Manager to Team Developer
Michele Self began her career as a speech therapist. As she understood the importance of accurate documentation, she has led reimbursement teams for multiple healthcare organizations since 1997.
“I thought I had done something wrong,” when her company offered leadership coaching, “But I quickly realized this was an investment in me, and I embraced the experience.”
Like many professionals, Michele succeeded through hard work and managing every team detail. The first 3 months of the 6-month engagement focused on Michele’s recognition of how she made decisions, and each time she learned something new; she was challenged to consider applying the learning to others.
“Every time I had a new perspective on how I operate as a leader, my coach would say, think about how that same concept would apply to your team. Soon, I started becoming an observer of others.”
The transition to Team Developer.
Michele was invited to have her team complete a team assessment about halfway through the engagement. Like many team assessments, it showed areas where we all agreed, were team strengths and where we decided we had opportunities for improvement. However, what was eye-opening were the places that some of the team believed were strengths, and others thought we had opportunities for improvement.
From then on, my conversations with the team were different. I started reading their body language and asking questions. I began encouraging the team to learn about themselves and each other and to have conversations to align. In a short period, I’ve seen these people that work well together become a unified, focused team. The unexpected result was a reduction in my stress.
At a recent event, it was amazing because I sat back and watched a true team – Michele Self, Senior VP of Clinical Reimbursement.
Contact us to see how we transform great managers and leaders into great team developers.
