Tag Archives: values

Staying Positive, Telling the Truth, and Defending Care: Timely Advice for Health Leaders

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In the weeks following the November 5th election, I significantly reduced my news intake, but I continue to read and stay informed as I encourage everyone to do. Objective perspective and advice on how to navigate the changes we are going through as a country is always welcome. I was struck last week by an insightful article that one of our best healthcare leaders wrote. I’ve highlighted his articles in the past in this blog. His latest is one of the best things I’ve read in recent weeks. You guessed it – I’m talking about Michael Dowling, President and CEO at Northwell Health.

On this 4th anniversary of what has become known as “January 6” or simply “J6” on social media, and as we watch the way a peaceful transition of power is supposed to be, Dowling’s advice to healthcare leaders is timely. In the article, “Michael Dowling: 6 priorities for health leaders in a new era of change and disruption”, published in Becker’s Hospital Review on January 2nd, he discusses 6 key areas to consider:

  1. Maintain a positive attitude.
  2. Tell our positive story.
  3. Be a conveyor of truth.
  4. Be supportive of new opportunities.
  5. Defend access to care.
  6. Values matter.

While they all resonate with me, #3 really strikes a chord as we consider some of the potential new faces who will be leading and influencing healthcare in the new administration. As Dowling says: “We must never waver from our responsibility to preserve credibility and trust in evidence-based science. Scientific discoveries and their resulting treatments have had profound, positive benefits in increasing the lifespan of people worldwide. We must not be afraid to denounce skeptics who promote misinformation and stoke public fears.”

The last point is also a powerful one for me, yes, values do matter. As Dowling says: “Now more than ever, we as healthcare leaders need to promote the values of decency, respect, integrity, honesty and trust. We must be positive role models who embrace a sense of unity, togetherness and community — not anger and resentment.”

Leadership is hard. Staying true to your values is hard. But we owe it to those we serve.

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Finding truth post-election: staying informed, vigilant and engaged

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It has been over a week since the election. For some of us, an incredibly long week of processing our reactions and considering how we go forward. My first response was disbelief and dread. Then came the sadness. As the days go by, I am thinking more and more about how to continue to have a voice and make a difference. I won’t just sit by and watch. I want to help make a better future for our Nation and for the World.

Misinformation played a big part in our elections. As I said in 2016, we must stay informed, be vigilant and engaged. Separating the facts from fiction is more important now than in the past.

If you share my concern about the level of misinformation, I offer a few resources to consider adding to your reading or listening list.

Heather Cox Richardson writes a daily newsletter called, Letters from an American, which is also available as a podcast. For well over a year, I have made reading her letter my first “to do” with a cup of coffee each morning. As a history professor, she is a master at framing the events of the day in a historical context. The November 12th letter was a master class in “careful what you ask for”. It was downright chilling to read.

Joyce Vance writes a daily newsletter called, Civil Discourse. She is a former United States Attorney, currently a law professor and a legal analyst for MSNBC and NBC. She also co-hosts two podcasts, #SistersInLaw and Cafe’s Insider. As she says, “I believe that being a citizen is the most important work any of us can do. As citizens, a key part of our role is to educate ourselves and stay informed”. She focuses a lot on the legal issues, so I don’t always get through her newsletter but the one dated November 9th, “The Importance of Information” is well worth reading to understand the level and impact of disinformation in 2024.

Yes, you may consider these two sources liberal and want more centrist or both-sided sources, but I am looking for big picture context from fact-based, credible resources to inform and inspire me. If you have other recommendations, I’m open.

A friend and former colleague during my Michigan days recently shared on Facebook that she regularly reads Tangle. They self-describe as a “non-partisan politics newsletter giving a 360-degree view on the news – opinions from the left, right and center so you can decide”. As they say, “unbiased news for busy people”. I just subscribed to check it out.

And as social media platforms are evolving, I’m ready to make my move from X to Bluesky. It’s well past time for that given what X has become.

The future is what we make it. To stand idly by and watch is not in my nature. That’s why I use a wide range of sources, treating each with a bit of skepticism, working to develop a Truth that will help benefit the Greater Good based on facts and evidence supported by optimism. We can always be better – individually and collectively. I will continue to support organizations and political leaders who share my values and sense of purpose.

Your Voice is Your Power: Standing Up for Democracy in a Divisive Election Season

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As we go about our daily work and home life, who can forget that there is an election going on? Even if you are not watching or reading the news you can’t escape it. Nor should you. This is probably the most consequential presidential election of our lifetime. We all must ask ourselves what kind of world we want for our children and grandchildren. Who speaks to our values? Who can we trust with our future and our democracy?

If you know me or are a regular reader of my blog, you know my answer. Yes, I have a button that says, “We are not going back”. And I have my “I voted early” sticker. With this consequential election a week away, I can’t be silent.

I proudly display my RBG art in my home workspace where she is visible over my shoulder on all my zoom calls and podcast interviews. It is often a conversation starter with both men and women when they see it for the first time.

While we may want to shy away from speaking out and openly supporting the candidate of our choice, I have great respect for people who are willing to publicly state their support for Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz as our next President and Vice President. This includes a growing list of business leaders. And not to be ignored, many long-standing Republican leaders and former Trump administration officials are warning us based on their first-hand knowledge and experience that he is unfit to lead and a danger to our democracy.

I am encouraged to see healthcare leaders willing to post their very insightful support for the Harris/Walz ticket on LinkedIn which is supposed to be a professional network and not political. Continue reading →

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.

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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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How healthcare providers can empower voters for a healthier democracy

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It’s Super Tuesday – a day when voters in 15 states and one U.S. territory go to the polls for the presidential primary election. I’ve written in the past about the importance of exercising your right to vote, voting your values, and highlighted some of the non-partisan “get out the vote” organizations.

This time I want to address the intersection of voting and healthcare, but not from a policy perspective. You can probably guess my views on key policies. But rather from an empowering everyone to vote perspective. Whether you vote in the primary or not, much is at stake in the November general election.

Let me start with a very progressive organization, A Healthier Democracy, that I learned about last year when their CEO, Dr. Alister Martin, spoke at the annual NEHIMSS Chapter Conference. According to their website:

A Healthier Democracy builds platforms for collaboration and community organizing at the intersection of health and civic engagement to maximize collective impact on pressing challenges.

They are home to five high-impact national initiatives. There are two initiatives involving voting that I want to highlight – Vot-ER and Patient Voting: Continue reading →

Lessons from Succession: What not to do as a leader

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I recently wrote a blog post called “Ted Lasso leadership lessons”. If you were a fan of the Ted Lasso series, you can readily see there were many lessons to be learned. Another popular series, Succession, wrapped up around the same time. I wasn’t sure how I could comment on leadership lessons from that series as there didn’t seem to be any characters that you would want to model. But there were plenty of lessons on what not to do as a leader.

Others have figured out what to say about Succession leadership lessons, so I’ll share the insights from one of them. A Forbes article on June 26th by Robert Pearl, MD, titled “5 Fatal Flaws Of Healthcare Leaders: Inspired By HBO’s ‘Succession’” describes five dysfunctional leadership styles to avoid based on some of the lead characters. In his words:

  1. Delusional leaders overestimate their abilities. Their ideas are unrealistic and their vision for the future: pure fiction.
  2. Narcissistic leaders bask in praise and blind loyalty. They reject and punish those who provide honest feedback and fair criticism. Their obsession with status and self-importance blinds them to long-term threats and opportunities, alike.
  3. Immature leaders get promoted before they’re primed and polished. They often lack boundaries and excel at the sport of making others uncomfortable.
  4. Political leaders are better at advancing within an organization than advancing the organization itself. Like chameleons, these leaders change with the scenery, shifting alliances and values as organizational power waxes and wanes.
  5. Compromised leaders are skilled at making promises. They seek support by vowing to fulfill wants and palliate pains.

Dr. Pearl closes the article highlighting three attributes that excellent healthcare leaders must have:

  1. Clear mission and purpose
  2. Experience and expertise
  3. Personal integrity

The third, personal integrity, is particularly critical. As Dr. Pearl says, “Everything changes when an emerging leader becomes the head of an organization and faces a crisis. As risks and pressures intensify, people tend to fall back on approaches and habits they learned in the past, particularly problematic ones.” Without being a spoiler, anyone who watched Succession can see how easily the emerging leaders fell back to their own demise.

I encourage you to read the full article but must warn you with a spoiler alert – if you haven’t seen the show but plan to watch it given all the buzz, bookmark the article to read later.  What buzz you ask? The fourth and final season just received 27 Emmy nominations with a total of 75 nominations over all the seasons.

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The transformative power of bold leadership in healthcare

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With reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights under attack in so many states, it was good to see the Summer 2023 Issue of the Brigham magazine in the mail this week. This issue is titled “Care for Every Body – Embracing Inclusive Medicine”. As a former VP and donor to Brigham and Women’s, I receive the paper copy to read. You can access it online here.

The main articles include:

  • Sex & Gender Glossary – essential terms and definitions for understanding sex, gender, and well-being.
  • Pro-Care. Pro-Patient. – describing how the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is working toward reproductive justice for all patients. An alarming data point: If all abortions in the U.S. were to stop, 24% more people would die from pregnancy complications and 39% more non-Hispanic Black people would die.
  • Soul Meets Body – describing how the Center for Transgender Health is breaking barriers and providing state-of-the-art, life changing care for trans and gender diverse people. An alarming data point: 46 states have proposed 491 anti-transgender laws in 2023, more than the previous four years combined.
  • Women ≠ Tiny Men – describing how physician-researchers are working to balance the scales for women’s health.

These articles and the programs described represent bold leadership in healthcare and what we should expect from healthcare providers.

Just as the Winter 2022 Issue titled “Standing Tall for Justice – Cultivating Equity and Inclusion in Medicine” was bold leadership as it covered racial equity in healthcare. And just as Michael Dowling, President and CEO at Northwell Health in New York, regularly shows us what bold leadership means. He doesn’t shy away from controversial issues as he addresses the issue of gun violence and calls for civility and decency in our public discourse.

Dr. Robert Higgins, President, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and EVP, Mass General Brigham comments in the introduction to the Summer 20223 Issue – “While forging the road toward a more inclusive healthcare systems is not an easy or immediately achievable goal, it is a vital commitment we must make. Our sense of humanity depends on it.”

Are you uncomfortable being a bold leader? Do you embrace or shy away from the DEI discussion? The DEI Committee of CHIME is hosting a webinar this Friday, June 30, at 12PM EDT that I highly recommend. It is titled “DE&I in Healthcare 2.0 – Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable in a Safe Space Zone”. Please follow this link to register if you want to learn how to stay DEI focused in an anti-DEI climate.

In a recent podcast interview, I was asked about some of the unique challenges and opportunities of being a CIO in the healthcare sector compared to other industries. I commented on how being in healthcare is mission driven and how we can make a difference in people’s lives. Leaders of our nation’s leading healthcare systems being willing to address the difficult issues and care for every person is one of the reasons I am passionate about working in healthcare.

What we do matters.

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Ted Lasso leadership lessons

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I was late to the “Ted Lasso” series so there were some seasons of binge watching. From its earliest days on Apple TV, I kept hearing about this show from my colleague at StarBridge Advisors, David Muntz. He loved it! My husband and I finally started watching some time last year and saw the season 3 finale last week along with all the other devoted fans.

There are so many lessons to share from this incredibly upbeat soccer coach who we came to know and love. Here are a couple pieces worth reading whether you are a fan or not – no spoilers:

If you haven’t already clicked through to the Becker’s article link above to read perspectives on the lessons from well-known healthcare leaders, please do. In the meantime, here are the lessons:

  1. Lead with empathy.
  2. Being vulnerable doesn’t make you weak.
  3. Optimism is infectious.
  4. Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing.
  5. Winning and losing aren’t everything.
  6. Optimists take more chances.
  7. Everyone differs from everyone else.
  8. Embrace change.
  9. Empowerment breeds confidence.
  10. Winning is an attitude.
  11. Humor cuts through tension.
  12. Courage is the willingness to attempt.
  13. Nobody is bigger than the team.
  14. Be self-aware and genuine. A truly authentic leader doesn’t have the time or the inclination to be anyone but themselves.
  15. Don’t dwell on mistakes or let them define you.
  16. Stay teachable.

I like all of them but 1, 4, and 13 are favorites. Continue reading →

#EmbraceEquity

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Today is International Women’s Day (IWD) and March is Women’s History Month. The International Women’s Day 2023 campaign theme is #EmbraceEquity. As their website says, “The aim of the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme is to get the world talking about Why equal opportunities aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action. International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.”

Yes, we have much progress to celebrate but sad to say that in 2023, there is still so much more to do. Especially with our current political climate and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs being under attack in some states. Take Florida for example where the governor announced in February that he intends to ban state universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, calling them discriminatory.

I continue to participate in CHIME’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee as we start another year of programming for all CHIME members. As leaders, raising awareness and finding ways to take positive and meaningful action for our employees and our patients is what this work is about. This Friday as part of the DE&I Dialogues series, we will host a live webinar entitled, “Why DE&I: Defining Health Disparity, Inequity, and Inequality”. The webinar will cover why DE&I is important in your healthcare organization and how it impacts patient care. Featured speakers are Andrea Daugherty, CIO at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, Cletis Earle, SVP and CIO at Penn State Health, and Dr. Eric Quinones, Chief Healthcare Advisor at World Wide Technology. You can register here for the March 10, 12PM ET webinar. I hope you will join us this Friday and for future DE&I Dialogues as we continue to learn and work together in 2023.

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