Leading and Managing Framework

Welcome to Module 1.

Leading and managing work hand in hand in most situations. However, they have differing expectations and outcomes when it comes to the clinical laboratory. In this module, we study and discuss Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – highlighting the Emotional Bank Account and Production/ Production Capability balance. Building on that, Habit 1 will encourage us to speak in a proactive language versus a reactive language. To help reflect on the lectures we will be studying, we include an Individual Learning Plan (ILP). Start by thinking of your own leadership and management skills/style. The ILP will record your learning process and thoughts throughout this course, allowing you to repeatedly evaluate your skills and approaches in differing situations.

The ILP is a comprehensive tool (or journal) for reflection that will help you think about your leadership and management skills and style. Throughout this leadership and management course, you will record insights from course activities and self-assessments in the ILP. By the end of the course, you will find that the ILP is a permanent record of your learning and your plans for further professional development.

Completion of the ILP is a course requirement. You will be provided with an optional Word document version of the ILP that you can save for future reference. During the course, you will be asked to submit the ILP questions within the online learning environment.

Note: You can turn on closed captions by clicking the CC button on the video player navigation bar.

If you have trouble watching the lectures due to a slow Internet connection, try downloading the lecture or the transcript listed below each video. Right click the link and select "Save Link as" to download.

Learning Objectives

After completing this module, you will be able to:

  • Compare and contrast leading versus managing skills;
  • Describe outcome indicators for measuring leadership and management in a results framework;
  • Name and describe the 7 habits of Stephen Covey;
  • Compare and contrast production and production capability, reactive and proactive, and circles of influence and concern;
  • Make a personal calculation using the Emotional Bank Account; and
  • Integrate insights from self-assessment, learning, and reflection into the Individual Learning Plan.

Video: Leading & Managing from a Lab Perspective (7 minutes)

In this first video, Dr. Bob Martin explains the importance of leadership and management and how it plays a key role in the operations of a highly functioning laboratory.

Downloads: Video (17.6 MB), Audio (7 MB), Transcript

Video: Leading & Managing Framework (10 minutes)

In this short lecture, Dr. Britt Yamamoto will introduce you to the leading and managing framework. He explains the differences between leadership and management, key leadership and management skills, and how these skills contribute to the achievement of results. Dr. Yamamoto will define the Leading and Managing Framework by MSH, which you may want to download before the lecture.

Downloads: Video (28 MB), Audio (5 MB), Transcript

ILP Assignment: Applying Leadership Practices (20 minutes)

Please download and take the self-assessment Applying Leadership Practices from MSH.

Next, go to ILP Assignment and respond to the questions.

Source: Management Strategies for Improving Health Services. MSH. 2001. Management Sciences for Health. Vol 10 No 3.

Video: My Leadership Journey (5 minutes)

Watch the following video vignette with guest speaker Dr. Geoffrey Baird, who is the Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Washington. In this video vignette, Dr. Baird reflects on his laboratory leadership journey and his personal philosophies about leading and managing.

Downloads: Video (13 MB), Audio (2 MB), Transcript

Video: What it takes to be a great leader (20 minutes)

So, what does it mean to be a great leader today? What leadership behaviors and skills must one have to be a great manager or supervisor? Have you observed great leaders at work?

In this video, Roselinde Torres describes 25 years observing truly great leaders all over the world, the characteristics of leaders who are thriving, what they do differently and the preparation practices that enable people to grow to their potential.

Watch a brief TED talk on What it Takes to be a Great Leader.

Roselinde Torres says answering these three questions will determine your effectiveness as a 21st century leader. Take a moment to reflect on these questions as they relate to your leadership skills, training, and journey.

  1. Where are you looking to anticipate change?
  2. What is the diversity measure of your network?
  3. Are you courageous enough to abandon the past?

Then, look over the list of behaviors below and determine what needs improvement and what is already working well for you. How much time do you spend on each of these behaviors? Is there anything you are doing too much of that you think you should modify? Is there anything that you’re doing too little of?

  • Adapts to Change
  • Shows a Genuine Interest in Team Members
  • Embraces a Coaching Mindset
  • Practices Effective Listening
  • Cultivates an Inspiring Vision
  • Builds Relationships
  • Exhibits Calmness
  • Encourages New Ideas
  • Demonstrates a Positive Attitude

This exercise is a great way to help you think about your leadership abilities and determine where you need to improve. Throughout this course we will be exploring the aforementioned key behaviors and characteristics of effective leaders and managers. In addition, you will study techniques and practice skills associated with building strong teams, supervising and delegating work to others, managing conflict, using data for management decision-making, communicating more effectively, and increasing accountability in your work.

Video: What makes a good leader? (5 minutes)

Watch the following video vignette with guest speaker Dr. Geoffrey Baird, Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Washington. In this video vignette, Dr. Baird will share his thoughts on what makes a good leader and the strengths of a leader.

As you watch the video, self-reflect on how you as a new leader can apply these new leadership skills.

Downloads: Video (15.6 MB), Audio (2.3 MB), Transcript

Video: They trained me to be a scientist not a manager (4 minutes)

Watch the following video vignette with guest speaker Dr. Stephen Polyak where he talks about importance of general management training to help become a better laboratory manager.

Downloads: Video (164 MB), Audio (1.5 MB), Transcript

Lessons Learned in Leadership and Management (3 minutes)

Watch the following video vignette with guest speaker Dr. Michael Lee Astion, Medical Director for the Department of Laboratories at Seattle Children's, where he shares his lessons learned in leadership and management.

Downloads: Video (11.3 MB), Audio (1.2 MB), Transcript

Podcast: Navigating Your Leadership Journey (35 minutes)

Listen to the following podcast from eLABorate (a podcast that focuses on leadership and technical strategies for medical laboratory professionals). In this episode co-host Stephanie Whitehead speaks with Sean Tucker, MBA, MLS, (ASCP) on their professional journeys as leaders and how they have shaped their leadership styles over time.

As you listen to this podcast, self-reflect on the following questions:

  • Stephanie and Sean discuss the learning curve of starting their journey as a laboratory leader. They both advise surrounding yourself with others who are experts in their field. Who can you surround yourself with as you begin this journey? How can you ensure you deposit back into their emotional bank account after you ask for their assistance in a matter?
  • Sean speaks about how he analyzed his own skill set to address his weaknesses before interviews or even to improve while he is managing. He next prioritized each weakness he would like to address and who could help him strengthen his skills. What are some weaknesses you would like to strengthen and how can you be intentional with growing your skill set?

Reading: Leading and Managing Framework (15 minutes)

The following excerpt from the Management Strategies for Improving Health Services says:

Managers who wish to lead should address one key question: “What are the strategic challenges that my organization is facing and what do I need to do to mobilize others to take on those challenges as their own?”

Organizations that recognize they must develop managers who can lead effectively need to make a long-term commitment in resources, not try a “quick fix” for specific problems. Leadership development is a way of working and building an organization. It must be owned and championed inside the organization or program. If you care about your organization and its future, commit yourself and your organization to developing leaders at all levels. It is the path to real sustainability, improved organizational performance, better health services, and improved health outcomes.

The following framework is a helpful guide of the organizational outcomes that managers at all levels will achieve when they lead and manage well. Within each leading and managing function, they need to apply a dynamic range of practices at different times to handle change and stabilize their organizations.

Download PDF

Source: Management Strategies for Improving Health Services. MSH. 2001. Management Sciences for Health. Vol 10 No 3.

Video: Overview of the 7 Habits (9 minutes)

In this video lecture, Dr. Ann Downer gives an overview of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

Downloads: Video (20 MB), Audio (4.2 MB), Transcript

Video: The Emotional Bank Account (11 minutes)

The Emotional Bank Account is a metaphor Covey uses to describe the kind of interactions we have with other people and the development of trust between ourselves and others. He describes the Emotional Bank Account as the amount of trust that we build up in a relationship. Much like a financial bank account, deposits are made and withdrawals are taken. It compares all our interpersonal interactions to deposits and withdrawals. Examples of deposits include: understanding the other person, keeping commitments, helping, providing constructive feedback, and apologizing. These are relationship-building activities.

If you make deposits into an Emotional Bank Account with another person through courtesy, kindness, honesty, and keeping commitments, you build up a reserve. An example of a withdrawal might be: you are busy and instead of allowing a subordinate to help you write the report, you tell him/her to forget it, you’ll do it yourself. This is a withdrawal because you are undermining the capability/capacity of others. Instead, you should ask what you can do to help the employee get the task done.

When you have a positive balance, you can make occasional withdrawals (for example, if you have a bad day and act badly). If you have a negative balance, people will probably not want to work or be with you. Anthony Robbins, a motivational speaker said, “The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships.” If we want our relationships at work to run smoothly, we must make far more deposits than withdrawals.

Take a moment to watch the video below, which focuses on The Emotional Bank Account and discussed the role of deposits and withdrawals.

Downloads: Video (16.3 MB), Audio (4.8 MB), Transcript

ILP Assignment: Emotional Bank Account (15 minutes)

Complete the Emotional Bank Account assessment to look at one of your relationships. Examine your balance with a person of your choice by evaluating deposits and withdrawals you have made. Mark deposits with a (+) and withdrawals with a (-). For each withdrawal, record changes you can make in the future to build deposits or repair trust.

Deposits and Withdrawals:

  • Showing kindness and courtesy
  • Keeping my promises
  • Honoring expectations
  • Showing loyalty when he/she is absent
  • Apologizing when needed

Next, answer the following ILP Assignment about the Emotional Bank Account.

This activity is from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Personal Workbook by Stephen R. Covey, copyright 2003 Simon & Schuster, and is reproduced here with the permission of the Franklin Covey Co.

Video: Habit 1 Be Proactive (6 minutes)

In this lecture, Dr. Ann Downer discusses Habit 1: Be Proactive. In this video, Dr. Downer defines proactivity and suggests strategies for increasing our self-awareness and proactivity. She explains how to focus on things we can control and influence in life and avoid being reactive to negative stimuli.

Downloads: Video (20 MB), Audio (5.4 MB), Transcript

Challenge yourself to test the principle of proactivity by doing the following.

  • Start replacing reactive language with proactive language.
    • Reactive = "He makes me so mad."
    • Proactive = "I control my own feelings."
  • Convert reactive tasks into proactive ones.

Optional Activity: Being Proactive (10 minutes)

Let’s take a moment to practice what we have learned so far about Stephen Covey’s Habit 1 and being proactive. Read the following case scenario and think about how can you respond to this situation in a proactive rather than reactive way.

Reading: What Makes a Great Leader for the Lab? (15 minutes)

Read the article What Makes a Great Leader for the Lab: 12 Leadership Qualities of Effective Laboratory Managers, about how you can improve your leadership skills and lead to better lab performance.

Download PDF

Source: Lab Manager

Video: Leader vs. Manager (3 minutes)

True leadership starts with distinguishing between being 'in charge' versus taking care of those 'in our charge'. Watch the following TED Talk clip with Simon Sinek where he talks about the difference between leaders and managers and the need to build our leadership skills.

Video: Advice for Aspiring Leaders (2 minutes)

Watch the following video vignette with guest speaker Dr. Michael Lee Astion, where he shares his advice for new laboratory leaders.

Downloads: Video (8.8 MB), Audio (1 MB), Transcript

Reading: Module Summary (5 minutes)

Congratulations on completing this module. After completing Module 1, you have now learned the importance of both leading and managing and the differences between the two concepts. Leading and managing share many similarities but are separate skills in their executions. Connecting both of these skills back to the results framework provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Management Sciences for Health (MSH) models. We can evaluate our results using outcome indicators to measure our leadership and management skills. Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People taught us how to compare: production with production capability, reactive with proactive language, and circles of influence with concern. As a leader in the laboratory, you must challenge yourself to improve the proactivity within your organization. We are responsible for our emotional bank accounts with each relationship in the lab and organization as a whole. This includes deposits and withdrawals like showing kindness and understanding, honoring expectations, apologizing when it is needed, and being loyal even when the person is no longer present. Lastly, in this module we learn from those who have made the transition from scientist to manager with vignettes from Dr. Geoffrey Baird and Dr. Stephen Polyak. They give us a personal insight of the journey they traveled in becoming laboratory managers and leaders.

Quiz (15 minutes)

The quiz is due Sunday, October 5, at 11:59 pm PT. 

Late submissions will not be penalized.

Go to Quiz

Optional Resources