Tag Archives: equity

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

Confidence gap, wage gap, and more

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We have much progress to celebrate as women but sad to say that in 2023, there is still so much more to do. I’ve seen many excellent pieces recently that illustrate the gender gaps that exist in the workplace.

Have you ever heard of “Tall Poppy Syndrome”? I hadn’t. I saw this post on LinkedIn from Women of Influence+ on a study they conducted of over 4,700 women around the world. From the post, their research shows that almost 90% of women worldwide are belittled and undermined because of their success at work. As they say, “The Tallest Poppy, our groundbreaking study, reveals an eye-opening story about how Tall Poppy Syndrome (TPS) negatively impacts ambitious, high-performing women, and what this means for organizations”. Here is the press release summarizing the results and a link to access their white paper.

It’s no wonder that many women get “imposter syndrome”, even women in executive level positions. As Becker’s reported in this short article, “75% of female executives get imposter syndrome”, imposter syndrome is doubting one’s abilities and feeling like a fraud. The article notes that women expect lower pay than men, are subject to condescension and have less faith they will be treated equally. This all leads to lowered confidence.

As Becker’s reported in this short article, “The gender ‘confidence gap’ is wide in the workplace”, the confidence gap and wage gap continue. And we are now seeing the promotions gap more clearly. Continue reading →