The Right Thing, the Right Way, Right Now

The Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia, MN was the most values driven organization I ever encountered.  I worked with them from 2016 to 2019, delivering leadership capacity building to their doctors and administrative staff.  Our co-founder was having a casual coffee with one of their doctors when leadership came up.  The doctor stated that we should immediately contact their Chief of Staff who was committed to increasing organizational leadership skills.  Coffee with the Chief of Staff started the ball rolling, and a sale quickly was made.

The first Ridgeview demand was that our entire organization (there were five of us) attend their orientation session given to all new hires.  We were very surprised by this but readily agreed.  In that session, they highlighted their values statement: Do the Right Thing, the Right Way, Right Now.  The story they shared to explain what that value statement meant in practice has stuck with me.

“A man and wife showed up at their Emergency Room for treatment after a serious car accident near Waconia.  The couple were not seriously injured which was lucky because their car was wrecked.  They were from a Twin Cities suburb an hour’s drive from Waconia and wondered how they would get home.  When a nearby staff person over-heard their dilemma, he walked over and said, “Did I hear you say you were wondering how to get home?”  When they confirmed they were perplexed, his was response was, “Well that’s no problem.  I will give you a ride.”  The right thing, the right way, right now!

We delivered our leadership program to over 50 key personnel over the next 4 years.  Most attendees were medical doctors (including surgeons) who gave up serious billing  hours to attend our program.  We never heard a complaint about the sacrifice they were making.  Their CEO was committed to creating the critical mass among key personnel that ensured the changes initiated through increased leadership awareness would create change throughout the organization.  The right thing, the right way, right now!

I can’t imagine a better client to work with.One can only hope that other organizations will practice their values as well.Ridgeview was one of only three medical systems in Minnesota to achieve high quality medical care at low cost!