How to Inspire Your Team to Go The Extra Mile

What would your organization look like if you committed to regularly overdelivering to your stakeholders? Going the extra mile isn’t revolutionary by any means, but that doesn’t make it any less important.

Let’s look at how your organization can prioritize going above and beyond.

Defining Greatness

Over-delivering can be a great way to build up your reputation, increase satisfaction rates, and foster trust. But before you can reap these rewards, you must define what exceeding expectations looks like for your organization. The following questions should be answered before any sweeping “extra mile” policies are put in place.

In what ways do we already commonly overdeliver, if any? In contrast, in what ways do we regularly come up short, if any? By understanding which areas you currently shine in versus those that could still use improvement, you can better direct your efforts for the greatest impact.
What does it look like for your company to surpass expectations for customers? For employees? For community partners? Going the extra mile is not something to be reserved for just one group of stakeholders. It’s extraordinarily impactful to surpass expectations for those investing their time and lives in the organization.
Where would additional organized efforts to consistently deliver more than required have the greatest overall impact on your company? Look for pain points within your various stakeholder relationships. Is there a group that clearly needs to be further nurtured? Perhaps this is the first place you can start over-delivering.

Prioritize Your Efforts

When I was brought on as the CEO of Nevada Donor Network (NDN), we were one of the country’s lowest-performing organ procurement organizations (OPO). One of the many reasons for this was our poor reputation among our professional healthcare networks. In short, many healthcare providers, transplant teams, and hospitals did not want to work with us because of our reputation for being a nightmare.

Don’t get me wrong. We were also under-delivering to other stakeholders, like our employees and community partners. However, I knew that being able to mend and nurture our relationships with transplant teams across the country would have the most impact on those individuals and families desperately awaiting life-saving transplants.

Of course, we eventually worked on rebuilding all stakeholder relationships. Still, we prioritized overhauling the way we worked with those who connect us to the individuals in desperate need we are responsible for serving.

Build (and Maintain) a Reputation of Exceeding Expectations

Transplants are usually complicated and critical situations. Our job as an OPO was to make the situation go more smoothly, and we were failing. Transplant teams didn’t want to work with us because we were known for providing inaccurate data and were slow to respond.

Trust was severely lacking, and due to our track record, healthcare providers simply didn’t want to expend resources based on the information we provided.

We asked our healthcare partners how we could help their teams and make the process more seamless. We looked for brutally honest feedback and owned our shortcomings completely. Now, we have systems that routinely over-deliver to our partners where we previously came up short.

End Results

These efforts have allowed NDN to rebuild our reputation as a trustworthy donation and transplantation partner and, more importantly, help as many people as possible.

We’re now known for being a top-tier OPO, but that didn’t happen overnight. We’re constantly looking for ways to go the extra mile while staying true to our commitments. Because of our lackluster past as an organization, we know that we must actively work to maintain the reputation that we’ve built over the years.

Originally posted on Forbes.com

Testimonials

“Joe Ferreira transformed Nevada Donor Network from a near crumbling Organ Procurement Organization to an innovative, high performing organization. When Joe came to Nevada Donor Network, he made every effort to listen to what each employee had to say about the organization and the leadership; and implement changes to better the culture. He clearly communicated his vision for Nevada Donor Network with all team members and asked for their support in changing the direction of operations to set meaningful goals, but not to just talk about it, be about it. Leadership was empowered to make real change in our community and implement new ideas and ways of operating, that with his support and guidance has led Nevada Donor Network to be a national leader in Organ Procurement Organizations.”

- Jenna Dumas, Community Development Manager, Nevada Donor Network, Inc.

” I have had the opportunity to witness Joe Ferreira lead our organ procurement organization’s growth from one of the lowest performers to the top performer in the United States in a few years’ time! Joe’s leadership style of inclusion of voices at every level shows his strength and dedication to “employees first” and “every voice matters”, which brought forth ideas and opportunities that had not been sought out prior to his arrival. His determination and top-notch engagement with staff have been pivotal attributes in our success as an organization, that our marked growth and change would have been impossible without. I’m proud to have the privilege of working under Joe’s leadership, where our embodied culture and strength resonate throughout the organization.”

- Heather Osipowicz, Manager of Hospital Services, Nevada Donor Network, Inc.

” It was evident from day one that Joe came to the Nevada Donor Network with purpose; knowing that we not only needed a strong leader with a plan, but needed someone who would be very intentional about their follow through to make it happen. He took the time to get to know the team individually and created an unexpected, but necessary, shift in the culture at NDN through his honest and transparent style of leading. When you work for someone that you respect and know that their intentions are to support and grow the staff however possible, you inevitably work harder and strive for a higher level of excellence in your daily tasks. Strong leadership is what has made NDN into the highest performing OPO in the world.”

- Joi Surgeon, Donation Services Supervisor, Nevada Donor Network

” Joe Ferreira’s humble and successful leadership restored confidence in the organization through the development and empowerment of NDN’s team members. He carried a super aura that enveloped the entire organization by the development of strong, loyal and modest leaders that were able to drive employee engagement. Allowing his focus to be on the “Bottom Up Theory” he was able to take the organization from the brink of regulatory closure to the best OPO in the Universe.”