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Orthopedic devices aren’t developed by single-minded and singularly focused teams. They’re created by the exchange of countless ideas among numerous experts with diverse backgrounds and experiences. When project managers, design engineers and contract manufacturers lack a shared vision, they fail to work together effectively.
Successful leaders understand this challenge and possess the ability to motivate and inspire others to achieve common goals, according to Vaughn C. Eason, D.B.A, P.M.P., Founder and CEO of McKenzie • Ewing, a veteran-owned and operated leadership development consultancy.
“Great leaders are able to create a shared vision for their team and help others to see the value in working toward it,” he said. “They also possess excellent problem-solving skills and can think quickly on their feet.”
Dr. Eason, who served as an advisor to senior members of the State Department and Department of Defense during his time in the U.S. Navy, said a shared vision needs to be part of a company’s guiding mission statement.
Focusing on the following leadership traits will make sure your company’s vision is clearly defined and constantly top of mind.
Individual Inspiration. Dr. Eason said leaders should invite every member of their team to contemplate how their unique individual contributions can build toward large accomplishments. That sounds good on paper, but ensuring that everyone in the organization comes together and works toward a clearly defined objective requires a great deal of hard work and personal accountability.
For Dr. Eason, every member’s contribution to a company’s shared vision is vital, regardless of their specific role. He said the shared vision is a company’s rallying cry, and it’s everyone’s responsibility to buy into it and bring it to life.
Informed Motivation. When Dr. Eason started working in the Navy, he did what he was told to do. “Leadership didn’t need to inspire us because we were motivated by not wanting to get in trouble,” he said.
That type of leadership style is no longer effective, especially outside the military. “You need to give people the ‘why’ behind the goals you set,” Dr. Eason said. “And you need to get them to buy into what you’re doing. I’ve found that when you get them to understand the end goal of a project, they’ll exceed your expectations.”
Dr. Eason also pointed out that an influential leader’s ability to connect with their team sets them apart from dictatorial leaders. An influential leader knows how to motivate and inspire others, Dr. Eason said.
“They practice compassionate leadership and use communication and emotional intelligence to connect with their team and stakeholders,” he added.
According to Dr. Eason, teams that are truly motivated and aligned with a shared vision contribute more than the bare minimum because they understand why what they are doing is important and necessary. “And in most cases, if you’re getting your hands dirty with them as a leader, you can get more out of the team members than you might otherwise expect.”
Transparent Communication. Dr. Eason called transparency the ultimate leadership trait and said influential leaders understand the importance of clearly communicating information — good and bad — to their team members.
When Dr. Eason served as a hospital director, he was faced with lower-than-expected patient totals. The hospital was struggling financially, and its leadership considered cutting back on staffing hours and pay to save money.
Dr. Eason didn’t want the hospital’s struggles to impact his team’s salaries, so he devised a plan to convince them to take on more patients. He got the team to buy into the idea by discussing the situation with the managers he was overseeing to gain their support, then with his supervisors and finally with the frontline staff.
“I met with the managers first and told them, ‘Hey, I’m going to talk to your staff. I want them to hear it from me, but I want to tell you first because I need your support in pushing the message out,’” Dr. Eason said.
He was warned that he would receive pushback from the staff, who were already complaining about being overworked before his plan for increasing patient slots was shared.
When staff members told Dr. Eason that he had no idea what it was like to work through lunch breaks to keep up with the patient care demands, he started working alongside the staff to lighten their loads and provided them with free lunches on busy days.
The hospital’s staff, managers and supervisors eventually got on board with the initiative, Dr. Vaughn said, because they were focused on the main goal of working together to prevent the staff’s hours from being cut.
“If you get team members to work in concert with one another and allow them to establish professional relationships forged around a common goal, those relationships will flourish, and they’ll have the ability to accomplish great things,” Dr. Eason said.
Clear and Consistent Messaging. Fostering professional connections is especially important for medical device companies that are made up of diverse cross-functional teams. Making sure that every member of every team within an organization is focused on a shared vision requires that the vision is communicated clearly and repeatedly, Dr. Eason said.
In his role as a hospital director, he accomplished this through in-person meetings with his staff and weekly newsletters.
He suggests praising your team during staff meetings and recognizing specific team members by acknowledging what they accomplished. Then talk about agenda items that are important to focus on and the things the team needs to be aware of moving forward.
“Finally, reinforce the team’s mission and the shared goal you’re working toward as an organization,” he said. “The ability to motivate and inspire others is one of the most important qualities a leader can possess. Leaders with this quality can create a vision for their team and help others to see the value in achieving it.”
