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Recently, we did a river cruise in southern France. As with every cruise (with Viking), the on-board staff was outstanding. I had noticed that the Maitre’D, Peter, in this boat was particularly skilled and charismatic. The last day in port, my wife went on an excursion and I decided to stay on board. After most of the passengers had departed, the crew was called on the intercom to load supplies. There were several pallets on the dock (probably the equivalent of two shipping containers). I sat above and watched as they formed “bucket brigades” to pass the boxes fore and aft. What stood out was that everyone got involved, no one shirked the work, and they were all laughing and cutting up as they worked. (Peter was clearly in charge). I think what I was watching was effective leadership at work. It was a real pleasure to watch. I remarked on it later to Peter, who said that no, everyone just wanted to get back to their regular duties. (Another trait of a good leader.)
I once did a clinical shift in a busy downtown San Antonio hospital. I realized after about 20 minutes that one of the triage nurses had a toxic personality and the whole place was suffering. I couldn’t imagine why senior management tolerated it when it was so easy to spot. Then again, the world is full of managers who don’t know anything about leadership. (Probably the most important point I’ll make.)
The last two days I’ve been working through a medical issue - I had a blockage in one heart blood vessel and had it fixed in a small cardiac specialty hospital in San Antonio. My experience here (TexSan) was outstanding. Where I really noticed it was going from my room to the cath lab. Everyone was professional, informative and talkative, and you could tell that they really liked working with one another. I can’t think of a better recommendation when someone is about to do an invasive procedure on your heart (outcome was good, BTW).
It really struck me how, in such different venues, good team principles were readily apparent. And very satisfying to see.
Discussion (22)
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Heal well.
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You are something! Heal well indeed, and take better care of yourself than you're inclined to.
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I’m good - that technology is magic. I’m waiting for the nurse to come back so I can walk the halls for a bit. Signing the release for catheter work is quite intimidating. EG: symptoms to include “sudden death.”
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None of that now!
By the way---it sounds like you've had good experiences with Viking cruises?
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Yes. They are incredible. First class service and food. The last trip we had to make a connection in Paris to Marseilles (four of us) and a Viking employee met us at our gate and walked us through customs and then security. He kept moving security barriers and the airport employees would simply nod to him. Cruises for grown ups. That was our third river cruise and we are trying one of their ocean cruises (Australia and New Zealand) next year.
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