The Malcolm Tribe
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Malcolm Baldrige Quest for Excellence conference held in Baltimore, Maryland. It was an amazing conference that recognized excellence in organizations that make a conscious decision not be average, but to become a leader and world class in their industry.
A few hours after arriving, I attended the award ceremony that recognized five organizations that had been distinguished by receiving the 2015 National Malcolm Baldrige Quest for Excellence awards. A hardy congratulations to the 2015 MidwayUSA, Charter School of San Diego, Charleston Area Medical Center System, and Mid-America Transplant who stood out above the rest in 2015.
I Found My Tribe
As a spectator among the audience, the positive vibrations within the room were thick as smoke. This large banquet room was brimming with like-minded people yearning for excellence. There was a unconscious and conscious strong desire among strangers to become and be a part an organization of excellence.
The emotions I felt were awesome and I said to myself……. “This is MY TRIBE!”
I heard it said that a person is the average of the 5 people they spend the most time with. Being said, Malcolm Baldrige recipients and those striving for excellence are the influences that leaders in healthcare would be wise to spend time with.
Malcolm is a Tribe from around the world that has a track record of delivering the absolutely best from growing their greatest assets, which are ALL colleagues in the organization.
The Culture Cure
In my upcoming book titled The Culture Cure: Transforming the Modern Healthcare System, lays the foundational values that are needed to develop an organization of transcendence. These are healthcare organization whose excellence tomorrow is greater than their excellence today.
Transcendence: The Pathway to Baldrige
I loved the word transcendence. Transcendence means to go above and beyond in always seeking excellence. My book is the forerunner to “Corporate Transcendence,” a curriculum that was developed over 20 years that has been described as a organizational pathway to Baldrige.
Sustainable Transformation Comes From Within
External, short-term fixes from well-intentioned consultants can have temporary effects on an organization, but what we need in healthcare is an evergreen, sustainable formula that develops and grows transformation from within. I am a strong believer that the best answer is always in the room.
The Path of Excellence
By creating a culture of excellence in all we do, we must replace a culture of mediocrity that has us “just getting by.” This is the road of status quo, and it’s wide. The road of change – of excellence – can be a narrow one.
Many times, we shy away from the road that is narrow, with more resistance and chose the wide road that has little resistance. It takes people on this road, that were willing to fail forward at times and learn from their failures, but stay persistent in obtaining their vision and goals to reach excellence.
The narrow road of excellence may be traveled less, but the rewards along the way are much greater.
What Road Are You On?
I encourage you to take some time to self reflect on the road your organization is on. Please consider joining a tribe of people that believe that any organization can achieve excellence and become a world leader of Corporate Transcendence!
