*TS: Stewardship as a Shared Mental Model for Health Care Management and Delivery, Part 1 (PDF/QV) [REF: LDR] The Source, November 2015, Vol 13, #11, Pg 1 JCs1511_B3

If you have a true desire for your hospital to become a High Reliability Organization (HRO), then you will have to create a culture of safety.  If you are serious about developing a culture of safety, this article on the stewardship management model will help to constructively stretch your mind. The basic concept is to develop a culture and workforce that goes beyond having a self-interested staff to one consisting of self-motivated stewards.  These stewards would be dedicated to taking responsibility for their work in a way that maintains and improves whatever they have been given charge of.  This Part 1 defines the model and some of its key terms, distinguishes it from Servant Leadership and the more common top-down Agency Model.  It also describes the four criteria that are considered hallmarks for this model:
1 – A focus (especially by staff) on the greater good (of the organization) vs self interest.
2 – Leadership’s deliberate distribution of power beyond itself.
3 – Loss of (i.e., giving up dependence on) control systems for performance.
4 – Developing a sense of autonomy and trust among all levels of staff
Tip: At some point, leaders must go beyond their personal experiences and common sense to understand established theory related to the work and goals they are responsible for.  Consider this article to help expand your conceptual and theoretical foundations for developing a culture of safety.
See also: Stewardship by Peter Block (Excerpt).