The Story Behind The Story
Before accepting her current position as managing director, Sue Flautt had the opportunity to join her senior leadership team in the Leading Without Limits™ Mastery program. Along with building on her own leadership skills, it was in Mastery that Sue furthered her already deep appreciation for the importance of developing and guiding the leaders of tomorrow.

For Sue, leadership development of others was a passion, a mission, and a place of satisfaction for her. And knowing that there was more that she could do to ensure quality succession planning in QOS, as managing director Sue made developing the managers at all levels in her organization a primary focus. All she had to do was design the initiative and make it happen.

Building the Vision
Within a year of taking the Mastery program, Sue became the managing director of a group of 160 delivery consulting support in the areas of quality and operations within The Permanente Medical Group. It was shortly after taking on this role that Sue developed an intense three-year initiative for QOS's senior managers, directors, and individuals on the leadership track to get them positioned for their and the department's long-term success.

"Leadership development is more than simply providing information. It's about building a community of leaders who have a common language and framework to communicate with each other and reach new levels of efficiency."

"This all naturally supports and flows into achieving effective succession planning, which ultimately benefits the person, their team, and the organization."

Making it Happen
Sue is in the second year or her three year plan and is well on the way to having her initial vision realized. And although budgetary constraints are a fact of life in any organization, Kaiser's ongoing support for leadership development from first-line manger though the executive level, has helped her plan stay its course. There are number of charters and philosophies Sue and her leadership team have put in place to help achieve the goals, including:

1. Providing systematic leadership training, early and often, with specific and clear goals.
2. Developing a common language that supports effective communication and can be used by all leaders no matter what their focus.
3. Establishing management responsibility for developing their staff and making it part of their assessment.
4. Having a culture and philosophy of continual improvement; everyone can learn something new no matter at what level of management they are.
5. Offering focused forums and discussions on a variety of topics for all managers.
6. Maintaining open communication and an environment conducive to learning from one another.
7. Encouraging managers to challenge each another and their staff in a productive way.
8. Sue feels very satisfied that her managers are developing into outstanding leaders.

Living the Vision
Sue is extremely pleased and proud of what she has been able to accomplish in QOS, but even when this initial three-year phase is complete, she does not consider her job done. Sue's not shy about saying that without the extraordinary and unique programs that The Innovative Edge has brought to the table, and the strength and expertise of Denise Brouillette and the rest of her team, the leadership in QOS would not be where it is today.

"The leaders in our department have achieved a level of overall teamwork that only comes from having a strong common philosophy and language that then helps drive effectiveness throughout the organization. By collectively strategizing the best course, the management teams are now better able to successfully navigate the organization and break through roadblocks in their way."

"The Mastery and Leadership Strategy programs and the on-going coaching force you to look at yourself, gain understating of your values, needs and desires, accept feedback about those ideas, and develop a plan to implement and execute change. Her programs keep the learning alive. They help us understand our interaction within our surroundings and with others, which ultimately helps use grow and improve our lives."