Becker's Hospital Review

24 POPULATION HEALTH 24 CEO/STRATEGY Leadership strategies for women in healthcare By Alia Paavola A lthough women make up a larg- er percentage of the healthcare workforce and hold more leader- ship positions than in previous decades, there are still far fewer of them than men in healthcare C-suites. While efforts to diversify the gender of the C-suite are underway at most hospitals and health systems, women still find it hard to move up in their organizations. In a session titled "Getting Disruptive: Re- thinking Leadership Strategies of Women in Healthcare" at the Becker's Hospital Review 8th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable in No- vember in Chicago, panelists discussed expe- riences that helped them become strong fe- male leaders and advance in their workplaces. Panelists included: • Astra Garner, LCPC, vice president of clini- cal advancement at Kansas City, Kan.-based KVC Hospitals • Imelda Dacones, MD, president and CEO at Portland, Ore.-based Northwest Permanente • Sylvia Romm, MD, MPH, FAAP, chief in- novation officer at Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System Five key pieces of advice from the discussion: 1. Diversify your mentors. Rather than having one mentor, establish a panel of mentors that you can meet with to discuss issues, professional advancement goals and leadership strategies. is means looking for mentors outside of your organization and perhaps someone in a totally different field. ere is no cookie-cutter way to do everything, nor is there always one person who personifies all of the leadership qualities you hope to exemplify, one panelist said. 2. Embrace "stretch" assignments. Oen people like to test women in leadership to make them prove they are capable of han- dling a particular task. One of the panelists advised embracing these "stretch" opportuni- ties to enhance your reputation and help you grow professionally. 3. Live unapologetically, and honest- ly, at work. Answer questions truthfully and unapologetically at work, even if those answers may not be what someone wants to hear. is means being yourself. 4. Establish programs for women at work. Establishing a group mentorship pro- gram or a series of webinars that address the ad- vancement of women in medicine will help an organization foster a more inclusive culture and offer a safe place for women to bring up issues they may have experienced, the panelists said. 5. Use your leadership position to ad- vocate for women. If you are a woman in leadership, use that privilege to advocate for the women that may not be heard in the organization. One panelist said that she used her position to advocate for lactation rooms for employees who are new moms. n Study: Women in leadership face more sexual harassment By Emily Rappleye W omen with authority in the workplace are not immune to sexual harassment. In fact, new research confirms just the opposite: Women in management positions experience 30-100 percent more sexual harassment than other female staff. The study, from the Swedish Institute for Social Re- search at Stockholm University, builds and expands on previous research in this area that has discussed the so-called "Paradox of Power." Researchers con- ducted a survey in Sweden, the U.S., and Japan. They found consistently across all three countries that women in positions of power experienced more ha- rassment than their counterparts in other roles. Wom- en at lower levels of leadership experienced the most harassment, though it remained substantial for wom- en all the way up the ladder. "When you think about it, there are logical explana- tions: a supervisor is exposed to new groups of po- tential perpetrators. She can be harassed both from her subordinates and from higher-level management within the company. More harassment from these two groups is also what we saw when we asked the wom- en who had harassed them," Johanna Rickne, profes- sor of Economics at the Swedish Institute for Social Research in Stockholm, said in a press release. n HFAP provides: • Trusted, recognized accreditation for hospitals with or without Medicare deemed status. • Accreditation for clinical laboratories. • Certification for Stroke, Joint Replacement, and Wound Care programs and Compounding Pharmacies. • Responsive, accessible, cost-effective customer support. LEARN MORE: WWW.HFAP.ORG CONTACT US: 312.920.7383 INFO@HFAP.ORG CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE OF HOSPITAL ACCREDITATION

• Cover