Report from the Road

Posted by Harry Hertz, the Baldrige Cheermudgeon

It has been a while since I have blogged. I apologize, but I have had a fascinating two weeks. And I am cheering! I have been at the Baldrige regional conference in the Los Angeles area, at the first meeting of the Baldrige Executive Fellows, and at a health care service excellence conference in Detroit, sponsored by Oakwood Healthcare and Press Ganey. All three meetings exceeded my expectations!

Where to begin. Attendance at the regional conference was excellent, 298 people. Big enough for a lively conference, yet small enough to allow a lot of valuable networking in a one-day conference. Four plenary speakers set the tone with great presentations on leadership, inspiring the attendees and demonstrating why visionary senior leadership is such a significant component of organizational success and sustainability. The Baldrige Fellows were particularly impressed by the passion, yet diversity of style, among our Baldrige Award recipient leaders.

The two days I spent with our new Baldrige Fellows were exhilarating. David Spong, who led two Boeing divisions on Baldrige journeys, was our executive-in-residence for the session. He fielded questions on how he got the Baldrige journey started, how he sustained it, and lots on walking the talk. Our Fellows are from diverse industries and that will enrich their experience. Cross-industry and sector learning is a major Baldrige benefit. The Fellows quickly discovered that each of them already possessed expertise in areas where other Fellows wanted to gain expertise. It will be a great year of learning for all, including the Cheermudgeon!

Then it was off to Detroit. Over 300 people at a regional health care service excellence conference. High on the sessions I attended was leadership accountability as a key factor in service excellence. The leader must be visible in setting the tone for patient/customer service. Walk the talk and the staff follows the lead or moves on to another organization that better suits their style. Case in point, when the CEO starts walking hospital halls removing trash bags in the hallway, staff realize they can do the same as they walk by!

Got any leadership accountability or walking the talk stories of your own? As always, thanks for reading!

Comments

[Bryan Zak]

Last week while I was at the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) annual conference we had a break out session with the Director and Assistant Director of the SBA and we discussed future accreditation for SBDC State offices to be Baldrige based. A good step forward to integrating State SBDCs with State Awards programs and the Baldrige criteria.