A quiet truth sits beneath every workforce conversation in healthcare: Retention doesn’t begin when someone resigns, but in the everyday experience of work. I was…
Healthcare leaders are navigating unprecedented pressure: staffing shortages, burnout, rapid technological change, and rising expectations from patients and teams alike. In this environment, leadership…
In healthcare today, headlines often highlight workforce shortages, financial pressures, regulatory complexity, and the many stressors facing healthcare organizations—realities that are certainly present. When…
Healthcare organizations are asking more of their people than ever before. Complexity is up. Experience levels are down. The pace is relentless. And while…
Healthcare doesn’t need a fresh start—it needs a thoughtful rewire. Rewiring Healthcare: Foundation to Future brings together senior leaders to step back…
Today’s healthcare workforce is thinner, more mobile, and under constant pressure. That means organizations can’t afford leadership gaps. Building a strong bench from the ground up creates continuity, protects institutional knowledge, and reduces overreliance on costly external hires—while signaling to early-career talent that you intend to invest in them. When you ask Emerson Health why they invest in internships and a one-year fellowship—especially when budgets are tight—the answer comes back to strategy and values: grow…
For most of my career, I believed that being a good leader meant fixing things: fixing problems, fixing people, and fixing situations that felt unfair, inefficient, or out of my control. If something went wrong, my instinct was to step in, straighten it out, and make sure it didn’t happen again. That approach served me well in some moments, but over time, I learned a hard truth: Not everything needs to be solved, and not…
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…
January is in full force, and some of us are still in resolution mode. I’m going to join a gym. I’m going to start cooking a healthy meal three days a week. I’m going to get that new certification. I’m going to introduce a new process for my department. Healthcare people are doers by nature, and that’s great. Doers make things happen. But the reality is, we all have limited hours and limited energy. We…
Have you ever heard or read a word that’s either new to you or that you’ve not encountered, and suddenly it starts cropping up everywhere? This is true for me with the word neuroplasticity. It describes the brain’s ability to change and adapt by forming new neural connections and reorganizing existing ones in response to experiences, learning, or injury. It is the process of allowing new skills and/or changes in skills and abilities, as well…
Be kind. This is how I respond when asked, “If you had one tip for a person, what would it be?” Kindness also feels like the right word to focus on as we kick off a new year. When reading the definition for kindness, words like generous, helpful, and thinking of others’ feelings are listed. Being kind to others is a great thing. My suggestion is that you include yourself as someone to be kind to. In my experience, most people are extremely…
Psychological safety is a term that has been around for years. It means creating a culture in which people feel safe sharing their ideas, concerns, and mistakes without the fear of humiliation and/or punishment. It is an important characteristic of a high-performing organization. In fact, Google’s Project Aristotle discovered that psychological safety is the most important element in high-performing teams. I ask myself, Do I create an environment of psychological safety? This does not mean avoiding conflict…
As we wrap up 2025, the question on everyone’s mind is: What can we expect in the year ahead? What skills should we build? What actions should we take? What trends should we watch? Technology and AI will no doubt stay front and center. But if you’re serious about self- development, I believe your real competitive advantage will lie in relationships. My prediction for 2026: The ability to build and maintain strong relationships will be…
Sometimes as we’re wrapping up the year, it’s easy to drift into negativity. End-of-year evaluations tend to produce mixed findings—some areas show strong results, while others fall short. It’s human nature to focus on what didn’t go as planned. Add in the stress and exhaustion of the holiday season, along with budget pressures and goal-setting for the year ahead, and it becomes even easier to miss all the good things that were accomplished over the…
People need mentors now more than ever. Career paths are more uncertain. AI, technology, and economic shifts are creating cultures of uncertainty; working with a mentor (or serving as one) can make a huge difference. A mentor is an experienced person who provides guidance, support, and advice and serves as a role model for someone else. This person is often called a mentee. There are formal mentor/mentee relationships as well as informal ones. The tremendous value…