Professional Partnerships

Episode 58:  There Is Nothing Like A Nurse

Trapper:   [Tension in the OR without the nurses] My kingdom for a  nurse!

Radar:     I’m doing my best.

Trapper:   Radar, if you don’t start handing me the instruments in  the right way, I’m going to cut you off at the knees.

Henry:     Klinger, you’re standing in my light.

Klinger:   Whatever I do is no good!

Hawkeye:   Let’s keep those sponges coming Father, nurse is also a  verb.

The threat of an enemy invasion leads to the evacuation of all the nurses from the 4077.  Camp morale is low and the tensions in O.R. high as the doctors try to cope without the nurse’s expertise and companionship.

Throughout 20 years of leadership serving alongside my wife we have developed a professional partnership in our ministry.  Together we make a great team that intuitively complements each other’s gifts and abilities.  However, when one of us is missing for any length of time the other is left second guessing counter-intuitive roles that fall outside our normal areas of responsibility.  If there is one thing we have learned about leadership, it is that it is not a solo activity.  We need each other.  We need competent people with complementary gifts to partner in pursuing a shared vision and common purpose.  This is true for any team and leadership context. Sue Mallory advocates this strongly:  “A team is a group of uniquely gifted players with a common purpose. Each player has a responsibility and is given the authority to carry it out. As team members they are fully and jointly accountable to one another and to the team’s results.”

Unity In Adversity

Episode 25:  Divided We Stand

General:    You had a mission here, Captain.

Hildebrand: I’ve done it.  I can give you your report.  In my short stay here, I have seen textbook examples of neuroses, psychoses.  I have seen voyeurism, fetishism and a few “isms” I’ve never even heard of.  And let me tell you this, General:  these impossible people are in an impossible place doing totally impossible work.  They’re mad, quite mad, all of them, and the only act I can think of that would be madder still would be breaking them up.

General Clayton sends a psychiatrist on a secret mission to the 4077 to assess whether the stress of war is having an adverse effect.  Concerned by the possibility of the unit being broken up, Colonel Blake tries to get the troops to be on their best behaviour.

There have been seasons of leadership when I have most valued having a team who have shared the burden that comes with leading through difficult circumstances.  As I reflect upon these times of adversity when we have faced seemingly impossible challenges, it was the unity of the team that enabled us to overcome such adversity.  When teams are united in adversity, there is clarity of purpose when the way seems unclear.  When teams are united in adversity, there is cohesion between leaders when others are divided.  When teams are united in adversity, there is confidence in shared wisdom and experience instead of insecurity.  Staying united during times of adversity reveals an unshakeable resilience that makes the impossible seem possible, empowering leaders to overcome their circumstances instead of being overwhelmed by them.

Who Deserves The Credit?

Episode 24:  Showtime

Father:   For some time now, I’ve been comparing the disparity of our callings.  Doctor versus priest.  You fellows are always able to see the end result of your work.  I mean, you know immediately if you’ve been successful.  For me, the results are far less tangible.  Sometimes – most of the time – I honestly don’t know whether I’m doing any good or not.

Hawkeye:   I used to have a professor in med school who always said:  “God cures the patients but the doctor takes the fee.”

Father:    Do you think that’s true?

Hawkeye:   I’m able to do a lot of things in surgery that I’m not really good enough to do.

During the visit of a troupe to entertain the 4077, we gain insight into a number of significant moments in the lives of the key personnel, including a moment of vulnerability where the camp priest is questioning the effectiveness of his work.

Despite my training and experience as a leader I am acutely aware that there are many things I am called upon to do that I am not really capable of doing alone.  By myself, I bring a limited set of skills and knowledge to my leadership roles, but together with a team there is a collaboration of shared wisdom that increases my leadership capacity.  As a Christian leader the capacity of the team is also given a spiritual dimension through divine wisdom and strength.  It is, therefore, true to say that any success I experience as a leader is never mine alone.  In this context of leadership there is no place for ego driven leaders who hog the credit for themselves.  Quoting Dino Rizzo, Craig Groeschel emphasizes this point by stating, “It is amazing what gets accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit.”  In saying that from a team point of view, God always deserves the credit for empowering us to be the leaders He has called and equipped us to be.

Team Morale

Episode 13:  Edwina

Hawkeye:    An attitude like that could destroy morale – weaken the fibre of our brave men in white.  These boys depend on their relaxation to renew and refresh their flagging spirits.  They must be allowed a moment’s respite from the trials of war.  The whole thing is inhuman, unfair and un-American.  Besides, it’s bad for the health…There comes a time in every soldier’s life, from the lowliest private to the lowliest officer, when he must put his own wellbeing second to the greater good of his fellow fellows, his comrades in arms, his war buddies.  Let us each, in his very own quiet heart, say to that courageous man, whoever he may turn out to be:  And there, but for the fickle pick of fate, go I.  And que sera, sera.

After accident-prone and awkward nurse Edwina reveals to another nurse that she has never been with a man, the nurses band together to withdraw their affection from the doctors until one of them goes on a date with Edwina.  When morale hits an all-time low, they draw straws to see who will step up for the team.

Every leader knows that morale has an enormous impact on the cohesiveness and productivity of a team.  Amidst the demands of an organization, it is easy to become obsessed with the function of a team at the expense of the friendships that are integral to a positive team spirit.  I recognise the danger in my own leadership to become so task focused and mission oriented that I forget about the importance of just having fun together.  In his book, “IT,” Craig Groeshel speaks about the importance of teams having an ‘Unmistakable Camaraderie’ where “not only do they minister together, they do life together.”  When we genuinely care about and invest into the lives of team members it lifts morale leading to a stronger and more effective team.