The importance of practice and understanding gaps | Lessons for Leaders

Practice may or may not lead to perfection, but it almost always leads to better performance.

Bea Grause, president of the Healthcare Association of New York State, says she’s a big believer in the value of practice. As the head of a group representing New York’s nonprofit and public hospitals, Grause tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that leaders need to understand the importance of practice.

“Everything takes practice, including leadership,” Grause says. “I tell my kids that all the time. If you want to get better at something like practicing the piano, you have to spend time doing it.”

In addition, Grause also cites author and researcher Brené Brown’s mantra of “minding the gap” for a related lesson in leadership.

“Minding the gap, to me, is about acknowledging that you are good enough, right where you are, but there might be some improvements that you recognize that you need to make,” Grause says. “So it keeps you grounded but again, doing that self-assessment where there's always room to get better.”

Leaders have to look at themselves honestly, and with a sense of humility, if they want to improve. Plus, others will benefit from seeing leaders acting with a spirit of humility.

“It’s important to recognize the value of humility and an understanding that if you can be open and vulnerable to improvement, you're teaching a very valuable lesson to emerging leaders around you,” Grause says.

“As the head of a large state hospital association, I feel part of my responsibility is to grow the next generation of healthcare leaders,” she adds. “So I feel like I'm very much a coach and a teacher and a mentor to those who are working so hard and so passionately on healthcare issues and will for the next 20 years. So I think it's important to pass that baton and to teach them everything that I know, and to lead by example.”

• Read more: Why ego is the enemy of good leadership

She says leaders can help set a good example by acknowledging those areas where they can improve, because it will help other emerging leaders to see where they can do better.

Team members can learn important lessons when they see the leaders of their organization acknowledge mistakes or work to build new skills. It also helps others understand that even the top leaders of the organization haven’t figured everything out. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” she says.

• Read more: Women in healthcare looking to grow should take risks

Grause also espouses the importance of leaders keeping their word.

“Your life works to the extent that you keep your word,” she says. “And I think the way that I stay grounded in that one is that there are only three things that you can control: Tell the truth, do the right thing, and show up.”

Grause has utilized these lessons as she leads the association in an effort to help leaders understand the challenges facing the healthcare industry. The hospital association recently released a report, “The Case for Change,” outlining some of the headwinds facing health systems. She’s working with leaders inside and outside of healthcare to develop solutions for bolstering the workforce.

“We have to think about ways that we are going to continue to deliver high-quality care in ways that meet consumer demand, but actually are more efficient and effective for the population we serve,” she says.

• Read more: Why listening is the most important skill