The weather outside is frightful...

When everyone and everything is spinning and whirling in the wind, leaders go out to meet the storm.  Leaders embrace the wind and pass out kites.  ~Leonard Sweet

When I came across this quote, knowing that most of us would be enduring incredible winds and subzero temperatures caused by the polar vortex, I couldn't resist.  But I also believe there's a great deal of truth in what Leonard Sweet suggests. 

I realize that I'm just one very tiny speck in the grand picture of health care in our nation, but my experience made me much more sympathetic toward those in leadership who are trying to battle the storm of health care insurance and services.  Because I'm self-employed I received notice this fall that my current policy would no longer exist and I would need to select a new policy from the various bronze, silver, gold, and platinum options.  I waited just a bit, hoping that some of the chaos would subside before I attempted to make my selection and switch to a new policy.  Then before I even made the change, requirements were altered yet again and I was able to maintain my current policy for one more year.  Of course the premium increased so I modified the benefits to keep the premium closer to the current cost. 

When I called my provider to make the changes, they really were extremely helpful.  As I talked with the representative on the phone, I was imagining myself multiplied by tens of thousands of other individuals.  I'd say that's a pretty good example of everything spinning and whirling in the wind.  But what else can those in health care do, but go out to meet the storm, embrace the wind, and pass out kites?

Many of us aren't in health care, but that doesn't mean we aren't experiencing a storm brought on by other external challenges: industry changes at breakneck speed, global competition, economic fluctuations, increased consumer expectations, etc.    

Someone recently told me that their organization was "flailing."  Synonyms for flail are thrash, whirl, flap, and flounder.  If you find yourself in a similar predicament (i.e., storm), ask yourself a few questions. 

• What would it look like if we went out to meet the storm instead of trying to shelter ourselves from the storm?
• What would we be doing differently if we were embracing the wind?
• How would our employees react if we passed out kites so they could use the wind to their advantage and benefit from the storm?
• What would those kites actually be?

Artist Vincent Van Gogh said, "The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore."  Storms will come, so let's go out to meet the storm, embrace the wind, and pass out kites!