Reach Out Communication Newsletter (February 2010)
Welcome to the first official interview of the “new” Reach Out
Communication Newsletter. To start the year off on an exciting note, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to a master communicator in the Healthcare arena, Quint Studer. I had the opportunity to interview Quint in my previous newsletter to share his thoughts on Leadership. The feedback on the newsletter was so positive I’ve invited him back to share his insights on effective communication. First, a bit of background information about Quint.
Quint Studer, CEO & Founder of Studer Group, is considered by many to be the main impetus for developing tools and techniques for organizations attaining great results. The systems he and the Studer Group have developed, hardwire techniques and behaviors to sustain these great results. Quint has done it.
After ten (10) years teaching special education, Quint entered healthcare as the Community Relations Representative with Parkside Medical Services. He then went to Mercy Health System in Janesville, Wisconsin, working his way up to Senior Vice President of Business Development. For the next 6 years, Quint was instrumental in taking Mercy Health System from a single location to a large vertically integrated system and was placed in charge of focusing on employee satisfaction.
In 1993 Quint served as COO of Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. His focus on patient care helped Holy Cross gain a national reputation in operational excellence by being named Hospital Magazines ‘Great Comeback Winner’ in 1994.
Quint went on to be named President of Baptist Hospital, Inc. in 1996 and using his past experiences, led this organization to unprecedented success. In 1999, Inc. (pronounced Ink) magazine named Quint its March Master of Business, making him the only healthcare leader to have ever won this award.
Quint is a nationally recognized speaker and a published author. His First book, Hardwiring Excellence was a BusinessWeek bestseller and currently has over 380,000 copies in use nationwide. Results That Last, is a general leadership book and was published in the fall of 2007. His new 
book, Straight A Leadership, teaches corporations in every industry how to develop standardized leadership practices that ensure success will last longer than individual leaders.
Most importantly, Quint stays in the field creating tools and techniques to make organizations better. He is called ‘healthcare’s fire starter’ for igniting the flame in each of us to make a difference.
Steve Gavatorta Interview with Quint Studer
Steve Gavatorta: What traits/skills do you believe makes for an excellent communicator?
Quint Studer: Step one is listening and then using what is heard to diagnose back. Step 2. I’ve found that when you give the problem back to the person who’s looking to you for a solution, he often finds the answer. The first time you ask him what he thinks you should do, he’ll probably say, “I don’t know.” My advise is then to say, “But if you did know, what would you do?” There’s a good chance that he’ll come right out with the answer. You will be surprised how this simple change will help a leader gain more input. Another important step is that the why is crucial. I find leaders are quite good at communicating the what and the how, but fall short with the why. The why is what drives the action in the individual.
Steve Gavatorta: How do you learn to communicate with people who are not like you?
Quint Studer: I have been fortunate to have started my life as a teacher of special needs children. This helped me learn to break down communication challenges and worry more about what was heard as opposed to how I sounded. I feel too many people worry about sounding right verses what the individual or group is hearing.
Steve Gavatorta: What can your staff or sales reps calling on you do the best to communicate with you?
Quint Studer: 1. Be straight up. Ask them to tell you what the goal of the call or visit is. 2. Listen. It’s good when the customer or decision maker is talking. Seek first to understand. 3. Be sensitive to time. 4. Help the customer. It’s about helping the customer and not about building sales.
Steve Gavatorta: Who do you view as an excellent communicator and why?
Quint Studer: Excellent communicators are people that take time to explain the why and are more focused on the other party then themselves. A good communicator must put their EGO away.
Steve Gavatorta: How do you see the role of communication in dealing with conflict?
Quint Studer: Push the conflict to the right spot. Many individuals take a conflict and move it to their leader and the leader does not give it back to the individual to solve. For example, when someone brings you a conflict, instead of solving for them, ask, “What did the person say to you when you told them of your issue?” This pushes the issue back to the individual. Too many times people have not been made to carry their own message. Once people know that first they must address the conflict and begin to do so, a conflict that does surface is worth the effort to resolve. Too many leaders have created a co-dependent / adult-child culture by taking ownership of conflicts that individuals should be addressing themselves.
Steve Gavatorta: In this tough economy, where do you see the role of communication in helping people succeed?
Quint Studer: Connect the dots for individuals. Excellent leaders understand that the external environment is not going to slow down, so the answer is to build an organization that can move quickly. If everyone in the organization does not truly understand the behavior that’s needed to be successful, the organization won’t achieve its goals. Move best practices quickly, align communication methods to keep the information cascaded and make sure people are held accountable to actions of them.
Steve Gavatorta: What correlations do you see between effective communication and your success?
Quint Studer: Alignment is crucial. I find that senior leaders see the external environment so close up that they assume others see it the same way. A key message in my book, Straight A Leadership, is to diagnose alignment and then based on findings, take action to help all staff see the external environment the same way. This drives actions and urgency.
Thank you Quint for your helpful insights on the importance of effective communication!
