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HEALTH CARE MARKETING MANAGING YOURSELF LEADERSHIP

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Turning passion and perseverance THOMAS H. LEE The 5 6
Chief medical officer,
Press Ganey
into performance: the view from ANGELA L. Good - 7 8
the health care industry DUCKWORTH DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN
Psychology professor,
University of Pennsylvania
Grıt Better - SERENA CHEN LINCOLN
by
Best
Organizational
Professor, University
and the Art of
Approach to
of California, Berkeley
Yourself a
Founder, Culture of Profit
HIGH ACHIEVERS HAVE extraordinary stamina. Even if they’re already at the top of Prıcing RAFI MOHAMMED Give Transformative
their game, they’re always striving to improve. Even if their work requires sacrifice, they or decades the auto insurance industry
remain in love with what they do. Even when easier paths beckon, their commitment is operated on a simple assumption: LEADERSHIP
steadfast. We call this remarkable combination of strengths “grit.” Consumers are highly price-sensitive,
Grit predicts who will accomplish challenging goals. Research done at West Point, for
and most will buy the least-expensive
example, shows that it’s a better indicator of which cadets will make it through training plan they can find. But in the early 2000s Break: The
than achievement test scores and athletic ability. Grit predicts the likelihood of graduating Allstate conducted some research that
from high school and college and performance in stressful jobs such as sales. Grit also, we caused it to revisit that assumption. Price
believe, propels people to the highest ranks of leadership in many demanding fields. hit with premium hikes if they’re in an accident. And drivers Power of Self- o the times make the leader, or does the providing case histories that illustrate the skills and strengths
does matter, it learned, but there’s more to
In health care, patients have long depended on the grit of individual doctors and
HULTON ARCHIVE / STRINGER/GETTY IMAGES ► People in gritty organizations unite behind an with clean records want to be rewarded. Compassion D Doris Kearns Goodwin explores in her periods of great upheaval.
the story: Many drivers worry about being
nurses. But in modern medicine, providing superior care has become so complex that
that enabled these four men to lead the United States through
leader shape the times? How can a leader
no lone practitioner, no matter how driven, can do it all. Today great care requires great
infuse people’s lives with a sense of purpose
and meaning?
The article that follows is excerpted from her case study
Armed with those insights, in 2005 Allstate launched Your
Choice Auto. The program relied heavily on modifications to a
of Lincoln’s pivotal decision to issue and guide to fruition the
These are among the questions that
Emancipation Proclamation—a purpose that required the
feature in the company’s standard policy (which it continued
selling) called accident forgiveness, in which drivers who went
support of the cabinet, the army, and, ultimately, the American
new book, Leadership in Turbulent Times, which examines
people. Rarely, Goodwin notes, was a leader better suited to
important common goal. In 1942 women in Chrysler’s
four singular styles of leadership: transformative, crisis
five years without accident claims would have no premium
Chicago bomber plant stepped into new roles to
increase after their first accident. It introduced a Value plan,
management, turnaround, and visionary. She follows the course
been his birthright; resilience his keystone strength. Possessed
priced 5% below Standard, that didn’t include accident for-
of leadership development in the careers of Abraham Lincoln,
support the Allied war effort.
giveness. A new Gold plan, priced 5% to 7% above Standard,
Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson, the challenge of the fractured historical moment. Struggle had
of a powerful emotional intelligence, Lincoln was both merciful
98 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2018 SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2018 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW 99 106 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2018 Art by Dan Saelinger SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2018 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW 107 116 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2018 Illustration by blindSALIDA SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2018 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW 117 126 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2018 Art by Piotr Lesniak
ORGANIZATIONAL GRIT THE GOOD-BETTER-BEST GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK: LINCOLN AND THE ART
Thomas H. Lee and Angela L. APPROACH TO PRICING THE POWER OF SELF- OF TRANSFORMATIVE
Duckworth | page 98
Rafi Mohammed | page 106 COMPASSION LEADERSHIP
Grit, a combination of passion and Serena Chen | page 116 Doris Kearns Goodwin | page 126
perseverance, predicts success in Companies often crimp profits by
many demanding fields. A perfect using discounts to attract price- When we experience a setback at In her most recent book,
example is health care, where sensitive customers and by failing work, we tend to either become Leadership in Turbulent Times,
the grit of individual doctors and to give high-end customers reasons defensive and blame others, or Goodwin examines the careers
nurses has saved many lives. But to spend more. A multitiered berate ourselves. Neither response of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore
today providing superior care is so offering can use a stripped-down is helpful. Shirking responsibility Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and
complex that no lone practitioner product (the “Good” option) to by getting defensive may alleviate Lyndon Johnson, illustrating how
can do it all. Great care requires attract new customers, the existing the sting of failure, but it comes their skills and strengths enabled
gritty teams that never stop striving product (“Better”) to keep current at the expense of learning. them to lead the United States
for improvement and institutions customers happy, and a feature- Self-flagellation, on the other through periods of great upheaval.
that exhibit grit across entire laden premium version (“Best”) to hand, may feel warranted in the In this article she looks at Lincoln’s
systems of providers. increase spending by customers moment, but it can lead to an pivotal decision to issue the
In this article Duckworth, the who want more. inaccurately gloomy assessment of Emancipation Proclamation—which
author of the best seller Grit, and There’s nothing new about this one’s potential, which undermines required the support of his cabinet,
Lee, a clinician and health care concept, of course—think of the personal development. the army, and the American
leader, describe health care’s different grades of fuel at any gas Research shows that we people. Possessed of a powerful
new model of organizational grit. station and the varying packages should respond instead with emotional intelligence, he was
It begins with hiring people with marketed by cable TV providers, self-compassion. People who do able to mediate among factions
grit—who love what they do, always this tend to demonstrate three and sustain the spirits of his
want to get better, and are resilient A G-B-B PLAN HELPS behaviors: First, they are kind countrymen. Among the powerful
in the face of setbacks. Their single- rather than judgmental about lessons Lincoln’s leadership
minded determination stems from BUYERS UNDERSTAND their own failures and mistakes; embodied: Acknowledge when
a clear personal-goal hierarchy, second, they recognize that failures failed policies demand a change in
in which shorter-term objectives FEATURES AND THINK are a shared human experience; direction. Anticipate contending
support a top-level goal that gives and third, they take a balanced viewpoints. Set an example. Refuse
direction to everything they do. ABOUT WHICH ONES approach to negative emotions to let past resentments fester.
To be gritty, organizations THEY VALUE. when they stumble or fall short— Protect colleagues from blame.
must have a similar clarity about they allow themselves to feel bad, Establish trust.
priorities, and their top-level goal but they don’t let negative emotions “In a great convergence of the
and their employees’ must be take over. man and the times,” Goodwin
aligned. If everyone is pursuing a to name just two examples—yet Self-compassion boosts writes, “Abraham Lincoln’s
separate passion, a culture won’t many companies and industries performance by triggering the leadership imprinted a moral
be gritty. The gritty health care have failed to embrace it. The “growth mindset”—the belief that purpose and meaning on the
organizations the authors have seen author, a consultant who has improvement is achievable through protracted misery of the Civil War.”
(such as Mayo Clinic and Cleveland helped many organizations adopt dedication and hard work. It also
Clinic) all make “putting patients G-B-B pricing, presents a step- helps us connect with a more
first” their overarching goal and by-step guide to devising, testing, authentic self.
use it to guide every decision. They and launching the strategy. Key HBR Reprint R1805J
also work to cultivate grit by, for steps include identifying “fence”
example, setting high expectations; attributes that will prevent current
offering the resources, support, and customers from trading down
trust people need to keep learning from the existing offering; carefully
and growing; and establishing choosing features and names to
strong social norms that promote create clear differentiation and POSTMASTER
their top-level goal. value; and setting prices using Send domestic address changes, orders, and inquiries to: Harvard Business Review, Subscription Service,
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differ, they can apply the principles conjoint analysis and other market Printed in the U.S.A. Harvard Business Review (ISSN 0017-8012; USPS 0236-520), published every other
the authors outline here to become research. HBR Reprint R1805H month for professional managers, is an education program of Harvard Business School, Harvard University;
Nitin Nohria, dean.
gritty, too. HBR Reprint R1805G Published by Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, MA 02163.
SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2018 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW 155