It’s been almost four years since I started speaking and writing openly about the challenges facing women at work, the importance of developing women leaders, and encouraging women to pursue STEM careers. I have no regrets about being outspoken on women’s issues.

It is encouraging to see organizations like CHIME and HIMSS focus on this in recent years and to see so many younger women share their own stories and provide advice to others.

I was happy to see the recent four-part series that Kate Gamble, Managing Editor of HealthSystemCIO.com, did on Women in HIT leadership.  She interviewed an excellent group of women leaders – Sarah Richardson, California market CIO for HealthCare Partners; Tressa Springmann, SVP and CIO at LifeBridge Health; and Julie Bonello, CIO at Rush Health.

The series covered all the topics you might expect: their early leadership experiences and stories, core leadership competencies needed, the importance and challenge of maintaining work/life balance and supporting your teams, stereotypes of women leaders, the power and importance of mentoring, and learning from male dominated environments.

Their experiences, insight, and advice provide a rich set of lessons to learn from. I highly recommend you read or listen to the series at these links:

Women in HIT Leadership, Part 1: Identifying the Core Leadership Skills

Women in HIT Leadership, Part 2: Challenging Gender Stereotypes

Women in HIT Leadership, Part 3: The Future of the CIO Role

Women in HIT Leadership, Part 4: A Call to Action

In the closing comments of Part 4, Sarah says she is optimistic about the future for women but knows it is up to us as women leaders to make change happen. She quotes Sheryl Sandberg from Lean In, “If not you, then who?” and “If not now, then when?”. And Tressa talks about leading with grace in spite of the obstacles women face.

I was part of a similar series in late 2014 that Kate did along with Mary Alice Annecharico, Bobbie Byrne and Janet Loveless. Mary Alice was SVP/CIO at Henry Ford Health System at the time and retired this past year. Bobbie was System VP and CIO at Edward Elmhurst Healthcare in the Chicago suburbs back then and is now the CIO for Advocate Aurora Health. Janet is VP/CIO at Grand View Health.

You can access that four-part series at this link: Panel discussion: Women in IT Leadership

Four years ago we covered a lot of the same topics as the recent series along with developing self-confidence, the role of culture, the importance of making choices right for you, juggling family responsibilities, ensuring as an employer that you have family friendly policies, making time to network, and embracing new opportunities.

Kudos to Kate for continuing to seek out women leaders in HIT who are willing to share their stories and advice with others through these focused panel series. And kudos to both Kate and Anthony Guerra, Editor-in-Chief for HealthSystemCIO.com, for providing such an excellent online resource for healthcare IT leaders through blog posts, podcasts and webinars on a range of topics relevant to IT leaders. I am forever grateful for their early encouragement and ongoing support for my blogging and for re-publishing many of my blog posts.

Related Posts:

Never underestimate the power of a woman

Find your voice, a mentor, and be bold

Time to support, not harass women

10 tips for next generation leaders

Family support systems: priceless

Yes we can: women in health IT

Investing in the success of others