Blog Jan 5th: The Three Rs of Leadership: Making Tough Team Decisions With Clarity and Care
“When faced with tough decisions, it starts with you.” 💛
In healthcare leadership, difficult team decisions are inevitable. Whether performance is slipping, alignment feels off, or tension is growing within the organization, leaders are often faced with one hard question: What do we do next?
In this post, we’ll break down The Three Rs of Leadership, taught by Natasha Saavedra of Medical Professional Dojo, and explore how this framework helps leaders make fair, grounded, and effective decisions—without emotion, guesswork, or burnout.
Leadership Starts With You
Natasha reminds us that before looking outward, leaders must look inward.
When things aren’t going right in the organization, it’s easy to point to a person or a role. But real leadership asks a deeper question first:
Did we train this person properly?
Did we clearly communicate expectations?
Did we give them the tools, support, and opportunity to succeed?
This applies not only to owners and managers, but also to team members themselves. Each person is a leader of their own role and performance.
The First R: Retrain
Before making any major personnel decision, the first step is retraining.
Retraining means ensuring the foundation is solid:
Clear onboarding
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Policies and expectations
Hands-on training
Apprenticeship and reinforcement
Training isn’t just about hard skills—it’s about making sure expectations are understood and success is possible.
If either the leader or the team member answers “no” to “Did I get what I needed to succeed?”—that’s where the work must begin.
The Second R: Repost
If retraining has been completed and performance still isn’t improving, the next step is reposting—placing the person in a different role.
Sometimes the issue isn’t capability, effort, or attitude. It’s simply that the right person is in the wrong seat.
Reposting asks:
Is there another position better aligned with this person’s strengths?
Does this role match their passion, purpose, and natural talents?
Could they succeed elsewhere with proper training?
When reposting occurs, training begins again for the new role—followed by clear metrics.
The Role of KPIs: Measuring Health, Not Emotion
Natasha compares Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to vital signs in a hospital.
KPIs tell us:
Is this role healthy?
Is performance improving or declining?
Does this person belong in this seat?
If KPIs trend upward after retraining or reposting, that’s a clear sign of alignment.
If they continue to trend downward—despite support and opportunity—it becomes clear that the role is not the right fit.
This process removes emotion and replaces it with clarity.
The Third R: Replace
Replacement is the hardest step—and often the most avoided.
But if:
Retraining has been done
Reposting has been attempted
Core values are misaligned or
KPIs continue to decline
Then replacement becomes a responsibility, not a failure.
Letting someone go is not about personality or likability. In fact, Natasha shares that leaders often keep people too long because of heart and attachment. But sometimes, keeping the wrong person in a role turns them into an anchor—pulling the entire team down.
Handled correctly, replacement can be a gift:
A gift to the individual, allowing them to find where they can truly thrive
A gift to the organization and team culture
A gift to the patients who depend on strong systems and performance
Reflection / Self-Assessment
Ask yourself:
Have I truly given this person what they need to succeed?
Am I relying on emotion or on clear systems and metrics?
Am I willing to take responsibility as a leader—even when decisions are uncomfortable?
Action Steps / Takeaways
Start with leadership responsibility, not blame
Retrain before making judgments
Repost when alignment—not effort—is the issue
Use KPIs to guide decisions objectively
Replace when all options have been fairly explored
Lead with compassion, clarity, and courage
Prefer to Watch Instead?
If you’d like to hear Natasha break this down in her own words, watch the full session here:
👉 Watch Video
Most clinics are busy. Patients are coming in. Teams are working hard.
Yet many still struggle with unclear patient flow, no visible KPIs, meetings without action, and unpredictable revenue.
The problem is not effort. It is a system.
Over 3 focused days, we will show clinics how to stop guessing and start building.
📅 January 28 to 30
⏰ 1:00 to 2:30 PM EST
📍 Live on Google Meet
👉 Block your calendar and join here: Practice Transformation Challenge
Final Thought
Strong leadership isn’t about avoiding hard decisions—it’s about making the right ones with integrity and structure.
When leaders apply the Three Rs—Retrain, Repost, Replace—they create organizations that are healthy, aligned, and uplifted. Teams perform better. Culture strengthens. And everyone has the opportunity to grow where they truly belong.
How are you applying the Three Rs in your leadership today?
WHO WE ARE
At Medical Professional Dojo, we help healthcare leaders and teams break through limitations by strengthening culture, communication, and accountability.
📧 Email: [email protected]
📞 Call or Text: (833) 678-0800
💬 Book a Discovery Call: https://link.medprodojo.com/widget/booking/00SZ78V6CJfntwsghkMk
