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Biomedical subjects

Karlene Kerfoot

Publications and source records attributed to Karlene Kerfoot.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Megatrends, the annual report, possibilities.

The successful leader and manager have two very important challenges: to scan the horizon and not be thrown into crisis by not seeing predictable surprises, and to recognize the longer, more pervasive trends that are in the more distant future. In reality, these two processes merge and drive the future planning of the patient care enterprise. The merger of the operational imperatives and the long-range trends that create very different ways for us to work is the work of leaders. In the words of Senge and colleagues (2004), we are at the end of the era of hierarchical leadership and at the beginning of distributed, shared networks where "...becoming a real human being really is the primary leadership issue of our time" (p. 186). As we finish the year and begin a new one, it is time to look backward, look forward, and "see" the new world. We must also look into ourselves to see the inner work we need to do to meet the challenges of the next 5 years.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

The Johnny Appleseeds of oranizational change.

Change cannot be executed by merely announcing a new program. Just as Johnny Appleseed carried and planted apple seeds that sprouted throughout the Northwest Territory, there are seed carriers in every organization who are carrying the seeds of positive change or a negative reaction to change. Performative ties can carry the advantages of message integrity, reducing the cost of knowledge transfer, and rapid transfer of knowledge. The future of leadership needs to move from focusing on extraordinary individuals to extraordinary combinations of people that will create extraordinary collaboration.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Megatrends, the annual report, possibilities.

The successful leader and manager have two very important challenges: to scan the horizon and not be thrown into crisis by not seeing predictable surprises, and to recognize the longer, more pervasive trends that are in the more distant future. In reality, these two processes merge and drive the future planning of the patient care enterprise. The merger of the operational imperatives and the long-range trends that create very different ways for us to work is the work of leaders. In the words of Senge and colleagues (2004), we are at the end of the era of hierarchical leadership and at the beginning of distributed, shared networks where "...becoming a real human being really is the primary leadership issue of our time" (p. 186). As we finish a year and begin a new one, it is time to look backward, look forward, and "see" the new world. We must also look into ourselves to see the inner work we need to do to meet the challenges of the next 5 years.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

The transparent organization: leadership in an open organization.

The impersonal approach to health care leadership is over. Specialization, hierarchies, and impersonal decisions have led the public to distrust health care organizations. The charges of unnecessary cardiac surgery and abuses led the public to question our integrity. Annison and Wilford (1998) note that the character of a person and the character of an organization lead one to trust or distrust. They note that openness is one of the most important characteristics upon which we judge the character of a person or an organization. As the operating framework of partnerships and transparency becomes one that our staff and patients expect, our ability to handle openness will be an important way in which we are judged.

Decision Making, Organizational↗
PubMed2006

Authentic leadership.

There is leadership, and then there is authentic leadership. If you are not willing to engage from your heart, to passionately work to create a greater quality of work life for front-line staff every day, and to push yourself to the ultimate limit to make that happen, you might be a leader, but you will not be perceived as an authentic leader. Authentic leaders love, challenge people to do what they didn't believe was possible, and generate the energy to make the impossible possible by their passion for their people, their patients, and for doing the right thing. Thankfully, there are leaders who are willing to live on the edge, model their love, and inspire people to change the world. Will you be one of them?

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

On leadership: attending, questioning and quality.

Health care is just now feeling the effects of many years of neglect of serious attention to quality outcomes. We have many tools available now to change our thinking and to provide techniques to attain excellence in quality, such as Six Sigma and principals from Toyota. However, these techniques will only get us to a minimal level of quality. We need to change our questions, think the impossible, and break out of our old modes of thinking about quality. Zero defects are possible. We only have to take that quantum leap and think in new ways. We are posed on the edge of a quantum leap into new ways of thinking about quality. We will hear much more about nurse-sensitive indicators in the near future. Nurse leaders should change their questions now to attend to new models that will get us closer to the ultimate "impossible thinking" goal of zero defects in nurse-sensitive indicators of quality.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2005

Building confident organizations by filling buckets, building infrastructures, and shining the flashlight.

Leaders have the ability to create confidence or fear in the organization. Kanter (2004) writes that confidence is the "...sweet spot between arrogance and despair" (p. 8). Overconfidence causes people to overshoot, and to assume they are invulnerable. Underconfidence is just as harmful because it leads to underinvesting in people, under-innovating, and eventually leads to the disenfranchisement of staff and poor morale. If we take Kanter's advice, we will build an infrastructure that creates confidence in everyone and the organization. But we will not stop there. We will focus "flashlights" on people and activities that are inspiring to others.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

Learning organizations need teachers: the leader's challenge.

Teaching is not a top-down phenomenon. Teaching occurs everywhere in the organization--vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. Leaders are valued for their ability to forge relationships with very diverse groups and individuals and build partnerships that are truly mutually beneficial for all. The best leaders have dirty shoulders because they are continually lifting others up.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

Expertise isn't the only answer to leadership in safety.

In the words of Covey (2004), we all have the power to decide to live a great life rather than a life of mediocrity. Unfortunately, in patient safety, we in health care have chosen to live a life of mediocrity because we have not made a commitment to error-free versus an error-tolerant industry. Compared to what other industries have accomplished in safety, we must make a commitment to do better. We must stop benchmarking ourselves against the median or average, which is mediocrity at its finest, and accept the challenge that an error-free environment is possible. In the words of Collins (2001), "Good is the enemy of Great". With new eyes that represent diverse cognitive skills, we will overcome our blindness to defects and move from good to great.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

Attending, questioning, and quality.

Health care is just now feeling the effects of many years of neglect of serious attention to quality outcomes. We have many tools available now to change our thinking and to provide techniques to attain excellence in quality, such as Six Sigma and principals from Toyota. However, these techniques will only get us to a minimal level of quality. We need to change our questions, think the impossible, and break out of our old modes of thinking about quality. Zero defects are possible. We only have to take that quantum leap and think in new ways.

Attention↗
PubMed2005

Attending to weak signals: the leader's challenge.

Halverson and Isham (2003) quote sources that report the accidental death rate of simply being in a hospital is " ... four hundred times more likely than your risk of death from traveling by train, forty times higher than driving a car, and twenty times higher than flying in a commercial aircraft" (p. 13). High-reliability organizations such as nuclear power plants and aircraft carriers have been pioneers in the business of recognizing weak signals. Weike and Sutcliffe (2001) note that high-reliability organizations distinguish themselves from others because of their mindfulness which enables them to see the significance of weak signals and to give strong interventions to weak signals. To act mindfully, these organizations have an underlying mental model of continually updating, anticipating, and focusing the possibility of failure using the intelligence that weak signals provides. Much of what happens is unexpected in health care. However, with a culture that is continually looking for weak signals, and intervenes and rescues when these signals are detected, the unexpected happens less often. This is the epitome of how leaders can build a culture of safety that focuses on recognizing the weak signals to manage the unforeseen.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

On leadership. Signature strenghths: achieving your destiny.

All of us have signature strengths that make us unique and valuable. There are talents we were born with and the ones we have perfected over the years. If these are utilized well it will allow us to live out our inborn destiny. The good news about nursing is that there are many very different kinds of positions where one can find a niche that fits her signature strengths. Without a match, we will live our lives as a sundial in the shade. Where there is a match, we will live as we were born to live, as sundials in the sun, creating value for those around us. Our task is to find that sunlight for ourselves and our staff and to position all of us to work in the light of our signature strengths.

Career Choice↗
PubMed2004

Warming your heart: the energy solution.

Citron (2002) probably sums it up best when he states that generosity is the best strategy for corporate prosperity. He believes that the love you get from others as a person and a corporation is equal to the love you extend to others. It's really about creating communities of caring and missions of inclusiveness. And the way to make this all happen is to continually recharge our batteries by staying close to the beautiful stories of our organization that will undeniably warm our hearts and give us the energy to be generous.

Leadership↗
PubMed2004

The transparent organization: leadership in an open organization.

The impersonal approach to health care leadership is over. Specialization, hierarchies, and impersonal decisions have led the public to distrust health care organizations. The charges of unnecessary cardiac surgery and abuses led the public to question our integrity. Annison and Wilford (1998) note that the character of a person and the character of an organization lead one to trust or distrust. They note that openness is one of the most important characteristics upon which we judge the character of a person or an organization. As the operating framework of partnerships and transparency becomes one that our staff and patients expect, our ability to handle openness will be an important way in which we are judged.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed2004

Leaders and windshields: the art of deflecting essential information.

Do you know how much information you deflect in a day? Do you know what techniques you use to keep information at bay? We all erect windshields. It is just a matter of degree. Sometimes we deflect information in spite of our good intentions. If we are not present when people are in dialogue with us, we soon lose the attention of that person. If we are leading a meeting and the feedback begins to get uncomfortable for us, we can interject the techniques of the alpha male or alpha female, or a variety of our own. But the audience knows you are not listening, and they soon go underground with their comments and interpretations. Soon you are cut out of valuable feedback. Deflecting information by surrounding yourself with windshields just won't work. We need second and third opinions continually. One of Warren Bennis' (2002) ten traits to becoming a "tomorrow leader" is that of ensuring that the leader's boundaries are porous and permeable. In his view, leaders need the foresight to see around the corner long before others do. His belief is that the only way to do this is to be in touch with your customers, and the outside world. But that only happens when the leader's boundaries are porous and permeable so that information can seep in. Effective leaders learn to lead without windshields.

Communication↗
PubMed2003

Compliance leadership: the 17th century model that doesn't work.

The world of health care has changed. We can't operate on 17th century models and be successful. We don't have to argue for the movement to committed, inspired leadership models, and the death of compliance leadership. There is abundant research to document this is the way we must go. In reality, we have a moral obligation to provide the kind of work environment that provides the meaningful work that Maslow (1998) tells us makes life meaningful. No one has the right to make people miserable at work because we have failed to create the cultures that create commitment, inspiration, and transformation for our patients, their families, and our staff. It is unfortunate that in times of staff shortages, this message is heard louder. We should be equally committed no matter what the situation, because it is the right thing to do. We do not have the right to be abusive to others in any context.

Leadership↗