Hartford HealthCare H3W Leadership Behavior: Episode 2 with Senior Vice President of the Hartford HealthCare Community Network Eric Smullen

Many of us learned our H3W Leadership behaviors earlier in our careers. Considering the speed of our growth these past few years and how our roles might have changed as a result of circumstances and opportunities, we thought it would be helpful to capture some conversations with Hartford HealthCare colleagues about best leveraging these behaviors.

In this three-part series of More Life, hosted by Steve Coates and Hartford HealthCare’s Senior Vice President of Human Experience Gerry Lupacchino, we explore how our leadership behaviors and our operating model help us to continuously improve.

In episode 2, Steve and Gerry chat with Senior Vice President of the Hartford HealthCare Community Network Eric Smullen, on the “Act” behaviors:

Every culture has a secret handshake—how things are done politically and socially—how to navigate and influence change. Hartford healthCare is a high performance culture. Successful leaders evaluate other leaders through the lens of contribution and value. Do we know what matters most in any given moment, and are we committed to doing what it takes to get it done? That includes:

1. Volunteering Discretionary Effort Constantly—
2. Modeling High Performance
3. Respecting & Leveraging Separate Realities.

Check this episode’s notes for links to the other episodes in this series. Hartford HealthCare employees can learn more on about H3W Leadership Behaviors on HHC Connect.

Listen to the other episodes in this three-part series:
Episode 1 with Talent Development Consultant Rhonda Papallo
Episode 3 with HHC Vice President of Health Equity Sarah Lewis

Transcript

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SPEAKER_03 0:03

It's just not all about the work. It's about the people that do the work. And you have to see those people for who they are and the good contributions that they're trying to make. The only way to do that is to really understand where they're coming from. Look through their eyes.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Many of us learned our H3W leadership behaviors earlier in our careers. Considering the speed of our growth these past few years and how our roles might have changed as a result of circumstances and opportunities, we thought it would be helpful to capture some conversations with Hartford Healthcare colleagues about how to best leverage these behaviors. In this three-part series of More Life, hosted by Steve Coates and Hartford Healthcare's Senior Vice President of Human Experience, Jerry Lupertino, we explore how our leadership behaviors and our operating model help us to continuously improve. In episode two, Stephen Jerry chat with Senior Vice President of the Hartford Healthcare Community Network, Eric Smellin, on the ACT behavior. Successful leaders evaluate other leaders. Do we know what matters most in any given moment? And are we committed to doing what it takes to get it done? Here's Stephen Jerry.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

We talked in the previous podcast segment about some of the leadership behaviors. And now that we have a roadmap, Jerry, I'll ask you first, how do we go about putting these into action?

SPEAKER_02 1:32

Yeah, I think, well, I'm I'm sort of laughing because without knowing how to put them in action, they're the things that stay up on a wall, right? So it's to your point, Steve. There are I think everybody, every company has these leadership behaviors, but they're usually on a poster on a wall or you know, in somebody's pocket kind of thing. And one of the things that um I admire about Eric Smollin, who's joining us, and he's the um SVP of uh the Harvard Healthcare Community Network, is that I've known you, Eric, now for years, and I've seen not only the portfolio of work that you've contributed and the value that you brought to the organization, but in response to that, your current position, you know, the things that you've been able to accomplish and achieve in the role that you're in right now. And so when we talked about the the next three sort of leadership behaviors in the cluster that we're calling the acting behaviors, the ways to act, the three that we're going to talk about are volunteering discretionary effort constantly, which we often just say plan the work and work the plan constantly, modeling high performance, show other people what good looks like, and prove that everybody's capable of contributing at higher levels. And then lastly, respecting and leveraging separate realities, which is, you know, seeking feedback from the broadest range of individuals. So you've got most of the perspectives and points of view that you can use to analyze any problem, situation, or opportunity. So thanks for joining the conversation because every time I look at these three things, I kept thinking about you.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

Jerry, thanks for having me. It's you know, this has been, I've been around for a long time since this, since we started this whole cultural transformation at Hartford Healthcare. And so it really does put into words sometimes how how people can work, but it's not how people always work. But but um so I think it's uh it does, it gives words to how how we're supposed to, how we should, and how how successful people often do get things done.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Let's talk a little bit about discretionary effort. It is a major part of our culture here at Hartford Healthcare. At a time where people may say, Man, I'm tapped out. There's nothing more I can do. What is discretionary effort? If people say I'm doing my job, what else can I do? What are your thoughts about that?

SPEAKER_03 3:37

I mean, I think there's lots of ways to just to find that. I think when you think of yourself as a servant leader and you need, and people need help to move things forward. Um, they need ideas, they sometimes they just need to talk it out. When you realize someone's stuck, just having to say, hey, talk this through with me, tell me where you are, and they tell you, and they said, and and you can ask the easy question of, well, where are you going next? And and just having that conversation is discretionary effort to the people that are trying to actually get things done. And they it's so appreciative. But I mean, it goes beyond that as well, of course.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Eric, are there certain things that you find both in your early career and that in today that you know if you put forward that specific effort, you're gonna see a return on that investment? Are there certain things that you do that you're pretty confident you're gonna see some level of positive impact as a result?

SPEAKER_03 4:32

Yeah. So as I was kind of thinking through these behaviors, Jerry, kind of going back through my, you know, my journey through Hartford Healthcare, recognizing that when you're in a large um health system like Hartford Healthcare, and you have these different relationships, there's lots of things, there's very little you control in a large, but there's a lot that you can influence. And you influence things by building relationships, making sure that they are that these exchange relationships that you give some of yourself and they and people have an opportunity to give some of themselves to you. And that kind of respecting each other for who you are comes through working together. And so I think back as an opportunity for me, I was asked, the Cancer Institute needs help establishing um this volunteer service. And I think, Eric, you you have some of the ability to do that. And I had no idea what I was supposed to do for Donna Handley at that point. But she said, Eric, thank you very much. Go talk to this person and tell me if you need anything. And I was like, oh boy. But I'll tell you what. So for me, Jerry, it comes back to the opportunity that I had to just step up, do something different. I built a new relationship with Donna Handley, a proven Harvard Healthcare leader. I was able to support her and solve problems, build a whole new set of relationships, which have helped me every month. I can't tell you, even back then, this is still helping me of the relationships I've built. So for that, it it covers so many of these behaviors. It came with me saying yes and being willing to just step into a need and solving a problem. That's something that's really stuck with me.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

That's a really interesting point in that you're not just helping people out with this discretionary effort. You're expanding yourself as well and your expertise and what you can do and what you're learning about the organization. Let's talk a little bit about what a modeling high performance is. I'm sure many people will say, hey, we're we're a high-performing healthcare system. We're all modeling high performance. But what exactly is that? We talk about progress over perfection. What is meant by modeling high performance?

SPEAKER_03 6:47

I'll tell you, and I I've had this quote in my head for a long time, and it's um uh the experts are the people that do the basics well every single day in, day out. And so when you actually ground yourself in the core ways that you're going to execute, and that is um, I'll give an example, and Jerry, I may have learned this from you along the way. There's such a thing as learning mode and performance mode. And here at Harvard Healthcare, there's a lot of, because of our behaviors, there's a lot of support for learning mode. You don't have to be in performance mode all the time, but if you stick to the core of these behaviors, of who you are, how you respect people, and then to our other aspects of our operating model, I would say really basic things like do you know what you're trying to fix? What is the problem that you're trying? Just making sure that that, and and and here's even better: not only do you know, does everyone know what you're trying to fix and what you're trying to do? Those skills that you pick up along the way create high performance because you generate results on what the intended outcome was supposed to be. So just being focused on that, and that takes listening, that takes everything that Rhonda was talking about, um, to really stay to understand what the objective is. So I I I for sure, um, performance is uh is is not just getting the top output every time.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

We talk about one of the things I think is most difficult for people to even in your personal life, respecting and leveraging separate realities. You know, Eric's not returning my email. Eric's too busy to return my email. It's all about, you know, I is the more the more that I you know delve into H3W, there's so much of a reliance on empathy. And talk about how important that leveraging separate reality is to everything that we do.

SPEAKER_03 8:42

Yeah, I I appreciate this. This is uh this is the hardest one, especially as the the request and the things, they're just the work, if you will, just piles up all the time. Um, it's just not all about the work, it's about the people that do the work. And you have to see those people for who they are and the the good contributions that they're trying to make. The only way to do that is to really understand where they're coming from, look through their eyes. And when you're really running fast, it's hard to stop and see through their eyes. But I'll tell you what, it is the key to actually you can't ask a finance question and get a great answer from the HR leader. You have to you have to make sure that you understand what lens everybody's seeing things through. And if you respect their reality, you start to see their lenses. And it helps you operate and it helps you connect with people.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

The beauty of some of these H3W behaviors, some of the leadership behaviors, specifically empathy and leveraging other realities, they're so transferable, not only in a in a business setting, but in real life as well. People will say these are things your mom may have taught you, but it's easy for people to kind of lose track of that.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

I think you're right. I think, you know, and and I have to tell you, I don't know that my mom taught me these things. Like I think she taught me values, you know, of caring and empathy, right? Being sympathetic, sort of seeing walking the mile in the other person's shoes kind of thing. But this intentionality around Eric, you know, the modeling high performance thing. I I really watch you and others be very clear about what success looks like at Hartford Healthcare. You sort of set the standard, you are confident in the people that you interact with, and it sort of goes to the other skills of teaching and coaching and stuff. But so many other organizations, and we're going to talk about this in another podcast, where they sort of make people guess what good looks like. And for the people who guess right, they get promoted. And the people who don't guess right, well, they'll just stay sort of in their role. And what I know, and and and maybe, maybe it's sports affiliation or you know, conversations that you've been used to having, but modeling high performance starts with being crystal clear about what good looks like. And I've and I've seen you set that expectation in meetings, um, in conversations where we're sort of brainstorming and you're trying to say what's the best solution for this, starting off with what best could look like. And you know, I think to the point you say, Steve, if if we raise our kids knowing what good looks like, and we set the expectation that they can achieve good, and we give them the confidence that they need in order to do that, right? And then we surround them with feedback and other things, they'll get there. But organizationally, it's it's hard. And what makes I think Harvard Healthcare unique, and I'll sort of sort of end with this comment. Every time I interview somebody, they say, What's the culture like? And I say, you can run as fast as you can and and take an exit off the highway that you're on and try to go investigate that off-ramp and know that we're behind you, that we've got your back, that we are going to support you in failing fast if you have to, but having to recalibrate and sort of get things back on track. Because we are all dependent on each other's successes in order for each one of us to be success, successful. And so this modeling high performance thing has to, uh everybody has to participate in it because if they don't, it doesn't work. Right? We all have to know what good looks like. We all have to know that other people are going to be supporting us in that. And anyways, I I could go on. But I think, Eric, I've seen that in you specifically.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

And the ability, you know, and you touched on it, is progress, not perfection. The ability to allow our colleagues to try and fail, and failure isn't all isn't a bad thing. You learn from your failure. And I think that's one of the beauty, beautiful things of H3W and just our culture.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

I was just gonna ask one more question. If you if there are any new leaders who are experiencing, you know, H3W, this this level of H3W conversation or what it looks like to be an executive or a new leader in the organization using H3W leadership behaviors, and you think of the ones that have made you successful, as including the ones we're talking about today. Any any any advice or guidance to these folks?

SPEAKER_03 12:52

You know what, I'll tell you, I just had an opportunity today as people start to embrace this concept, even externally. I was on a meeting with some of our university partners, and they stopped and and they said, you know, we're gonna open this meeting the way Hartford Healthcare has traditionally opened a meeting, and we're gonna recognize what's going well. And I tell you what, I think this modeling of high performance behaviors doesn't just affect our culture, it affects our partnerships culture. So I would say that although we may not have the same kind of classes that we always may have because we've been doing some Zoom-based classes, this perpetual practice, it absolutely transfers. Um, we also just had a university partner, she was so excited to come work for us. And she justified that it's because every time that I'm involved with a team like this, it just seems so purposeful. Every every meeting seems so purposeful, and I just so appreciate that it's just not all over the map all the time. And so I will tell you that on my on my my own personal team, I have people leaving me uh to better pastors. I'm so happy that I wish they had an opportunity today, but uh here, the competencies that they've gained through the coaching and mentoring of their entire group have prepared them for just for the next step. And so it is, it's a perpetuating culture so long as we keep watering it.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Eric and Jerry, thanks again.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

Thank you, Steve. Thanks, Eric.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

Good to see you.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

Thank you, Steve, Jerry, and Eric. Check these episodes' notes for links to other episodes in this series. Hartford Healthcare employees can learn more about H3W leadership behaviors on HACC Connect. For Hartford Healthcare, I'm Anon DePierre. Thanks for listening.