neuroanatomy, the different parts of the brain and different parts of the brain and how they interact. Uh, as we engage in these social networks and the neurochemicals that are stimulated from.

[00:05:35] Uh, social network behavior, uh, very simply, you know, the idea of leadership for good changing the world for good relieving. Some of the burden, the pain, the chaos of the world around us, you know, there's enough behavior that contributes to evil. We need to be focusing on behavior that focuses on contributing good and overcoming the evil with good.

[00:05:56] And so fundamentally the whole idea of [00:06:00] influential leadership and how you measure your effectiveness. As in your leadership behavior, there is no more critical element to your teams. Being able to function, to work, to focus on your objectives, to line objectives, to key results to you, getting the results you desire as a leader, then your individual leader behavior.

[00:06:17] And so the foundational thought that I had that got all of this started. Patrick about 10 years ago, was this one thought that individual leader behavior is the single most important predictor to how a team performs and believing that to be true. I wanted to be able to have science-based approach to proving it.

[00:06:36] And so we turned at that time about 10 years ago, this burgeoning growth in neuroscience and discovering parts of the brain and neurochemicals and how the brain works. And one of those very quickly as an example, leading to these four fundamental human needs of social networks and how we exchange and pour into each other.

[00:06:53] And these four fundamental human needs was simply through the act of kindness. Uh, we know that, uh, when [00:07:00] you engage in an act of kindness or someone does an act of kindness to you, and this is what's really amazing. If you just observe an act of kindness, you watch somebody else, right. In kind to somebody else, your brain responds exactly the same way and releases a neurochemical called oxytocin and oxytocin is essential.

[00:07:18] High levels of oxytocin are essential for creating connection in social networks. So that leads to then to, well, what is it? And fundamental, legitimate human needs in any social network, within a family, within service communities within work, and they are trust, compassion, stability, and security, or I just like to say safety because it brings stability and security together.

[00:07:42] So we have trust, compassion, safety, and hope. So as a leader, if you can find ways through your behavior to do tangible acts into the life of another person. That manifest a neurochemical response and neurophysiological response in brain [00:08:00] cells, wiring together, firing together as the neuroscience community likes to say neurons that fire together wire together.

[00:08:07] So

[00:08:08] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:08:08] as a neuropsychologist, as a neuropsychologist, I endorse that statement

[00:08:12] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:08:12] and yeah, and see right now your upper brain is just blowing up and we'll talk about the upper brain momentarily.

[00:08:17] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:08:17] The caffeine I'm drinking or well,

[00:08:19] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:08:19] That that'll do some of it short term, but that dopamine and some neuro epinephrin and a goodly amount of oxytocin just from the social exchange that we're having right now.

[00:08:31] Uh, so this, you know, and this goes to points of influence at work. So as a leader, you know, um, and I talk about leaders showing up. Let's say, for example, your team is in a conference room waiting for you to show up for the meeting and you walk into the room, does their upper brain, the prefrontal cortex, the cingulate cortex that lies just below it.

[00:08:52] You have your prefrontal cortex right up here. And the singular cortex sits right underneath it. That's where all your executive skill sets are. [00:09:00] That's where your decision-making process skill is. That's where your competency skill is. That's where you manage perspective on decision-making your strategy, the plan that you've created.

[00:09:11] So everything related to process and execution is right up here in a prefrontal cortex, but there's another part of the brain. I just call it the lower brain. Uh, neuroscience research has found a clump of different types of brain anatomy that they just have now referred to as the limbic brain. And that's the emotional brain.

[00:09:29] And that's what your process, how am I feeling about what I'm experiencing? So the influence dynamic of a leader. Is are people willing to follow you? Are people willing to execute your plan? At high levels of performance outcomes are people engaged in their work? And, and my definition of engagement differs from the literature to the degree that that for me engagement is if you've got people waking up in the middle of the night, disappointed, it's not time to go to work yet.

[00:09:56] You've got leadership influence. Now that's an ideal obviously, but [00:10:00] if you aim at the ideal and you strive at the ideal somewhere, Between where your teams are now and where they could be. You're going to raise a level of performance excellence. And at the end of the day, while we make how we behave toward people and end in of itself, how we create high, effective, uh, and highly collaborative relationships and these social networks by meeting these four fundamental human needs as leaders, we now can take that.

[00:10:27] In itself as an end in itself and use it as a means for driving performance and getting results and what that means in the lives of others. And particularly in healthcare that translates to performance and high levels of safety, higher levels of quality and higher levels of patient experience. So performance then becomes a function of two skill sets.

[00:10:44] Your executive skillset. In your prefrontal cortex and your behavior capacity, how you're affecting the emotional component of someone else's brain, the limbic brain, and for fun, uh, in my teaching sessions, coaching sessions, I just like to call this neurochemical [00:11:00] bartending. If you know how to mix the right drink in somebody's head,

[00:11:03] that's my leadership style.

[00:11:04] They'll follow you anywhere. They'll follow you anywhere. Now. Here's the thing,

[00:11:09] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:11:09] Neurochemical bartender! 

[00:11:10] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:11:10] Your, your team members, your team members get to bring the mixers. But you, as the leader provide the main ingredient, I

[00:11:17] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:11:17] Amen to that.  That. I meant to that I, I love that you've touched on so many  and so many elements here of engagement of neuroanatomy of, uh, the, the four fundamental needs that you're touching on.

[00:11:28] And you also said, That when folks aren't waking up in the middle of the night, excited about going to work. Um, you've, you've got, I think you said a problem there. If you're not having folks fully engaged, how let's I want to unpack that Michael, because I resonated with it because I have worked in environments where I could not wait to get to work.

[00:11:55] And I've worked in environments where I dreaded going to work and it's [00:12:00] all, well, that's a larger as to larger statement. It is largely due to the leader. Right. And, um, my question to you is whether you are a frontline worker, whether you're a middle manager or you're the senior executive in an organization, he, she or they are in those roles.

[00:12:18] Tell me what a listener right now can do to address their own needs, because we've spoken about neurochemical, bartending and leadership. Amazing. I love that idea. I'll be thinking about that all day. Um, but I also want to drive it toward what can individuals do to address those needs?

[00:12:36] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:12:36] Well, the first thing is we've heard recently, particularly the last year because of the pandemic, but even before then, people didn't take seriously the idea of self care.

[00:12:47] Uh, leaders, uh, tend not to think of themselves as champions as I like to refer to it. You know, if you're an Olympic athlete you're involved in a tremendous amount of self care, [00:13:00] do your exercise, your diet, your sleep regimen, you're avoiding, uh, bringing toxins into your body through cigarettes and, and consumption of too much alcohol.

[00:13:10] Right? A little wine in moderation. Yeah. You know, that type of thing, but, but excessive use of alcohol, there's a whole source of things. So stress, dynamic, and inability to relieve stress or to avoid stress. You know, there's this phenomenon that you're aware of. I'm sure called an Allostatic Load.

[00:13:27] Whenever you're put in a threat environment that lower brain just lights up like the 4th of July. And that's a good thing because we want to be able to recognize I'm at risk. There's a real threat here. My life could really be in danger in a military scenario that saves your life. Many times is this rapid, immediate, acute stimulation of threat response and the cortisol that comes with it as a neuro hormone, that's letting you know, you're at risk.

[00:13:52] Do something, respond, react, take action for survival, but when you're not in a real threat [00:14:00] environment and that threat is perceived or that threat is, uh, more emotional. Than it is physical because of the dysfunctional energy exchange of behaviors in your social networks. And you're getting cortisol day after day after day after day, you now get what becomes an Allostatic Load.

[00:14:17] And we're all familiar with the, the metaphor, the straw that broke the camel's back. You get to a point where this Allostatic Load removes the homeostatic functioning of your brain. And when that happens, it's like a light switch goes off and your prefrontal cortex just turns off. You lose the ability, both cognitive and emotional and physiological ability to connect to the part of the brain where all of your performance skillset resides.

[00:14:44] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:14:44] And so your ability to make decisions declines , your ability to make good decisions declines, , right?

[00:14:50] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:14:50] Execution of the plan declines , uh, you don't come to work ready to connect with and engage and aligned to the key objectives and advanced the key objectives of the organization's [00:15:00] to results you're coming to work to survive.

[00:15:02] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:15:02] Yeah. So Michael then. For a listener right now. Yes. Think being aware, great imagery, athletes take care of themselves. Health care providers, leaders, people in general, don't prioritize self care in general because not the part of the professional identity. I'm a professional athlete. Therefore I need to stretch in the morning, um, as a professional healthcare folks, whether we're leaders or providers, we don't stretch in the morning.

[00:15:27] We just go right into work. So, um, we're talking about those needs. So I want to hear from you, what can folks do to address those needs on a regular basis? What's a best practice one. Um, and let's talk about the influential leadership piece to it as well.

[00:15:42] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:15:42] Yeah. I call it an executive fitness. Patrick, you need to create a fitness regimen to be an effective leader. If you, if you lack physical energy, but if executive work. Requires anything. It requires a large degree of stamina because typically [00:16:00] the length of the Workday that most executives put themselves into. And so the, the physical energy, uh, and that goes right to the first idea of the amount of sleep you're getting.

[00:16:10] Well, I think

[00:16:10] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:16:10] all of us, not just the executives, I've been an executive, but it's also the nurse reporting to work.

[00:16:16] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:16:16] This applies to anybody, right? Yeah. Please.

[00:16:18] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:16:18] All of us, I hope everyone's listening. This is helpful.

[00:16:21] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:16:21] Sleep deprivation is a major impediment to cognitive performance. So when you're tired, you're not only lose dexterity, you know, manual physical, uh, ability in the use of your hands and eye coordination.

[00:16:35] Uh, but you, you don't have physical energy. You, you physically wear out and then as you start to physically wear out, then you can start to emotionally and mentally. Uh, fatigue. Uh, so the idea of performance fitness, uh, you know, whether it's executive fitness or if you're a frontline folks, you know, you've got to be in a position, uh, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically to come to work, [00:17:00] uh, and, and, and perform.

[00:17:02] Work is about performance. So if you've ever gone, if you ever gone to a play and, and you, you watched actors on stage and they were slow and they were sluggish and they weren't quick to pick up a line. You sat there and disappointed. And what do we say? We say that was a poor performance. Yeah. Uh, if it's a concert pianist or a violinist, you know, we evaluate based on our perception and experience of the performance.

[00:17:31] Well, work is no different than that. Uh, and this is why, again, getting back to the four fundamental needs, leaders need to behave in ways, very tangible, real ways. that are  an expression of building trust, because if you don't have trust, you don't have connection in social network. If you don't have connection, social network, you don't have engagement.

[00:17:48] These are literal cause and effects. Physical cause and effect relationships that line up with each other.

[00:17:54] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:17:54] So let's talk about Michael let's then talk about influential leadership. So I'm making a [00:18:00] commitment to one's own executive fitness, whether you're an executive or whether you're aspiring executive or whether you're a frontline worker.

[00:18:06] What you're teaching Michael is making a commitment to your own wellbeing. Yes, fundamentally. And then as a leader, whether you're a formal leader or an informal leader or someone, part of a social network that you want to have influence, how do you know when you're having influence and how do you build that in?

[00:18:25] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:18:25] Yeah. Before I answer that question, I just want to make one more statement about this idea of self care. You know, we had the notion of self care long before the pandemic, the pandemic just sort of exacerbated and brought a higher degree of alertness awareness to it because of what was happening. To frontline healthcare workers as they try to engage work every day.

[00:18:45] But the reason people tend not to do it, Patrick, cause they don't have self-compassion. We will love our pets and care for our pets in ways that we don't care for ourselves. We will care [00:19:00] for total strangers, uh, you know, wounded warrior project, and we will volunteer and care and express compassion to total strangers.

[00:19:10] And not do it to ourselves. The first mental thought that needs to change because I'm people who around me a lot. And I have some groups that I meet with on a regular basis, uh, in, in, in just sort of pro bono way of helping them with life. And the challenges of life is nothing changes to your thinking changes.

[00:19:30] So until you can change your thinking about yourself and you can love and care for yourself. As if you believed your yourself was worthy of that care that you give away to others, then it's very hard to build the discipline and the diligence into tangible behaviors for improving the level of self care.

[00:19:50] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:19:50] Beautiful point.

[00:19:51] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:19:51] You've got to be willing to care for self have compassion. Self-compassion so, um, That translates directly then [00:20:00] into how leaders can build influence with their teams. Because if you can express that very idea into the lives of others, you're making a neurochemical and neurophysiological to connection with people that they'll want to be around.

[00:20:13] You they'll want to be with, you they'll want to work for you. They'll want to make sure that you achieve and achieve results as a leader. So back to this idea, if your team is waiting for you in a conference room for a meeting, And you walk into that room. What happens to the brain, to their brains at your presence?

[00:20:32] Is there a prefrontal cortex lighting up? Are they ready to engage? Are they ready to perform? Are they ready to go? You know, you know, uh, have a killer day at work, if you will. And just. You know, knock out all that work in a highway, a performance outcome, uh, or when you walk into the room deserve for brain shut down, do you exacerbate?

[00:20:49] Do  do you antagonize their lower brain is your very presence as sense of threat to them. And so we've heard this phrase about leader presence or executive presence, and it has a whole [00:21:00] list of traits, and I'm not a big fan of trait theory for leadership or leadership effectiveness. I'm about your behavior and here's why your behavior is real.

[00:21:10] I get to see it. I can measure it. Um, imagine if everybody in your team meeting in that conference room, waiting for you was hooked up to a biometric device with a video screen over their head recording elements of homeostasis, blood pressure, internal body core temperature. The releasing of cortisol, you know, and you walk in a room and you could see signals on a screen.

[00:21:34] It looked like they're having tachycardia. You'd have visible evidence that you just showed up and they're not connecting and you don't have any influence.

[00:21:44] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:21:44] Now we've got to have it as a you're the problem.

[00:21:45] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:21:45] Yeah, exactly. Now, ironically, somebody is making a wristband, some kind of watch that will we'll give some biometric feedback.

[00:21:54] Somebody is trying to do that. You know that, that you will get this kind of, uh, response [00:22:00] dynamic real time. Um, so, uh, that's, that's the whole point of this, right? And the whole idea of effective leadership is in the results, but you don't get the results. You know, you can't be an effective leader, a truly effective leader, effectiveness, meaning are we getting what we're supposed to get in results, leadership, you know, creating strong. Um, highly effective personal relationships in that social network, because leadership is about serving into the needs of other people, not getting

[00:22:32] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:22:32] let's talk about that. What is effective leadership?

[00:22:36] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:22:36] Effective leadership is, is, are you getting results? You know, and if you're a leader that doesn't get results, then you're in trouble because ultimately that's the point of having leadership positions.

[00:22:46] Somebody has to be responsible and accountable for the outcomes and results that any organization, whether it's a military organization, a healthcare organization, and, um, non-Profit tax exempt organization, you know, public [00:23:00] institution, a university. Now are you producing a product that you've promised to produce it at a high level of value to other people?

[00:23:09] And we tended to call those people customers, you know, in healthcare, we call them patients creating the patient experience. You know, effectiveness has got to be able to be measured. In results, but that doesn't happen. If a team won't work for you as a leader. So without influence, you're disconnected from the team they're disconnected from their work, they don't produce work at a high level. You're not getting the results you desire as a leader. And that's a testimony to your, uh, lack of influence. Is now measurable and observable in the lack of results that you desire. Yeah.

[00:23:44] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:23:44] And I know in the work that you do and the, the writing you've done, uh, we're talking about influential leadership. We're talking about effective leadership and effective leadership getting results. And it is, there's so much depth to that as well. Michael. And I know that you can speak to what's behind [00:24:00] effective leadership, and I know that ties to values and you speak very eloquently about that. And I want to ask you, how does, how do values tie into effective leadership?

[00:24:09] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:24:09] Yeah, it's amazing. The number of people in leadership positions that I get to meet and talk to. And one of the first things I ask them is tell me about your core values. And I get sort of this deer in the headlight look most of the time, uh, occasionally someone will say, Oh, well, let me see if I can remember. You know, your core values, oughta roll right off the tip of your tongue.

[00:24:29] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:24:29] Courage, Compassion, Joy, Hope!

[00:24:30] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:24:30] Mine are  integrity, compassion and excellence. Uh, now interestingly enough, the values we typically choose as our core value, uh, emanate  , and flow into behaviors that we typically gravitate to. That's

[00:24:47] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:24:47] true. And if you don't want your value, if you don't know what your values are, then what is flowing. It's not clear and you're not effective personally, that leads to burnout, correct, personally. [00:25:00] And that also leads to poor leadership as well.

[00:25:02] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:25:02] Yeah. And it doesn't have to go to the extreme of the engagement, burnout perspective. That's that's something else we could do a whole another discussion about and you've had other. Valuable guests talk about the idea of burnout, but you know, the absence of burnout doesn't mean I'm engaged. It just means I'm not burned out. It doesn't mean I'm not disengaged. It doesn't mean I'm disaffected. It doesn't mean I'm not paying attention, right. It just means I'm not burned out. Yeah.

[00:25:28] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:25:28] So let's talk about that. The values, value, effective leadership values, and then how that influences.

[00:25:33] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:25:33] So what your core values serve for you is as a grounding rod, a stake in the ground, every military unit has what are called the colors as a unit flag. Uh, it's it's assembling a symbol and, and, uh, an identification point of where the leader is on the battlefield. So wherever you see the colors, that's, you know where your leader is. So the colors are moving forward. You know, your leaders moving forward, you can move forward with your leader. Um, Shakespeare wrote [00:26:00] about my kingdom for the want of a nail, uh, King Henry blacksmith leaves a nail out of one of the shoes of his horse.

[00:26:07] So charging into battle, the horse throws the shoe, the horse stumbles Henry goes down, the unit flag goes down and the. His army is routed in chaos because they don't know where the leader is. Uh, and Henry is a famous line from Shakespeare is my kingdom for the want of a nail. Uh, and so the point of that is to say that your core values serve as that, that marker that anchor point, that identification point you're going to be in tremendous contextual variables as a leader. In fact, I think that the one thing

[00:26:40] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:26:40] As a worker too, as a worker too.

[00:26:42] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:26:42] Yes. And again, I emphasize leaders, but workers are in that contextual variability as well and how it shifts. Uh, but the effectiveness of leaders is managing that context. Uh, and, but you have to manage the context from two perspectives. You have to manage context and the variability of [00:27:00] context from how well is our plan working and how we'll are our people functioning.

[00:27:04] And it's most times people put these in, um, dilemmas. It's either the plan or people or people or the plant take out the, or, and replace it with an end. It's your plan and people you can't separate. And, and oftentimes your real plan are your people, because without them, you can't execute the plan, you don't get results.

[00:27:25] So by managing context, And, and understanding managing context. But what happens when you, as the leader gets under this allostatic load, what happens when your brain is constantly being flooded with cortisol and fear, loss, worry, doubt, anxiety as the leader, what brings you back to homeostasis? It's those core values.

[00:27:43] It's filtering everything back and reminding yourself that you're supposed to be a person whose behavior is a reflection of integrity. So we can't see integrity. Do you ever have, you know, as this values are not observable, But behavior, [00:28:00] that's a reflection of the value is observable and that behavior is also measurable.

[00:28:05] So when we talk about intention, we see behavior in honesty, in truth-telling the lack of duplicity, uh, not lying, uh, you know, not even quibbling, you know, or hedging on something. Uh, when you think of compassionate, we see acts of kindness. That are a reflection of the value of compassion. We excellence. We see people who are committed and they're engaged and they're following through on possibility and they're accountable to the outcomes that they're producing.

[00:28:35] So we see excellence. In behaviors as a manifestation of those core values. So if you don't know your core values, if you've never done a core value exercise, when you're in very difficult times of high stress changing variability, the, the whole VUCA term of, of volatility and uncertainty and chaos, right. And, and all the rest of it. Um, where do you go [00:29:00] to, to regain your sense of composure? Your mental, emotional composure. So then you can lead effectively. It's got to come from core values,

[00:29:09] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:29:09] and I want to tie that back to what you said earlier about, uh, executive fitness preparedness. You were touching on doing the work of that self compassion for oneself, doing the exercise of being fit and committing to one's own well-being or fitness. And that exercise of being aware of your values as being part of the, uh, logs that go on the fire that can reignite you, which can support you. And I hope listeners, viewers are thinking about today and what can you do today to connect to those values and the wisdom that you're touching on in this beautiful, I'm loving this conversation because we're talking about influential, effective leaders and you've touched on elements of, of self-awareness.

[00:29:57] Of committing to one's own, [00:30:00] well-being connecting to your values and then displaying those in what and behavior. And that is leadership, regardless of what title you have. Uh, you can be pushing a mop and demonstrate leadership and demonstrate profound leadership. So, um, whether, regardless of what role you ran, I love what you're sharing here, Michael, because it's, it's practical, it's useful and it's empowering

[00:30:22] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:30:22] if you. In your behavior are having an impact and an effect in the life of another person. And you, you, in, in the behavior that you demonstrate. Make a difference in the life of another person you're influencing and you don't even have to add the word leader to it. You're simply being an influencer. And so you can influence look, my healthcare career started in a janitor's closet.

[00:30:49] So I like to see I've gone from the janitors, was it to the, the CEO closet, you know? Uh, and, um, so I've been in the gamut. I know how people treated me when I was a [00:31:00] janitor at my local critical access hospital at 16 years old. And I noticed how people treated me in a C-suite and, uh, you know, oftentimes we don't see, there's an iceberg thing that says, well, who somebody is above.

[00:31:16] The water line and it's all these wonderful things, but they don't see the journey. They don't see the tragedy, they don't see the pain, they don't see the effort of growth. Right. And, uh, so this term fit to lead. It really has a double meaning. If you think about it, right? The there's a sort of, uh, very, uh, much of, uh, what we would call ambiguity two clear meanings.

[00:31:39] Are you fit? To lead. In other words, do you have what it takes to be a leader? The other meaning is, are you fit to lead? Are you worthy of the calling? Do you have the character? Do you have the core values? Do you care about other people? Are you selfless  in your desire? Why do you want to be in a [00:32:00] leadership role?

[00:32:00] You know, I think there's only about 7,000 or just under 7,000 CEO positions in the entire us healthcare system. Now add up the number of MBAs and MBAs and nursing, doctorate degrees, and other sorts of degrees of people who are aspiring to fill one of those 7,000 roughly positions. You know, there, there are far more many people who want them than are available to get them.

[00:32:25] Right. And so the percentage is very small, but the ultimate that the question is why would you aspire for it? What is it about you that makes you want to be. The senior leader of the healthcare organizations. Cause that's what we're talking about. Yeah.

[00:32:41] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:32:41] Beautiful. Beautiful. Because if it's about you, the reason someone wants to be a CEO is it's about you about themselves. That's a problem. If it's influential,

[00:32:50] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:32:50] I can guarantee you. If you make getting that position about you, you won't be influential. You won't be able to make a difference in the lives of other people. [00:33:00] And you certainly will not be effective. You might be in that position in short term three to five years, but you do not have sustainability in that position. If your reason for seeking that position is simply to be about you.

[00:33:13] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:33:13] Amen to that. Let me ask you my favorite question to ask my guests, which is if you were, if you were standing at the top of the world and you have the attention of all the healthcare folks run the whole planet for a brief moment, what would you say to them right now?

[00:33:26] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:33:26] Uh, first of all, I'd say thank you. Uh, you know, right now, um, serving in any capacity in a healthcare system in our country, uh, in, in the world for that matter, uh, is, uh, the word hero has been used. And it's a word I don't take lightly, but it's a word that I believe in that there, there are people who are demonstrating selfless behaviors that have gone well above and beyond.

[00:33:50] Um, in, in the military, the, the highest award you could receive as a congressional medal of honor. Interestingly enough, the highest number of medal of honor, [00:34:00] winners of the United States army are from the army medical department. They're not the combat fighters, they're not the infantry leaders. I don't mean to offend any of my combat arms, you know, colleagues.

[00:34:11] Um, but it's the combat medic. Uh, one of the most historical story to counts of, of a combat medic with the medal of honor comes from world war II, Okinawa and Hacksaw Ridge, uh, a combat medic. Without a weapon save 58 lives of his compatriots. And he was a Quaker. So he was a pacifist and he wouldn't even carry a weapon.

[00:34:34] And when he was in basic training here in Columbia, South Carolina, where I live at Fort Jackson, he was ostracized. He was beat up by his military comrades and the irony is he never retaliated. Uh, but when he was put in the position where he was required to do his job in his core values, many of the 58 men that he's saved.

[00:34:54] Off of that Ridge were men who had treated him abominably with disdain [00:35:00] and disgust and hatred, and he ended up winning the congressional medal of honor for it. I wish there were ways we could give up something of thanks and to acknowledge the courage. Of those who are still in operational health care, uh, both in, in clinical practices and the support roles before them.

[00:35:20] Um, but to, to that end in your fatigue and, and in that moment of, of desperation where you're just about to give up that last bit of hope, what I would say to you is, remember why you're there. It isn't about you. It's about somebody else. If you can see this portrait behind me, it's the only thing I have hanging in my office, uh, because it's the only thing that constantly reminds me every day that I need to be finding a way to give my life away to others.

[00:35:48] The motto of the army medical department from this world war II print was service above self. Um, and if you can connect to that and you can live in that and your behavior reflects [00:36:00] that into the lives of others. Uh, ladies and gentlemen I'll guarantee you not only it will be influential, but you'll be highly effective and you will live a life that will give you a great lasting joy.

[00:36:10]Majorem Dei Gloriam  Oh, God bless you, Michael. I love your message. And I love the work you do. And want to ask you folks are interested in following up with you. Um, where can they go? What can they do?

[00:36:22] Very easy. https://www.thefrisinagroup.com/ . You can find our website. Uh, I encourage you to connect with me on LinkedIn, Dr. Michael Forcina on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-e-frisina-phd-ltc-r-united-states-army-717a9614/ Um, all of my professional papers are there. They're in an open format. You can start reading through them. Um, and just email me personally. I'll give you my personal email, michael.frisina@gmail.com . I'd love to hear from you. Would love to help you. Uh, we'd love to be a part of your social network, uh, professionally or otherwise.

[00:36:53] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:36:53] Outstanding outstanding doctor Frisina thank you so much for being a guest on the show. I'm grateful for your wisdom, your service, your [00:37:00] heart, and just thank you so much.

[00:37:02] Michael Frisina, PhD, LTC(R): [00:37:02] My pleasure. Thank you, sir.