Giving Credit Matters. Here's How to Do It.

There are so many ways in which we, as surgeons, lead teams—from our first day in practice, through the end of our careers. As we lead teams, we learn repeatedly that a cohesive and effective team works toward common goals, and that successful leaders inspire team members by elucidating and giving importance to those shared goals. But is having the same end goal enough? How can we acknowledge steps in the right direction, progress along the way, and the individuals who make it happen? 

Giving Credit: A Strategic Approach 

Image

Giving credit and recognition to others is an incredibly valuable skill. It’s a strategy to acknowledge those individuals around you for all they do, to engage them in ongoing efforts, and to inspire them to continue to push toward the greater good of the team.  Moreover, it builds morale and makes us all feel good. But how, when, and where? That can be the tricky part.  

First, it is incredibly important to recognize that strategies for effective feedback may differ substantially depending on the nature of the feedback. When it comes to providing suggestions for improvement, feedback should be timely, specific, and constructive – and delivered in privacy.  However, when it comes to singing someone’s praise, there are no limitations on how often or how publicly it can be done. Nonetheless, to provide relevance and ongoing motivation, timeliness and specificity remain helpful.  

Recognizing Actions Not Just Outcomes

Providing credit to others can come in a range of venues, and it’s important to remember that credit should be offered for actions, not outcomes.  In other words, yes, it’s easy to praise the OR team for a case done swiftly or a resident for an abstract that was accepted for a podium presentation. But what about the team that collaborated and communicated perfectly through an intraoperative code ─ regardless of the result? Or the fellow who comprehensively rewrote the discussion of the manuscript ─ regardless of its acceptance status with the journal?

To give credit for behaviors, it’s helpful to start seeing those behaviors. Yes, it’s fine to thank your committee members for a productive and efficient meeting─ but giving them credit for showing up prepared, contributing to the conversation, and staying attentive emphasizes more specifically on what they did right and is more likely to inspire them to do the same thing again in the future.  

Breaking It Down

It should be clear as to why we offer credit. To answer the big questions of who, where, when, and how:

Who? 

We all should be giving credit to everyone involved in every task, from the bottom to the top.  As an early career surgeon, you are juxtaposed in a place where you can give credit to those who have inspired you and served as role models and teachers, as well as those who have supported you and lifted you from the positions of trainees, administrative staff, clinical team members, and colleagues.

When a patient thanks you, this is the perfect opportunity to acknowledge that it takes a team to achieve a good outcome.  You should be giving credit to just about everyone you encounter: the medical student, resident, fellow, scrub tech, physician assistant, clinic nurse, respiratory therapist, pharmacist, research coordinator, office manager, parking attendant, cafeteria worker, IT help desk worker; you get the drift.  You do a lot of great things as a CT surgeon, and you couldn’t do it without these people. 

Where?

Give credit everywhere you work, especially in public places. Thank people loudly in the operating room for things they’ve done well (not just the outcomes). Offer praise during and at the end of meetings. Give credit during a presentation or when you get published. Provide words of acknowledgment for others when you win awards.

Everywhere is in the OR, in the clinic, in a conference room, on Zoom, on a podium, in the hallway, in the foyer, and in the ward.  The more people who are around, the better a place it is to loudly and genuinely give people credit for the great things that they are doing. They deserve it and they deserve to hear it in the presence of others. 

When?

Give credit all the time.  Certainly, there are ideal times to remember others and to give them praise. While the timing may be based on the completion of efforts as well as the achievement of tasks, don’t forget to emphasize the credit for the efforts more so than the outcomes (some of which we simply cannot control).  Examples of times to offer credit:

•    At the end of a case gone well
•    At the end of a case that did not turn out well (even more important!)
•    After a code 
•    After a discharge
•    At the end of a clinic day
•    At the beginning of a meeting
•    At the end of a meeting
•    When a research endeavor hits a milestone 
•    When a research endeavor hits a roadblock
•    When speaking on a podium
•    When generating formal scholarly materials (slide decks, manuscripts)
•    On graduations, work anniversaries, Fridays, Groundhog Day, etc.
•    All the time

How?

This is when the devil is in the details.  Again, focus on efforts.  Publicly acknowledge work done well and desirable traits. Make the outcomes an afterthought. For example:

• “Thank you for the terrific, closed loop communication during this case. It helped us complete the operation safely.”
• “Thanks for letting me know of this scheduling conflict. Your attention to detail enables me to get more done during the week.”
• “Great work responding to this unexpectedly sick patient in clinic. Your quick thinking helped the rest of the team take action swiftly.”

Moreover, even in the smallest moments, make sure to acknowledge others when you can. If you have an idea in a meeting, emphasize how it builds on others’ ideas, not how it differs. If you want to do something differently than your clinical support team, give them credit for the parts of their ideas that work well with yours. By giving credit, people will understand how much you value them.