Coalition building is an important theme those of you who have heard me speak about in recent research deliveries, a panel at the Forum for Healthcare Strategists (#HMPS), and a Mid-Atlantic Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (#MASHSMD) talk. I thought it important to share a bit more on what I mean by this. Note that I’m largely talking to #healthcare providers here but it actually translates to other industries – any who provide essential services and any who don’t but who want to be seen as caring for those they serve. Any serious examinations begin with listening to the lived experiences of your external and internal populations.
Lived experiences (like those quickly found via digital ethnography, slide into my DMs for more) show that not only is trust down, but awareness of access struggles is high. We are seeing the general public make articulated arguments and observations about healthcare in their regions that would have been unfathomable even five years ago. The cleanest (if most pejorative) way this awareness gets expressed is in connecting a system (health, payor, etc.) behavior to that of “predatory” behavior. Within this you get questions about motives and nonprofit status – and please note this is from both external and internal audiences.
One thing evolution teaches us is that those that survive are those who learn to be wary and worried about predators and find distrust to be a helpful defense mechanism. And so on its face in our current political, economic, and medical climate, those with the highest awareness and potentially cynicism are those who navigate system best. But it also means the line between provider and predator is incredibly blurred for those people. They are watching – already weary and wary – as things change in big (reduction in services) or small (website language) ways that say volumes to them.
And so: at the very least you need to build coalitions to show you are there with an outstretched hand to help them not strike them. Who you choose to be seen with can, yes, elevate your reputation – but more than that it shows a commitment to community that you might assume is there based on the dollars you shovel to a local cause or because of outcomes you’re very proud of. But it’s not obvious to them. Great outcomes to the few when the many rightfully worry about access don’t always translate to feelings of your greatness. Supporting a favorite charity is certainly nice – but that feels like table stakes when the medical bills of the many (from you) pile up. This is about showing that you are trying to find out and solve problems with those who are also caring. And this goes for inside the organization too – who your partners and vendors are can speak volumes about the values you make them walk by in the lobby every day.
There are organizations and companies you know of and many you don’t – in your communities and in your industry – that serve and care about the same populations. Share resources, build new partnerships, unusual relationships, strange bedfellows, choose vendors and partners who have give a sh*t disease, ally with those who care and give back (think: nonprofits, B Corps, vocal companies with great values and actions) and who show up for the communities that you serve. Not only can we or should we not do this without partners, you will cut off your nose to spite your face trying to act as if you need no one. And that will be seen as arrogant at best and at worst you will prove you are exactly who they feared: a cold, predatory cog of a cruel system.
If you are the pillar of the community that you tell everyone you are on billboards, now is the time to put your mission where your mouth is.
As a great leader once said:
“Change your socks, drink some water, and let’s go get ready to kick some ass” – together.
by Dean Browell
Dean Browell leads Feedback’s research as resident PhD with a passion for how generations interact online and is the co-author of the book Don’t You Forget About Gen X: One Generation’s Crucial Role in Healthcare. A frequent speaker across many industries, Dean has also briefed data on military family quality of life to The White House. He is a co-founder of Hidden In Plain Site and on the boards of The Poe Museum and Firehouse Theatre. Dean teaches courses at VCU School of Business and University of Richmond’s Institute on Philanthropy.