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It Requires Loss

It’s no secret that to solve the Health Gap in Kansas, we need those in authority to stop thinking of this as a health challenge and start thinking of it as a leadership challenge that requires a lot of change.

We know that what people often fear most about change is losing something that matters to them. Understanding that distinction is the key that unlocks real progress. 

In this chapter of Leading Health, Ed O’Malley and Susan Kang dig into one of the most important and most overlooked concepts in leadership: the relationship between change and loss. Joined again by Johnathan Sublet, founder of SENT, Inc. in Topeka, they explore what it truly takes to help communities let go of what is to make room for what could be. Kansas has climbed to #27 in the health rankings — three consecutive years of improvement for the first time in 35 years. Getting to #1 will require leaders who can name the losses, speak to them honestly and create space for others to do the same.

Highlights

• People don’t fear change — they fear loss. Reframing resistance as data, not opposition, shifts the locus of responsibility back to the leader.
• When someone pushes back on your idea, that’s information. It means they perceive a loss you haven’t yet addressed.
• Speaking to loss is powerful. So is letting loss speak — inviting others to voice what’s hard creates trust and energizes people toward change.
• Johnathan Sublet shares five universal fears (death, being an outsider, the future, chaos and insignificance) and the five corresponding needs leaders must address to reduce anxiety and improve performance.
• The story of Topeka’s first net-zero home and a significant tree to a grieving family. Illustrating what it looks like to speak to loss in a deeply human way.
• Technical experts (engineers, health professionals, administrators) face a particular challenge: their expertise can lead them to double down on logic when empathy is what’s needed.
• The Moses framework: leadership requires both systems-thinking and shepherding, and most leaders are naturally strong in only one.
• Closing the urban-rural divide in Kansas health requires people to lose their attachment to the idea that their challenge is uniquely theirs.
• Prioritizing health means deprioritizing something else, and that’s a real loss for the people who care about those other things.
• Think 401k, not day trading: small, consistent, compounding investments in a shared strategy, not swinging for the miracle, is how Kansas gets to #1.

Chapters

• 0:47 — Introduction: Chapter 9 — It’s a Leadership Challenge Because It Requires Loss
• 4:00 — People Don’t Fear Change — They Fear Loss
• 5:03 — Resistance as Data: What Pushback Is Really Telling You
• 7:25 — Speaking to Loss vs. Letting Loss Speak
• 10:01 — Guest Introduction: Johnathan Sublet, SENT
• 12:38 — The Five Universal Fears and Five Universal Needs
• 15:19 — Real-World Loss: Topeka’s First Net Zero Home and the Tree
• 18:17 — The Moses Framework: Systems Thinking Meets Shepherding
• 27:27 — Letting Go of Your Preferred Strategy: The K-State Transdisciplinary Housing Team
• 32:57 — Six Sigma and Prioritizing for Impact: The Sent Network Approach
• 36:07 — Takeaways: Acknowledging Loss to Make Progress
• 37:24 — 401k vs. Day Trading: A Mindset for Long-Term Health Leadership

Resources Mentioned

• America’s Health Rankings
• SENT — A Topeka-based nonprofit that focuses on Community Health and Wellness, Education and Workforce Development and Housing and Revitalization.

Leading Health is an invitation to move the needle on Health in Kansas, and we invite you to join us in leading the way. Claim your copy of the book and learn more about the movement.