LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS

Ahhh…Fall! The season of colorful leaves fluttering to the ground, cooler temperatures, fields being harvested, Friday night football, children racing door to door to collect treats, and yes…PUMPKINS! I may be more excited than most about the annual tradition of growing, carving, and displaying pumpkins. But this year in my pumpkin search, I’m seeing messages of leadership and fostering belonging. Read on to see what I mean:

My colleague (and dear friend who nurtures my belonging), Cella Hartline, and I stopped at the beautiful Copper Falls for a hike to break up a long work road trip this month. I kept seeing so many metaphors in nature for leadership that it almost felt trite, but at the risk of appearing so, I’m going ahead with this. The natural world presented a template for exploring how leaders can increase a sense of belonging. Here is what I saw, and some questions for you to ponder as a leader...

Which would you rather work on today?___Building a clinic addition to serve more of your community’s medical needs, or___Building capacity for your community to address the factors that impact health beyond the medical building (like housing, child care, access to healthy food, and other social determinants of health.While building a clinic may be more in your direct line of responsibility, your community needs you to bring your talents outside the healthcare walls. The need goes both ways, esp...

The 2023 posts here have focused on how you can create an environment of belonging for others. What about your accountability for creating your own sense of belonging?

I listened to this year’s Leadership Residency CEO Panel with an ear to messages of belonging. Some of their best pieces of advice fit perfectly with this theme.

Have you ever felt like an outsider? For example, I had a year-long weekly class in eighth grade, and I was the only one who came from the neighboring – rival - town. The other kids sat on the opposite side of the room from me and, for twelve months, only the teacher acknowledged my presence.

I’ve been hearing more and more about Belonging and its impact on employee well-being, engagement, and retention. It got me curious. Is it really as big of a deal as it seems? In a word, yes. The more I learn, the more convinced I am that it’s a golden ticket that we might not have yet completely unwrapped.

At the beginning of the pandemic, healthcare workers were hailed as heroes. It was a far fall to be toppled off that pedestal when the collective fatigue and discouragement left some of the public looking for a place to lay blame for the woes of the world.

Did you have that experience as a freshman in high school where it seemed like the upper classes didn’t even know you existed? I’m guessing that feeling invisible to the cool kids is one thing that hasn’t changed over time. This memory floated up following a response to my January post, The Like Button. A manager wrote: “I think I’m on the right track in establishing a sense of belonging in my department, but I occasionally hear comments from employees about not feeling appreciated by the...

As we muddle our way through this challenging world, knowing we are not alone can make all the difference. Love it or hate it, social media is part of how we connect now. Rare is the person who will admit it, but probably rarer yet is one who has never done it: checked your “likes.” I think what we are seeking in the like button is the human need to be seen, the need to belong.