“The Leadership Perspective” is a series of articles designed to assist millennials and emerging leaders with navigating difficult situations. Each week, successful leaders provide targeted, actionable advice to enhance your perspective and improve your leadership skills.
This week’s article features anesthesiology specialist, former pilot, and my uncle-in-law, Dr. Ralph “SkyDoc” Glasser.
Communication is a seemingly ordinary skill that is in reality, is a delicate and complicated process. In the business world, leaders often experience lapses in communication when they assume a shared definition of general terms such as “priority” or “responsibility” exist. In fact, these words can embody different meanings depending on the type of project and the structure of the organization. Without proper clarification, people can develop their own interpretations resulting in misalignment and inefficiencies that can ultimately be detrimental to the bottom line – financial or otherwise.
Learning from the experiences of professionals in fields where error, miscommunication, and/or a slow response can have disastrous consequences, we can improve our communication skills in business. Over his 36 years of experience as an anesthesiologist on surgical teams, Dr. Ralph Glasser learned to become an effective communicator through trial and error, observation, and self-awareness. However, he credits his experiences as a pilot for the Trojan Thunder aerial formation squad for providing him the philosophies and practice grounds to do so.
Having spent nearly four decades in the hospital and in the air, Ralph developed and refined his communication skills through the following seven steps:
1. Be Confident. Take Charge.
Ralph shares, “there is the old quote that says the first thing you do at a ‘code’ is check your own pulse. If the leader is not leading, not composed, shows panic or uncertainty, the whole code goes south”.
As a leader, your display of confidence must be the driving force of your team. Your team’s success depends on your ability to lead distinctly. As Ralph puts it, “there should be no question as to who the leader is…paramount to effective communication under stress is to adopt a manner of speech that is louder, clearer, concise and succinct. Waste no words. Be clear in your directions, addressing each individual directly, and clearly assigning tasks. Demand an oral response if none is forthcoming. This also helps engage the responder as they speak, accepting their role”.
2. Arrange a Focused Briefing.
Often known as “kick-off meetings” in the business world, focused briefings are fundamental in every team atmosphere. They are a critical opportunity to discuss the plan, to share expectations, and to provide guidelines for a successful, high-quality outcome. Ralph emphasizes the importance of “clear and concise communication at the start and when revealing the action plan overview so everyone has a goal-oriented mindset”.
3. Delegate.
Clearly communicating who is accountable for each role on the team is an essential part of the process. In many situations, this begins by discussing the roles and responsibilities with every team member in a group setting and in plain language, before specifying the details. In other words, “make certain that requisite tasks are delegated and assigned, and that everyone so assigned understands the expected outcome and has the capability to achieve it”.
4. Listen.
In order to create a safe environment thatpromotes collaboration and innovation, accelerates learning, and achieves success, a good leader must be a good listener. Through effective words and actions, hesitation and fear within your team can be neutralized.You must ensure thatsure everyone feels engaged and important.
In Ralph’s words, “listening skills are valuable. Here the leader solicits input, suggestions, and questions from the team. I will usually ask if anyone has any other ideas to contribute before we start, making certain that everyone in the team agrees, and feels empowered to speak up, intervening if something appears wrong. Everyone has a voice and must use it. We are all engaged in seeking a good outcome”.
5. Remember the Big Picture.
As a leader, you must maintain a clear vision of “the big picture”. In both flying and medicine, Ralph explains, “I am always looking ahead for turbulence and weather, mechanical problems, and fuel issues. I am constantly pondering what factors might bring me down in a hurry, where I would go if that happened, and what deviations from the original plan might be propitious or necessary”.
6. Conduct a Timely Debriefing.
After-action analysis can act as a simple yet powerful approach to enable team learning, increase rapport, and enhance performance. For Ralph, debriefing is a tool he likes to use in order to reinforce good behaviors, express concerns, and evaluate mistakes. “Ask each member of the team, starting from lowest to highest, what worked, what didn’t, what they would have done differently or want to improve on”.
7. Use Checklists.
“Checklists are something that I’ve adopted from flying, since aviating and anesthesia are so similar. Lots to remember, lots of variables, lots of potential mechanical derangements, lots of dials and gauges and electronics, lots of weather to navigate. You want a smooth take-off, a stable flight, a soft landing, and you want your luggage at the end. Hours and hours of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror. The only difference? If you crash while flying, you meet your Maker. If you crash doing anesthesia, you meet your lawyer.
Checklist utilization is a fundamental practice in aviation. In anesthesia, which is nearly as complicated, they are an effective communication tool. I started incorporating checklists into my practice some decades ago, utilizing them for the initial briefing. Coincidentally, checklists have become widely adopted in anesthesiology”.
As in aviation and medicine, checklists have become prevalent in the business world. They assist in breaking down complex processes into smaller steps and help to ensure nothing is forgotten. When used properly, they can improve job performance and position you and your team to achieve more consistent results.
Effective communication is a leader’s most important tool. By thinking about and learning from leaders outside of your own field, you can improve your ability to organize and deliver your message.
Maggie Glasser is the founder and owner of Maggie Glasser Enterprises, a boutique consulting business that provides strategic guidance in sales, business development, and client services to hospitality businesses and event agencies. She writes about topics that provide business professionals with actionable advice to improve their skills and advance in their careers.
