Team Building: Who Am I? Who Are You? Who Are We? Where Are We Going?

When the University of Chicago set out to reestablish a Level 1 trauma center to serve the South Side of Chicago, the initiative was met with conflicting interests. For some in the organization, it meant there would be a frightening intensification of service in a gun-ravaged neighborhood that would degrade the hospital. For Selwyn Rogers and others, it was a moral and logical imperative, not up for debate. For the new trauma team, it was a confluence of working at the most critically immediate level of surgical care in an operating facility not fully embraced by the employers. The newly recruited trauma team had to transcend this. It required a crash course in leadership to ensure success, saving lives and validating the mission of fighting an epidemic of violence. Consulting psychologist Randall P. White implemented a program of executive leadership curriculum combined with real-time self-awareness-based interventions to facilitate personal growth and interpersonal effectiveness of each team member. The engagement demonstrates how standard leadership development for high performing people can be effective in improving team performance and individual resilience, even while the performance is unfolding in a non-stop, stressful and often heartbreaking environment.