Monthly Archives: October 2022

Time to exercise your right to vote

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It is less than two weeks to election day. I voted early yesterday at my city hall since I will be at the CHIME Fall Forum in San Antonio on election day, November 8. I hope my colleagues who are attending and everyone else reading this who can’t vote in person on election day has a plan to vote early in-person or will mail-in their ballot.

Voter intimidation is real. Already we hear candidates saying the election is rigged – their way of saying they won’t accept a loss. Voting is your fundamental right as a citizen. Voting rights were fought for by our ancestors. We can’t take this right for granted. And we can’t be intimidated.

It is encouraging to see long lines for early voting in swing states with tight races. And it is more encouraging to know that early voting is outpacing 2018 levels by one million. As of last night, 13.6 million people have voted compared to 12.6 million in 2018.

What is at stake in the midterm elections? A lot! I’ve commented in previous posts on reproductive care and a woman’s right to choose (A step backwards), same sex marriage (Marriage equality, it’s personal), and common-sense gun control (When is enough enough?). It should be no surprise that I voted a straight Democratic ticket up and down the ballot.

I won’t tell you how to vote. But I encourage you to exercise your right to vote and to vote your values. Your vote matters!

Resources:

I will vote – website where you can select your state, make sure you’re registered to vote, then choose how you’re going to vote this year. Also has a hotline number to call with questions.

When we all vote – is a leading national, nonpartisan initiative on a mission to change the culture around voting and to increase participation in each and every election by helping to close the race and age gap. Website has useful information on your voting rights and provides an Election Protection Hotline to report voting issues.

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Make your voice heard, your vote counts!

Vote your values

On listening, compassion, and empathy

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In early September, StarBridge Advisors colleague, David Muntz, published a blog “Ring Theory – A Framework for Helping Others”. For me personally, the timing could not have been better.

I was in Europe on a multi-week vacation but calling my sister in Minnesota every day. Her husband had gone into home hospice just before we left for Europe, and we knew it was a matter of time. He passed away on September 16th. I was scheduled to be home from vacation on September 20th. I told her I could come to be with her as soon as I got home. But we agreed that being with her around the time of the memorial service scheduled for a month out would be best.

I recently spent 10 days with her and had time with her two daughters and four teenage grandchildren. While I was there, I tried to be a non-anxious presence and listen a lot. Just as I did when my sister and I had daily phone calls from Europe and when I was back home. Much of what David talked about in his blog post were great reminders on how to be and what to say/not say.

My brother-in-law planned his memorial service over his final months. It was a beautiful service. The theme was love. There were many tears and a few laughs. As my sister said in a Facebook post shortly after he died, “In these last six weeks, he showed us all how to die.  He was ready, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  In his words ‘I’m just leaving the party too soon’.” Each of us will face death at some point.  My brother-in-law did it with grace. And he did it with love for his family.

Over the years I’ve learned how to be a non-anxious presence from my minister husband and have tried to develop my active listening skills, being compassionate and empathic with others. With David’s post, I am adding “ring theory” to my working knowledge. This is an excellent piece and I highly recommend it. As he says at the end, “We all will spend some time in the center (referencing a visual in the post) as the aggrieved or afflicted. Please use Ring Theory to help yourself help someone else. When done well, they will appreciate it; you will appreciate it.”

I have much more to reflect on from my family experience and losing my dear brother-in-law who I knew for 55 years. But for now, I wanted to highlight and share David’s post and encourage you to read it. You never know when you may need it.

More wisdom from one of the best

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We all can point to a few key people in our career who served as mentors. People who believed in us, encouraged us, and guided us when we needed it. For me, there is no question that John Glaser is one of those mentors.

I first met John when I attended the pre-cursor to CHIME’s CIO Boot Camp back in the early 1990s. John was one of the faculty members for the weeklong program. At the time he was CIO at Brigham and Women’s Hospital before it joined with Mass General to form Partners HealthCare (now called Mass General Brigham). I remember sitting next to him at lunch the day he spoke and having an engaging conversation.

I next met John in 1999 when I walked into his office to interview for the CIO position at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. John was then the CIO at Partners HealthCare which had formed in 1995. I recall that first awkward moment. I had just finished reading his first book, “The Strategic Application of Information Technology in Health Care Organizations”. I told him so along with the fact that we had met before at the boot camp. But then I said he probably meets a lot of people so why would he remember me. Awkward opening, right? He said he would be listening to not just what I said but how I said it as personality mattered. And so, the interview commenced……

Fast forward, I was hired and worked for and with John until 2010 when he left to become CEO for Siemens Health Services. For my generation of CIOs, John is a legend. I have learned so much from him over the years and appreciate the support and guidance he gave me, helping me to be successful as a CIO.

Fast forward again, John is what he calls small “r” retired though he appears to be quite busy teaching, writing, and serving on boards. He is Executive in Residence at Harvard Medical School and Program Director, Leading Digital Transformation in Health Care – continuing to teach next generation leaders. His newest book, “Advanced Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare” co-authored with Thomas H. Davenport and Elizabeth Gardner was published in August.

John graciously agreed to let me interview him for the This Week Health Town Hall show on the Community Channel. We had a great time talking and covering some very relevant topics – the evolving role of the CIO, new digital advances in healthcare, Artificial Intelligence, and what small “r” retirement means and how to prepare for it. The interview was published this week – check it out here. You’ll learn from one of the best and probably have a few laughs.

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Importance of community for health IT leaders  

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I am a fan of Bill Russell and his multi-media company This Week Health – today is no exception. Bill had a very insightful and spot-on episode last Friday on isolation and the importance of choosing community –“Isolation Destroys Leaders – Choose Community”. It is worth 15 minutes of your time to listen!

Bill starts with a neighborhood community analogy post Hurricane Ian and goes on to talk about the importance for health IT leaders to fight isolation and be part of a sharing and learning community. He talks about checking your ego and being willing to learn from everyone comparing his 16-hospital health system CIO experience with that of a small community hospital CIO with a staff of less than 10 people. As CIOs they both dealt with the same regulatory environment and set of issues.

He encourages health IT leaders to consider getting a coach and uses a sports analogy to distinguish between a coach and a consultant. And he encourages people to find small peer groups to be part of for ongoing learning and sharing.

One of the common goals Bill and I share is developing next generation leaders. There are many ways to do that, and Bill’s podcasts are one of them – thanks Bill for another great episode!

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