COURTESY / NANCY CHARLEBOIS
Nancy Charlebois is a physical therapist and co-owner of Jade Integrated Health, with her husband, John.
March 12, 2021
How to lead by listening rather than reacting
By Nancy Charlebois
Throughout my 25 years as a physical therapist, I have cared for more than 50,000 human beings. I have treated mothers after traumatic birthing experiences, rehabilitated injured professional athletes and veterans who’ve been hurt in combat.
The reward has been equally valuable to me as it has to them. Fortunately, I learned early in my career that my gift as a therapist was tied closely to my ability to listen.
When a patient comes into my office the most important information I can get is what their goals are. When a patient sets a desired outcome, we both know what we’re working towards and when we’ve been successful. When I opened Jade Integrated Health in 2001 with my husband, John, I really didn’t know how to run an actual business. So I put trust in myself and tested my guiding principle: if good medicine starts with listening, could good leadership also? I’ve found that the answer is a resounding yes.
Listening versus reacting
If an employee makes a mistake, a good leader asks why or how it happened, versus issuing a directive or reprimand. I am genuinely curious what led up to the error. This approach creates a learning process for all parties and is often a teachable moment. Employees feel respected and I can be more easily heard when offering solutions. Mentoring staff, maintaining morale and retaining quality employees requires a two-way flow of communication, plus a lot of transparency and respect. It takes a lot of listening.
Difficult conversation is not confrontation
I would tell young business owners that being direct doesn’t mean being unkind. Being clear and concise doesn’t need to be cold. Share your opinion and seek one from others.
One of the most challenging lessons I’ve had to learn as a leader is how to start a difficult conversation. When there is a problem, it is a leader’s role to analyze it and address it. But until I had the confidence in my own voice, I didn’t realize that a difficult conversation was different than a confrontation. This was the most liberating of discoveries, both personally and professionally. Now I enter these conversations with empathy and curiosity and determination to identify the root cause of the surface problem. Then we solve it.
Give credit where credit is due
If someone does something outstanding I tell them, and I do it in front of their colleagues. It lets everyone know that a job well done will be rewarded and it lifts the whole team. Professional development is also key — we are only as strong as the team around us. I spend clinical time individually with our providers to mentor, share knowledge, help problem solve complex medical cases, or even co-treat patients. It energizes our treatment approach and increases our efficacy. Collaboration provides leadership opportunities to be held peer to peer.
Pick the right people
One of the most important things I have learned as a business leader is how to hire the right person for the right role in the first place. This is one of the most humbling lessons I’ve learned because when making the wrong personnel choice, everyone suffers. After having trials in this category, I realized that the key principle applies here too: if I’d listened more closely and asked more questions, I would have known the person was not a fit.
Ask for help
All growing businesses and their leaders face challenges. I’ve learned that these challenges are universal and it is important to reach out to mentors and colleagues. Being confident in your leadership role allows you to feel connected to other peer leaders without feeling insecure when asking for help. As business owners, we don’t know all the answers and frankly, we’re often the ones with the most questions.
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