Connect

Connect continues to bring to you firsthand accounts of the UVA Health Leadership Institute (HLI) experience through the eyes of our colleague Frannie Barnes, Communications Manager, UVA Community Health, and a member of the second cohort of HLI. Read her first installment — and see her second below. If you have any questions you’d like to ask Frannie about her HLI experience, send them to uvaconnect@virginia.edu.

Applications for the third cohort of the HLI are open now through Aug. 9, 2024.

Leading Self

It's hard to believe the UVA Healthcare Leadership Institute (HLI)'s second cohort is halfway through the program. Over the past four months, my brain has expanded, and my curiosity has continued to grow. The theme of the second and third sessions: “Leading Self.” I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect since after (insert your best guess here) years in my profession, I figured I knew all I needed to know to lead myself. Spoiler alert: I was wrong. 

Recently, a colleague told me, “We’re all leaders, whether we have a badge that says it or not. We lead our work and others every day. To lead, we need to learn how to communicate with others in a way that works for both individuals for the greater good of our work.”

On a leadership journey, you need to learn how to lead yourself. But to lead yourself, you need to have a strong awareness of yourself. You also need to have a very strong awareness of your leadership style, how others perceive you, how you communicate, and how you prefer receiving communication. Leading self means learning to lean into sometimes uncomfortable truths and then applying that knowledge to how you interact with others. 

Self-reflection is crucial, but it’s not always easy. Even as a career communicator, I know that how I believe I communicate, isn’t always how others receive or perceive my communication, so I’ve found these sessions particularly insightful.

Crucial Conversations

During the Leading Self sessions, my colleagues and I learned how to effectively communicate challenging topics and people, master public speaking (check back after our capstone project presentations to see if we were good students), and use the DiSC® (dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance) profile in crucial conversations. 

Mike Valentine, MD, HLI Senior Director, and Chair, Heart and Vascular Service Line, shared his personal experience with a colleague, fellow surgeon, and co-president of a professional organization that could have gone sideways, but he said using these tools resulted in a successful outcome and a valuable learning experience. Dr. Valentine has shared much of his personal experience throughout the HLI — leaning into vulnerability, which has been a major takeaway for me — and I was curious to understand his perspective on the framework of the HLI and why the first step is Leading Self.

“Leading yourself is the bedrock of leadership training,” he explained. “If you learn self-leadership, you start using the skills to make better and bigger teams that will impact the organization.”

North Star

So what have I done with this information? I’ve taken every bit of it to heart and incorporated the tools from the readings and lessons into my daily work as a North Star on my personal journey. Whether that journey is leading myself and projects or leading a team, I know these lessons can help shape how I influence others. Every lesson has resonated deeply with me. 

When I’ve encountered a crucial conversation, I refer to my DiSC profile to understand better how it can best communicate with someone else’s DISC profile. Dr. Valentine shared with me that he keeps his profile on his desk and to this day — still refers to it. 

Incredible Access

Regardless of where you are in your leadership journey, whether leading projects, or leading teams, leadership isn’t possible without a true and deep understanding of yourself. For some, this can be an uncomfortable journey, and for others, it’s a breeze. For me, the access to these tools and lessons has been incredible. I look forward to the next session: Leading Teams, to apply what I’ve learned and continuing to build my leadership toolbox. 

Apply Now

Applications for the third cohort of the HLI are open! I encourage any UVA Health team member who has been curious about the HLI to read the criteria, get the FAQs, and apply by Aug. 9, 2024.

About Frannie Barnes

A veteran communications professional who has worked in and around healthcare throughout her career. Frannie Barnes joined UVA Community Health as a communications manager in March 2023 and is based in Haymarket, Virginia. Prior to UVA Health, Frannie worked for a healthcare IT company, and she has supported large health systems in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts in internal and patient communications, public relations, and digital communications. She also ran a consulting business in which she managed projects for various industries, but has always found healthcare to be the most rewarding.