What healthcare leaders need to know now

Deanna Banks, Principal - Furst Group, was recently asked to join the advisory board for MD Anderson’s Leadership Institute. This phenomenal group of professionals and experts from all areas of healthcare and leadership is charged with supporting MD Anderson’s initiative to create a development program for existing and upcoming leaders within their organization.

 

By examining a wide-range of challenges and opportunities leaders will face, including transformation change, multi-generational teams, emotional intelligence, and more, MD Anderson hopes to dig deep into what works and what doesn’t from a curriculum and real-world application standpoint. The advisory board aims to share trends, best practices, theory and other insights that will help guide the organization in their efforts.

 

Banks’ strong background in diversity, governance and talent management allows her to bring a unique, practical application perspective on these topics. Having worked with hundreds of organizations and thousands of leaders in her 20+ years of executive recruitment, Banks brings a core body of knowledge that balances well with the backgrounds and experience of others on the advisory board.

 

 

“I look forward to engaging with the board and the amazing team at MD Anderson,” said Banks. “This is an exceptional opportunity to build a program with a strong foundation in academics and theory, as well as real-life application and best practices that most organizations struggle to create, but MD Anderson has tapped some of the best minds in the space to assist in their efforts. The collective intelligence of this team will no doubt result in the development of an outstanding program.”

 

 

How can you be strategic about your career and goals while being true to yourself and treating the people around you with empathy and encouragement?

 

That’s the focus of our latest article, “Authentic Leadership: 4 Ways to Make Your Passion Purposeful,” which is featured in the new publication from the Chicago Healthcare Executives Forum, part of the American College of Healthcare Executives. 

 

Written by Furst Group’s Director of Research Tiara Muse and Vice President Megan Heim, the article makes a strong case that leadership is based on earned trust – and that the surest path to trust is by allowing yourself to be transparent with your team and letting qualities like empathy and humility shine through. Look out for your team and embrace opportunities for them to grow into their own leadership skills as well.

 

“Build a strong reputation as a leader with the competence and compassion to develop other leaders,” Muse and Heim write. “Ensure your open-door policy is not just lip service, and genuinely ask for feedback.”

 

Leaders should also be self-aware, cognizant of their strengths and areas that need development. Mentors can be helpful in this area, as well as discussions with executive recruiters, who are well-networked in the healthcare industry. But don’t overlook the counsel of peers as well.

 

“The best leaders network strategically,” Muse and Heim say. “Many people look up the organizational leader too often and not across the aisle or down the hall as they think through career development. The executives at the top don’t have all the answers; utilize your peers.” 

 

When it comes to career development, they add, remain flexible and “maintain the posture of a continuous learner” to prepare yourself for unexpected twists and turns.

 

“Many aspects of your career may change in the next 5 to 10 years – the pace of innovation and disruption accelerates every year,” they add.

 

Finally, Muse and Heim counsel executives to be aware that their behavior – including the use of social-media platforms – can build their personal brand and reputation, so treat your career and the people around you with care. “The power of storytelling,” they note, “is a vital skill” for all leaders, not just marketing executives.

A lot of organizations talk about the importance of talent pipelines in their leadership ranks, but Janet Liang backs up her words with plenty of action.

 

Liang, President of the Northern California region of Kaiser Permanente-- a region with 4.2 million members, 72,000 employees and 21 hospitals-- has developed several successful leadership initiatives, including a Nurse Scholars Academy, an Emerging Leaders program, a Chief Operating Officers bootcamp and a Finance Leaders Academy.

 

“I want the organization to have bench strength so we’re never vulnerable in terms of our ability to deliver our plans and build our momentum,” she says. “I believe that stability and continuity in leadership is critical for the organization. We have big aspirations – not just for our patients, but for their families and communities.”

 

The nature of Kaiser Permanente’s business, which is both provider and payer, makes it difficult at times to find talent that will fit ... 

 

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