Editor’s note: This article is reprinted with permission from Patient Centered Paramedic Blog and Podcast.
In my role at work, I am a single responder, meaning it’s just me in a Suburban, running calls and being an advanced practice paramedic, doing our flavor of mobile integrated health and community paramedicine. This puts me in the position where I am almost always checking in on or responding to “someone else’s” call. I’m showing up to assist an ambulance crew who have typically already established care, and I am coming in to assist them in caring for the patient, or providing resources, or to help them with some clinical or operational guidance. My goal is, when a crew sees me pull up, they don’t cringe, reach for their radio and immediately cancel me.
This brings me to the conversations I’ve had recently that inspired this post. In these conversations, the people I was talking to were from another agency. They were talking about interactions with a single responder in their agency that didn’t go well, on three different instances. Sometimes, personalities didn’t align, or communication failed, or maybe they were just tired and not being their best selves, but in some cases, it seemed that there was a leadership blind spot that these supervisors could not see. In his podcast, John Maxwell defines leadership blind spots as “gaps between a leader’s intentions and actions that they are unaware of.”
In a few of these interactions, these supervisors may have thought that they were being helpful or funny, or that they caught the crew in a “gotcha” moment and were correcting poor behavior, but they did not have all of the information needed to make that decision. Those supervisors may have left the interactions feeling as though things went well, when the crew felt defeated, unsupported and like they never wanted to interact with that supervisor on a call ever again. They will be reaching for that mic to cancel them in the future, for sure.
The crew felt as though the supervisor added nothing to the call, and that they actually subtracted from it. The fire department first responders were left scratching their heads about the interaction, the crew was definitely in a negative space for the rest of the shift, maybe longer, and certainly the patient felt that disconnect and rapport suffered as well. So, what’s the point?
Strive to be a plus one.
5 EMS leadership principles
Bring something to the table; and it doesn’t have to be much. What does being a plus one start with? It starts with five basic leadership concepts: truth, respect, understanding, sincerity and teachability. Basic, right?
- Truth: Say what you mean, mean what you say and don’t ever break the trust of your people by lying to them. Difficult conversations are hard, but they are part of being a leader. They need to be done in the right place, at the right time, with the right audience, with all of the information gathered to have that conversation, and with proper documentation of that interaction.
- The right place is typically in private, not in the middle of the station or ambulance bay at the ED.
- The right time is usually as soon as possible, given you have gathered all of the information needed to have the conversation.
- Is a witness needed for this conversation? The right audience might be another supervisor, an HR representative or, depending on the agency, a union representative.
- Having all of the information needed is paramount. Making assumptions leads to lost trust, lost respect and lost ability to effectively lead your team. Ask questions for understanding first, then make an informed assessment of the situation.
- Respect: Do you have to like someone to treat them with respect? Oxford Languages offers two definitions of respect:
- A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements
- Due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights or traditions of others.
I’m going to be honest, if you are not my favorite person, or we typically don’t get along, I am probably not going to have a feeling of deep admiration for you. However, I can have due regard for your feelings, wishes, rights and traditions. I don’t have to like you to be able to treat you as a person and a peer, and respect you as such. As a leader, you work for your team, and need to have respect for all members of that team.
- Understanding: We have an obligation to not let our lives outside of work affect our lives at work. We have to take care of others on potentially the worst days of their lives, and they deserve our best and undivided focus. That sounds great on an inspirational poster on a wall, but it’s not realistic. It’s not realistic when our people are dealing with their own mental or physical health struggles, or divorce, or eviction, or the death of a loved one or any number of other things that life throws at us. Yes, patients deserve our best, and that has to be our focus. But leaders need to identify when our people are struggling, and need a hand, or a shoulder or just an extra minute or two between calls. Understanding means remembering that the people that are caring for the community are just that, people, who are more than a pulse and a patch in the seat going from call to call.
|More: How to recognize, help a struggling team member
- Sincerity: People know if you’re faking it. Leadership is about people, caring for people and working for your team. Everyone on your team should know that you want to be there, you want to support them, and that they can rely on you, every day. If you don’t care, believe me, your people know it, and you’re less effective because of it.
- Teachability: Being willing to learn allows us to be open minded, willing to see opposing viewpoints, and allows us to stay humble. Allowing ourselves to see the world through other people’s perspectives allows us to be less judgmental, less reactive and more supportive. Accepting that we just may be wrong or may have misinterpreted a situation allows us to listen and understand before we rush to a rash decision or judgment that we either have to backtrack from, apologize for or rebuild our reputation from.
How to be a supportive leader
So, what does being a plus one look like in practice?
- Don’t micromanage; instead guide and support. Just because it’s not being done how you would do it, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong. But if it is wrong, redirect professionally, politely, and in a positive way without embarrassing or insulting the other person, or shooting their credibility with their patient. Stop-the-bus moments are a little different; those get a firm “stop.” Build relationships before these conversations need to happen — that way, there is a level of understanding between both parties that you are coming from a place of support, not criticism. Prehospital medicine is a team sport; strive for a culture that encourages that.
- Don’t be afraid to jump in. Do some chest compressions, carry a bag, be one of the people moving the patient on the stair chair. Be more than moral support; be physical support, too.
- Do be approachable. Don’t ridicule anyone for asking questions or for help. We were all new once, and none of us knows everything. Teaching facilitates growth.
- Don’t spread negativity; spread positivity. If someone messes something up, provide constructive feedback when the timing is right. If someone does something really well or above and beyond, or is just consistently really doing a good job, talk about how good they’re doing. Tell them, tell others, talk about them behind their back, but just the good stuff. Things will get back to whoever you’re talking about; make them hear about how you were building them up, not breaking them down.
- Ensure continued scene safety. Sometimes, we get tunnel vision and focused on patient care. If you’re able, be an additional layer of scene safety. Watch for scene hazards, redirect family that are getting in the way, or better yet, provide the family with information and engage with them to reduce their anxiety and stress a bit, and give your people some space. Have your teams’ back; they’ll appreciate it.
A quote from Simon Sinek resonates with me often. “Leadership is not a license to do less. Leadership is a responsibility to do more.” Bring something to the table, be an active leader, not a passive title; and be a plus one.
