Keep top leaders
Since the new organization was established, Hawthorne has
worked hard to prevent turnover, particularly in high-level
leadership positions. Stability is important in maintaining the
culture of an organization. The same leaders repeating the
same message help get the message through to employees
He says for many CEOs, it gets boring to repeat the values
and mission of an organization, and it’s hard to keep repeating
it. But that’s crucial to an organization’s employees truly
embracing it. If the leaders talk it and live it, employees will
follow suit.
“You almost get tired ad naseum of saying the same thing, over
and over and over again, about the mission and the vision and the
values of the organization, wherever you are,” Hawthorne says.
“But if the CEO and the leadership of the organization have been
consistent in their focus on the mission of the organization, of
where it wants to go with decisions and has a set of values that really are without exception followed, then people know where their
limits are. It clearly helps us as we put before them new directions
that are aggressive and will take significant effort. If they know they
are supported and that they know that there is consistency in the
leadership of the foundation statements of the organization, they
will work for you to get things accomplished.”
Several of the top key executives have been with Texas
Health Resources since its beginning, which has helped maintain the culture that the company started with and build on it
going forward. To do that, Hawthorne says to think about what
people want in a job. High-level executives want to grow, learn
and create personal accomplishments, and good CEOs let that
happen. Good compensation is part of the package, but for
most people, it’s much more than that.
“You create an environment where they have an opportunity
to match their personal goals and aspirations with the goals
and aspirations of the organization,” Hawthorne says. “If those
are not aligned, then people move on. You let people lead, to
make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, but then give them
an opportunity to use their skills and their knowledge certainly in a focused way to achieve what we’re after. The importance is that you have clarity in the way that you want the
organization to go. People don’t do well with ambiguity.”