Servant Leadership Impacts People, Organization

St. Joseph’s Hospital has engaged the entire organization in its servant leadership program, ensuring that regardless of the person or position everyone can be a leader and servant to others, says David Fish.

Fish, retired president of St. Joseph’s and current Hospital Sisters Health System vice-president for advocacy, introduced servant leadership to the hospital close to 20 years ago.

As part of its servant leadership program, all team members at the hospital attend a two and a half-day retreat program and participate in a self-assessment that speaks to both personal strengths and needs.

The hospital also has regular, ongoing programs that focus on different aspects throughout the year such as accountability and trust. Everyone is cycled through the programs, which are held offsite with a cross-section of the organization.

“(A) fundamental belief we have is that as these organizations need to change they really can’t change except in how it is we change ourselves,” Fish tells Axiom News.

“Fundamentally, as we try to strengthen these working relationships and try to produce more opportunities for people to experience meaning, you just come down to the reality you can only give away who you are, so this is part of the programming,” he says.

He adds this has translated into having people that want to come to work with the organization and stay with it for “an incredible period of time.”

The longevity of employees is likely a result of finding the work environment satisfying and fulfilling, says Fish.

“People as individuals really have grown and have changed and have become much more committed in the sense of really caring for each other and what they do. It isn’t an environment of compliance at all,” he says.

The more the organization gives and engages others, the more it becomes theirs and the organization is able to advance, he says, noting this does not mean everyone embraces servant leadership to the same degree.

The environment allows those who want to participate and grow do so with the realization that no one grows in isolation, rather it is through interacting and serving together that people grow as individuals, he notes.

People who may not feel comfortable with the servant leadership process, beliefs or concept can decide to stay with the organization but not be as involved, or decide the setting is not for them.

“Our belief is you need to find the most complementary and self-fulfilling setting for your work as possible so that you can make the best contribution that you can as an individual, so it works both ways,” says Fish.

A sign of St. Joseph’s strong, committed work group is indicated through receiving such accolades as being named a Summit Award Winner by Press Ganey Associates two years in a row, which recognizes top-performing facilities for customer satisfaction, as well as being ranked one of the top 100 hospitals by Thomson Reuters, a study based on overall organizational performance.

Based in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, St. Joseph’s has also run programs for its sister hospitals sharing its servant leadership concepts and learning.

“(We are) hopefully helping them to change and create the kind of environment that really has the combination of things that we are after — the stronger self-awareness, much more trust and a real spirit encouraged to take risks and to be open and embrace change and deal with some of the uncertainties in the health care field,” says Fish.

Related Story:
St. Joseph’s Hospital Shares Servant Leadership Journey

— More to Come

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