Leadership on the Executive Path in Unprecedented and Unknowable Times
By Diane L. Dixon, EdD During this pandemic I have been thinking about leadership in these unprecedented and unknowable times. We have not seen anything like what we are experiencing globally in my lifetime, which makes it is unprecedented. And there’s a great deal more that is unknowable than we have experienced in previous times. This presents a challenge for leadership on the executive path which has been traditionally grounded in stability and what is knowable. Leaders are rewarded for what they know and the...
read moreMinority Hospital/Health System CEO Leadership
Viewpoint on Institute for Diversity in Health Management Study Results By Diane L. Dixon, EdD In June 2016 the Institute for Diversity in Health Management and the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET), both affiliates of the American Hospital Association, published results of the 2015 Benchmarking Survey (www.diversityconnection.org/). This was a national survey of hospitals and health systems. The purpose was to quantify action steps that they are taking to reduce health care disparities and promote diversity in leadership and...
read moreLeaders of Color on the Executive Path: Will “Executive Presence” Alone Be a Trajectory to the Executive Suite?
A recent book by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success, suggests that the real measure of success is “executive presence” (EP), not just performance for leaders of color. Dr. Hewlett defines EP as a “measure of image” that conveys to others that you have what it takes to be an executive. Based on survey research conducted by her company, the Center for Talent Innovation, “executive presence” encompasses three dimensions: gravitas (how you act), communication (how you speak), and appearance (how you...
read moreHealth Care Leadership in Complex Complexity
Developing Inner Groundedness There are no easy answers to leading in the complex complexity of today’s health care reform environment. The daily unpredictable nuances of change often confound leadership efforts to do what is right for people who need care. Yet effective leaders are finding ways to navigate the unsteady landscape as the complexity of health care delivery becomes more complex. The days of leading a single care delivery entity have faded into a new reality of multiple complex adaptive stakeholder systems in a web of networking...
read moreWill Smart Leadership Be Enough in Healthcare?
Smart Leadership Healthcare leaders today have to be smart to deal with all of the challenges they are facing. It is fortunate that there are so many smart leaders in the field. With the ever growing demands, sharp thinking and intellect on many levels are required. The confluence of complex and complicated issues impacting health care delivery is compounded by continuous change that at times borders on chaotic upheaval. So this raises an important question—Will smart leadership be enough to address all of this along with the emergent...
read moreCollaborating Across Boundaries in Health Care Delivery: What’s Old is New
We have been talking about coordinating care and collaborating across boundaries for as long as I have been in health care, more than 25 years. It is interesting to me with all of the recent debate over the new age of health care reform that we are still talking about collaborating across boundaries as if it is a new initiative. As so often happens in health care, new names are given for old challenges and invoke a burst of new energy and debate such as what we are experiencing with accountable care organizations (ACOs), for example. ...
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