About Critical Values

“By asking questions…by welcoming people in, you are engaging your team.” 

Be wary of burnout 

Becoming more empathetic can, however, contribute to burnout if you’re not careful, Ms. Caldwell warns. 

“Being empathetic makes you enter that emotional zone, and it can be an uncomfortable experience. Some leaders aren't even comfortable with their own emotions, let alone trying to deal with others,” she says.  

You can even over-empathize with people who are more like you, which can lead to a breakdown in trust, she says. In a nutshell, becoming more empathetic in the right ways requires education or training. 

“I don't think that people get that kind of training [in school],” Ms. Caldwell says. “I think we can all learn a lot more about taking our humanity and our humility to work.” 

Leaders are wearing more hats 

Laboratory leaders may also find themselves wearing more hats in the last five years, Dr. Baker says, including managing supply chain shortages, optimizing staff in the face of labor shortages, and handling higher volumes of testing.  

Another result of the pandemic that has added complexity to laboratories in general, according to Sean Tucker, MLS(ASCP), MBA, Director of Laboratory Services at North Kansas City Hospital, is that “We are seeing much sicker patients and more complex disease states and are certainly concerned about microbial antibiotic resistance and treating patients who might have multiple infections.”  

That means, leaders in today’s laboratory must keep up with emerging technologies, not only in the workflow of the laboratory itself, but in troubleshooting reimbursement issues. “We are all fighting for limited capital dollars. The laboratory is competing against other hospital initiatives to expand the Operating Room or bring in a new CT scanner. It is critical that lab leaders are informing the C-suite the value of these investments,” Mr. Tucker says. The challenges are more complex every year. 

Greater demands mean greater need for self-care 

Mr. Tucker does not underestimate the lingering effects of the pandemic on people’s mental health, either. “I think that it can be a huge challenge for laboratory leaders to continue to encourage and manage their staff when they are struggling with mental illness and the pressure that comes with working in a fast-paced environment—high technology, high stakes—when we are understaffed.” 

Indeed, Dr. Baker says this necessitates a greater need for self-care. 

“Leaders get so immersed in putting out fires, addressing the needs of our teams, meeting the demands of what our leadership may be asking of us, that we forget to put the mask on ourselves first. A bittersweet part of the pandemic is that it really highlighted the need to really look at personal wellness and our own wellbeing,” she says. 

In addition to that, Dr. Baker recommends advocating for professional development for yourself too. “Oftentimes we'll seek out opportunities for our teams, but we don't think about our own ongoing professional development that we need to support our growth and sustainability as leaders.” 

Leaders must adapt to younger generations 

Another challenge laboratory leaders are facing is adapting to the loss of experience as more baby boomers retire, ushering in a younger crop of laboratory professionals who have different needs and communication styles.  

“We're starting to rely on policies and procedures more rather than experience and intuition,” Mr. Tucker says. “We’re working with a different generation who grew up only using technology, a field of instant information, instant recognition and gratification and has a different understanding of life versus work balance.” 

He suggested that leaders will have to be able to be “agile” and respond to issues quickly to meet them where they are. 

“One of the ways to do so is to allow them to be open, vulnerable, and vocal. That might not be comfortable for most leaders,” he explains. ‘Taking that time to allow someone to voice their opinions, whether they are valid or not, is the leader's responsibility. That creates a culture of inclusivity that allows someone to feel like they are participating in process improvement and getting them to take an active role.” 

At the end of the day, however, Ms. Caldwell returns to empathy as the core of leadership strategies. 

“Empathy is really about building trust and that's not so easy in our medical ecosystem. But if you really understand the thoughts and feelings of your team, and they know that you're there for them, it makes a difference.”