Anyone familiar with team sports knows that while having a good coach to teach the team what to do is critical to success, there is another role that is just as important to achieving results: the team captain.
This title (official or unofficial) is given to a team member (or two) who encourages his or her teammates, helps them stay focused on the game and makes sure the coach knows about factors that might impact the team’s performance.
At Summa, we have our own team captains to help keep us focused on patient safety. These “safety coaches” are staff members throughout the organization who have agreed to spend at least a half-day each month helping to keep safety part of their teammates’ everyday work by:
