Leadership Strategies You Should Consider Over the Holiday
In a Fourth of July episode, Paul suggests using the slower summer months to strengthen culture, improve productivity, and invest in leadership training, with a clear goal set for September 1.
Full transcript
Generated from the episode audio and lightly edited for readability.
Good morning and welcome to this very special edition, Fourth of July edition of the Martin Rehab M&A Advisory. I'm Paul Martin, founder and president of Martin Healthcare Advisors. And today I want to take a moment just to reflect on just how fortunate we are all to live in a country with such incredible opportunities. And you know our nation was built by our founding fathers as you know who fought for the freedoms that we enjoy today. And it's important to remember and honor their sacrifices. And that's what we will all be doing this weekend.
So, as we celebrate the holiday weekend, it's also a really great time to think about our roles as leaders in our companies, including myself, and our role in being and in being leaders for the physical therapy industry. Summer tends to be a time, you know, although we try to keep our clinics as busy as we can, it does tend to be a slower period for many physical therapy clinics across the country, which makes it a great time to focus on those. Now, we're going to use Steven CVY here twice, but Steven Covey, the seven habits of highly effective people, those important but not urgent tasks that can significantly benefit your business as well as your people.
So, let me just throw out a couple suggestions on things you might consider focusing on this summer. First and foremost, culture. This is a great time. There's never been a better time to strengthen your company's culture. Remember, a strong culture attracts and retains staff. Reflect on your values, your why, and how they are or are not being carried out every day in every one of your clinics. And so what can you do to enhance the sense of community with your staff and that sense of shared purpose among your team?
You know, we have resources that can significantly help you improve your culture. So don't hesitate. Click below and we can talk through those. Next, productivity. You know, we're talking about two things that are a part of, I think, you know, almost a pandemic, I hate to use that word, in our industry right now, which is the shortage of professional staff. But one way to make that gap less is to improve productivity. And we've seen a lot of companies do work with that. So, do you have a process or systems that kind of need to be dusted and wiped clean and productivity just becomes a way of doing business within your company?
You know, a lot of people ask me, should I should I have an incentive plan? Should I have a bonus plan? And I think bonus plans, incentives plans are great, but it starts with a culture of productivity. So what strategies could you execute that would streamline operations and make your clinic simply more efficient? Could be technology, it could be training, it could be again a system of budgeting, targeting and then following up on a weekly basis with those. Remember and I mentioned technology, but there are a lot of new technologies out there and we've done a series on this and we're continuing to talk to folks out there that are assisting in this productivity challenge.
Then a third idea I have for you today is invest in leadership training. Develop your leadership skills as well as those of your team. Even if you are doing that training and it's an if it's an off-site or if it's a third-party training system, even if you're doing that together with your leaders, consider what training or development opportunities are most important now. What do you most need from your leaders now and can help you all grow as leaders and obviously to help you grow your company?
So, I'm going to stay with the Steven CVY this morning and my next statement is any one of these endeavors, any one of these strategies or tasks, always start with the end in mind, choose one of these areas. Set a clear goal and aim to complete it by September 1st. So, what does the goal that you have chose, what does that look like by September 1st? What does it look like by January 1st and work backwards on what you need to do to achieve that goal.
This is a focused approach and it will help you make the most of the slower summer months and really position your business for big-time success in the fall. You know, start thinking right now. See yourself at PPS. What strategy execution story are you going to be able to tell one of your colleagues or many of your colleagues in early October at that conference? Tell that story now and then make it become a reality before the conference. Hey, I appreciate all of you for tuning in today.
Enjoy the holiday weekend with your families. Let's all take a moment to appreciate the freedoms and opportunities that we have. Have a happy and safe Fourth of July. And if you want to discuss how to kickstart any of these strategies we discussed today, click below and let's talk. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.
Want to talk about your own business?
Marlton, NJ 08053