Values are caught as well as taught. What a leader does is more often more impactful than what is said. This message came to mind as I read of an organization’s rolling out a development program for supervisors. I applaud them for doing so. I would encourage them to make sure all the leaders, including the C-suite, complete the program. Why? All people impact others by our actions and words, both in a personal capacity…

Healthcare leadership can be a high-wire act: visible, relentless, and stressful in a way that often feels personal. In a new episode of the Healthcare Plus Podcast, Dan Collard sits down with former hospital CEO Tom McDougal to discuss why Tom’s book, Karma Doesn’t Need My Help matters now: it gives leaders from the C-suite to early careerists a simple operating system to make better decisions under pressure—and keep their peace while they do it. From learning…

“Prove them right.” This was how Greg Hughes, Executive Vice President, Communications, NBC Sports responded when I asked him about his career success. Greg is currently immersed in Olympic and Super Bowl coverage and the NBA season and is ready for MLB Sunday night baseball. During dinner with Greg and his wife Lisa, he shared that he had spent the day with Bob Costas regarding the upcoming baseball season for NBC. People ask me how…

Healthcare leaders need a path forward, and they need it now.  Workforce churn, AI acceleration, payer pressure, policy shifts and other factors are converging in ways that make “wait and see” a liability. That’s why showing up in Houston this March matters. ACHE Congress 2026 (March 2–4, in Houston, TX) is about making smarter decisions in the middle of real constraints.   On last week’s podcast Dan Collard holds a conversation with David Bartholomew, FACHE, ACHE’s senior vice president of…

How much impact does leadership inexperience have on your organization? I feel the sleeping giant today in terms of operational excellence is the number of new people. By this, I mean those who are new to the organization as well as those who are new to the role in general. For example, a person might be experienced in leadership but new to the organization. Or, they might be part of the organization, but new to…

Healthcare feels different now—because it is. Workforces are smaller, demand is rising, and culture expectations have changed. In a recent episode of the Healthcare Plus Podcast, Dan Collard and Dr. Katherine Meese introduce Genfluence: How to Lead a Multigenerational Workforce, new from ACHE Learn.  The authors describe Genfluence as a research-grounded guide to leading across generations, written without relying on cliches or doom narratives. They took all the research and myths and distilled the best…

I was in a meeting with a person who shared something they heard that has had a significant impact on their life. My own thinking went into overdrive on the people and messages that have impacted me (and still do). These messages have been received in various ways: one-on-one with a person, hearing a statement in a meeting or at a presentation, reading a book, watching a video, and so forth. Here is a partial…

A book I have found helpful is The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. It was first published in 1995. When small business owners or individuals considering starting a business ask me what book I recommend, this is my go-to suggested read. It is where I learned the concept of working on the business rather than only in the business. I became aware of The E-Myth Revisited as part of a roundtable of small business…