The Mission Driven Hospital looks like a fantastic hospital leadership guide. Who is your target market for the book?
The Mission Driven Hospital book is targeted for CEOs and their executive teams (as well as Boards of Directors) of healthcare organizations in general.
The fact that the title focuses on “hospitals” is because the research quoted in the book is based on a massive data set that I acquired on the ‘strategic practices’ of 496 hospitals, and especially their approach to executing their strategies. But the lessons contained in the book can apply to any healthcare organization such as nursing homes, acute care facilities and medical/dental/chiropractic/physiotherapy etc. clinics.
There’s also a special chapter dedicated to examining the differences between faith-based versus secular hospitals called: “Who does it best?”
The book is endorsed by: The Ontario Hospital Association and numerous individual healthcare CEOs.
What is your mission with The Mission Driven Hospital, what do you hope to accomplish?
My mission is to make mission statements come alive in their organizations rather than just being the nice sounding, but meaningless platitudes with which they are usually regarded.
It’s actually a sad state of affairs.
Mission statements are the #1 ‘management tool’ in use globally. Almost every organization in the world has a mission statement. Healthcare organizations are no exception. In fact, the existence and quality of a mission statement is typically a key component in the evaluation criteria used during a hospital’s formal accreditation - or reaccreditation - process. Moreover, mission statements are considered by most strategy textbooks as the key starting point in any strategic planning exercise.
But despite their widespread use, mission statements remain one of the least understood, least respected and most despised management tools in the world among workers and managers at all levels [even, surprisingly often, in the executive suite].
My mission with the book is to have hospital/healthcare administrators and their boards acquire the respect for mission statements that most intelligent, well-educated executives say they deserve. When created and ‘deployed wisely’, my research demonstrates that a mission statement can be the cornerstone management tool for attracting and retaining the loyalty of an organization’s most critical stakeholders: patients/customers, employees, owners/funders and the communities within which the organization operates.
I show readers how to capture the elusive ‘mission mystique’ and avoid the most common ‘mission mistakes’. I show them how to make their mission statement’s alleged value become real and useful to their workforce so that it is embraced by each employee, thus improving individual job satisfaction and, of course, better hospital performance.
What is the 5-C Mission Model discussed in the book?
The 5C Mission Model is a unique and proprietary framework that I developed from over 12 years of studying the qualities, characteristics and processes that define mission driven hospitals.
The 5C Mission Model establishes and confirms that for a hospital to become mission driven, its leadership must give equal attention to:
· The process by which the mission is CREATED;
· the specific CONTENT of the mission;
· the way in which the mission is COMMUNICATED [and to whom];
· how the mission is COORDINATED; and
· how the mission is CONTROLLED.
The various “C’s” of the 5C Mission Model, and their specific application, are discussed in individual chapters of the book. My GOAL is for readers to see immediately how using the 5C Mission Model can improve their hospital’s functioning and performance.
Can you tell us a little about the case studies in the book?
The five mini case histories illustrate the successes that REAL hospitals have experienced in their efforts to become ‘mission-driven’ using the 5-C Mission Model. They are intended to encourage readers, and their healthcare organizations, to make their mission statement not only popular (as opposed to despised!) but a highly effective management tool that produces sustainable success.
Did anything stick out as particularly challenging when writing The Mission Driven Hospital?
The book originally was almost 900 pages!
Six drafts later, though, I was able to pare that tome down to a very manageable and highly readable 136 pages. In this final version of the book, I focus on the key essential “must know” mission statement lessons that any healthcare executive or board member can put into action almost immediately to improve their organization’s operation.
But don’t take my word for it. Check out what healthcare leaders have to say about the book by visiting:
What do you like to do when not writing?
Speaking to organizations about how to become ‘mission-driven’! And also consulting with them to help improve their strategic planning practices. Satisfaction guaranteed!
Where can readers find out more about your work?
Two sites may be of interest…
To learn more about the book, go to https://missiondrivenhospital.com/
And to learn more about me (and my other books), go to https://corporatemissionsinc.com