New AAPL Courses Help Improve Relational Skills, Culture

Interdisciplinary Relationship Management focuses on enhancing relational skills of physician leaders. Proceed Until Apprehended aims to improve communication and relations on an organizational scale.

The American Association for Physician Leadership is introducing two new online courses, both emphasizing communication and interpersonal relationships as necessary attributes for physician leaders and the organizations they serve — but with distinct differences.

Interdisciplinary Relationship Management focuses on enhancing relational skills of individual physician leaders, while Proceed Until Apprehended aims to improve communication and relations on an organizational scale. Here’s a look at both courses.

Interdisciplinary Relationship Management: Although high IQs often are a source of personal pride, they offer no guarantee of workplace success. A January 2014 Forbes article, in fact, suggests that people with average IQs usually outperform those with the highest IQs. Why? Career success is more closely linked to emotional intelligence than it is to high IQs.

While IQ measures brain brawn in areas such as math, logic and verbal ability, indicators of high EI include open-mindedness, candid communication and the ability to listen, handle criticism well and accept blame — interpersonal skills considered beneficial, if not necessary, to effective leadership.

Think of it as the difference between book smarts and street smarts. Another difference, according to the magazine, is that “unlike IQ, emotional intelligence can be acquired and improved with practice.”

The course, which aims to help learners improve and practice emotional intelligence, targets the key components of emotional intelligence and provides direction for sharpening communication and relationship skills that not only raise your EI score but make you a more effective and successful physician leader.

Proceed Until Apprehended: At its best, “workplace culture” thrives in an atmosphere of trust and open communication that cultivates organizational prosperity. At its worst, it wallows in a costly, toxic, fear-based environment that thwarts dialogue and stymies success at every level.

Just as leadership can contribute to culture problems, it also can be part of the culture solution. Proceed Until Apprehended explains how to rebuild or reinforce trust, relationships and fluid lines of communication by allowing individuals to learn, practice, perform and grow in their roles as professionals — unless told otherwise.

The course aims to teach learners how to energize their organizations by replacing micromanagement, fear and conflict with the kind of freedom and accountability that allows team members to properly and successfully perform their jobs to the benefit of the institution and its people and patients.

Click here to learn more about how AAPL’s educational offerings.