In the podcast, Mark explains how TriHealth took a $100 million loss in the first months of the pandemic. During hard times, you expect emotional bank accounts to be depleted, but when you handle things the right way, you can actually strengthen relationships and positively impact the entire organization. In TriHealth’s case, they came back stronger, more aligned, and more cohesive than ever. Now, at about three months into reopening, the system is at about 95 percent of their previous levels of revenue and clinical activity. A huge part of their success lay in how they approached communication.

So many of us work in complex political environments where we do not want to offend anyone or overstep our authority. When we disagree with someone, it can feel presumptuous to tell someone he or she is wrong. This is particularly true if the person is in a position of greater authority. Are we really sure they are wrong? Perhaps, does the other person know something we don’t?

When a client recently said this to me, it was hard for me not to think about the implied contradiction in this sentence. Someone who does everything that is asked is following (not leading).