Tag Archives: family

Best employers for women – is your organization on the list?

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It’s Getting Harder to be a Woman in America by Claire Suddath, senior writer at Bloomberg Businessweek, is a powerful, must-read piece for anyone concerned about what is happening to women in this country.

I have long been a champion for women and a proud feminist. Doing what I can while in leadership roles to support women, not being afraid to speak out on women’s issues, and voting for candidates who are truly pro-women’s rights. I encourage you to do the same.

It was good to see the recent Becker’s story “30 hospitals, health systems and biomedical companies on Forbes’ top 100 list of best employers for women” that listed all 30 and their rank within the top 100. According to the Forbes article, “America’s Best Employers for Women”, the survey respondents were asked to rate their organizations on criteria such as working conditions, diversity and how likely they’d be to recommend their employer to others. These responses were reviewed for potential gender gaps. Female respondents were then asked to rate their employers on factors such as parental leave, discrimination and pay equity, and to nominate organizations in industries outside their own. Representation at the executive and board levels were also factored into the final score.

If your organization didn’t make the list, ask yourself what you can do. Are you in an HR leadership position and able to directly influence employee policies and benefits? Are you an IT leader who consistently creates a supportive culture and values diversity? Regardless of your position, do you help create a supportive work environment?

We’re all in this together – at home, at work, and in our communities.

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Leadership lessons from Nana Camp 2022

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My husband and I recently had the joy of our first ever “Nana Camp” – four days with our four grandkids ages 6-9 at our house. One family is two girls ages 9 and 7. The other family is a 7 year old girl and 6 year old boy. I have been talking with my daughters about doing nana camp since I reduced my work hours this year making more time for family.

We now live in a townhouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts, with a couple swimming pools in our development, nearby beaches, and history rich field trip opportunities. A perfect setting for nana camp! Not until we were on our field trips (Plimouth Patuxet Museums including the Patuxet Homesite, 17th-Century English Village, Mayflower II and Plimoth Grist Mill) did I realize they have missed school field trips the past few years due to the pandemic which made these outings even more special.

After the four cousins spent July 4th together, my two daughters and I came up with the framework for nana camp rules which started a few days later. The first night they were all here, I had the kids write out the rules and post them on the refrigerator door. Just the act of writing them together tested some of the rules. It was their idea to each sign the rules like a contract.

Don’t get me wrong, all four of them are awesome and well behaved but get them all together and there’s bound to be what we later described as “silly fights”. So much so that on the last day we joked about making silly fight badges for them and how many they would all get.

Siblings have their day-to-day routines at home, but all four cousins together can disrupt that. Arguing and jostling over who takes the first shower at night, which row they get in the mini-van, who gets to walk the dogs first – you get the idea. The oldest had an astute observation a few days later when we had just her and her sister here for a short mini-camp. With just two of them they didn’t need to have silly fights – there were two showers to use so both could be first, there were only two kid seats in our car so front vs back row wasn’t a fight, and there were two dogs to walk.

These were the rules we agreed on with “be safe and have fun” underlying them:

  1. Be kind
  2. Be inclusive
  3. Respect privacy
  4. Work it out
  5. Clean up after yourself
  6. Let others sleep

Kindness should go without saying but in a period where we see so much bullying in our society, we must emphasize it. For these kids it was ensuring silly fights didn’t turn into mean words. Inclusiveness is critical to teach on so many levels. For these kids it was about taking turns and not excluding someone from a game or activity. Respect privacy meant if someone needed alone time, let them have it. Work it out meant don’t come tattling to us – try to work it out themselves. We learned over the days that these rules could conflict with one another and that there were times when they needed adults to help them work things out together. Continue reading →

Vacation season reminders for a more balanced life

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I’ve written a few posts in previous years about the importance of taking vacation time and truly taking a break from work. It seems even more important this year after 2+ years of Covid and the realities of remote work where separating work from one’s home life can be a challenge.

I’ve also written about work life balance, or life work balance as my colleague David Muntz likes to say. For years it was elusive, but I am doing much better getting the right balance at this late stage of my career.

Summer is already a third over. Hopefully you have made plans for a break of some sort with family or friends in the next few months. My husband and I have our first international trip since 2018 planned for later this summer. Seeing friends posting photos from their Europe trips in recent months is encouraging – it tells me that international travel is doable again.

As you make your own personal plans for downtime, remember the 6 R’s of summer – rest, relax, refresh, renew, reflect and reboot. And if you have to work or keep in touch with work while you take a break – check out “4 tips when you must work on vacation”. Let me know if you have any tips to add.

My post “Take time to reboot” is a great reminder that you can leave your work in the trusted and capable hands of others while you are away. That’s exactly what I intend to do!

Happy summer to all!

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When is enough enough?

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We are all asking when is it enough? Parents of young children are struggling with how to talk to their children, how to keep them safe. The mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde are the latest horrific examples of gun violence and hate in this country.

I have been struggling to find the right words. There are none. Yes, thoughts and prayers for all the victims, their families, and communities are needed. May they find the strength to carry on in the very difficult days ahead. But what’s needed in this country is action and policy change, not just more thoughts and prayers.

I read two pieces that have helped me to express what I’m feeling.

Michael Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell Health, is a progressive voice amongst healthcare executives. He doesn’t shy away from taking a stand on difficult issues and very clearly names gun violence as a public health issue. Under his leadership, Northwell established The Gun Violence Prevention Learning Collaborative for Health Systems and Hospitals, a grassroots initiative that gives healthcare professionals the space to have open dialogue about the impact of gun violence, share best practices and collectively take action. This piece in Becker’s Hospital Review describes his call to action – “Michael Dowling: ‘Every single US hospital leader should be screaming about what an abomination this is’”.

Arika Lycan posted on LinkedIn a piece that frames not just the murder of innocent elementary school children but all the ways that our rights are under attack – “Who is going to do something about this?!” I am, You are, We are.” Arika is a consistent voice for social justice. I am grateful to be collaborating with them and the entire CHIME Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee to continue to educate and raise awareness with our health IT colleagues.

We can’t let Buffalo and Uvalde move out of the news cycle and be forgotten. We need to speak up, show up, donate our time and money, and vote for candidates at all levels of government who support our values. The 2022 mid-term elections are consequential. Know what candidates stand for and vote your values. And consider volunteering some of your time to do phone / text banks for critical House and Senate races in other states.

I admit that I don’t have anything truly new to say today. I have written numerous posts after similar events rocked us to the core, and I have said it all before. So, I’m sharing my “Hate has no place” post again. If you don’t want to read it again or even for the first time – here’s my bottom-line message:

We must speak up for love and justice every chance we can. We must challenge those who hate and divide us as a people. And we must vote for the kind of leaders that we are willing to trust the future of our children and grandchildren to. Please join me.

Hate has no place (written August, 2019)

The most recent horrific mass shootings are not due to video games, the Internet, nor mental illness. There are more guns in the United States than people. Let that sink in.

Hate speech, racism, and white supremacy exist and are tolerated by some of our elected leaders who are supposed to keep us all safe. Let that sink in.

This is not who we want to be as a country. It is time for responsible, moral leaders to act. Continue reading →

Health IT content – plenty of choices

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My recent two-week vacation included family time, Disney with grandkids, and time just chilling with girlfriends (aka pool time, my first ever pickle ball game, walks by the ocean, shopping, eating, talking and lots of laughing).  I often publish a blog each week even when I’m on vacation but not this time. It was a true break!

Now that I’m back it’s a different kind of week. I am taking care of one of my grandchildren so arranging my work schedule around her school drop-off and pickup times. Something many of you navigate seamlessly or not so seamlessly every day. I’m hoping to get it right!

I am also getting into the recording mode this week.

On May 5 at 1PM Eastern, I will be a panelist on the Well Health sponsored webinar – “Digital Transformation Post-COVID: What’s Next on the CIO Priority List?”. Meg Aranow from Well Health will be moderating the panel that also includes Joel Vengco, SVP and Chief Information & Digital Officer at Hartford HealthCare and Raymond Lowe, SVP & CIO at AltaMed Health Services. It should be a great session. You can register here.

And I’ve recorded my first show as one of the moderators on the new This Week in Health Town Hall / Community channel. I interviewed Pamela Arora, new President and CEO at AAMI and a longtime CIO colleague of mine. For all the IT leaders who listen to This Week in Health podcasts, be sure to check it out – the IT and HTM (health technology management) relationship is a critical one. Continue reading →

April reflections

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I often write about my “big rocks” in April. This year is no exception, especially after two years of the pandemic. Spring represents a time of new life, rebirth, hope, and renewal. Yet I am always reminded that it was a sad time in my childhood. My father passed away after a 2-year battle with cancer four days before my 4th birthday. I remember the last time we saw him was in the hospital on Easter a few days earlier. He gave my sister and me popcorn Easter bunnies. A strange memory, but one of the few I have from then.

On a happier note, during these April weeks and into early May, I have milestones to celebrate – birthdays for my husband and me, our 46th wedding anniversary, and wedding anniversaries for both our adult daughters – already 12 and 8 years for them. There will be no one special celebration but plenty of opportunities to raise a glass and toast one another when we are together.  They are my biggest rocks!

This spring I’m also spending fun vacation time with family that will include a few days at Disney with two of my four grandkids. Disney with grandkids is something my husband and I have looked forward to since before we even had grandchildren. We’d joke that if we did eventually have grandchildren how old would we be when they were old enough to go to Disney, and would we still be able to do that or even want to. We were supposed to go with this family to Disney for their first time in April 2020, but we know how that worked out.

I will also be spending a week with three close girlfriends from my Michigan days. When I lived there for 3+ years, the four of us got together for long lunches every month and during the pandemic we’ve done weekly zoom calls to keep in touch. They are true friends – the kind of friends who come to help you pack your house when an ill-timed injury gets in the way of what you can do yourself. They too are my big rocks!

Do you know who your big rocks are? Do you spend enough time with them? And what do you do for yourself to renew and reboot? If you can’t easily answer these questions, I encourage you to make time so you can. Life is short.

Related Posts:

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Goal setting and accountability – health goals update

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I’ve heard it said that when you share your personal goals with others, you are more apt to meet them. Something about accountability. I believe it.

 

About 8 weeks ago, I wrote “New year, new health goals, new tools” describing the excitement in our house about our new Fitbit devices and how we were motivated and ready to up our game in 2022. Happy to report that my husband and I have not lost our motivation and are still comparing our stats most days.

 

I’m averaging close to 13,000 steps or 6 miles a day. I seem to blow past the weekly zone minutes goal by Wednesday most weeks. All good!

 

But I’ve had a lot of ah-ha’s on my sleep patterns. I thought that I slept much better than I do. The sleep tracker data has helped me make some modifications. I love actionable data!

 

We plan to join the YMCA near us to get back doing weights, add more serious cardio than the long hilly walks where we live and to check out the various classes. We dropped our previous gym membership at the start of the pandemic 2 years ago. It’s time to go back.

 

While we have better routines for getting daily exercise, we know we can’t be slaves to our devices. But I admit, there are days when we get the little notification buzz on our wrist at 10 minutes to the hour reminding us that we don’t have 250 steps yet (happens hourly from 9AM – 6PM). We jump up and walk around the house until we hit it. A great reminder to get up and move – especially if I have too many back-to-back calls sitting at my desk. Continue reading →

Mentoring, role models and sometimes a little nudge

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What a pleasant surprise to be tagged in a LinkedIn post by my daughter as she shared with her network some great professional news. She just completed her Leadership & Management Certificate Program at Wharton online. I’m super proud of her! She tagged me to thank me for the “nudge”.

I remember well our “nudge” conversation back in August. I remember it more as a conversation where she asked for advice on how best to pursue her education given her current work and how her career is evolving. She has been at the same company for the past 8 years and been promoted several times – she is now Sr. Manager, Executive Communications and Administration, partnering with the CEO and executive leadership team. I would call it more of an ask for advice and get ideas/encouragement conversation.

Her discipline and persistence to get started and finish it in just 6 months is impressive – all while working full-time and as a mother of two young children. It reminds me of when I decided to get my MBA many years ago when she and her sister were young and I had a full-time management job.

I’ve talked about my two daughters in previous posts. I try to be a role model for them professionally.  I’ve given them advice as their careers have advanced and am proud to see their accomplishments. They both have a passion for their work and have received awards for leadership and innovation. As I counsel people early in their career – find your passion, be open to the possibilities, and never stop learning.

Many women describe their mothers and grandmothers as inspiring role models. Today would be my mother’s birthday. She died just shy of her 68th birthday after a short battle with cancer. She was only 42 when my father died, leaving her to raise four young children on her own. My mother was a role model for me – a strong and independent woman. Continue reading →

New year, new health goals, new tools

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On Tuesday, our new trackers arrived. I’ve used a Fitbit since late 2013 and still had the Fitbit One device. It served its purpose as a very basic step tracker. When it started getting less reliable during our January vacation, I decided it was time to up my game with newer tracking technology. Plus, I realized my device was discontinued a few years ago so forget about just replacing it. My husband, Tom, was ready to start more serious tracking as we focused on new health goals in 2022. He had recently downloaded a free step tracker app to his iPhone, but it was only useful if he always had his phone with him.

We carefully compared the different Fitbit devices reading specs and watching the videos. Doing the comparison shopping together on my laptop had me in tears laughing with him. Tom has never been athletic and hated gym class as a kid. We were doing the main feature compare between the Luxe and the Inspire 2. But we thought we should check out the Charge 5 before we called the question. Part way through the short video for the Charge 5, Tom said, “It’s scaring me, it’s like gym class on your wrist”. I told you, I had tears I laughed so hard at that. We each placed an order for a Luxe and the Premium Membership.

Once we had the devices charged and he downloaded the software for the first time, we quickly figured out the main features and how to navigate. We are constantly comparing our stats. I know that will wear off. But there is a new motivation in our house to get in better shape and get out walking longer distances each day. Continue reading →

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 →