21. How to Lead People & Places that Thrive w/ Quint Studer

How do you lead people & places that thrive? Quint Studer guests on Swift Healthcare Podcast where we discuss his Wall Street Journal bestseller “The Busy Leaders Handbook,” the importance of addressing our own emotional health as well as the emotional health of our workforce, and critical concepts that all leaders and aspiring leaders can benefit from hearing. Plus what’s next on the horizon from Quint’s upcoming book titled, “The Calling.” It’s a MasterClass from a legend in healthcare and you do not want to miss it!

Ranked a Top 60 Healthcare Leadership podcast by Feedspot.

Listen & Watch: https://swifthealthcare.com/podcast/

Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/3aFpEpl 

YouTube: https://youtu.be/g5QLzwVc9CM

(A Top Healthcare Leadership YouTube Channel)

 

Quint Studer Links for Show notes:

www.quintstuder.com

https://thebusyleadershandbook.com/

https://gratitude-symposium.heysummit.com/ 

www.studeri.org

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

 

MasterClass: How to Lead People & Places that Thrive w/ Quint Studer

[00:00:00] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:00:00] Welcome folks to another episode of the Swift  healthcare video podcast. I am so excited about our guest for this show. Today, we have Quint Studer, Quint. Welcome to the show.

[00:00:10] Quint Studer, MS: [00:00:10] I'm pumped about you being here, in fact, and I own a minor league baseball team and it's all about high energy, high fun. And if you're not, if you're thinking about getting a side job on healthcare, we could use you at the ballpark now. So thank you.

[00:00:24] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:00:24] I would, I would jump at that chance, , you know, be careful what you ask for Quint. I'm a,

[00:00:28]Quint Studer, MS: [00:00:28] We're ready.

[00:00:29] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:00:29] My wife's in Miami right now, visiting some family. I think I'd be happy to get down on the Pensacola. Folks, if you can feel the love. , I hope you can because the man we have on the show here, , I, , have the greatest respect for, and you are in in for a treat and, , Quint. I know you're a humble man. , and I just want to acknowledge how, , you have impacted this profession. So folks, if you are listening, pay attention because I have a master class for you in this conversation.

[00:00:56] And most importantly, with my values, it's about joy, [00:01:00] hope, compassion, courage. And who better to have on the show than Quint Studer. So here's Quint's bio. If you don't know who Quint Studer is, listen to this Quint Studer is a well-known healthcare operator, author, coach, and mentor to many, many, many, many.

[00:01:15] He has dedicated the last three decades to creating tools and techniques that make healthcare a better place for physicians to practice medicine, patients, to receive care and employees to work. He's written numerous books. I've got a couple here on my desk. I'm going to show you articles. And his work is always based on evidence, research and tools and techniques. So Quint Studer, welcome to the Swift healthcare video podcast.

[00:01:40] Quint Studer, MS: [00:01:40] No, no, I'm excited to be here. Thanks for the opportunity.

[00:01:43] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:01:43] Absolutely Quint. So let's kick it off with some fun here. And, , uh, I want to ask you in your own words what got you into healthcare? Why do you do what you do? Quint?

[00:01:54] Quint Studer, MS: [00:01:54] Well, it's going to be way different than most people think. , alcoholism got me into healthcare. [00:02:00] Um, I was,  When I was 31 years old, December 24th of 1982, I crashed, I surrendered personally. All of a sudden I had that moment of clarity. They talk about, and I said, this isn't my life's not trending in the right direction.

[00:02:16] And so I sought help and I'm a recovering alcoholic. I'm in my 39th year of sobriety. So how I got into healthcare was I was, it's going  to 12 step meetings at a hospital that treated people for alcoholism. And I was going to meetings and, , I saw an ad that they were looking for someone to work at the treatment center in, in working with school districts and employers. And because I was a teacher of children with  special needs. and when, once I got in recovery, I started something called a student assistance program. It mirrored an employee assistance program, but for students that they could reach out, particularly if they had a family member or so on. So i.

[00:02:55] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:02:55] you did Quint. That's great. That's fantastic!

[00:02:59] Quint Studer, MS: [00:02:59] I, I, [00:03:00] um, talked to them and they hired me as a community relations rep. And I did that for three years and one employee, a worked in a hospital before they went back to work, we did something called a back to work. And I, , went with them to talk to the human resource person about how do they reenter the workplace. And one day a human resource person at a hospital in Wisconsin said, you know, we have an opening here. In marketing community relations, you really do a good job. Why don't you come here? So that's how I got into healthcare. So when I speak to colleges, they want to know my career track. I say, well, it might not be the one you want to follow, but it is what it is.

[00:03:38] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:03:38] Uh, I, I love that Quint because I love the expression. , Turning your, your kryptonite into super your super power. And, , what you've done in the arc of this story even is acknowledging, , the, the sorrow and the rock bottom and the insight and the compassion that arose from that. And by [00:04:00] that suffering and sorrow has led to, a global impact on raising the bar in healthcare,

[00:04:06] Quint Studer, MS: [00:04:06] Yeah, we

[00:04:07] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:04:07] in

[00:04:07] Quint Studer, MS: [00:04:07] You know in recovery when you help, when you help somebody recover, they call it 12 stepping or bringing 12 steps to them. And I tell people I've been 12 stepping healthcare now for a while.

[00:04:17] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:04:17] I love it. I love it. So folks, , step on up let's step here. , I I'm, I'm inspired by that. , , , Phrase, turn of phrase. We're we're, we're 12 stepping healthcare here. , there's so much for us to talk about in thinking about this conversation. One of the first questions I want to ask you, , is listen, folks I've got Quint has published many books. I've got. , the busy leaders handbook, how to lead people in places to thrive, building a vibrant community. , but the first one I read of Quint's , this is my favorite. , you can see it's dog ear-ed and got all kinds of notes on it  ears, hardwiring excellence. And, , I happen to love this book and I wanted to ask the author. , what, , what about that book, , is your favorite [00:05:00] part, your favorite message that stands out of that book?

[00:05:02] Quint Studer, MS: [00:05:02] Well, I think that my favorite part is when you read the stories about people recapturing their purpose in healthcare. For example, on page 251, I got, I got a letter from a person who I'm and I'll just read it real quick and I'll, I won't read the whole, whole thing. It says, ,

[00:05:18] I know I make a difference. One of my employees who had been here just about a year, became employee of  the month when it was announced, she received the recognition of brought tears to her eyes. She was pleased during the whole month. Usually she was very quiet and somewhat withdrawn. During this month. She was one of the girls. We talked about things with their coworkers that she had never talked about before.

[00:05:37] The moment I realized just how much it meant to her was when she was diagnosed with cancer is during the month she was employee of the month while talking to her husband about a return to work. He mentioned to me that she never felt so included and proud in her whole life. The job here at the hospital is a dream job for her, and she had really not felt worthy of working here.

[00:05:55] Just so proud of her employee, of the month plaque , that she  hung in her living room for all to see during your [00:06:00] illness. She felt she had an extended family. She said she felt loved by her coworkers. We visited her on a regular basis and called her several times a week to see if she needed anything about five months later, Susan, our coworker died. We were very sad at her passing. I personally attended her funeral with four other women from our office. As we approached the coffin, we saw something at the exact same moment that we could not believe on the back of her coffin. next to her  shoulder was her  employee of the  month plaque and a card signed by all of us in the office at that moment in my life. I thought of you for, I had made a difference.

[00:06:32]That's that's what I love, you know, health care. We come in with a full emotional bank account, but because what happens there there's withdrawals . So what I love the most is when I see people, , sort of recapturing it. And once you recapture it, you realized how much you missed it, and then you keep it.

[00:06:51] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:06:51] Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And in the face of the burnout and the suffering and the sorrow that our colleagues in healthcare, whether you're [00:07:00] new to the profession, whether you're a CEO, whether you're near retirement, it doesn't matter. There's been, there's been so much sorrow and suffering and burnout and, and what you're touching on, , is connecting to that purpose.

[00:07:13] And connecting to that meaning and that's embedded in the book. And, , I'd add, , the title hardwiring excellence. , if you've been in healthcare while you've heard that term used about we're hard wiring things, and even with some cynicism, , we're hard-wiring things as if we're we're we're, , can be programmed.

[00:07:32] And you're speaking to, it's not about the, the, the hard-wearing, , these, , tactics, just for the tactics sake, you hit the nail on the head in the whole cycle of life. In that story, I think because it touches on in healthcare, we're, we're saving lives, we're improving lives, but we're also helping people, , through their whole life transition and finding meaning in what they do. So I think that's a, a [00:08:00] beautiful, , beautiful story. I appreciate your you're touching on that one.

[00:08:03] Quint Studer, MS: [00:08:03] Well, thank you. I think also not only, , think of the impact the coworker had , and I think what happens here is in healthcare, like you're, you're absolutely right. You know, there's a lot of withdrawals that happen in healthcare just naturally, that just happens naturally. And so I think we've got to get to way to the . Maybe to the extreme of making sure we're doing deposits for people because there's natural withdrawals and I'm sorta in looking at deposits and the thing I've been talking a lot, , this last eight, nine months, Patrick is. tools and techniques to actually help people see that seeking help. You know, we, I think we've overplayed, resiliency. I think we said, Oh, we gotta be resilient. We have people teaching resiliency, coaching resiliency, but you need to add in there. That part of resiliency is getting help. So you can be resilient. It's not playing through pain, it's not sucking it up [00:09:00] and cause, and not saying you don't have to suck it up once in a while, but it really means that.

[00:09:05] And what I look at in healthcare is one of the top one, two or three, um, pharmaceuticals that employees are going to be. They're looking at in any healthcare system you go to as an antidepressant. I'm not against anti-depressant whatsoever. I'm on the board of Hazelton and Betty Ford, but I do believe that. It's good to match it with other things and other type of services. Um, yet, one of the least utilized services in all health care is the employee assistance program. So we've got a, uh, an industry that has some of the best mental health benefits in the country yet. And some of the best EAPs in the country. Yet we have a stigma. I've been speaking a lot to medical schools. Medical school and residents and they, uh, I can give the name of the school, but I give them credit for surveying all their medical students and residents. And 50% of them said they were eating different, not sleeping well, but eight to 10 said they were [00:10:00] using substances. That probably aren't the best for long-term health or short-term health of them. So they've said we're really. Sort of off grid here a little bit or getting off grid, then the question is, would you seek help? And it went almost down to zero because they were terrified of the stigma, terrified what would happen. So, you know, I think part of

[00:10:19] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:10:19] got a lot of work to do.

[00:10:20] Quint Studer, MS: [00:10:20] is healing our inside. And when we heal our inside, when we, you know, leadership's an inside job and when we get our inside, right, the outside gets better.

[00:10:29] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:10:29] We've got a lot of work to do. I love that quote. Um, we've got a lot while we're to, you know, I'm a, as a, as a psychologist, I'm treating patients in

[00:10:35] Quint Studer, MS: [00:10:35] Yeah, I almost want to lay down here. I most want to lay down for the

[00:10:39] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:10:39] get comfortable. My job

[00:10:40] Quint Studer, MS: [00:10:40] night. My wife said I've never met a mental health therapist. I didn't want to lay on the couch for a few hours.

[00:10:45] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:10:45] yeah, yeah. But what you have to do share Quint is so from the heart, um, and I so value that, and I really hope folks are your, if you are listening, um, please open that heart, open those ears on what we're talking about are [00:11:00] profound concepts that can transform health care.

[00:11:03] And, um, as a, as a psychologist, I'm supporting burnt out healthcare professionals and as an executive coach supporting healthcare professionals, Trying to move the needle forward. Um, Quint what you're touching on is that it's critical to ask for help. And there's a stigma against asking for help.

[00:11:20] Quint Studer, MS: [00:11:20] Yeah. And people say to me, I'm lucky. You're pretty open about this. And I said, well, because it allows me to help people. And so for example, I was speaking to a university virtual to MBA, MHA students, and I just brought it up. And two days later I got contacted by one of the students and he said, I really know, I know I have an alcohol problem. And he said, but I'm so terrified if anyone finds out, it'll ruin my career. What do you think? So I don't think it's hurt mine all that much, you know? And, and the good news is I was happened to be on, uh, with him virtually, uh, about two weeks ago. And he celebrated his first 30 days of sobriety. And I know [00:12:00] that's not what this conversation is about, but I think in healthcare, we've just got, you know, when I say make it a better place for employees to work.

[00:12:08] I think sometimes we think, um, you know, we, if we teach them how to handle. A difficult situation, which I get, I mean, I went, I do TM the whole bit, get, you know, what I really want. I just want to places to run better. I think sometimes we treat, we think that the symptom is the cause. And the story I tell is a physician was coming to see me one time. And the nurse manager on the unit said he was very caustic, a rude to us this morning. And he's coming down to see you and you need to tell him he can't do that. I said, well, did anything happen? Before that she said, well, he's a surgeon and he was waiting for the patient and surgery. We didn't read the orders.

[00:12:46] Right. We fed the patient, he had to cancel the surgery. And I said, I get, he shouldn't have said that. And I'm not trying to put up. Put a blame, but I talk a lot. I wrote a book called healing, physician burnout, [00:13:00] and one of the ways we reduce burnout is just running better organizations and investing in our leaders.

[00:13:06] So they have better skillset, making sure people have the tools and equipment to do the job and making sure. They know that it's okay to call the EAP. It's okay. To get help. So I'm really pumped about healthcare. I've never been more excited about healthcare as I think the pandemic has been terrible, but it's also shined the light on certain things that we've needed to do for years that we haven't done deep enough in which is again, making sure we provide people that training. That they need, because the other thing with COVID is a lot of training has been stopped or paused, and I get that it had to be, so I think we'd get back into the training, the development, but also really looking at the whole, like, we want to look at the whole patient. Um, you know, I, I saw a cartoon years ago on a neurosurgeon and he went in and he looked at the person's head and he said, he looks all right to me. And then they showed there was no body there they're [00:14:00] so busy looking at the, you know, they're part of the person. And, and I think this, this pandemic has, has made it, uh, we can no longer not touch on the emotional health of our workforce.

[00:14:13] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:14:13] Amen to that. Amen to that. That's a perfect segue to the next question I want to ask you, which is, uh, using the parallel of a primary care physician for our listeners. You've coined the phrase  being a primary care leader. And that is such a powerful concept. And I want to ask you to share with us, what do you mean by that?

[00:14:39] Quint Studer, MS: [00:14:39] Well, I, I thank you. I think as a primary care physician, I have great respect for primary care specialist. Is is they can look at the broad picture, but they also know what they can treat and what they shouldn't treat. When somebody calls me and say, my doctor's referred me to a certain specialist. I said, well, then you have a good doctor [00:15:00] because they recognize their limits.

[00:15:01] That's not bad. That that's good. And, and I believe I'm more of a primary care person. So for example, um, when I go to an organization I'm really good at, I can tell them some things they can do. I mean, I have certain tools, certain techniques that I think are really quite good right now. I can tell them how to measure. Well in a stress and burnout. I have a tool for that, but now for certain, um, I can tell them like the other day, a healthcare system called me and said, Quint, we're really looking at creating better metrics to measure our leaders on. Now I could have sent them some metrics, but I said, well, here here's who you should call.

[00:15:39] This person would be really helpful because this is what they do. Full-time or, you know, I'm looking at, um, looking at teaching, um, the clinicians, how to have difficult conversations with family members. We're here. I've been around long enough that I like have a Rolodex of people that are better at these things than I am.

[00:15:58] So I, I try, [00:16:00] um, Supply chain management. I know some of the best supply chain management people in the world. So what I try to say as a primary care doctor, I can help your organization and I can help them do some things where you are self need. You don't need to get a consultant. You don't need to go anywhere else, but I also can provide them with really good services of who are the best people in the country for, for what, what they're looking for.

[00:16:24] So for example, if you look at the gratitude symposium, um, We have Susan keen Baker. Who's just great at helping people look at empathy in a different way.

[00:16:35] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:16:35] Steven Beeson.

[00:16:37] Quint Studer, MS: [00:16:37] yeah, if you're looking at that, if you're looking at that at what you are, one of those great people.

[00:16:41] so you look at that's what I meant by a primary care. You know, I, I think, and I like it because I think sometimes, um, organizations want to provide everything. So, you know, I can, you know, sort of like go into a law firm and they keep wanting you to use lawyers that they're affirmed, but maybe they're not the best lawyers at their firm. [00:17:00] Um, just cause they're there.

[00:17:01] So what I've tried to do is always find the right resource for a healthcare system that I think fits their needs. And the beauty is I do it in a way where there's no relationship with me. There's no referral for me. I'm just trying to find them the best person to meet their needs.

[00:17:18] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:17:18] You love with your customer and addressing your customer's needs, whether it's you doing that or someone else. And I know the point of this podcast is to explore the intersection of healthcare and leadership for listeners that are from the CEO to the new employee in a hospital, from environmental services to any part of the organization. Right?. And your describing this, , primary care leader. concept and you have grown to become essentially a primary care leader. For the planet and that's not, , hot air, , folks Quint Studer. , if you don't know, has had a profound impact on healthcare around the globe. And so, um, you've you Quint have grown into [00:18:00] this primary care leader who can consult on a national level international level community level, down to Pensacola level, right. For our listeners. , for someone who wants to grow as a primary care leader, what advice would you have for someone who let's say in middle management or aspiring to management, um, how to, how to become a better leader in the sense of primary care leader. If you're not going to be a specialist in one certain area, um, how, what would Quint Studer say is, is important for becoming a primary care leader?

[00:18:35] Quint Studer, MS: [00:18:35] If you're a , middle manager. You're a primary care specialist cause you you've got to do it all. And you know, I was on a curriculum committee at the Harvard business school and we went through like the 15 fundamental foundational skills that every leader needs. Now, some of them you need more than others. So for example, if you're a med surge nurse manager, you probably don't have a revenue stream, you have to worry about, but there are, there are a number of things you have to be. And I [00:19:00] think the key is you really need to be good at benchmarking. And I think that's sort of a missing skill in healthcare because we're so busy. , you don't get to see other managers doing it cause you know, you're on your unit. The only time you might see the other managers is that the month-to-month manager meeting almost, you don't see them.

[00:19:20] And it's a tough profession. I own a minor league baseball team and they see each other all the time. This batter sees this batter. This pitcher sees this pitcher is constant benchmarking against each other. So like one of the skills that every manager needs is to go out and be okay, figuring out who can I learn from and not feeling like I'm less than because I have to.

[00:19:42] So. For example, , when you look at rounding, the person who really, we learned rounding from us, Michelle Wasco, and she's passed away. She was a nurse manager at Holy cross hospital in 1993, and we were trying to improve our patient experience and we were pretty [00:20:00] bad. We thought. You just came back and we said, we're in this percentile, this percentile, then Don Dean started digging into the data and said, you know what?

[00:20:09] One of our nursing units is people are alot. Patients are a lot happier on this nursing unit than the other nursing units. And, you know, it's the same. Semi-private room, the same Intercom system, the same, everything. So what's different in that unit. So Don went up, I said, Don go spend a week with Michelle.

[00:20:29] I'll pull it. He was the radiology tech. I said, I'll pull you out of radiology for a week. And watch her. Cause we asked Michelle what she was doing. And she said, Oh, nothing, nothing different than anyone else because she didn't know. So, so Don went up on the unit and just watched her and watched her Monday, watched her Tuesday and Wednesday .

[00:20:50] He said, you know, Michelle, I noticed when you come to work here, right, good morning. The first thing you do is visit every patient. And she said, Well, what doesn't everybody do that? Nah, no, [00:21:00] we really weren't doing that. So should we call her the mother of rounding? Um, you know, we've perfected over the years, but see that's that benchmarking and, and we have to be careful because, um, sometimes our stuff gets in the way of benchmarking, you know, we rationalize or we blame or we, you know, why their different, I call it terminal uniqueness.

[00:21:19] So I think there'll be a primary care physician. You really need to have good self-awareness which knows what you're good at. And what you need improvement on and you also really need to be coachable. And then you also very much need to be comfortable seeking out, help people that can help you be better.

[00:21:38] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:21:38] Love that love that, uh, folks, I really wanna encourage you to listen to that point, , to be, , open, to looking for help asking for help and Quint spoke about rounding. I know a lot of healthcare folks have heard about the concept of rounding, right? And so if you've heard that, I know there can be a cognitive bias to think, okay, I've heard this stuff.

[00:22:00] [00:21:59] But what Quint just shared was the process recognizing, okay, benchmark, where are the numbers? How, how am I doing? How are we doing? And then looking for the solutions and what I just want to underline Quint . What you just shared is the process of looking at the numbers and then being curious, well, what is working and what's not working. And the answer in this story, you just shared was rounding.

[00:22:24] Quint Studer, MS: [00:22:24] Well, and then I think also having, having this specific outcome, you want my. You know, so, so for example, um, I'm a big believer in peer interviewing. So when I was president of the hospital, we introduced peer interviewing. Okay. So that means when I'm rounding, I'm going to be asking employees, are you involved in peer interviewing? Have you been, has your manager told you about peer interviewing? What do you think appearing peer interviewing ? All it takes is about three days and every manager knows I'm out there asking about peer interviewing and everybody knows about peer interviewing, , for in fact .

[00:22:56] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:22:56] Could you unpack that for the audience? What is peer? What [00:23:00] is peer interviewing?

[00:23:01] Quint Studer, MS: [00:23:01] Yeah. Well, uh, uh, doctors, uh, we were dealing with, um, hospital acquired infection rate, which was way too high. So we started drilling down. And every day I saw a doctor, I would ask them about, are your patients getting any hospital acquired infections here? Cause we're really focusing on that. But if we've gone down to 2%, which is best practice, but I still want to go down to zero.

[00:23:23] What are you noticing? So I think the challenge with my book. It gave an example and everybody thinks those are the four or five questions I have to ask. Nah, it rounding's just a toolkit. You asked the question on the outcome you want to be looking for at that moment. So for example, doctor, we've read our first case start case now is up to 92% of our first cases as are starting on time. Have you noticed the improvement in the, or, Oh yeah, I think I have or one, no, I haven't look at it. So yeah, I, I think. You know,

[00:23:56] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:23:56] It's the conversation.

[00:23:57] Quint Studer, MS: [00:23:57] you learn from others. One of my [00:24:00] stories and I'll, I'll quit with this. It's just such an example, go to a big healthcare system and you find a certain department that does something really, really well. And then, and then you tell everyone that this place does really, really well. And you encourage them to go visit this manager. Then 90 days later, you asked that manager, how many people have visited you? And it's, it's very small, but I think that's where leadership comes in to make those comfortable conversations, to make those safe conversations that you're not thinking.

[00:24:32] Less of someone when they seek help either. You're you're think more of someone. I was just talking under the owner of the Jacksonville jumbo, shrimp and baseball, and he's a AAA  guy and I'm a AA guy we're talking, talking about, you know, exchanging staffs so we can learn from each other. So every industry learns from each other, but healthcare is a little more difficult because we're, our managers are pretty isolated.

[00:24:55] They don't see each other. They're out in their unit . And, and that's why [00:25:00] I think we've really got to work really hard at providing them resources to improve their own skills. So that's the values, the other part of my heart wrong outcomes. I like, I make a very strong statement. You can tell the values of the organization on the investment they make in training and development. Because who would want somebody to be in a job without having training and development and healthcare? Sometimes we, we have, we got better, but I think the COVID just naturally has paused some of that. So I think as the pandemic, it changes a bit too. Healthcare is going to have to play some real catch up on training and development.

[00:25:36] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:25:36] Couldn't agree with you more and, and the notion of hardwiring excellence, what you're . Sharing and pointing out is the thought process. The mentality I love that you touched on earlier, , that, , the rounding, you acknowledged that you'd written in the book and then people saw these questions said, okay, I need to go ask these specific questions and your point, isn't ask these specific questions.

[00:25:57] It's the mindset. About being [00:26:00] curious and having those conversations. And that's what hard-wearing excellence is about. It's, it's the, the, the number one, the psychology of the mindset of how to go about, , , fomenting and driving excellence in an organization through tactics, but we've got to adapt them, right. We have to adjust and be curious and, and, and look at what's working and then do more of that.

[00:26:21] Quint Studer, MS: [00:26:21] Yeah, but what I look at hardwiring really what I was trying to get across is putting in systems. So there's consistency. Because one thing that drives doctors crazy is in his inconsistency. The one thing that drives employees crazy, isn't it. Is inconsistency is one thing that drives middle managers. Crazy is inconsistent. You've heard that doctors would say to me, I want my patients on this unit, uh, employ, will say, I'll work. I'll go I'll, I'll take our skull work as a nurse on that unit, but I'm not going on that unit. And really my whole goal was just to provide resources, to create a more consistent experience for everyone.

[00:27:00] [00:27:00] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:27:00] Love it. Love it earlier. You said, and I was planning on asking you this, but earlier in the show you said, um, leadership is an inside job before you can get the outsides, right? You have to get the insights, right? What do you mean by that Quint?

[00:27:13] Quint Studer, MS: [00:27:13] Well, I go back to self-awareness again. And I asked Harry Groener who's runs a pretty big venture capital firm. Before you invest in a company. What do you look for? And he said self-awareness of the founder and coachability, and I've really taken that over the years as self-awareness I, I entered into recovery with, when I finally could look at myself differently.

[00:27:37] Not through Rose colored glasses, not being, you know, I used to tell people I lived in two islands, the Island of self-pity and the Island of being a delusion anyway. So I think what I mean, getting the inside right is there's great books out there on leadership. There's great coaches out there on leadership.

[00:27:56] Most, every organization I know, wants their leaders to do well. There [00:28:00] is no C-suite CEO that wants their managers not to do well. There's resources. So, you know, I look at an organization of 900 leaders and 800 of them are having a lot of success and a hundred of them are struggling and they've all gone through the same training, the same book, the same consulting.

[00:28:21] So what's getting in the way of those hundred now, I don't know, but I can give you some thoughts that get in the way of people. Number one is, um, blame. They fall into the trap of blaming somebody for their poor results. You know, it's either the room I'm in or my corporate headquarters or my boss. That's why we always try to find

[00:28:43] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:28:43] The staff, the patients.

[00:28:45] Quint Studer, MS: [00:28:45] Well, we try to find success in the same organization. Cause if all of a sudden Quint says, it's the problem is compensation and benefit yet, Patrick's got the same compensation benefit plan for his employees and he's having success. It takes away that, [00:29:00] that blame. So I think we have to look inside. Have we fallen in the trap of blaming somebody for the issues instead of looking.

[00:29:07] Really, what can we do? I think there's rationalization in healthcare. I mean, I call it sort of terminal uniqueness, but, but we're a little bit different here. You don't understand, you know, we're, we're, we're Minnesota nice are where we're, but South, you know, we got into geography reasons. Why, w w we're not, or it's usually, well, we don't have enough staff yet.

[00:29:29] You find another person with, you know, Exact same staffing levels that are having success. So what I meant by that is you got to get rid of your blockages and sometimes what's holding us back is us, but we don't know it. So once somebody can say, okay, what's getting in my way. Am I blaming? Am I feeling sorry for myself?

[00:29:50] Am I rationalizing? I think envy has a lot to do with issues of benchmarking. Then if I, if I, you know, I say this, [00:30:00] Patrick is. I go into an organization and a CEO will say, Hey, look at this unit. Wow. They're doing really, really good. Let's everybody. give  them a nice round of applause and I can tell the culture right then. Because of everybody applauses they've got a good culture. Now the CEO has just asked you to be compliant with a very simple ask clap. So when I look around and people aren't clapping, I'm wondering, did they not hear the CEO? Do they not know how to clap or are, they may be possibly a little envious of somebody getting recognized.

[00:30:38] And one of my things I always would ask organizations to send me some of your success. I was in Detroit and they sent me the fact that on the ninth floor, this patient care unit was just having great success in patient experience. So I just got up and thanked them and I didn't know what type of floor I just knew it was the ninth floor. And immediately two people ran up [00:31:00] to me at breaks. I want you to know that's the OB unit now. Why, why did think they needed to know that?

[00:31:06] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:31:06] I know that story.

[00:31:07] Quint Studer, MS: [00:31:07] Yeah. Well, and I, you know, this idea that birth

[00:31:11] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:31:11] a happy place. There's new births. It's it's, it's, they're, they're unique. They're unique. And that's why they're doing

[00:31:15] Quint Studer, MS: [00:31:15] right. So that's what I mean, you, you, you, you've gotta be willing to get your inside, right. And once you get rid of the blockages, then all of a sudden you become more coachable. And then you're on your way to have an, a great, great success.

[00:31:29] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:31:29] Yeah. And that's that's leadership is, is the growth and, and I want to transition to, um, your book and, and here's the copy of the book. I encourage folks to check this out. It is a delicious book, the busy leaders handbook. How to lead people and places that thrive sounds like a great episode title for our conversation here, how to lead people in places that thrive. , tell me about the, the, the latest book and, , , , , what that means to you.

[00:31:53] Quint Studer, MS: [00:31:53] Well, I think, I think that the latest book, I'm going to talk about a little second, cause that's coming

[00:31:57] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:31:57] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:31:58] Quint Studer, MS: [00:31:58] that's coming out in June. But, [00:32:00] um, what, what I did over the last couple of years is I look at, you know, if my son or daughter came to me and said, you know, Hey, you've been in this healthcare or you've been in leadership, just leadership for a long time. What are some best practices? So I went about and collected, I thought 41 best practices, and I've always been a Peter Drucker fan right on my desk at home as the Peter Drucker daily book reopened it up and every day you learn something. So I, I think I wrote that book because of my love for middle managers and recognizing their tough job they have. And I can go as a middle manager to a two day LDI leadership development Institute. And it's nice. I hear great things. But I probably won't really learn it until I have to use it. So that book is meant to do is Whoa. I, I do have to have a difficult conversation. Let me, let me catch up on how to do that. Or I do have to do this. So it's really 41, just it's 41 best practices. That can be a [00:33:00] desk reference guide. And it was really neat because the other two things happened recently. One, I spoke at Baylor university's MBA program. And, and they were supposed to all come up with a question for me. And one of the people  wrote me and said, you know what?

[00:33:14] I had a bunch of questions, but then I read busy leader handbook and they're all answered in there. The other thing is yesterday, I talked to neonatal specialist on burnout and stress. And when I got introduced, the physician said, Hey, I've read busy leader handbook. And it's really been helpful to me. So, so that's it. But now in June, in June, I'm very

[00:33:34] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:33:34] Quint hang on. Before you get to the book, this, this busy leaders handbook. What I love about this is there's three sections. The leader in you. , there is, we share with listeners here, optimizing employee performance, and the third section is strategic foundational topics. There is an arc here.

[00:33:53] I have benefited from this book. There's a focus on you and there's focus on you being a leader and then there's [00:34:00] strategy. And this is a great resource for folks, to get, , very practical, , manual that can be on your desk as a resource for you. It will come in handy if you get a copy of it. , so I wanna, , I want to endorse that, but, , so what's coming down the pike.

[00:34:14] Quint Studer, MS: [00:34:14] Well, , I'm very excited. , , I've been, you know, I teach people, you know, I've written a lot of books, but, , I'm like that musician where your first album was your, your greatest album and you've been trying to. Yeah, you're trying to duplicate it for the last 20 years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, absolutely. More than a feeling anyway.

[00:34:32] So, um, Hardwiring Excellence  is, you know, is really it's, it's so gratifying um, my other books since then, I think have, been I wanted to write hardwiring excellence  I wanted to write it, uh, passion, you know, as a book, uh, a passionate textbook is what I called it. It's got the passion, but it's like a textbook of tools and techniques. I think my book since then, have gone more tools and techniques because there are workshops I've done. There's things I've done. So [00:35:00] they're very tactical oriented. So over the last year, With what's been going on. I've just been looking more and more into what is it that makes healthcare so special. And I believe there are some common things that make healthcare worker so special.

[00:35:17] Number one is they want to be helpful and useful. And while other people run away from danger and responsibility and accountability, healthcare people run. To it. And I say healthcare I'm including emergency medical personnel and all sorts of things.

[00:35:33] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:35:33] All of us.

[00:35:33] Quint Studer, MS: [00:35:33] So, so the thought is, I think healthcare, people have a calling in their DNA. I think healthcare is called them as much as they've called it. So when I've traveled the country, I'll say to people in healthcare, when did you first think about being in healthcare and I'd hear stories like fifth grade. Eighth grade high school. Now they might know exactly. Most physicians knew they wanted to be in medicine in high school almost, [00:36:00] or maybe college.

[00:36:01] They didn't know exactly until they went to medical school and rotated exactly what area, but they sorta  had a calling. Then I talk about people that aren't clinicians. So if you look at the pandemic. , we've got environmental services. We've got IT . People we've got security people, we've got food and beverage workers.

[00:36:20] We've got all these people , that could work, do their job anywhere. And one of my stories I love is the parking lot attendant who convinced a family, they were in the right place. Cause he just said, you're, I've been praying for you. And they said that parking lot attendant. Changed everything for them. Now, if you come out of the mall and the parking lot attendance, as I've been praying for you, you're not going to have the same feeling. So I wrote this book called  The Calling: Why Healthcare is Special , and I'm very excited about it because it really talks about our DNA. And so if people want to be helpful and useful, [00:37:00] then our job. Is to create cultures that don't get in the way of them being helpful and useful. And so that's really what the book is about. Um, I'm very excited about it.

[00:37:10] I met John Maxwell years about two years ago and they asked John Maxwell what's his favorite book. And he said, the one I'm writing right now. And I thought for me, hiring excellence was always my favorite, but the other books are nice, but that was the one. That was my favorite. And now I know what he means because the callings really resonated with me. So I'm started trying to create the 2021 , , version of Hardwiring Excellence

[00:37:36] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:37:36] Yeah. Yeah. And I've seen, uh, you've, you've shared a advanced version of it and I've had the great, good fortune to be able to, to, to read through it. And, , I'm really excited about what you're doing with that book and where it's going, because it really speaks to, especially in the face of all the burnout and challenges we're facing in healthcare.

[00:37:53], this is a time to, to double down on why we do what we do and find meaning in [00:38:00] the work we do, because there's so much burnout and sorrow that we're dealing with and being able to connect with that, meaning connects us to that. Calling connects us to our, our soul. It connects us to our strength that connects us to the joy of the work we do.

[00:38:13] So, , I'm excited about where that that book is going and, for, for, for this episode, I. want to ask you , there's been an amazing arc of your career Quint, and I want to ask you, you know, what's next for Quint Studer? The book comes out, where are you going? What's next in the work that you're doing?

[00:38:33] Quint Studer, MS: [00:38:33] well, if you look at my, my career, normally I, I take it a day at a time and, um,

[00:38:41] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:38:41] I kind of believe that and I kind of don't.

[00:38:44] Quint Studer, MS: [00:38:44] Well, I think there's a couple things. Number one, I certainly am very, very excited about healthcare. Um, I, I think healthcare needs leaders and needs more than they ever have before, but they need a different type of leader. They need a [00:39:00] leader that's not, not lives and dies on metrics, but lead, but understands relationship leadership,

[00:39:07] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:39:07] And that speaks to strategy that speaks to strategy. How about how you think about the now and the future?

[00:39:12] Quint Studer, MS: [00:39:12] I got asked a question yesterday and they said, quit. What's the number one skillset, a leader needs today. And I said, how to show empathy? I wouldn't have said that maybe four or five years ago.

[00:39:22] I so-so. But, but, so I think that the other thing Patrick is, is you might know that I've been very involved in his brain development of young children and, uh, About four or five years ago. I got very, I just, I didn't know what I didn't know, but I knew that we are having problems supposedly in third grade, reading fourth grade math, and I started looking into it and I got into looking at kindergarten readiness. And I, then I ended up at the university of Chicago with John List, PhD. Who's in the economics department and Dana Suskind, MD a physician who's at Comer children's hospital. [00:40:00] And we're looking at, they were studying brain development both from the medical term and the economic term. John List feels  that at the kindergarten readiness is the longterm economic health of a community. So we met with Dr. Suskin and they were doing some neat work in communities. And I said, what, what if we got mom before she left the hospital? Because of 80, 85% of the brain is developed by age three, it seems like every day. That goes by, we miss an opportunity. And she said, do you think you could get hospitals to do that?

[00:40:33] I said, well, I know I can get three hospitals in Pensacola, Florida do it. So we became the pilot for the university of Chicago. Now over the three-year period that every mom, before she leaves the hospital, gets a tutorial on how to build her baby's brain and they then have followed it up. And now we have peer reviewed research that shows that we are making progress.

[00:40:56] Then we partnered with Harvard on something called basics. [00:41:00] So every mom gets a text message twice a week, depending on the age of her child on tips that they should be doing to build their baby's brain. We were in the pilot for them too. So we now have peer reviewed research on that. So  somebody asked me the other day.

[00:41:16] If I had a billion dollars, what would I do? I'd say I would make sure every mom that leaves a hospital has been given the gift of understanding how to build her baby's brain, because that's the difference maker. So I've got this thing called, build a brain, build a life, build a community. And I'm really hoping now that we can take this everywhere. Um, cause we do have now a few other hospitals that are. Implementing it or even putting it into the electronic health record for pediatricians, for well-baby chucks to have that brain conversation. What our peer referred shows, Patrick is women with a higher social economic. Probably, um, [00:42:00] don't have as big a gain from what we're doing, because they're already doing it. But children that are in a lower socioeconomic here, 30% less words, which are the deal that drives the brain and our period versus research shows that we're doing quantum leaps with that group. So I'm, this probably wasn't what we were talking about, but I think the reason I'm excited about being in healthcare, because if you know me, no matter what we're talking about, By the time I leave, we're going to have that early brain conversation.

[00:42:30] No matter why you let me come into your organization, we're going to talk early brain. And, uh, I was just, I'm in Dixon, Illinois. And you know, once you explain it, The CEO goes, why? Gosh, we've got to do this. And the labor and delivery manager says, my nurses would love this because when a mom leaves, she knows how to bathe her patient. She knows so many things to do with her baby , but we've never touched on how to build your baby's brain. It's like we only touched the shoulders down when they leave. And I think we have to move [00:43:00] up the shoulders up also. So I'm very excited about the work we're doing and build a brain build a life and build a community.

[00:43:06] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:43:06] That is outstanding and I pray that just continues to grow and grow and grow literally as the brain's growing. But I, but this has a global implication and, , it's profound and, and I, I pray that that, um, is, is very successful Quint .

[00:43:19] Quint Studer, MS: [00:43:19] That's very inexpensive. That's the beauty. I try to create things that are scalable and the way you scale things is make them affordable because remember the staff is already there. So we've made it very, very inexpensive to the organization.

[00:43:33] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:43:33] And you said earlier, if he had a billion dollars, that's what you'd invest in. , I want to ask you a similar kind of question. If you had the attention of all the healthcare folks around the planet, all of us for a brief moment, what would you say to us Quint ?

[00:43:47] Quint Studer, MS: [00:43:47] Be kind to yourself. I think we're too hard on ourselves. I think healthcare people tend to look at what's wrong instead of what's right. I get that. We'd look at negative variances. We look at, we usually talk to [00:44:00] someone. We, when we have something negative to say, you know, nobody calls, facilities and engineering and says the temperature, the temperature is good.

[00:44:08] So I think we really have to. Be kind to ourself. I said, if I did a cartoon of a healthcare worker in a boxing ring, there'd be no other boxer with them and they'd be wondering who's hitting them cause they hit themselves. So I think kindness is really what I would tell people is give them, you know, just pause and, and love yourself a little bit.

[00:44:28] And I don't mean it in a self-centered way, but you do great work. You'd make huge differences. And sometimes I think healthcare workers just are too hard on themselves.

[00:44:39] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:44:39] Hmm This show. is about courage, compassion, joy, and hope, and what you just depicted with the notion of this boxer hitting themselves, , and the need for us to be compassionate with ourselves. , I, I wish people could hear that. I wish people would hear your voice every day. Hearing that message as a reminder, , whether you're beginning your career, the middle of your [00:45:00] career, the nearing the end, the sunset of a career, or to hear that message to be compassionate, because you started with your kryptonite becoming your superpower, , in this arc of this episode, , , being compassionate with yourself and here we're talking about, , helping our colleagues, , whether you're. , developing tactics and tools for leadership. It all boils down to being compassionate with yourself and then having the mindset to be able to make that difference. I love it.

[00:45:26] Quint Studer, MS: [00:45:26] Well, thank you. I, I get a lot, I do a lot of work  with AUPHA does, um, programming for, um, student faculty and students and healthcare ministration. I'm on the board of Cammy, which accredits universities in healthcare administration . And so I'll be like, I think with George Washington university next week, and one of those things, the students always ask me, if you could give me one piece of advice in healthcare, what would it be? And I say, be kind to yourself.

[00:45:52] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:45:52] Yeah. You just heard it right from the mouth of  Quint Studer. I love it. Quint . If folks are interested, I want to encourage folks, [00:46:00] where can they go? Where can they get copies of your book work? And they learn about this brain development program , where can they  learn more about, , what the, the, the Studer family foundation is doing.

[00:46:08] Quint Studer, MS: [00:46:08] No, no. Um, well, I, I like getting direct people, you know, people write me and, or they're surprised because I've responded. It's quint@quintstuder.com  that's my email my phone number's  (850) 232-4648. So they can text me, they can email me, um, and I will respond and try to be as good a primary care person as I can possibly be.

[00:46:38] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:46:38] I love it. I love it. Folks. Bear in mind, a Quint is on Eastern standard time, New York city time. So bear that in mind, depending on the hour that you text him, one. Two , is there a website folks can go to, to learn more about the books etc?

[00:46:54] Quint Studer, MS: [00:46:54] A couple of websites. Um, I get mixed up

[00:46:56] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:46:56] put them in the show notes. I'll put them in the show notes too.

[00:46:58] Quint Studer, MS: [00:46:58] Yeah. , I think [00:47:00] there's, , www.quintstuder.com  there's Studer I . I think www.studeri.org is a real good one. If they're looking at brain, it's www.studeri.org.

[00:47:09] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:47:09] Nice. Well, I want to encourage folks to check that out, man. Quint . I could stay here, us talking for hours, , getting to chat with you about all these topics, but I'm just so deeply grateful, , that you could be a guest on, on the podcast,  and just want to thank you for your time and all the wisdom and the impact you've had in the past. , what you're doing currently and just the best wishes and all the efforts you're doing in the future Quint .

[00:47:31] Quint Studer, MS: [00:47:31] All right. Well, I love you. Patrick's Swift . I appreciate it.

[00:47:34] Patrick Swift, PhD, MBA, FACHE: [00:47:34] I love you, Quint . Thank you so much, brother. All right. Thank you.

[00:47:38] Quint Studer, MS: [00:47:38] Bye-bye.