Here's an article by Gary Hamel in the Harvard Business Review, that I'd like to share with you and that illustrates how love can be a key, not just in our private lives, or in music and art, or even when employed in a caring profession. Finally busniesses are realizing that it's fundamentally human and necessary to everyone of us. And it pays!
I recently got a call from a CEO of a health system that encompasses several hospitals, medical practices, and clinics. Lakeland Health employs about 4,000 associates and takes in nearly $500 million per year. Its facilities are spread across the southwest corner of Michigan — where median income is 70% of the national average and the incidence of chronic diseases is substantially higher than the norm. It's a challenging environment in which to be a healthcare provider.
The CEO knew I was a fan of passion-fueled innovation and thought he had a story I'd find inspiring, hence the call. A year earlier he had taken up his new post at Lakeland. Shortly thereafter, he had called a meeting to review patient satisfaction scores. U.S. hospitals have to report this data to the federal government, and if they fall below certain thresholds, they pay a penalty in reduced reimbursement rates. Given that, the CEO was distressed to learn that when it came to patient satisfaction, Lakeland was a laggard — with scores between the 25th and 50th percentile. How could this be?