Wayfinding Through Change: How Human Connection Drives Success
Most of us aren’t hardwired to love transition.
If you happen to love the messy unknown that is peak transition, then peace and blessings to you, nothing for you to learn here.
But for the overwhelming majority of us, as soon as we experience that feeling of overwhelm that creeps in as we start to feel the ground underneath us shift, we tense up. We shut down or we micromanage; we aggressively ask questions or we ask none; we begin to see our colleagues and clients as problems to be solved, rather than human beings. Let’s be real: you probably aren’t going to find these “qualities” listed on an inspirational leadership poster.
Where are we going with this?
How we navigate transitions in our companies and practices says a lot about our values, our priorities, and how we treat people.
Wayfinder was born out of a desire to trailblaze. We are here for the windy roads and the new territory, which is to say, we’re also here for the hard work of transitions. In fact, it’s in our very nature to invite them. Sounds romantic enough. But there are seasons where you feel like you are driving uphill and all you can see is the blind edge. You have no idea what is beyond that. You feel the loss of control, the sense of overwhelm, and all of a sudden, you’re white knuckling your way through the navigation: controlling everything and everyone, except your own impending fear.
It’s been one of those seasons around here. The beauty of building a company on the foundation of courageous conversations, is we aren’t afraid to talk about it. Earlier this summer, our co-founders, Amy and Jim, relocated within the region and are no longer local to the Wayfinder office. In so doing, they embodied our very spirit to be a Wayfinder. They felt a calling for years and took the opportunity to chase a new adventure when presented.
Now, we’re an established company. We’ve been around the block, and up some steep hills from time to time. How hard could a simple move to remote work be in 2024?
When you’re a team built on human connection, eye contact, and physical visual cues: hard.
Lights started going off on the dashboard left and right. “Check engine.” “Systems failure.” “Prepare for shutdown.” But now a new normal, as the commanders are not at their usual spot at the mission control desk.
In this situation, usually leaders want to ramp up and fire off questions, assumptions, accusations. Employees tend to feel sheepish, unprepared, embarrassed and before we know it, we realize how quickly we’ve forgotten we’re all human beings, simply trying to make sense of a new experience. Suddenly, the blinders come off, the human connection and desire for conversation and reconciliation is there, trust is restored not by white-knuckling, but by hearing each other and having empathy that it’s hard to drive without knowing what’s after this next climb.
So what does this have to do with medical billing or managing your medical practice? Everything. Transition is hard. People are messy. Trust is demanding.
We all go through transitions so regularly, we’ve nearly forgotten about them and then we “wonder why we haven’t been feeling like ourselves.” We work with new doctors, new softwares, new teammates, and new patients. That is hard work. Pat yourself on the back for being brave enough to be in the essential work of meeting people where they are at.
The truth is we can get every procedure right, every system dialed, every workflow down to a tee, but if our people aren’t engaged and connected, then they’re going to find the back door and exit. We’ll deal with chronic turnover and not only will our bottom line suffer, but our people also won't thrive.
Success is built in the human experience.
There is no way around it. Grant yourself permission to see someone for who they are today: a human being, asking questions, navigating a new situation, feeling stretched, just like you.
In a world that demands us to be producers of profit, be different. After all, the back roads can be magical.
