There appears to be a common theme with Baldrige winners. Their leaders share common characteristics. Many of the Baldrige

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q1

There appears to be a common theme with Baldrige winners. Their leaders share common characteristics. Many of the Baldrige winners said they really valued the feedback they received almost more than the prize. These leaders often focused on continuous improvement and understand the importance of feedback (Kendall and Fache, 2017). The leaders of the companies of the Baldrige award believe in perseverance. It takes real commitment and effort to stick with a strategic plan or maintain a certain culture within an organization. Often leaders are so overwhelmed trying to meet their short-term goals that their long-term plans are forgotten. Often good leaders are servant leaders and are personally involved in servicing their team. They are role models by living up to their own standards while building a culture of service and innovation. Many of these leaders are emotionally intelligent and great communicators.

              I am currently employed by a local hospital as a respiratory therapist. I am a new employee and have only been working there for just over a month. As a new employee what struck me as unusual was the prayer my supervisor says every morning in our huddles before we begin work. The hospital is a Christian hospital. There is a large wooden cross at the main entrance and a chapel to the right of the cross. However, I have worked for other Christian hospitals and the department never started a huddle with a prayer. I personally enjoy praying every morning with my coworkers. The culture of the organization is of healing, compassion, hope, and love for each other and our patients. My manager leads with servant leadership who continuously looks for ways to support us so that we can perform at our best.

Q2

When analyzing some key attributes of leaders of Baldrige award-winning organizations there are some commonalities and overlap that I believe are most important for leaving health care organizations. The first attribute is focusing on continuous improvement and valuing feedback (Kendall et al., 2017).  It is vital for an organization to constantly think about reaching its goals and setting new ones. However, if an organization can not absorb feedback from surrounding parties then they may never reach potential. This is why reaching those goals for improvement goes hand in hand with listening to what others around the organization are suggesting. To maintain growth the organization needs to be willing to accept defeat if something is not going well. A strong organization will go back to the drawing board, try it again, and accomplish its growth goals.

The next important attribute is confident leadership with a little bit of humility thrown in (Kendall et al., 2017).  This is a valuable lesson in the sense that healthcare organizations need strong leaders that are willing to work hard for the good of the organization. This attribute is exemplified by my current boss who is the leader of the organization I work for. While he is a strong character and always persevering and pushing myself and other employees to excel at our individual jobs, he is practical in the sense that there are significant challenges facing health care right now and that they are not going to be solved in a day. This perspective takes humility. When leaders of organizations are strong but humble they can take organizations to new heights.