Tag Archives: leadership

Considering a coach in 2022?

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It’s a new year. Time to reflect. Time to set new goals for yourself. If you have ever used a coach or considered doing so, you know the value of investing in yourself. I have provided leadership coaching and career coaching for many health IT leaders in recent years – all at different stages of their professional development and career. Over the years, I’ve written on the value of coaching and professional development. Here is a short list of posts worth revisiting:

When to use a career coach

Investing in you, the value of a coach

Confidence matters as much as competence

Being valued, doing meaningful work

Welcoming feedback

Note – I am taking a short break from writing new posts in January. With all the blog posts I’ve written over the past 7 plus years, I’m using this break to share some of my “classics”. Thank you for being a subscriber – I hope you will encourage your colleagues to subscribe in the coming year.

Leadership revisited

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It’s a new year. Time to reflect and look ahead. Whether you are a leader or an aspiring leader, there is always room to develop your own leadership skills and find ways to help others develop. Over the years, I’ve often written on leadership. Here is a short list of posts worth revisiting:

10 Tips for next generation leaders

7 Ways to develop the next generation of leaders

Leading through a crisis

What we should expect of leaders

Inspiring and developing new leaders – learning from the best

Lead by example

Leader as conductor

Note – I am taking a short break from writing new posts in January. With all the blog posts I’ve written over the past 7 plus years, I’m using this break to share some of my “classics”. Thank you for being a subscriber – I hope you will encourage your colleagues to subscribe in the coming year.

Towards a more civil society

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Healthcare is a people business. I’ve worked with many hospital CEOs and executives in my career. Leaders lead in everything they say and do. Hospital CEOs lead their organization and are considered leaders in their community. Some are considered national leaders as well. Leaders are “always on”.

There may be little behind the scenes moments when you get a glimpse of their personality. But there are many more public moments when you see how they lead and inspire. And for some, there are those moments where they publicly weigh in on societal issues others want to ignore. I saw one of those examples last week.

Michael Dowling is President & CEO of Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider in New York caring for over 2 million people annually. He is one of the most respected and influential healthcare leaders in our industry. He is not afraid to tell it like it is and take a public stand on issues such as gun violence and immigration. His recent article, “A Call for Civility and Decency”, published in Becker’s Hospital Review on December 30, 2021, is no exception. He describes how the “internet has become a toxic stew of political hostility”. He talks about how the discord is a challenge to our democracy and quotes Abraham Lincoln who said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”.

He outlines in detail his thoughts on basic steps we can all take to start the healing our country needs:

  • Respect others point of view
  • Choose your words carefully
  • Show empathy
  • Respect diversity
  • Be willing to compromise

In closing he says, “As we turn the calendar to 2022, let’s use it as an opportunity to tone down the rhetoric, reopen dialogue with each other and mend wounds caused by the worst pandemic of our lifetime and years of racial, ethnic and political divide that have worn away at the fabric of our society. It all starts with civility and decency. If we all embrace that behavior, we’ll enjoy a much happier new year.”

Last week I wrote about the importance of taking care of yourself during these challenging times paying attention to both your physical and mental health. This week as we begin a new year, let’s heed the advice of Michael Dowling and commit to work towards greater civility with one another.

End of year thoughts and advice for 2022

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We are entering the third year of this pandemic. Vaccines have been available for over a year – a turning point we anxiously waited for as 2020 came to an end. But 2021 was not the turnaround year we had hoped for. Over 840,000 people have lost their lives in our country since the start of the pandemic – the majority of people who died of COVID since this summer were not vaccinated. Anti-vaxxers proudly proclaim their resistance and misinformation continues to spread. Our health system and healthcare workers are under incredible strain. Hospital leaders are pleading with their communities to get vaccinated and boosted.

It is hard to be optimistic at times.

Those who can continue to work remotely. Kids are in classrooms and used to wearing masks with parents and grandparents viewing school holiday concerts over Zoom. Families cautiously gathered over the holidays or changed plans at the last moment.

We crave normalcy and getting out in the world to do the things we enjoy – spending time with family and friends. live music, sports events, travel and more.

We tend to look ahead to the new year with hopes and dreams of a better year. We ask ourselves how can things get worse? We make resolutions.

David Muntz, my StarBridge Advisors colleague, recently wrote a blog post, “12 Steps to Prepare for 2022 – Big Challenges – Bigger Opportunities” that was far more than just a professional health IT perspective and advice. As this year comes to an end, I leave you with a few excerpts from his steps 1 and 12: Continue reading →

Developing next generation leaders (literally)

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Over the course of my 35+ year career in health IT management, I have led, coached, and mentored many IT professionals. And situationally I’ve mentored my adult daughters – meaning when they ask for advice. In doing so, I have found analogies with some of my mentees and coachees who are similar ages and at a similar stage in their career.

I am always happy and proud when I see any of them grow and develop, take on new opportunities, and progress in their career. And it’s nice to hear feedback on how I’ve helped on their journey as I continue to work with others.

Now we’re at the “literal” part in this blog post’s title – next generation leaders in my own family.  Both my daughters received awards this year from their employers recognizing their contributions and leadership. My oldest daughter, Katie Killinger, MSN, BSN, NP-C, is the Chief NP of Orthopedic/Spine Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. She received the second annual APP in Excellence Award which recognizes the important contributions Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) make to the hospital. My youngest daughter, Ann Ochiltree, works in the seafood industry and is the Sr. Manager, Executive Communications & Administration at Thai Union North America. She was recognized with the Big 6 Value Award – Innovation. I am very proud of both my daughters and love seeing the examples they are setting for their own young children.

To even mention my daughters here may be considered “parental bragging” as my husband calls it. But I mention them in a broader context of how leaders lead and influence in many different circumstances. Continue reading →

CHIME21 recap and CIO perspectives

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about FOMO – what I felt about not going to the CHIME Fall Forum this year. After all, I had not been to either HIMSS or CHIME to see colleagues since spring of 2019. Being in-person with colleagues I’ve come to know well, like a lot, and respect even more, was something I had looked forward to. So yes, I missed reconnecting in-person after all this time. But I am grateful to get some of the content and perspectives from the forum second hand through trusted sources.

It’s no surprise that Bill Russell has dropped a series of excellent podcast interviews with some of the leading healthcare CIOs as well as vendor experts in his Today in Health IT podcast special series he calls “Interviews in Action”.  It includes 10 interviews at CHIME, 8 at HLTH, and 5 from the Sirius Healthcare 2 Healthcare Event. Each one is no more than 15-20 minutes long so perfect for a brisk one-mile walk. Learn from CIOs such as Donna Roach of University of Utah Health, Stephanie Lahr of Monument Health, Dr. Zafar Chaudry of Seattle Children’s, and Scott Joslyn of UC Irvine.

Through the HealthsystemCIO.com recap of CHIME21, Kate Gamble covered several topics highlighting presentations from more of my favorite CIOs:

Whether you are a CHIME member who didn’t attend the Fall Forum or someone who just wants to learn from some of the best IT leaders in the industry, I encourage you to check out all these resources.

STEM or not, own your career

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Did you know that November 8th was national STEM day? I admit that I didn’t realize it until I was tagged in a comment on a LinkedIn post about national STEM day. Geeta Nayyar, SVP Executive Medical Director at Salesforce, shared some important but disappointing statistics on women and STEM in that post. While women make up about 47% of the total workforce, she notes that we are statistically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – STEM fields. Women make up only 29% of the STEM labor force, 19% of STEM company board members are women, and among STEM industry CEOs, only 3% are women. No wonder I so often am the only woman in the Zoom room when talking with technology firms. We can and must do better.

In her post, Geeta encouraged people to tag inspiring women leaders they know. I’m grateful and humbled that Linda Stotsky, Content Marketing Strategist at Boston Software Systems, tagged me and several other women in her comment.

I have long been a proponent of more women going into STEM fields and have willingly shared my own stories. I started out as a programmer in the early 1980s and then moved into health IT management for the rest of my career – a field that has been male dominated. I recall a long stretch in the late 1980s when I was the only woman on an all-male IT leadership team and the challenges I faced. Challenges I overcame and that I have helped other women overcome since then.

I was honored to be one of the first women interviewed for the new podcast series, The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare, produced by The Krinsky Company. In this interview I share stories and lessons from my career, give career advice, and provide tips for developing next generation leaders.

As I always say, you have to own your own career and be open to the possibilities. Technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace and the possibilities are unlimited. If a STEM career is right for you, go for it. Be sure to find role models and mentors who can support you and help you overcome the challenges you may face.

Related Posts:

Make career choices right for you

10 tips for next generation leaders

Career advice revisited

When to use a career coach

FOMO

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As I hear recaps of the HLTH 2021 conference in Boston last week and see colleagues posting about the upcoming CHIME Fall Forum, I admit I have a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out). The HLTH conference was never on my radar given my work and moving schedule though it was nearby. I had looked forward to attending the CHIME Fall Forum in San Diego this coming week and seeing colleagues in person after all this time with only virtual events. But for several reasons, I won’t be attending.

John Lynn with Healthcare IT Today and Bill Russell with Today in Health IT provided highlights of the HLTH conference for those of us not attending. I expect Bill will do the same during the CHIME Fall Forum between daily recaps and live interviews while there.

There will be the usual excellent keynote speakers and track sessions with members presenting at CHIME. One of the highlights I am sorry to be missing will be Wednesday’s pre-forum session – “CHIME’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Retreat”. It will include speakers on “Unpacking Identity and Bias” and a panel session with CHIME members titled “Sharing DE&I Successes, Challenges and Next Steps”.  As a member of the CHIME DE&I committee, I value the connections made and candid conversations we’ve had in the planning of these sessions. We are continually learning from one another on this journey. It was after watching/listening to the DE&I session at the virtual CHIME Fall Forum a year ago that I decided to join this committee and help with this important work finding yet another way to get involved and give back.

Virtual events have been abundant and gotten better over the past 20 months as organizers adapted to the tools and speakers got used to monitoring online chats and Q&A vs interacting with live audiences. Continue reading →

Time to pass the baton

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It has been an honor to serve Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) as their interim SVP and Chief Information Officer for the past 7 months. At the start of 2021, I told myself I wasn’t going to do another interim CIO engagement. But how can you say no to the #1 children’s hospital in the country? While they tell me they are grateful for what I have accomplished during this period, I too am grateful. Grateful for the opportunity to work with such fine people and be part of such an incredible mission – as they say, “Until every child is well”. I’m proud to have been part of an organization with a culture that values their staff and is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion.

From the start, BCH leadership knew I didn’t want the interim engagement to be prolonged. One of my priorities was to assist the search firm in finding the best candidate to be the next SVP and CIO. Goal accomplished! Heather Nelson starts on October 11. She has served as CIO at UChicago Medicine since 2017.

This last week before the official handoff begins, I focused on annual performance reviews for my leadership team, finishing up my work on the EHR strategy so Heather can move forward with the next phase, and compiling everything I will go over with her in our one-week transition/handoff.

Why would an interim do performance reviews? I strongly believe that people should not miss a review cycle because of a leadership transition above them that they have no control over. Collecting input from others in an informal 360 manner along with my experience working together for seven months is enough to have a constructive conversation and provide guidance on future development opportunities. Of course, Heather will need to work with each of them on specific goals for the coming year.

The EHR “path for the future” as we’ve called it has been the primary focus of my time at BCH. Continue reading →

Time to simplify

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The past week has been an unexpected one. I’m one week out from a bad fall and injuries that will take a while to heal. Having to limit my mobility at a time when we are downsizing, getting our house ready to list and working full-time is not easy. I thought about writing a blog this week titled “In an instant” to describe how quickly things can change or “View from the other side” to describe my emergency room experience. Other than being in the ED far longer than I expected, I can only say positives about the hard-working hospital staff and how they took care of me.

But instead, I’m just going to keep it simple.

As I simplify what’s on my to do list, I decided August is a good time for a break from weekly blog writing. Many readers are on vacation and taking well deserved breaks. If you are looking for new content, check out two recent podcasts I did:

Newsday – HIMSS Plans and Pandemic Lessons Learned with Bill Russell.

Healthcare CIO Leadership, Innovation, and the Interim CIO with John Lynn.

I can’t compete with the amount of conference level content that Bill (This Week in Health IT) and John (Healthcare IT Today) produce throughout the year. But I’m grateful to periodically be part of what they do to continually educate and develop next generation leaders.

If listening to podcasts isn’t your thing, they both have much written content to check out as well. Or you can always peruse my past blogs by category and find some of the classics.

Look for my next blog in early September!

Most popular posts in the past year:

Career advice in a competitive market

8 health experts to follow

Rounding in a virtual world

Remote work – writing chapter three

Resources for your digital health journey

Vendor relationship management revisited

When healthcare becomes personal

Looking ahead to 2021 – predictions, emerging trends and some advice