By Nick Vlachos, M.D.
The subject of confidence came up recently when I was talking with a hospital executive friend of mine. It’s something I’ve thought about for many years, usually in a sports context, such as when a child decides to take up the game of golf or tennis.
The discussion inevitably circles back to the question: What comes first when attempting something new, confidence or success?
My friend is a seasoned executive who oversees a successful occupational health program in a competitive market. In response to gloomy economic forecasts, he has decided to put an ambitious plan to increase market share on hold. In fact, despite the program’s history of success, for the first time he’s seriously considering a wholesale cutback in occupational health operations with the idea of redirecting staff and resources into other hospital-based services he believes would be more recession-proof.
To avoid this setback and move a well-established program forward from here, does he first need confidence or a new success? Before offering your own knee-jerk response, think about how the question applies to your own operation, and what success means to you.
Did your program first have marketing confidence that bred success, then gained more confidence, or was it successful right out of the starting gate, perhaps by luck or serendipity? For example, a large multi-national industry decided to build a plant in your area and invited your hospital to provide occupational health services to the company – services the hospital would ordinarily not have developed on its own. Your hospital made a business decision to satisfy the company’s request, and in time a fledgling occupational health program successfully expanded by reaching out to other local businesses.
Based on my observations and experience, I believe the answer to the question, “Which comes first, success or confidence?” is neither one. Anything new starts with the assembly of knowledge to succeed and then taking action on a sound idea. Should we go back to the sports analogy?
A young girl takes up the game of golf. Without taking lessons to determine if she has the requisite skills or interest, she may actually make a lucky shot or two the first time out. But that early success would be fleeting, and it would likely breed false confidence. Once the child acquires the knowledge of her capabilities and commits to action, real confidence and success may follow, in either order. In the long term, it’s the experience of success that elevates her game.
Before you decide to reduce services or staff, put plans to expand on the backburner, or even close down your clinic, first take the steps necessary to analyze your past successes and failures. Conduct market research. Look for opportunities to reaffirm existing relationships and build new ones. Rethink standard operating procedures and entertain new ideas. Then, based on sound reasoning, take action on them.
Dr. Nick Vlachos is a board-certified occupational medicine physician based in Illinois.
