Persistence & Experimentation: An interview with Francis Health Partner, Naila Naseem
Naila Naseem reflects, taking a balcony view on her industry and her leadership during the past year and preparing for what’s to come.
Organisation: Francis Health
Role: Lead Partner - Change Collaborative
Industry: Healthcare Consulting & Leadership Development
1. 2020 has been a challenging year in many ways. What has changed - and remained the same - in your industry?
Within healthcare, I think more has changed than remained the same. Health and consulting have been in quite a maelstrom this past year partly through COVID, but also, this year, the Health and Disability System Review (HDSR) was published. This is the biggest shake-up of the health system in the last few decades, and will see a consolidation in number of District Health Boards and a new model of community and primary health care (Tier 1) services, based on needs of local populations.
The impact of these is the continued uncertainty and stretch for our health care workers. While it looks like we are back to pre-COVID conditions there is still a significant amount of work on contingency and resilience planning in the system.
Both COVID and the Review will continue to create disruption to the whole system and we’re not quite sure how either will land for a while yet.
For Francis Health on the consulting side, we’re going through a process to reimagine how we can continue to add maximum value to our clients. It’s been a tough year for us. Like all small kiwi enterprises, we’ve been very focussed on looking after our people while maintaining a sustainable business.
2. What has changed - and remained the same - for you as a leader this year?
Crises are places where we dig deep and focus on what’s really important. For me personally, many things have held fast:
my connectedness with the Francis Health team.
my passion for what I believe in.
trusting my instinct. In particular, knowing we will come out of this stronger than we went in, even if the new way of being is quite different.
Being a dot-joiner. Helping people make connections and focus on relationships has been more important than ever.
Personally, what's changed is letting go of situations that I can't influence and being okay with that.
I’m also a real people person and, compared to being face-to-face, I’ve found getting that sense of connection virtually has been difficult. You don't get the same sense of how people are going or how they're feeling or when they're vulnerable, because everyone can put on a brave face for a Zoom call!
3. Looking back at how you've steered your organisation through COVID-19, what would you consider your proudest achievement as a leader?
Staying connected with the team. We've watched closely for each other's highs and lows and let people be how they needed to be in the moment. There haven’t been any expectations. We've forgiven each other for when things have gotten too much because, at some point, they've gotten too much for everybody.
We've been relentlessly persistent. Sense-making. Refusing to give up.
We have found strengths and abilities that are latent inside us because we were pushed in ways that, in times of normalcy, we don’t get pushed.
4. How are you taking care of yourself?
I have a visceral reaction to the term “self-care”. It seems to have become weirdly competitive. It’s like a more bliss than thou righteousness where people are getting stressed about how well they are caring for themselves compared to others which is quite the paradox!
Having said that, I'm blessed to be surrounded by my slightly bonkers but fabulous family. I have a great circle of friends. I couldn't wish for a better team and colleagues, not to mention clients that are humbling to work with. When I put all of this together, it gives me perspective and a huge sense of gratitude. I’m very lucky.
5. What's your greatest fear looking out at the next 6-12 months? Your greatest leadership challenge or opportunity?
My greatest fear is not being able to support the industry in the best way we can. That it's just all going to become too much for already exhausted individuals and teams. That the noise in the system and personal fears and ego’s get in the way of building and sustaining a healthcare system that the people of New Zealand need.
I'm not worried that we won’t get it right first time. It’s a time for novel practice and emergence. In complex contexts or during disruptive change, where the future is inherently unknowable, we need to co-create a new way of working.
“It’s a time for novel practice and emergence.”
6. Imagine a phone call from New Zealand’s Prime Minister asking you, ‘What's your best advice for me right now on [your industry]?’ What would you say? What first step would you recommend?
If we rebuild the health system and the rationality that produced the current system is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce the same thing again. We need to:
create an environment where diverse people can be brought together, information shared, and forums convened among those to stimulate creative connections who do not normally come together to do so.
measurably improve cultural safety, equity, and health outcomes for Māori. We’re nowhere close to where we need to be.
Provide a destination, and let the people that are delivering the services plot the direction. There's an extraordinary wealth of smart, passionate people working in the health system that are bound by unnecessary compliance and bureaucracy. During the initial COVID planning phase we removed a lot of that. There was a sense of empowerment and achievement…that’s starting to slip now.
Make the right thing the easy thing to do.
7. What are your top priorities for 2021?
Developing our long-term strategic plan — but just as a reference point that can be adjusted as needed. There’s always been a level of uncertainty in the Consulting industry and we’re getting more comfortable with that. Alignment to our mission and vision will point us to our true north while staying responsive to our external environment.
To focus and prioritise and be really intentional about our decisions and our direction of travel.
To look after our team and grow responsibly.
I think it's going to be a year of experimentation and building a safe-to-fail environment for our teams.
“I think it’s going to be a year of experimentation and building a safe-to-fail environment for our teams.”
8. In what ways do you think you and your people need to change or grow in order for your organisation to be successful in 2021 and beyond?
We need to remain curious and openminded. To seek and listen to feedback from as many perspectives as possible. Where there's disruption there are opportunities and I think we only get that by really listening closely.
We need our team to stay comfortable and thrive amongst ongoing uncertainty and change because that is our world. Create an environment that is safe-to-fail because there is no single right answer.
There is a need to change the system, while being the system. If we can stay meta and deeply connected at the same time, I believe things will never be the same again…
“We need our team to stay comfortable and thrive amongst ongoing uncertainty and change because that is our world.”