On Best Practices

Leadership lessons from Nana Camp 2022

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My husband and I recently had the joy of our first ever “Nana Camp” – four days with our four grandkids ages 6-9 at our house. One family is two girls ages 9 and 7. The other family is a 7 year old girl and 6 year old boy. I have been talking with my daughters about doing nana camp since I reduced my work hours this year making more time for family.

We now live in a townhouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts, with a couple swimming pools in our development, nearby beaches, and history rich field trip opportunities. A perfect setting for nana camp! Not until we were on our field trips (Plimouth Patuxet Museums including the Patuxet Homesite, 17th-Century English Village, Mayflower II and Plimoth Grist Mill) did I realize they have missed school field trips the past few years due to the pandemic which made these outings even more special.

After the four cousins spent July 4th together, my two daughters and I came up with the framework for nana camp rules which started a few days later. The first night they were all here, I had the kids write out the rules and post them on the refrigerator door. Just the act of writing them together tested some of the rules. It was their idea to each sign the rules like a contract.

Don’t get me wrong, all four of them are awesome and well behaved but get them all together and there’s bound to be what we later described as “silly fights”. So much so that on the last day we joked about making silly fight badges for them and how many they would all get.

Siblings have their day-to-day routines at home, but all four cousins together can disrupt that. Arguing and jostling over who takes the first shower at night, which row they get in the mini-van, who gets to walk the dogs first – you get the idea. The oldest had an astute observation a few days later when we had just her and her sister here for a short mini-camp. With just two of them they didn’t need to have silly fights – there were two showers to use so both could be first, there were only two kid seats in our car so front vs back row wasn’t a fight, and there were two dogs to walk.

These were the rules we agreed on with “be safe and have fun” underlying them:

  1. Be kind
  2. Be inclusive
  3. Respect privacy
  4. Work it out
  5. Clean up after yourself
  6. Let others sleep

Kindness should go without saying but in a period where we see so much bullying in our society, we must emphasize it. For these kids it was ensuring silly fights didn’t turn into mean words. Inclusiveness is critical to teach on so many levels. For these kids it was about taking turns and not excluding someone from a game or activity. Respect privacy meant if someone needed alone time, let them have it. Work it out meant don’t come tattling to us – try to work it out themselves. We learned over the days that these rules could conflict with one another and that there were times when they needed adults to help them work things out together. Continue reading →

Vacation season reminders for a more balanced life

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I’ve written a few posts in previous years about the importance of taking vacation time and truly taking a break from work. It seems even more important this year after 2+ years of Covid and the realities of remote work where separating work from one’s home life can be a challenge.

I’ve also written about work life balance, or life work balance as my colleague David Muntz likes to say. For years it was elusive, but I am doing much better getting the right balance at this late stage of my career.

Summer is already a third over. Hopefully you have made plans for a break of some sort with family or friends in the next few months. My husband and I have our first international trip since 2018 planned for later this summer. Seeing friends posting photos from their Europe trips in recent months is encouraging – it tells me that international travel is doable again.

As you make your own personal plans for downtime, remember the 6 R’s of summer – rest, relax, refresh, renew, reflect and reboot. And if you have to work or keep in touch with work while you take a break – check out “4 tips when you must work on vacation”. Let me know if you have any tips to add.

My post “Take time to reboot” is a great reminder that you can leave your work in the trusted and capable hands of others while you are away. That’s exactly what I intend to do!

Happy summer to all!

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Ready to share your story?

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Last week I shared that going forward I plan to use this blog to also highlight the great work that so many of you are doing. I got a lot of positive reactions to that idea. The next step is to connect with those of you ready to talk with me and start lifting up the work you are doing for others to learn from.

In articles and podcasts, it is often senior leaders who are interviewed. I have worked with many awesome staff and management folks over the years. I know many of you subscribe to this blog or read it when I share on social media. Consider this a more direct appeal to you to share your stories.

If you have a particular project that you are proud of, an important initiative that you are driving, or key lessons you want to share with others, I’d love to hear from you. Shoot me a note describing what you want to talk about and I’ll follow-up to learn more. Be ready to share what you did and why, key challenges, results, and any lessons learned that will help others.

How best to reach me? If you don’t already have my email, send me a message on LinkedIn.

Together we’ll keep learning, sharing, and making a difference!

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Time to pivot

Time to pivot

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I’ve been writing this weekly blog for 8 years. It has been a weekly discipline and truly a labor of love. I started when I was the CIO at University of Michigan Health System Hospitals and Health Centers (now called Michigan Medicine). I was encouraged to launch it by the then social media coordinator for the health system. My purpose was simple – share my experience as a health IT leader and help develop next generation leaders. As my website “About” page says: “With this weekly blog, I share perspectives on the critical issues facing Health Care IT, the organizational transformations that IT organizations face, the challenges of leadership, and the work we need to do together to keep the paths of opportunity open for all. What we do matters.”

When I left Michigan and started down the path of interim management, consulting, and leadership coaching, I took over the blog and continued to write and publish it myself. I have served in both permanent and interim IT leadership roles for many leading organizations in the past 8 years. When I have been “in the seat” as a CIO, I have had plenty to share and at no loss for new topics.

But now that I am not doing interim engagements myself, I am removed from the day-to-day issues and challenges, and the many lessons learned from them. I continue to coach and help grow new leaders plus spend time connecting people to new opportunities. So even as I pivot, sharing leadership lessons will continue to be a focus area as well as commenting on significant events in our world as they relate to the work of healthcare and IT.

While blogs as a medium may have had their day, podcasts seem to have taken over in recent years. I listen to many different podcasts though I still read a lot too – finding ways to continually learn from others. I continue to share through other forums – our StarBridge Advisors blog, as a monthly host on the This Week in Health IT Town Hall/Community channel interviewing guests (my foray into podcasts), as well as speaking on webinars and panels.

So, what’s my pivot? I will continue to write but I am going to find ways to highlight the work of others and get their perspective on key issues. There are so many of you doing incredibly important and impactful work in our industry. I’m not sure how I’ll approach this change or if I will adjust the frequency of posts.  I consider it a work in process.

If you are interested in having your work highlighted or sharing your perspective on a key issue for a future post, please reach out. And if you have topic ideas, I’m all ears.

My work and writing continue…..

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Aging, but getting fit and healthy? Yes, it’s possible!

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When I turned 50 nearly two decades ago, I got myself a gym membership as a birthday present. Prior to that, I hadn’t worked out much and don’t remember ever having had gym memberships. I took a few aerobics classes once in a while and we had a treadmill in our basement for a few years. I had long commutes for most of my career and would try to take walks in the evening when the kids got older. That seemed the best I could do.

When I got the gym membership, I remember saying that no one is going to come into my office and tell me to go home and take care of myself. Rather, I had to tell myself. As a parent and a workaholic with big jobs, long hours, and an hour plus commute each way, where would I find the time to workout?

I have had gym memberships steadily since I turned 50 and used them consistently with some ups and downs. Like many people, we cancelled our gym memberships early in the pandemic. But I set a step goal that first summer and happy to say I hit or exceeded it most weeks. I amped it up in recent months and am now averaging 13,000+ steps a day. But I have missed the weight training I used to do to maintain my strength.

Fast forward to a month ago. We joined the local YMCA. I’ve been exploring classes to see what I liked and would be willing to do on regular basis. So far that has included Urban Fusion (dance routines for cardio), Cardio Fusion (combo of aerobics with some dance steps and weight training), Y Strength (interval workout for cardio and weights), Gentle Strength (decided it was too easy!), and Matt Pilates (might consider it someday). I have now booked the first three classes on my calendar as recurring appointments so will try to go to them each week if my schedule allows.

And then there’s pickleball. Continue reading →

Health IT content – plenty of choices

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My recent two-week vacation included family time, Disney with grandkids, and time just chilling with girlfriends (aka pool time, my first ever pickle ball game, walks by the ocean, shopping, eating, talking and lots of laughing).  I often publish a blog each week even when I’m on vacation but not this time. It was a true break!

Now that I’m back it’s a different kind of week. I am taking care of one of my grandchildren so arranging my work schedule around her school drop-off and pickup times. Something many of you navigate seamlessly or not so seamlessly every day. I’m hoping to get it right!

I am also getting into the recording mode this week.

On May 5 at 1PM Eastern, I will be a panelist on the Well Health sponsored webinar – “Digital Transformation Post-COVID: What’s Next on the CIO Priority List?”. Meg Aranow from Well Health will be moderating the panel that also includes Joel Vengco, SVP and Chief Information & Digital Officer at Hartford HealthCare and Raymond Lowe, SVP & CIO at AltaMed Health Services. It should be a great session. You can register here.

And I’ve recorded my first show as one of the moderators on the new This Week in Health Town Hall / Community channel. I interviewed Pamela Arora, new President and CEO at AAMI and a longtime CIO colleague of mine. For all the IT leaders who listen to This Week in Health podcasts, be sure to check it out – the IT and HTM (health technology management) relationship is a critical one. Continue reading →

April reflections

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I often write about my “big rocks” in April. This year is no exception, especially after two years of the pandemic. Spring represents a time of new life, rebirth, hope, and renewal. Yet I am always reminded that it was a sad time in my childhood. My father passed away after a 2-year battle with cancer four days before my 4th birthday. I remember the last time we saw him was in the hospital on Easter a few days earlier. He gave my sister and me popcorn Easter bunnies. A strange memory, but one of the few I have from then.

On a happier note, during these April weeks and into early May, I have milestones to celebrate – birthdays for my husband and me, our 46th wedding anniversary, and wedding anniversaries for both our adult daughters – already 12 and 8 years for them. There will be no one special celebration but plenty of opportunities to raise a glass and toast one another when we are together.  They are my biggest rocks!

This spring I’m also spending fun vacation time with family that will include a few days at Disney with two of my four grandkids. Disney with grandkids is something my husband and I have looked forward to since before we even had grandchildren. We’d joke that if we did eventually have grandchildren how old would we be when they were old enough to go to Disney, and would we still be able to do that or even want to. We were supposed to go with this family to Disney for their first time in April 2020, but we know how that worked out.

I will also be spending a week with three close girlfriends from my Michigan days. When I lived there for 3+ years, the four of us got together for long lunches every month and during the pandemic we’ve done weekly zoom calls to keep in touch. They are true friends – the kind of friends who come to help you pack your house when an ill-timed injury gets in the way of what you can do yourself. They too are my big rocks!

Do you know who your big rocks are? Do you spend enough time with them? And what do you do for yourself to renew and reboot? If you can’t easily answer these questions, I encourage you to make time so you can. Life is short.

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Goal setting and accountability – health goals update

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I’ve heard it said that when you share your personal goals with others, you are more apt to meet them. Something about accountability. I believe it.

 

About 8 weeks ago, I wrote “New year, new health goals, new tools” describing the excitement in our house about our new Fitbit devices and how we were motivated and ready to up our game in 2022. Happy to report that my husband and I have not lost our motivation and are still comparing our stats most days.

 

I’m averaging close to 13,000 steps or 6 miles a day. I seem to blow past the weekly zone minutes goal by Wednesday most weeks. All good!

 

But I’ve had a lot of ah-ha’s on my sleep patterns. I thought that I slept much better than I do. The sleep tracker data has helped me make some modifications. I love actionable data!

 

We plan to join the YMCA near us to get back doing weights, add more serious cardio than the long hilly walks where we live and to check out the various classes. We dropped our previous gym membership at the start of the pandemic 2 years ago. It’s time to go back.

 

While we have better routines for getting daily exercise, we know we can’t be slaves to our devices. But I admit, there are days when we get the little notification buzz on our wrist at 10 minutes to the hour reminding us that we don’t have 250 steps yet (happens hourly from 9AM – 6PM). We jump up and walk around the house until we hit it. A great reminder to get up and move – especially if I have too many back-to-back calls sitting at my desk. Continue reading →

Health IT conference season via podcast

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I didn’t attend either of the two big March in-person health IT industry events – ViVE (CHIME+HLTH) and HIMSS22. But I’ve heard a lot of positives about both events from colleagues. Just seeing people in person after two years was a highlight for many. I admit, I miss the in-person connections as well! And I do look forward to attending the CHIME Fall Forum this year celebrating CHIME’s 30th anniversary.

Like my blog post in November after the CHIME Fall Forum, I’m going to point you to what I consider one of the best resources to hear what health IT leaders from provider organizations and vendors had to say about the conferences and what’s on their mind these days.

Bill Russell has continued his Today in Health IT podcast series he calls “Interviews in Action” – interviewing 50 health IT leaders at ViVE and HIMSS22.  Each interview is no more than 10-15 minutes long. After having family in town visiting this week, I’m behind on my daily dog walk podcast listening but I’ve heard almost all the ones that had been dropped through last week. That includes these CIOs among others: Michael Pfeffer at Stanford Medicine, Cara Babachicos at South Shore Health, Cletis Earle at Penn State Health, Andrew Rosenberg at Michigan Medicine, Nassar Nizami at Jefferson Health, Andy Crowder at Atrium Health, and Jamie Nelson at Hospital for Special Surgery. While there are common themes such as staffing and talent, clinician burnout, and cybersecurity, you will also learn about the top focus areas for each organization. You can hear from these CIOs and many other IT leaders and vendors on the Newsroom channel.

Whether you attended these events or not, you’ll find the interviews insightful. And if you are looking for more ways to learn and keep current, check out the other new channels that Bill and his team at This Week in Health IT launched as of January – Academy, Community, and Conference which includes both keynotes and solution showcase podcasts.

You may also want to check out the podcast series from CHIME, HealthsystemCIO.com, and CIO Podcast by Healthcare IT Today.

Happy listening!

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Mentoring, role models and sometimes a little nudge

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What a pleasant surprise to be tagged in a LinkedIn post by my daughter as she shared with her network some great professional news. She just completed her Leadership & Management Certificate Program at Wharton online. I’m super proud of her! She tagged me to thank me for the “nudge”.

I remember well our “nudge” conversation back in August. I remember it more as a conversation where she asked for advice on how best to pursue her education given her current work and how her career is evolving. She has been at the same company for the past 8 years and been promoted several times – she is now Sr. Manager, Executive Communications and Administration, partnering with the CEO and executive leadership team. I would call it more of an ask for advice and get ideas/encouragement conversation.

Her discipline and persistence to get started and finish it in just 6 months is impressive – all while working full-time and as a mother of two young children. It reminds me of when I decided to get my MBA many years ago when she and her sister were young and I had a full-time management job.

I’ve talked about my two daughters in previous posts. I try to be a role model for them professionally.  I’ve given them advice as their careers have advanced and am proud to see their accomplishments. They both have a passion for their work and have received awards for leadership and innovation. As I counsel people early in their career – find your passion, be open to the possibilities, and never stop learning.

Many women describe their mothers and grandmothers as inspiring role models. Today would be my mother’s birthday. She died just shy of her 68th birthday after a short battle with cancer. She was only 42 when my father died, leaving her to raise four young children on her own. My mother was a role model for me – a strong and independent woman. Continue reading →