[The following post was written by Cathy Self, Sr. V.P., Baptist Healing Trust]…
The higher plane of leadership is a phrase used by Ken Blanchard, known to most as the author of “The One Minute Manager.” In discussing the difference between good and great leaders, Blanchard proposes that great leadership is much more than head knowledge or even experience. Great leaders, he says, begin with a fundamental belief, a different motivation, and a sense of calling to serve. After years of study on the subject, Blanchard unapologetically affirms: the best leaders serve!
Central to the idea of the serving leader is the “AND” principle. Serving leaders understand what Jim Collins, a well-respected leadership scholar calls “the genius of the AND,” expressed in the greatest companies as a focus on results AND relationships. Johnson & Johnson, American Express, Southwest Airlines, and Chick-fil-A are examples of companies that have long practiced the genius of the “AND” principle…

Serving leaders understand and believe deeply you can not have true success without both results and relationships. Focusing on either one to the exclusion of the other is a short-term strategy. Long term success is built on the serving leader’s unwavering commitment to both.
Among the practices we support in a Healing environment is the use of Care Circles. Regular participation in Care Circles is a proven means to affect the change that so many organizations say they want within their culture. Erie Chapman, in his seminal work Radical Loving Care, notes results found in organizations that have embedded Care Circles into the culture:
• Organizational members become better listeners and bring presence into their encounters;
• Care circle participants grow in deep commitment to one another and to the organization;
• Sense of meaning and purpose is deepened in those who participate in care circles, leading to higher energy and longer tenure;
• The organizational vision is advanced throughout the organization, as participants better understand the essential meaning of both mission and vision;
• Productivity improves as silos are dismantled and a sense of team grows.
Although often discussed and regularly recommended when we are asked to give support to organizational culture change, the actual implementation of care circles as an established practice is not in strong evidence. Most leaders eventually offer a number of excuses: too many other pressing issues, not enough time, already “meeting-fatigued,” can’t afford the coverage, etc.
A select few leaders, however, understand and have embraced the “AND” principle with a focus on results and relationships. In these organizations Care Circles take place weekly, sometimes according to role, but most often organized cross-organizationally. One of my most cherished relationships is with a gentleman who was responsible for the heating and cooling at the hospital where I worked for 20 years. Prior to being together in a Care Circle he and I had known each other only under duress – our department was too hot or too cold, and we needed a fix immediately! After a year of meeting for one hour, once a week for a year, we became friends – sharing the pain of personal losses as well as the joy of working together to find solutions for the ambient temperature of our department! We experienced the blessings of results and relationship.
Implementing Care Circle across the organization takes courage and sacrifice. But what really meaningful change in our world has not required both? Martin Luther King, Jr. is quoted as saying “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” May your focus today be on the things that matter – results and relationships.