Mr. Tyson discussed his leadership style in the column. Here are three takeaways.
1. He has learned to pay more attention to individual nuances. Mr. Tyson said he is a better leader when he engages the entire person. To do this, he has come to better understand differences in personalities and embrace the fact that people are complex. “I used to think that because I am the kind of leader who likes to think out loud, then everybody is supposed to think out loud,” he said. “I later came to better understand differences in personalities and how people process information.”
2. He is mindful of how he asks questions. Mr. Tyson said he’s seen leaders ask questions in a manner that is meant to portray them as the smartest person in the room. “It’s a degrading way of asking questions — in effect: ‘I have the power in this room. I’m going to put a question on the table, and I dare anyone to answer it, because I’m going to show you how smart I am,'” he said. One of his mentors, a hospital administrator, showed him early on that asking questions is more about joint exploration and finding the right conclusion than who gets credit for the answer.
3. He encourages freedom of speech but not bullheaded thinking. Mr. Tyson said one of the things he is working extremely hard on at Kaiser is creating an environment of transparency. He has an American flag on his desk to punctuate his emphasis on freedom of speech, and he said he often tells people, “You can say whatever you want to say in this office to me. Just understand that I also have the freedom not to agree, but I want to know what you’re thinking,” according to the report. Understanding what people are thinking, he said, helps him make decisions that make Kaiser thrive.
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