Achieving a high-performing healthcare organization demands intentional effort, thoughtful leadership, and tailored programs that address the unique needs of each physician, rather than relying on generic, superficial solutions. Cultivating a coaching culture is the most effective strategy for fostering a high-performing organization. This blog outlines three key ways a physician coaching culture enhances individual performance, personal wellness, and a high-performing healthcare organization.
Defining a “Physician Coaching Culture”
Creating a “physician coaching culture” is a process that requires intentionality and dedication to core principles. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines a coaching culture by several key elements (1), including:
- A widespread recognition of the value of coaching among both employees and leaders.
- Managers, leaders, and internal coaches receive accredited coach-specific training, ensuring they can provide effective coaching.
- The organization employs all three coaching modalities: internal coach practitioners, external coach practitioners, and managers/leaders using coaching skills.
- Coaching is firmly embedded within the organization, reflected by a dedicated budget line item.
- All employees have equal access to coaching from professional coach practitioners, promoting a supportive and development-focused work environment.
The result is an environment with trust and safety, strong communication, and continuous learning and growth at the forefront.
Trust and Safety
A fundamental aspect of physician coaching culture in a healthcare environment is establishing trust and safety among all of the various participants. This involves creating a non-judgmental space where individuals respect healthcare professionals’ identities, perceptions, styles, and languages. Recognizing and valuing individuality in a team is essential. Leaders create trust and safety by validating the feelings, perceptions, concerns, beliefs, and suggestions of team members. Even a simple, considerate statement of acknowledgment to a team member can be a meaningful contribution to trust and safety.
Strong Communication
A coaching culture introduces a more effective communication style in healthcare. This includes listening actively to understand what others are saying and what they are not saying. It means supporting others’ self-expression and limiting judgment using skills like paraphrasing, reflecting and summarizing to ensure clarity, and recognizing emotions, energy shifts, and non-verbal cues. It integrates the other person’s words, tone of voice, and body language to help determine meaning. When mutual understanding rather than mutual agreement is the goal in many of these conversations, team members feel heard and diverse perspectives can be brought forward. Coaching skills facilitate awareness and learning with thoughtful questions, considerate silence, and analogy to help others explore new lines of thinking.
Learning and Growth
Finally, a physician coaching culture emphasizes continuous learning and growth. This is not a novel concept to physicians. In a coaching culture, growth and learning is driven by the adult learner. This includes integrating new awareness into their worldviews and behaviors, assisting in designing actionable goals and accountability measures, and supporting their autonomy in goal-setting. These same skills help physicians support patients by identifying potential outcomes and inviting them to consider how to move forward. This focuses the care squarely on the patient. The goal of learning and growth in a coaching culture is to encourage individual accountability and passion.
A coaching culture in healthcare equates to a high-performing organization with satisfied healthcare professionals and patients. With trust and safety, communication, and learning and growth, organizations can nurture a coaching culture that enhances individual and collective performance while creating an improved experience in the system.
Learn more about a coaching culture by scheduling a call with a SurgeonMasters Team Member.
Source:
“Defining New Coaching Cultures.” Human Capital Institute, 13 Sept. 2023, www.hci.org/research/defining-new-coaching-cultures. Accessed 20 June 2024.
Jeffrey M. Smith, MD, FACS, PCC
I am a practicing Orthopaedic Traumatologist and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC). I have more than 1,000 hours of one-on-one surgeon coaching experience and 500+ hours of International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited coach training. Through my personal experience and studies, I have developed The 8 PRACTICEs of Highly Successful Surgeons, a coaching methodology that addresses communication, leadership, time / life management, and more.