5004: Communication, Collaboration, and Case Analysis for Master's Learners Self-Assessment of Leadership, Collaboration, and Ethics

Leadership is a journey, and a commitment to continual growth and development of leadership skills is a must.  As part of this, ongoing candid self-reflection, self-awareness, and taking action when there are opportunities are critical steps in an effective leader’s evolution.  In response to the scenario from the Western Medical Enterprises Questionnaire, the sections of this assessment will explore leadership attributes and behaviors, techniques to promote interprofessional collaboration, and the application of an established code to address ethical dilemmas.

Section I:  Leadership and Collaboration Experience

            I have been working for Optum, a segment of UnitedHealth Group, for the past fifteen years as a Registered Nurse case manager.  I have been in a leadership role for the past nine years and currently lead a team of 17 Registered Nurses across the nation.  UnitedHealth Group is the world’s largest healthcare organization by revenue and ranked 7th on the 2020 Fortune 200 list.  Know for innovative solutions, Optum acquired Vivify, a remote patient monitoring company, in 2019. 

Our Medicare Advantage team is among those selected to pioneer a remote patient monitoring program using the Vivify platform and biometric devices, a radical shift from the previous case management program model.  Our shared vision is to improve the member experience, empower members to take charge of their health, and prevent avoidable hospitalizations.  To ensure the success of such a significant program redesign, effective leadership, communication, decision-making, and collaboration is critical.

I have been using the servant leadership model to lead this initiative since its launch in March 2020, incorporating attributes such as compassion, trust, and empowerment.  This style fosters innovative behaviors (Su, Weilin, et al., 2020), paving the road to success for innovative projects such as this.  As an example of compassionate leadership, I acknowledged team members’ anxiety when I initially announced the change, listened with an open mind, and gave them time to process the news.  An example of building trust is when I showed I value staff input.  Using staff feedback and suggestions, we streamlined the feedback loop between staff and Vivify technical support, which improved both the member and nurse experience.  I have empowered the team members by including them in the decision-making process regarding frontline workflows, creating opportunities for them to participate in pilot groups to test processes, and engaging them in user acceptance testing of new tools and technology.  These approaches have energized the team, instilled a sense of ownership, and promoted the flow of creative and innovative ideas.

I have been mindful of using an assertive communication style, including active listening, being open-minded to staff feedback, and setting clear expectations (Bocar, 2017).  For example, we introduced a new care management application in ongoing development, which led to staff frustration.  Aligning with an executive directive, I set clear expectations to utilize the tool to its fullest extent with the expectation that staff would share what worked and what needed improvement.  Frustrated by the tool’s instability, which significantly affected their productivity, team members proposed using an alternate application until the new one is more useful.  By listening to understand and keeping my mind open to different perspectives, I objectively considered then implemented the proposal.  Effectively using an assertive communication style has allowed team members to feel understood and valued, safe to share opposing ideas, and motivated about the way forward.    

Although I prefer the behavioral style of decision-making, which promotes empowerment, feelings of value, and enhanced communication (Luqman et al., 2016), the directive style is inherent to my personality.  I regret the times I defaulted to this in the program’s earliest and most chaotic days, leading to poor decisions.  For example, we had a significant disparity in caseload size amongst the nurses early on.  Instead of allowing the team to formulate a strategic solution, I was directive and made a snap decision to randomly reassign members across nurses.  Staff felt excluded from the decision-making process, which affected their morale at a critical time.  I have since been more intentional in using the behavioral decision-making style, which aligns more closely with the servant leadership style.  For example, there was recently a need to adjust four team members’ primary responsibilities.  Includi