Cultivating a network that works for you and others

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My adult daughters have called me the “network queen” at times. They appreciate that I’m willing to introduce them to people who might be helpful to them and their careers in some way. It’s no secret that I do that for anyone who asks.

The value of having a broad network of people you can call on for different situations is priceless. And if you have nurtured your relationships over the years and given graciously of your time, when you ask, you can count on people responding quickly and with a sincere willingness to be helpful.

I had a couple examples of this in the past month.

As part of due diligence on a new business relationship, I reached out to a former colleague and friend who worked with them. She was quick to reply, gave me her input and suggested someone else I should talk to who we both knew. She made the re-introduction for me, and I was able to connect with that person a few days later for additional insight.

My StarBridge Advisors partner and I needed some business advice in an area we were unfamiliar with. We both knew who our “go to” person would be given our past experience with him. I reached out and we were able to do a very valuable 3-way call later that same day.

Someone I knew from my board service with a non-profit organization several years ago reached out to me for advice on a new opportunity she was considering. After catching up on family and life since we last talked a few years ago, I was able to provide useful insight on the organization and opportunity plus offered to serve as a reference in her continued job search.

As I worked on a proposal for services to a new client, I reached out to someone I worked with almost 30 years ago to see if she was still working in the same field that I needed help with. We reconnected and I learned about her new consulting services which I have already referred to someone.

Relationships involve give and take. Maintaining positive mutually beneficial relationships means being available to others when they ask. They are much more than a “connection” on LinkedIn.

As we go into the Fall conference season and have the opportunity to see colleagues in person and make new connections, keep in mind the value of your network to not only you but how your connections might help others. After all, you can probably name many people who have helped you along the way. Be generous with your time and willing to help others. It will pay off many times over.

Related Posts:

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Championing DEI – personal stories and lessons from leaders

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We learn from our own experiences, and we learn from other’s experiences when they are willing to share their stories. The impetus behind starting this blog was to share and help teach others, especially next generation leaders.  I have shared lessons learned both professionally and personally over the years. And I have shared many stories along the way.

My latest contribution in this sharing space is based on my ongoing commitment to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. As a member of the CHIME DEI committee for the past few years, I’ve come to know many colleagues in deep ways as we share our stories with each other and work to educate the broader CHIME community.

The newest offering from the committee is a video series called “Inclusive Insights: Personal Stories of Diversity in Action”. An insightful interview with Cletis Earle last month was the first in the series. Cletis is the CHIME DEI Committee Co-Chair and former SVP and CIO at Penn State Health and College of Medicine. I encourage you to view it here. He covered how DEI played a role in his career, why organizations should not turn away from DEI, how he advocates for DEI at work and in his community, and shares advice for colleagues trying to enhance diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in their organizations.

I’m honored to be the second person in the series to share my story – it is available here. I covered common myths and misperceptions about DEI, challenges I have faced in my career and how I overcame them, the role that mentorship and sponsorship play in fostering diversity and inclusion, the role of allies, and more.

When I first joined CHIME as a new CIO in 2000, the makeup of the group was very different from what it is today. There is far more diversity among health IT leaders today compared to back then. CHIME’s explicit commitment to DEI in recent years through the committee’s work and the programming at in-person conferences is encouraging.

We have made progress but there is more work to be done. We’re in it together.

Related Posts:

The transformative power of bold leadership in healthcare

Celebrating Women’s History Month: Championing Diversity in Health IT

One year later – an increased focus on diversity, equity and inclusion

Timeboxing: balancing work and vacation without the stress

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I’ve written a few times over the years about the importance of taking vacations, having true down time, and the elusive work-life balance. Talking with one of my mentees this morning and one of my daughters last night, I was reminded of how important vacations and time away from work can be. Especially for young families where working parents are constantly on the go between their work, their kids’ activities, and basic home life. Packing and getting ready for vacation both at work and at home becomes one more stressor.

I’m a big proponent of taking a vacation where you shut work off completely and let others cover for you and delegate as much as possible. But I know that’s not always possible. And shutting off completely may cause some people even more anxiety. My approach and advice in those situations are to “timebox” an email session each morning (30-60 minutes max) before everyone else gets going for the day. Review the high priority/time sensitive emails and respond only if required. At a minimum, by reading them you will be aware of what’s happening. Don’t get into an email exchange that will carry into the day. Ignore the non-urgent or non-important ones. Delete what you can.

With you and your colleagues taking vacations at different times over the summer months, it can be difficult to keep certain projects and initiatives moving forward. Try not to have everyone dependent on you such that something must come to a halt until you return. In healthcare, we can’t shut the organization down for a week while everyone takes a vacation. I can understand why small companies who can do just that in fact do it – often around July 4th or between end of year holidays.

On this eve of July 4th, while I watch the news and worry about our democracy, I wish you all a happy and safe July 4th weekend and a fabulous summer vacation whenever you decide to take it!

Related Posts:

Vacation season reminders for a more balanced life

The 6 Rs of summer

4 tips when you must work on vacation

Take time to reboot

Maximizing health IT investments requires a holistic approach

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Evaluating the value of IT investments in healthcare is a significant challenge for health IT leaders and their organizations. With the growing demand for digital health solutions and the increasing interest in AI, establishing a comprehensive IT investment valuation process has become crucial for health systems both large and small. My colleague at StarBridge Advisors, David Muntz, recently wrote an excellent blog post describing what we call the VOI framework – “An Effective Strategy for Valuing HIT Investments”.

Traditional metrics like ROI, IRR, and TCO are often used to assess IT investments. While these financial measures are important, relying solely on them can be insufficient. As David outlines in his blog, StarBridge Advisors has developed a Value of Investment (VOI) framework that combines traditional financial metrics with additional elements that capture the broader impact of IT investments.

I encourage you to read David’s entire blog post where he expands on these core elements of the VOI framework:

    1. Flexibility: Modern IT solutions provide new capabilities, such as using smartphones to locate the nearest mobile imaging device or utilizing AI for image evaluation with high precision. This flexibility improves operational efficiency and patient care.
    2. Intangibles: Non-physical assets like clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and brand loyalty play a crucial role. Personal stories that highlight the human impact of IT investments often provide the most compelling evidence of value.
    3. Social Value: IT solutions that meet patient and family needs, such as enabling control over care environments or providing interpreter services, significantly enhance patient experiences and outcomes.
    4. Risk Management: Effective risk management is essential to achieving the anticipated value of IT investments. The framework identifies nine risk categories with targeted questions to help organizations determine acceptable risk levels.
    5. Accountability: Ensuring that those responsible for implementing and using the IT asset are accountable for achieving results that drive continuous improvement and better outcomes.

Additional analyses include stakeholder impact, capability-based assessment, market positioning, strategic alignment, and intellectual capital.

Evaluating IT investments requires a comprehensive approach. StarBridge Advisors offers the expertise and tools to help you develop and deploy a personalized VOI framework. David and I are happy to explore with you how we can help you maximize your investment.

Related Posts:

What do healthcare CEOs want from technology in 2024 and beyond?

Beyond cost cutting: Health IT’s role in financial health

 

A decade of blogging: 10 years of insights on healthcare, technology, and leadership

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This week marks 10 years since I became a blogger! With a focus on the intersection of healthcare and technology, a lot has happened in 10 years. For my regular readers, you know I cover much more than healthcare and technology including leadership, career advice, women’s issues, and yes, even politics. And I weave in personal stories at times.

When I started this blog in 2014, I was serving as the CIO at University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers. The social media coordinator in the Communications department encouraged me to start and helped set it up. I leaned on our IT chief of staff to help manage it. From the start, I assumed that I had multiple audiences to speak to – my IT staff (I encouraged them to subscribe but promised to continue my monthly CIO messages aimed at just them), our health system staff, health IT colleagues in the industry, and anyone else who was interested. My first blog was about our major Epic go live a few days later – “Three days and counting….”. It was the first of many practitioner based blogs over the years.

So, why blog? As I wrote in my “About” page:

“One of my passions is the development of the next generation of IT leaders, especially young people who are beginning their careers or who are beginning to take on leadership roles. I’ve been there: a young mother of two with a full-time management job while a part-time graduate student.  I remember the years when I was the only woman at the leadership table. 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 in early 2016 to start down a path of interim management, consulting and leadership coaching, I took over the blog myself and committed to continuing writing weekly. I had relevant topics each week as I served in four different organizations in interim IT leadership roles in subsequent years and launched StarBridge Advisors with colleagues in late 2016.

If you are a subscriber, you know that my weekly commitment has waned in the past year, and I publish less frequently. As I have reduced and refocused my work commitments, topic ideas come to me less frequently – mostly from events in the industry and beyond, articles, discussions with people I coach and mentor, and my regular contact with health IT leaders.

There have been times when I just can’t be silent on something and go more political. Continue reading →

Networking and navigating a tight job market

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Are we in a tight job market? It sure sounds like it from all the calls I’m getting from colleagues having a hard time finding a new position. Probably the best indicator though of a tight job market is that unemployment has been under 4% for the last 2+ years.

At StarBridge Advisors, we have many advisors who are only interested in interim and advisory work while others are looking for their next permanent position but available for interim and advisory engagements in the meantime. On our recent monthly advisors call, I asked those who are looking for their next permanent position what their current job search experience tells them. Trends they see are more internal promotions rather than hiring from outside the organization and hiring from the local area or region rather than relocating someone. One of them also commented that with so many boutique search firms, it can be hard to know who to reach out to regarding openings.

Another sign of the tight job market might be the fact that a LinkedIn post I shared on job interview skills got over 2,000 impressions in a short timeframe.

Knowing how important networking is, I take every call request I get from people I know who need career advice. And when colleagues reach out asking if they can send someone my way to talk, I say yes. I seem to be a go to kind of person keeping tabs on the market for health IT leadership positions but more importantly I’m always willing to help if I can. People have helped me along the way, so I do the same.

I also write a lot about career management and all things related in this blog. You can always search previous posts for more career advice. And I do short career coaching engagements – if it helps you to land your next opportunity, this small investment in yourself could be very worthwhile!

I know from personal experience that a job search takes a lot of patience and persistence. Beyond networking, spend time doing your research. Maintain a positive attitude and be open to various possibilities. Our industry continues to evolve, and the health ecosystem is broad with many different types of organizations to consider.

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Navigating career crossroads

Career advice revisited

Considering a career move?

Live your values and be the change

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It may be easy to feel discouraged at times – by challenges at work or at home, or the current political scene, or the conflicts in the world. But I like to be an optimist and maintain a positive attitude finding ways to “be the change”.

Here are a few things in the past several days that have given me hope:

I listened to and watched several sessions at the Becker’s Healthcare 14th Annual Meeting Virtual Event this week. I love hearing healthcare leaders talk about why they got into healthcare, share the missions of their organizations to care for their patients and improve their communities, and describe the tangible outcomes of their continued efforts in these challenging times. It reinforces my passion for healthcare and why I have spent my entire career in this industry.

Last Friday, my husband and I went to a volunteer fair in my community. I was both surprised and encouraged when we pulled in and saw a full parking lot. I had no idea so many people would be looking for ways to help others through volunteer work. There were approximately 25 organizations with exhibits educating us about their services and describing the many volunteer opportunities. They included the local community hospital, Habitat for Humanity, homeless coalition, climate change, sustainability, the local art center, and much more.

We got home that afternoon just in time for a Volunteer Blue virtual call I had registered for. Volunteer Blue is a coalition of 24 grassroots organizations focused on electing Democrats. American historian, Heather Cox Richardson, was the guest speaker. She writes a daily newsletter, “Letters from an American”, on the history behind today’s politics. (My daily morning routine is to make a cup of coffee and read her newsletter before I do anything else – yes, even before checking email!) Her 2023 book, “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America” is a New York Times bestseller. After Heather’s comments, the organizers shared data on the key races in 2024. Finally, there were breakout groups organized by the many different ways to get involved. About 1,000 people were on the call and ready to commit time to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot in 2024.

If you know me at all, you won’t be surprised that I’m sharing these examples of what motivates and inspires me. This is me from a young age. My first part-time job during high school was working as a nurse aid in a nearby nursing home. In the summers, I did volunteer work with my church youth group. And I was volunteering for progressive Democrat candidates from the time I could vote.

I truly believe you have to live (and vote) your values!

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Finding your passion

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Vote your values

Building bridges for success: the role of interim leaders in healthcare IT

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I have written in the past about interim management in terms of when it makes sense for an organization and shared some lessons from my own experience. Following my career as a CIO at two leading academic health systems, I have served four different healthcare providers as an interim leader – three as CIO, one as CTO. As a principal at StarBridge Advisors the past 7 plus years, I have placed and overseen interim IT leaders at many healthcare organizations. I know firsthand how interim leaders provide an important bridge during leadership transitions and can make a significant impact on an organization in a short time.

I recently had the opportunity to do an interview with the Advisory Board on interim management. We covered a lot of ground together. Some of the highlights from our discussion:

    • Rising Executive Turnover in Healthcare: healthcare organizations are grappling with a 66% increase in hospital CEO exits in 2023 and there is a resulting surge in demand for interim leaders.
    • Role of Interim Leaders: interim leaders play a critical role in steering organizations through transitions, making quick assessments, and delivering tangible results within a six-month timeframe.
    • Preparing for Transition: clear communication and preparation are needed when bringing on an interim leader, including briefing books, townhall meetings, and the support of the hiring executive is critical.
    • Driving Long-Term Improvements: organizations can leverage the expertise of interim leaders to drive sustainable change, focusing on agreed-upon areas of improvement and setting the stage for the permanent leader’s success.

The Advisory Board article, How to navigate executive turnover: A Q&A with StarBridge Advisors’ Sue Schade (advisory.com), is available to non-members if you set up a free account.

When your organization has a critical IT leadership gap, turn to StarBridge Advisors. We can make available to you fully vetted, world-class healthcare IT executives, inclusive of CIOs, CISOs, CMIOs, CNIOs, CTOs, and others. And if you choose to use an internal interim, we can provide coaching support to them to ensure they are well positioned to be successful in the role. Our advisors all come from health system backgrounds and have a wealth of knowledge and experience which often stretches far beyond the provider space.

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Bridge Builders: Interim Management Solutions for Health Systems

Talent shortage? Great resignation? Interim leaders can help

Interim Management – Providing a Bridge During Transition

When an interim CIO makes sense

Stepping into an interim leadership role

Celebrating Women’s History Month: Championing Diversity in Health IT

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What better time than Women’s History Month to highlight the many initiatives lifting up women in our health IT industry.

It has been 10 years since I started speaking out more publicly as a health IT professional about women’s issues though I am a long-time feminist having come of age during the women’s movement of the 1970s. In 2014, I was asked to do a keynote talk on a topic of my choice at a 200-person health IT conference. It was one of those vendor sponsored, invitation only events. I was the speaker during the first night’s dinner. I titled my talk: “Our Future Workforce – Unlocking the Potential”. I talked about the fact that not enough women were going into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields and the need to encourage and support women at all levels. Prior to the talk I wrote this post – Technology, where are all the women? – and afterwards I wrote this one describing the positive response to my talk – Women and technology, part 2 – from an audience that was probably 80% men!

When I launched this blog several months before that talk in 2014, I made sure to create a category called “On Women and Work” knowing I’d be periodically writing about women’s issues, and not just in March each year.

Fast forward to 2024. I am certainly not a lone voice in our industry. Many women focused initiatives have emerged. Here are just a few to highlight: Continue reading →

HIMSS24 from a distance

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I haven’t been to a national HIMSS conference since 2019. We all remember how the early days of the pandemic led to a last minute cancelled HIMSS20. Since then, there has been a multi-year transition in the conference approach. It was back to what appeared to be a pre-pandemic level of attendance at HIMSS24 this week. I sat it out again this year but watched from afar on social media.

On social media I saw the key vendor announcements, session highlights, and got a glimpse of the oh so valuable in person networking as many people shared pictures of reconnecting with one another.

Bill Russell’s This Week Health Newsday episode on March 8 – “HIMSS , Yes or No?” – asked are you going to HIMSS, should you be going? He aptly named national conferences like HIMSS as “carnival” type events. With over 1,000 vendors exhibiting at HIMSS, the description fits. But, if you are looking to meet with your vendors or research new vendors to solve real problems, the exhibit hall was the place to be. He also refers to “relationship” events – smaller conferences and events where there is an emphasis on the peer-to-peer connection we all value. That’s where I am putting my focus given my current work.

At any conference, networking is key. There are benefits to you and your organization as you build relationships and learn from your peers. It is not just about your own career journey which is often what people think about networking. In the past four years we’ve become accustomed to virtual connections and events, but I agree that there is nothing like in-person events for networking and renewing relationships.

Did I have FOMO this week? Maybe a little. But am I continuing to build new and nurture old relationships with colleagues and clients every day? Yes.

I look forward to reading the HIMSS24 recaps in industry publications and from attendees on their social media accounts to learn even more. Here are a few to start: Continue reading →