CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- As healthcare continues to rapidly evolve, inclusiveness is one of the most important traits seen in emerging leaders. Inclusive leadership seeks not so much to guard against discrimination as it does to harness differences in age, cultures, origins, and experiences as competitive advantage.
Business of Healthcare hosted two experts in leadership development, Shelly Buck of WellSpan Health and Joe Gasque of GE Healthcare to discuss ways they nurture inclusiveness as a trait in emerging leaders.
The interview, titled "Mentoring for Inclusive Leadership," was filmed during Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education's 50th Anniversary celebration, which hosted experts on the future of healthcare leadership education.
The interview was made possible by GE Healthcare, the Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education, Saint Louis University, and the Jefferson College of Population Health.
Buck and Gasque nurture emerging leaders to be the next generation for their organizations. They have identified the emerging traits in these leaders while also learning a great deal themselves.
"Typically, we think about the older more experienced individual mentors the younger generation," shares Buck. "But I find I'm being mentored by this younger generation particularly when it comes to social media and technology to make work faster and easier and more concise." Buck is Chief Operating Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, and Vice President of Patient Care for WellSpan's flagship York Hospital.
Gasque talked about creating inclusiveness through influence rather than title. "We have a philosophy at GE Healthcare that everybody in the company's a leader because it's about influencing it's not title and so how do you continue to grow your influencing skills and serve others." Gasque is Chief Marketing Officer for GE Healthcare's $ 8 billion North American operating unit.
For both leaders, formative moments led them to appreciate the advantages and pitfalls of inclusiveness. Buck shared a story of a failed attempt to reopen a care unit. She realized, when the project did not go well, a key miss was failing to be inclusive. "I learned very quickly about inclusion, about using the tools and resources that are available and, most importantly, the importance of relationships."
Gasque identified one pitfall of inclusiveness, "While you want to make sure key stakeholders are involved, especially in an organization that's very matrixed, make sure you identify the few key stakeholders with the power to say, 'No' rather than the many with the power to say 'Yes'. There is a speed component of change. I have over-indexed on both sides and I continue working on that balance."
Inclusiveness can also come from competition. Notes Buck, "I had the pleasure of working with a young man that was completing his Master's in Health Administration. He had been a pro athlete in Arena Football. He brought to us something he learned as a pro athlete: any given day somebody is working harder than you to take your job."
The traits of emerging leaders tend towards inclusiveness. In talking about a training program he helps support, Gasque observed that early career cohort to be "phenomenal team players which we need as we try to solve challenges within health care. They're inspiring our culture with that thirst for knowledge and also a thirst for feedback on a regular basis."
Buck and Gasque cover a number of other leadership traits and their own developmental experiences.
To watch the full interview visit BOHSeries.com or listen in podcast by looking for Business of Healthcare and our red logo on iTunes, Stitcher, or Libsyn.
SOURCE Business of Healthcare
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