Leadership is Key to Healthcare Change

By Becky Dziedzic, Xerox PR

Healthcare. It’s a high-energy, emotionally and politically-charged topic that can elicit a range of reactions – and I saw them all last week when I joined 100 of the most influential leaders in healthcare at The 2012 Healthcare Forum, an annual event put on by The Breakaway Group, A Xerox Company in Denver.  Okay, so the red-faced, fist-pounding, air-punching, voice raising, foot-stamping activity I’m referring to actually came from the event facilitators: Jim Collins, expert on company sustainability and growth, and David Allen, the world’s leading authority on personal and organizational productivity. They pulled out all the stops to challenge event attendees to find new ways to tackle the most pressing problems in the healthcare industry.

The event philosophy is simple and research-based: healthcare is inevitably changing. Regardless of how that change manifests itself, the key to surviving – and thriving – is strong leadership. By hosting an interactive dialogue with the most influential leaders in healthcare for the past six years, The Breakaway Group has been inspiring attendees with new theories, new tools and new strategies to lead, change and problem solve.

Here are some of the leadership takeaways from this year’s session, courtesy of Jim Collins:

• People think change begins with vision. Change begins when people confront the brutal facts – they start the conversation, then comes the vision.
• Deep inside any enterprise is a core – a core with values that you choose to preserve and protect; not open for compromise or strategic change. Any enterprise that allows its core to be changed will be mediocre.
• Marry a culture of discipline and creativity to achieve success. Creativity is natural, ever-renewable, abundant; discipline is not.
• The “X” factor between great leadership and good leadership is humility. The best leaders are rigorous, not ruthless.

 Obviously you don’t have to be in healthcare to be inspired by these words of wisdom. But in my opinion, the way the healthcare industry comes through all this change will be an inspiration to us all. In the meantime, what are your leadership lessons for healthcare?

Becky Dziedzic has a passion for spin – from public relations for Xerox to regular cycling sessions at the gym. She’s a dedicated mom, sports and exercise enthusiast, and looks forward to resuming her world travel adventures when her kids get older.