Transcript of CORE Tips - Empowerment.
Susan Pearce: What I think about empowerment. One of the things that I think about is managing difficult decisions and I think most of us here in the Ministry on a daily basis have difficult decisions to make. Some of them are more pressing than others and when I take a step back and think about how I do that in the role that, I mean, I think you've got to think about how you overcome that initial reaction that probably all of us have, of you know, oh my lord, how am I going to manage this particular situation?
So I found over the years that it is a good strategy to take a step back and to really have a think about what you are being presented with, because it's quite likely that this issue has been raised before. You need to think about the policy environment that we exist in, let alone the other frameworks that we have in place. And I think seeking advice is always helpful.
In my own case, I've utilised a mentor outside of the health system, not of course sharing, you know, confidential matters, but someone who I can bounce ideas off when I have very, very difficult decisions to make. And my strategy was always to go to the boss with a solution rather than just presenting the problem. The depth varies I guess, in terms of the level of the decision you have to make, but I think you know follow your instincts is one of my one of the things I always try to do myself. I often regret things when I haven't listened to that inner voice.
Be thorough and and make sure that you are as they say, frank and fearless in your advice. Ultimately, that's what people want. They don't want to be fed information is incorrect and no one wants to put themselves in a situation where they're responsible for providing incorrect information. So lots of things to consider - taking a step back, a deep breath, seeking advice and standing the policies and and the likelihood that the problem has been encountered by others in the past.