Are We Truly Responsible Leaders?

To be “responsible” is to be accountable, answerable. Who are orthopedic leaders accountable to?

Most academics suggest that accountability flows down from leaders and then back up from those who are led. Responsibility and accountability, they suggest, is a round-trip journey. Employees are held accountable and they, in turn, hold their leaders accountable.

Makes sense, but…life is not so simple at the top of the org chart.

Sitting in the leader’s seat can often feel like sitting in a dunk tank seat…waiting for the inevitable hit that sends you into that cold water. Everyone has an opinion about what today’s leaders are responsible for. And they have no problem throwing complaints, formal and informal, your way.

Today’s leaders are held accountable for the health of their organization, in all its permutations. Also…the legal peril of selling a medical device, the environment, social issues, economic justice and, lest we forget, the leader’s own family.

So, are we, the few, the proud, the short straw drawers, today’s leaders, truly responsible in our exalted positions?

No, we are probably not there yet.

The Healing Business

We, collectively, leaders and others, are in the business of healing other people.

Too often, there exists a cognitive dissonance between being a creator or provider of products for those who heal and the practical demands of competing in a dog-eat-dog industry.

For those in the arena, the medical device field can seem cutthroat. Today’s leaders face unprecedented pressures to perform on multiple fronts including patient care, technology development, speed to market, product efficacy, reimbursement, profitability, and organizational alignment.

And, when they have a moment, to also be efficient, effective, transformational, and dare I say—“Responsible Corporate Officers?”

What exactly is a Responsible Corporate Officer in the orthopedic community?

Legal Responsibility

From a legal perspective (though I’m not a lawyer) a “Responsible Corporate Officer” is used to describe (and put teeth into) an executive’s responsibility for all activities happening within the organization. Even more to the point, this is term is about personal liability. Under this construct, the criminal justice system can hold officers or directors personally responsible for corporate misconduct without having to prove involvement or intent.

Of course, when most people think of criminal defendants, they picture someone who has intentionally broken the law. Many are not aware that corporate leaders can face criminal prosecution in instances where they did not know—but should have known—about criminal activity in the company.

Yes, it can be a crime to be unaware of what is going on inside your organization. I learned this from experience when I was criminally charged with a misdemeanor and ultimately sentenced to nine months in prison. I saw firsthand what can happen when things go awry under our leadership, something I address further in my book, Going Om – A CEO’s Self-Discovery Behind Bars. Despite my unique experience with the justice system, the take on corporate responsibility that I’d like to share here is less legal in nature and more foundational.

Responsible Leadership Defined

In my view, responsible leaders are those who achieve business results while maintaining their personal integrity. In the heat of battle, we compromise and sacrifice in pursuit of goals, outcomes, and bottom lines. Leaders who are especially senior can find it difficult to hold themselves accountable when they have nobody to answer to. With power and authority (and the freedom these afford us), the ability to judge right from wrong (and act accordingly) can be obscured by so many things.

Absent moral and social accountability, it is hard to fully embody the role of responsible leader—whatever the numbers say. In my experience, responsible leaders strive to make decisions which take all stakeholders into consideration: patients, surgeons, employees, clients, suppliers, the environment, the community, and future generations.

There is no such thing as a good time for bad leadership. The need for responsible leadership has never been greater. Now more than ever, we need leaders who will rise to the occasion and tackle our significant business challenges within the framework of shared stakeholder responsibility.

Adding Responsibility to Efficacy

In the past, the development of effective leaders focused on traits such as the ability to delegate tasks, communication skills, confidence, honesty, and creativity—which are fundamental and foundational elements of leadership, but they are also just precursors to becoming a responsible leader.

We need to move beyond basic efficacy and step into responsibility. After all, we face a growing list of challenges on the business front and in our communities. Many executives say: “Of course I want to improve society, but how can I do that while facing more immediate financial pressures?” In response to this, I share both where and how.

Let us start with where.

The consulting firm, Accenture, identified several areas where responsible leadership is desperately needed, and these areas include climate change, global economic fragility, and workforce development. For those wondering how to make an impact, here are the five elements of responsible leadership:

• Stakeholder inclusion: Understanding the perspectives and needs of stakeholders who have been traditionally overlooked. Making decisions from a perspective that prioritizes equity, and actively creating an inclusive environment. We need to listen to the voices of those who have been unheard for so long.
• Emotional intelligence: Acknowledging our shared humanity by showing empathy can go a long way in rebuilding trust and confidence. As leaders, we demonstrate emotional intelligence by understanding what is not working and being committed to be part of the solution.
• Mission and purpose: Advancing common goals by inspiring a shared vision of sustainable prosperity for the organization and its stakeholders.
• Innovation: Adding value to the organization and to society by innovating responsibly alongside emerging technology.
• Insight and reflection: Expanding the concept of continuous process improvements beyond logistical operations, to develop ever-improving paths to success through continuous learning and knowledge exchange.

The Way Forward

Today’s leaders are in a privileged position. Technology has given us a global reach and we are better positioned to improve our society than any generation before us. While recognizing that socioeconomic issues will not be solved overnight, we can still hold ourselves accountable for our impact. We can look beyond the bottom line: striving to bring value to the larger community and stakeholders on the ground. Nobody said leadership would be easy, and the responsible leader champions both economic growth and beneficial social and environmental outcomes—“driving value while honoring values.”

While you may be thinking that this is a worthy but impractical endeavor, there are many examples of responsible leadership within the healthcare industry.

Ten years ago, DaVita, a kidney care and dialysis organization implemented the Trilogy of Care: caring for patients, caring for each other, and caring for the world. Their belief that they are “a community first and a company second” has resulted in the development of a number of programs that merge both community responsibility and employee engagement.

DaVita expanded beyond kidney care to include screening and treatment of chronic illnesses and increasing access to primary care services for challenged communities. DaVita was also named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices after being analyzed for their environmental, social and governance practices.

Ultimately our ability to both balance and master mission, purpose, innovation, and stakeholder inclusion must become second nature. Organizations will find it hard to meet the expectations of society unless they modify their leadership qualities and seek stronger and more balanced profiles.

This shift requires us to address issues head-on and have some potentially uncomfortable conversations. Thankfully, there is triumph on the other side of the work. In the end, responsible leadership becomes real when it learns from and reflects those it serves.