After months of anxiety, my work life had finally come to a climax. I’d arrived at the point of no return. I finally told my boss “I quit”.
I was walking away from my comfort zone in corporate America to coach managers in a hospital in one of the poorest, but most interesting countries in the world, Tanzania. At that stage of my life I was almost seven years out of Ireland, living very comfortably in Philadelphia. But I knew I would rather go and fail than stay and never know. Two years have passed since that day.
I had already been to Tanzania three times. On my second trip I fell in love - not with the woman of my dreams (this is still pending) - but with a particular healthcare organisation - CCBRT (Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania) in Dar Es Salaam.
For 20 years, CCBRT has transformed lives through disability and maternal healthcare services. I was the organisation’s sole management coach, which was no easy task as this is a 450 person organisation.
Getting to work
One of the first things I initiated was classroom training focused on problem solving. Most senior leaders welcomed me on board. This new way of thinking about management was looking a lot like “structured common sense”. There was also natural skepticism. Is it really applicable in healthcare? Will it work here?
If you asked my team members to describe me in those early days, they probably would say passionate, over enthusiastic, and “talk’s way too fast”. I had many lessons to learn, but was determined to keep moving forward.
The satisfaction I got from observing those “a-ha” moments when people started the process of thinking differently was probably my greatest joy. We were making real improvements, visible and invisible. Seeing staff apply simple concepts (go to the work, observe the work, show respect to the people who do the work) enabled them to achieve amazing results.
One team significantly improved the safety risk of staff getting hurt in the disposal of hospital waste. Another reduced the cycle time of a donor reporting process by 70 per cemt, saving 30+ days a year on non-value added work.
Seeing wonderful people - doctors, nurses, and managers - pick up new tools, behaviors, and mindsets reminded me of the privilege of my position. I was lucky to work with people who were willing try something new.
At the same time I was fighting a personal battle. One time I witnessed one of my favorite doctors teach this new thinking to her own team. This should have been one of my proudest days: when the student becomes the teacher. For a moment, it was.
But later, alone in my room, I felt isolated. I had been struggling with how to manage being on my own for a year. This was the first time in my life that I had so much time to think. This pain would enable me to discover more about myself in two years than I had in the 30 years before I moved to Tanzania. While my team members were learning new ways of thinking about work, I was beginning to think differently about my own purpose.
What I’ve learned
Getting out of my comfort zone allowed me to discover who I was and what I am here to do. I now practice daily gratitude. This habit alone has had the biggest single impact on the quality of my life.
From a work perspective, my experience CCBRT has reaffirmed my belief in the importance of focusing on management. Everything rises and falls with management. Management excellence, including willingness to experiment, precedes operational excellence.
My biggest mistake? Spreading myself too wide and thin. The classroom training was a great idea; but taking 94 staff into the curriculum on the first year with only one coach resource was ridiculous. I got carried away. I let them down as I could not give them the time that was needed.
Learning from this lesson allowed more focus on working directly with managers in creating model cells. With model cells we can show people what good looks like. I believe this philosophy of “going slow to go fast” is one of the most effective approaches in making change contagious and lasting.
New opportunities
In a part of the world with such limited resources, it’s heartbreaking to see the suffering caused by inadequate healthcare and resources. I’ve seen far too much needless suffering. Knowing and seeing firsthand that CCBRT is doing something about it - whether allowing dignity to be restored to a disabled child or ensuring a mother doesn’t die from childbirth - makes me extraordinarily proud.
I am so lucky to have been born in Ireland. It’s almost nine years since I left but my heart burst with love for my homeland. Ireland has given me so much. From my wonderful parents, to my supportive local community to my dedicated educators - these are just some of the many people who made me who I am and enabled me the privilege to do what I do.
As for what's next, I'm working on stepping out of my comfort zone again. In March, with a heavy heart, I will have said goodbye to Tanzania and have moved to the Philippines. There I will continue my work sharing what I have learned, engaging organisations with powerful missions.
Being born in Ireland gives us a considerable advantage to truly change the world by working with others to share what we know. I offer this story of my experience not because I expect people to do what I did. Stepping out of one’s comfort zone will be something different for everybody.
My decision to quit my job two years ago turned out to be the best of my life.
Mike Grogan can be contacted through his website mikegroganconsulting.com
