Per Dan Dworkis MD PhD, the appropriate way to evaluate your effectiveness: review it over time rather than according to any single day.
I've learned from Dan and his colleagues at the Mission Critical Team Institute for years. Coleman Ruiz cofounded study and support teams that face challenging, high pressure environments - and each of these folks have, themselves, led teams operating in high-stakes settings.
Dan showed up for me after the #palisadesfires. He listened, he reached out consistently and softly, he answered my questions and validated my attempts to comprehend a collective disaster that struck Los Angeles. I wrote about some of Dan's wisdom in the linked Substack article (or available at https://lnkd.in/gU-NHCgZ).
On a long walk, I shared a fear that I wasn't showing up well enough for my family, for my colleagues at work, for friends affected by these fires. This was a recurrent and familiar concern - though amplified when going through a traumatic, high-pressure experience.
Dan provided two points of wisdom:
1. Evaluate your overall performance over the medium or long term, NOT according to a single, discrete event or day. And carry out this review in a moment of relative calm, NOT during a traumatic, high-pressure moment.
Dan believes and teaches some amazing teams how to carry out rapid after-action reviews of individual events. But overall performance should be considered according to a collective review of many of these events.
2. Surround yourself with trusted - and trustworthy - associates that can support your personal and professional evaluation. Many of us struggle at self-evaluation, particularly when under heavy strain.
Again, Dan and his colleagues urge us to develop the capacity for rigorous-yet-realistic self reflection. Moreover, this self-reflection can be used as a powerful guide for self-improvement. Surrounding yourself with others that can share in this journey helps, particularly if they bring a level of personal care to a shared understanding of ethos and mission. (I tag a few of the wonderful people that have provided this for me over the years)
Read more about Dan and what he shared with me on the Substack - including a wonderful set of book recommendations for grabbling with tough situations.
https://lnkd.in/dqpiBz3d
John E. Kobara Andy Walshe Jurgen Heitmann Sue Phillips Doreen Lorenzo Andy Riemer Allan Marks Mark Spears Andrea Foggy-Paxton Iván Markman Nina Knierim Yosef Jalil Keith Ibarguen Rev. T. Becket A. Franks, O.S.B., D. Min. S. Hoby Darling Brian Ferguson Lauryn N. Nwankpa Melissa Rowe Andrea Voytko Robin Mockenhaupt Ted White RC Buford Glynis Cowell Nurit Katz Shaun Abrahamson ??? Tereza Omabuwa Kelly Knierim Maria Knierim Kyle Knierim Robert Gehorsam
