In early March, I will be releasing my book, Looking Back – What I Learned When I Left a Great Company. There is a section of the book that discusses market forces in healthcare that are beginning to shift the foundation of healthcare in the US and across the developed world. The next two Weekend Reflections for Leaders will contain a short summary of the two dominant forces changing healthcare today.

As senior executives and the top talent on their teams prepare to build a sustainable business in the years to come, these two market forces need to be accounted for in their plans. Even though I describe these forces in the context of healthcare, these forces are making a meaningful and measurable impact on just about every industry today.

Market Force #1:

Artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics are shrinking addressable markets

AI & predictive analytics are being deployed today with the power to quickly prove whether a company’s products/services are (or are not) making an impact. Basic computer software programs are grinding through the databases of health systems and insurance companies to make earlier and more accurate predictions of disease and choosing treatment options that are more effective than a traditional doctor

visit in all major chronic disease categories. In addition, these same software tools are addressing the difficult areas of cancer and mental health in both diagnostic and therapeutic intervention decisions.

Predictive analytic tools currently in the market today are making decisions faster, cheaper, and more effective than any current healthcare delivery system on the planet. Healthcare product companies building financial models on market size for a new drug, device, or diagnostic based on traditional population statistics and current market models will soon be viewed as misguided when software reaches a tipping point to drive the majority of healthcare decisions.

For traditional pharmaceutical and biotech companies, the emergence of digital therapeutics (or digital medicine) is upon us. As the regulatory agencies begin to approve digital therapies as monotherapy to treat chronic conditions, the age of “software as a therapy” is real and present. The rapid growth of digital therapeutic companies and “software as a device” technologies are emerging as a significant threat to the traditional healthcare players.

It is not just the sales and marketing models of these new companies that threaten established players. Many similar AI and predictive analytic tools are being deployed to accelerate drug discovery and optimize manufacturing processes.

The time and cost to develop effective digital therapies is drastically different than the current traditional models of drug discovery. The scalability and rapid deployment of these digital therapeutics that do not need traditional sales and distribution channels are creating a real threat to the entire infrastructure of traditional healthcare.

The unspoken comment in the minds of many players in some traditional businesses over the last 20 years that went something like, “I have just been NAPSTERed, AMAZONed, or UBERed out of a job” has finally come to healthcare.

The large commercial teams and R&D teams of most healthcare product companies need to address how they add value in a world where software tools drive most healthcare utilization decisions of potential customers and there is a rapid decline in the time and effort of human insight into patient care decisions. As the financial impact and patient health outcomes get better through software-based patient care decisions, where will leaders and teams be in 5 to 10 years? Look no further than someone in the record industry 20 years ago, someone in retail over the last decade, etc. Please don’t think it won’t happen in healthcare…it is already happening if you look close enough.

The continual debate about the unsustainable growth of healthcare costs will meet its likely end as software-based decision making becomes more fully deployed and costs are dramatically reduced through the removal of inefficient and costly human interventions still hanging on in traditional healthcare environments.

Senior executives and the top talent on their teams need to allocate a significant amount of time and attention to proactively addressing these market forces in order to minimize the risk of leading a once great business into a steady decline into the future.

What if I were to ask you, “What is the most difficult leadership challenge you are facing today?” What would you say?

Here are a few resources to help:

1. Download FREE resources at www.harvesttimepartners.com
2. Contact me. Email: david@harvesttimepartners.com (M) 269-370-9275

David Esposito

Let’s face it, we live in a noisy world and it seems to grow noisier each day. Our “always on” smart phones provide a steady stream of information, we have access to an over-whelming amount of data points to inform key business decisions, and we have the efficiency of instantaneous emojis via social media to quickly assess the impact of key messages.

As senior executives and top talent look to leverage artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to efficiently sort through volumes of data, there remains a premium on the need for leaders to still make time to get quiet, with and without their teams, to assess near term plans and performance, and to assess the viability of their long-term strategy for the business.

Regardless of personality types and social styles of introverts vs extroverts, the need for quiet reflection to create the capacity to think, process information and make key decisions remains essential to improve leadership effectiveness. Today’s difficult business challenges are too complicated for the simple solutions of yesterday and by the way, those simple solutions have already been replaced with a computer algorithm. It is the tough business challenges that remain for leaders to solve.

Beyond the routine cadence of most companies that support standing meetings for business planning, performance assessment, financial updates, talent reviews etc., there is a need for leaders and teams to get quiet and think.

There are some well documented benefits at the individual and team level when leaders make time to get quiet to support solving complicated business challenges:

• Healthy Mindset: Enabling time to get quiet to process information and decompress leads to a healthier mindset. Often the emotions of the moment inhibit clarifying the key issues at hand. Enabling time to get quiet can minimize overriding emotions in the moment.

• Limits Pre-Judgment: The practical reality with teams working together over time is that there is a strong tendency to quickly pre-judge points of view on new information. Creating space to get quiet with new data points will help to minimize the momentum of pre-judging the new information that can keep blinders on most teams.

• Reconnect with the Mission: Allowing time to get quiet prior to making major decisions enables leaders to reconnect with the mission of the business. Reinforcing team alignment around the mission is critical and in the heat of the moment, with an overwhelming amount of data to process, leaders and teams need to reconnect with the mission to ensure all decisions are well-aligned to the team’s ultimate direction.

Healthy and rigorous team engagement around key business challenges is critical to the survival of the business. However, most companies already have a good cadence of pre-set meetings to engage teams in rigorous debates on the issues. Senior executives and top talent need to be intentional about creating space to get quiet to improve critical decision making for themselves and their teams. Getting quiet in our noisy world will continue to be a struggle for leaders, but it is well worth the effort.

What if I were to ask you, “What is the most difficult leadership challenge you are facing today?”

What would you say?  Here are a few resources to help:

1. Download FREE resources at www.harvesttimepartners.com
2. Contact me. Email: david@harvesttimepartners.com (M) 269-370-9275

David Esposito

Over the last decade or so, some of the leading companies in the world have made significant investments in employee wellness programs to support to their people making sustained improvements in wellbeing. It has been demonstrated numerous times in formal studies that employee wellbeing impacts productivity and engagement in the workplace and substantially impacts health and healthcare costs.

As senior executives and top talent look to build their leadership effectiveness, one important opportunity that is often missed is how leaders can strengthen routine communications in a way that positively impacts employee wellbeing and inspires teams to continue to deliver on the company’s purpose for existence.

Part of the success of some leading wellness programs in the workplace is the ability to acknowledge and integrate both the professional development (job skills) and the personal development (life coping skills) of individuals. As Gandhi famously said, “Life is one indivisible whole” so it is impossible to view someone in isolation as just a worker or just a parent, etc. Effective company wellness programs address the whole person.

The rhythm of most corporations enables senior executives to provide the customary communication updates on monthly or quarterly performance, annual goal setting, major change initiatives etc. to help keep the teams aligned and working effectively to achieve the company’s near and long-term goals. The most effective senior executives and top talent understand the reality that there is a need to consistently over-communicate to teams about plans, objectives, values of the organization, etc. in order to have industry leading execution.

The one important opportunity that is most often missed by senior executives to improve well-being and reinforce the traditional goals of the business is to take advantage of routine cultural milestones, celebrated national and international events, and real-time situations in the community. Effective communication around these occurrences can help senior executives to further inspire their teams, connect with individuals on a personal level, and gain greater alignment around the company’s objectives and mission. 

Here are a few examples of opportunities often missed to positively impact employee well-being and strengthen the engagement of individuals and teams towards the company’s mission:

• National holidays like Labor Day, the 4^th of July, President’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr Day, etc. provide senior executives with a chance to reinforce the personal side of these celebrated national holidays along with how the company’s mission is aligned to the principles surrounding these events.
• Various faith-based/religious holidays can be used as platforms to celebrate diversity of cultures and faiths along with how that aligns with the importance of a diverse workplace to succeed in delivering on the company’s mission.

• Challenging situations in our culture and community also provide opportunities to reinforce the company’s values that not only translate to building a healthy business, but, if these values are lived out in other areas of life could help our communities and home life too. 

• Many of these events are tied to company designated holidays or people are taking vacation days to be at home. An effective message around these events can enable a senior executive to reinforce the importance of life in the home and community which has been a proven effective component of employee wellness programs which acknowledge people are more than just someone who comes to work each day to give their best.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that employee wellness programs can provide support for people to build resilience to succeed in the workplace, the home front and the community. Senior executives have a significant opportunity in their routine communications to be more effective in positively impacting employee wellbeing and business execution by taken advantage of some of these traditionally “non-business” events to connect with teams and inspire them to reach their full potential. 

When senior executives take intentional action to improve employee wellbeing, they stand a good chance of earning the loyalty and commitment needed to build a long-term healthy business.

What if I were to ask you, “What is the most difficult leadership challenge you are facing today?” What would you say?

Here are a few resources to help:

1. Download FREE resources at www.harvesttimepartners.com
2. Contact me. Email: david@harvesttimepartners.com (M) 269-370-9275

David Esposito

Whether we are leading a large multi-national corporation, a local business, or an entrepreneurial start-up, of increasing importance in today’s marketplace is the responsibility that a business has in not just the “old school” parochial view of maximizing shareholder value but also in having a positive impact (or at least not doing harm) to the communities around them and the well-being of their employees and business partners.

Companies are placing a growing importance on accepting a larger civic responsibility to help improve the conditions of communities where they operate and the supply chain of partners that enable key operations of the business. This greater acknowledgement of the potential positive (or negative) impact that businesses can have on communities and disadvantaged groups is an important component to the long-term health and growth of a business.

Just as companies must play a broader civic role, senior executives have another responsibility that goes beyond the traditional job skill and leadership development programs.

Research highlights an alarming rate of over 50% of entrepreneurs reporting a mental health concern…which probably means the other half are not willing to admit it. The emotional toll on entrepreneurs, senior executives, and top talent leading on the forward edge of some of the most competitive, pressure-filled global markets in the history of business will continue to take its toll on their physical and mental health and their families.

The pressures of travel and life on the road to meet the increasing demands of customers, suppliers, and new growth opportunities continue at a rapid pace. It is not just rock-n-roll legends and movie stars that suffer traumatic outcomes from a life on the road. Often it is the entrepreneurs, senior executives, and top talent burning the proverbial “candle at both ends” who suffer traumatic outcomes in their personal lives that do not make the same headlines as movie stars. In addition, there are certainly very few academic researchers building the case for alarm bells to be sounding.

However, for all of us who have put forth considerable effort in building a business, we know all too well the significant challenge that comes with maintaining healthy relationships with those we care about most on the home front and maintaining our own mental and physical health. We may not have compiled the evidence with the formality of a PhD level academic, but the heartache that comes with conflict on the home front is often the most painful of all of life’s challenges. The missed family events, the wandering mind drifting back to the business while sitting at the dinner table (if we even sit at the dinner table anymore), and the potential for quiet time at home that is so easily taken away by an always-on smart phone tapping out a steady stream of business issues to address, eventually has families staring over the abyss of conflict and breakdown along with challenges to the mental and physical health of all involved.

Just as companies are stepping up their efforts to be more involved in civic activities and more cognizant of the positive impact they can have with a number of disadvantaged groups, there is another responsibility on the shoulders of senior executives to provide support and development for a more holistic approach to wellness which encompasses support for the physical and mental well-being of individuals and those they care about most, their families.

Here are a few ways that senior executives in some leading companies are providing meaningful and relevant support to their teams:

• Encourage annual physicals and mental health assessments. A mental health assessment should be an integral part of the annual health assessment. Given the still present stigma around mental health, encouraging these assessments as part of a routine annual physical will help ensure they get completed without the embarrassment or shame that unfortunately still inhibits many of us from taking proactive steps with our mental health. (please reach out to an expert in this area if you want support for your teams. Dennis Gillan www.dennisgillan.com )

• Recognize team members when making healthy choices around being present at significant outside of work events like family commitments, community events, charitable endeavors, etc. that help build a healthy, full, and purposeful life. Senior executives can play a major role in impacting these behaviors by not only encouraging them in their teams but most importantly, setting a great example themselves to make it easier for others to follow.

• Offer educational events on important family topics like dealing with the impact of emerging technology on children, the pressures of college acceptance, making healthy transitions for school age children, caring for elderly parents, etc. These types of programs can help offer insight in areas where current society norms are to just let everyone figure it out for themselves. Given the amount of effort and focus employees are giving to their company assignments, many will be “winging it” in other areas of their lives that might create problems down the road.

People can endure a tremendous amount and keep bouncing back when there is alignment in the workplace, at home, and in their own personal journey for a purposeful life. Senior executives can play a significant role in creating an environment for healthy alignment.

When senior executives can show their teams that they are cared about and resourced beyond just delivering on business objectives, they stand a good chance of earning the loyalty and commitment needed to keep top talent and build a long-term healthy business.

What if I were to ask you, “What is the most difficult leadership challenge you are facing today?” What would you say?

Here are a few resources to help:

1. Download FREE resources at www.harvesttimepartners.com
2. Contact me. Email: david@harvesttimepartners.com (M) 269-370-9275

David Esposito

Senior executive leaders have the distinct challenge of leading company strategy, ensuring excellent execution, and inspiring their teams to deliver on today’s challenges while making difficult decisions to meet the marketplace needs of the future. Effective executive leaders rely on a variety of inputs to support making key decisions. Given how our marketplace continues to grow in complexity, executive leaders need to ensure they have a series of well-informed inputs to make the most effective decisions.

In today’s traditional corporate operating environment, we can all envision the executive team meeting where debate, discussion, and then decisions are made. One of the critical guardrails that senior executives and the top talent on their teams need to put in place during these critical team reviews is to ensure the “loud and proud” don’t carry the discussion and the decision.

Quite often, there are time constraints, over-packed agendas, and data gaps that make these major strategic decisions even more complicated as executive teams come together to wrestle down key decisions for the business. The risk is high that the “loud and proud” carry the day in these discussions. The loudest voice in the room can quickly drive the team’s point of view and ultimately the decision.

Senior executives and the top talent on their teams need to maintain a level of discipline to ensure that all individuals present on their diverse teams have a voice at the table quickly and effectively to ensure they can be most informed in making these key decisions.

Here are a few ideas to help senior executives be more proactive and foster a full debate around key decisions for the company:

• Understand the personalities: We can all appreciate the risk of the extroverts dominating the discussion and the introverts struggling to find an opening to share their thoughts. Leaders need to understand the personalities on their teams ensure all voices have a chance to be heard in the meeting. Many times, leaders should ask the “quiet ones” for their thoughts early in the meeting to ensure the “loud and proud” don’t steamroll the point of view too early in the meeting.

• Appreciate the specialties: Leaders need to ensure that all unit leaders have a voice at the table. Quite often there are valuable insights from finance, manufacturing, operations, human resources, etc. that can many times get pushed to the side by a commercial team screaming about the importance of listening to customers. Addressing customer feedback is critical to the business, but leaders need to ensure the broader operational discipline is in place to ensure budgets can be met and key deliverables hit on time. Mismanaged cash flow and operational discipline can kill a business quickly just like not listening to customers. Leaders need to ensure all specialties have a voice in strategic decisions.    

• Take a brief pause: We all want efficiency in decision making. Leaders need to establish an efficient cadence for receiving input and making decisions. When the debate is intense, the issues are complex, and the trade-offs are painful, it may be helpful for leaders to pause on a decision in the moment and take a 24-hour “sleep on it” reprieve for the team before making a final decision. It has been my experience that some helpful insight comes to individuals on the team when given the chance to unplug from the heat of the moment, marinate on the key issues overnight, and with a fresh pot of coffee the next day, a better, well-informed decision is made. Deadlines need to be hit, and the pause may not always be an option, but when the time is available, leaders may be better off by sleeping on it.    

Today’s senior executives and top talent set the tone for debate and discussion around key decisions for the business. Leaders need to ensure they have the organizational discipline and process in place to gain input from all relevant stakeholders to make well-informed decisions.  

What if I were to ask you, “What is the most difficult leadership challenge you are facing today?” What would you say?

Here are a few resources to help:

1. Download FREE resources at www.harvesttimepartners.com
2. Contact me. Email: david@harvesttimepartners.com (M) 269-370-9275

David Esposito

We recently covered a few topics around difficult conversations with team members and some of the challenges of having a few “surprise” moments during performance discussions. The reality is for leaders, we don’t always make great decisions in these moments and we don’t always do things perfectly in the moment.

Let’s face it, if we have been leading people for more than a few days, we make mistakes. There are certainly times when we made a business decision that proved to be an ineffective choice financially or strategically for our group. However, in today’s writing I want to address when we make mistakes on the day to day personal interactions and meetings with our team.

Over time, little mistakes pile up into a string of behaviors which will soon become our team’s view of the culture of our leadership, so we need to maintain a level of discipline and intention about moving forward after a mistake on the personal and team level. These mistakes are much subtler than the catastrophic strategic business choices that are visible to everyone and below are just a few examples:

• We simply spoke too much instead of listening and asking a few thoughtful questions. As a result, we could sense the person began to close down the discussion with an unresolved issue and we both moved on to the next pressing agenda item or meeting.
• We made a comment while presenting a topic to a small group that either should not have been said or just was not received in the manner we intended. Whether it was a simple joke, a comment about an individual, or a situation in the business, in the moment, we could feel it did not go over well and most likely impacted the rest of our presentation.
• We missed delivering on a follow-up item with an individual or group. Most people realize mistakes get made, but missing some specific, agreed upon follow-up, even if it was a “small” one, can become a real challenge to our leadership effectiveness over time.

Since none of us are perfect, here are a few ideas to help us move forward after we make a mistake:

1. These day to day mistakes seem often minor in the grand scheme of things, so our first step is to continue to work on our self-awareness and emotional intelligence to better feel and sense the times when we were not effective in the moment. As leaders we may have multiple priorities bouncing around in our head, but we need to stay attune to the rhythm and emotions of others, in the moment, to be most aware of these types of mistakes.
2. Put it on the table. Making a simple, direct acknowledgment of the mistake will go a long way. “I did not handle this well.” “I could tell I made a mistake as soon as we left the meeting.” “I dropped the ball on that one.”
3. Ask those directly impacted for their thoughts and impressions to confirm or clarify what we felt was a mistake. “I felt my behavior did not foster the open discussion I intended, is that how you saw things?” “It seemed like my one comment about our sales shortfall, derailed the rest of the meeting, did you sense that?” 
4. Genuinely acknowledging our mistake and commit to learn, grow, and adjust our behavior to be a better leader as a result will set an example for others to follow and will help our leadership effectiveness over time.   

Today’s senior executives and top talent set the tone for transparency, genuine humility in acknowledging mistakes and can provide a steady example of modifying behaviors when we go off course to help build an organization that continues to learn and grow. Organizations that thrive on learning and growing will be the most likely to succeed in the increasingly intense, uncertain, and complex global marketplace.

What if I were to ask you, “What is the most difficult leadership challenge you are facing today?” What would you say?

Here are a few resources to help:

1. Download FREE resources at www.harvesttimepartners.com
2. Contact me. Email: david@harvesttimepartners.com (M) 269-370-9275

David Esposito