When your A players look tired, it is not about grit. It is about clarity. People want to win. Give them a clear target, the right support, and a simple rhythm, and they come back to life.
What is actually happening
- Notes stack up, weekends disappear, tempers get short.
- Front desk and clinicians argue from different scoreboards.
- You jump back into treatment, then everything waits on you.
- Good people start checking job boards.
None of this is a character issue. It is an operating issue.
What coaching changes
Alignment
Every role knows the point of the role, the outcomes that matter, and the decisions they can make without you.
Cadence
Short huddles, one focused weekly, one meaningful one on one each month. Fewer meetings, more decisions. See Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace.
Growth
A visible ladder with real steps, skills to learn, and support on the calendar.
Your 4-week reset
Treat this 4-week reset as a starter playbook, not a rulebook. It gives you four high impact moves that work in most clinics, then you tailor the details to your team, payer mix, and calendar. Keep what already works, tweak what does not, stretch a week if needed. The goal is simple, clear lanes, a steady cadence, and quick wins you can feel by end of week 4.
Keep it light. Execute well.
Week 1: Draw the lanes
Write one page per role. Purpose. Top three responsibilities. Two outcomes they own. Decisions they can make alone.
Examples
- Front desk, inquiry to eval conversion
- Clinician, plan of care completion
- Director, schedule fill and retention
Announce the change. You are moving from rescue to ownership. You will support, and the team will own outcomes.
Week 2: Start the cadence
- Daily huddle, 10 minutes. Yesterday’s wins, today’s priorities, one stuck point. Standing, no chairs.
- Weekly scorecard, 30 minutes. Look at the numbers, pick one constraint, agree on one action, assign an owner and a date.
- Monthly one on one, 30 minutes. Growth, not status. Script below.
Week 3: Give people a path
Meet each clinician. Build a 90-day plan.
- One skill goal, example, value conversations to reduce drop off
- One delivery goal, example, same day notes
- One leadership goal, example, mentor a new grad on eval flow
Put support on the calendar now, training, shadowing, reps.
Week 4: Plug the energy leaks
Delete two low value meetings. Fix the two process gaps that steal time. (Harvard Business Review study on meeting reduction, 2022)
- Late day evals with no admin support
- Double booking with no aide
- Notes saved for the weekend instead of blocked during the day
One on ones that actually retain people
Thirty minutes. Never cancel.
- Wins, 5 minutes. What should we do more of.
- Scorecard, 10 minutes. What moved the number. What got in the way.
- Growth plan, 10 minutes. Progress and support needed.
- Commitments, 5 minutes. One thing they own. One thing you own. Dates on both.
People stay where they are seen, supported, and getting better.
What it looks like when it works
- Directors run a tight weekly and do not need you in the room.
- Clinicians leave with notes done.
- Front desk celebrates booked evals and owns recovery of cancellations.
- You take Friday afternoon off, the phones still get answered, patients still get seen, numbers still move.
That is a system, not a miracle.
Start today
Pick one role to clarify. Start one rhythm. Give one person a real next step. Small wins stack fast.
If you want help mapping your 4-week reset so you do not carry it alone, say the word. I will walk you through it and keep you out of the weeds. (2023 coaching meta analysis in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology)
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