Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1439541
9 9 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT THOUGHT LEADERSHIP ees serving the communities we are blessed to serve, you have to think about leadership. Making sure you have the right skills, experiences and vision for the organization. You have to be a good partner. With scale and its responsibilities, you have to realize you can't do it all alone. Who should you be partnering with? You also have to understand that you're in a position in which you will likely be one of the major voices for a sector or for an industry. You have to be a convener of others within that sector and not just speak for yourself solely. You understand whether it's around policy, financing models, issues like equity, diversity and inclusion, that your voice is weighted because of your scale. Yet you cannot rest just on your scale alone. You have to understand that with that scale comes an enormous responsibility that employees, consumers and your peers will hold you accountable for. Q: What does healthcare need more of? LD: at's one of my favorite questions. First, we need more complete work around equity, justice and fairness as it relates to having clinical staff and leadership that is reflective of the communities we serve. We need to go deeper and be more purposeful to ensure our care provider categories represent our communities. Second, we need to keep pushing for a sustainable method of financing healthcare in this country. ird, we need to ensure that every- one has fair and just access to health- care. We must use our collective voices to ensure that we have some provision that everyone in this country has ac- cess to care. Fourth, we need to ensure we are en- ablers and adapters of technologies and innovations that may be used in other sectors to provide quality, more affordable healthcare for consumers. en we need to double and triple down on workforce development is- sues. We know that as a nation we are facing retirements in our pro- fessional categories like we never have in the last few decades. How do we make sure we are addressing work-life balance issues? How do we make sure we are an attractive sector? How do we make sure we are doing those things, so people can feel they not only have balance within their life, but also serve others? Q: What have you been reflecting on since announcing your plans for retirement in 2022? LD: I'll be very candid with you: ere have been a lot of nights where I've been lying in bed, reflecting aer my announcement. One of the reflections is, "Have I done all I could do to leave this nation and this world and to leave the most vulnerable in communities like I grew up in — have I done all I can do with this gi I've been given to be a voice, leader and executive in healthcare?" No. 2 is, while I'm still in this position, I'm reflecting on unfinished business. ings I want to say, things I want to accomplish at Com- monSpirit Health, things I want to work with others to ensure that as a nation we address. I've been reflecting on how I take lessons I've learned, gis I've had to serve with others, and mistakes I've made and transfer that knowledge not just to my successor, but with others. Q: I'd imagine some tossing and turning is quite natural with questions like that. LD: Yes. I have worked since I was 10. I come from a big family, and my parents did not have a lot of fiscal resources. Everyone tells you about retirement, and everybody has a different opinion on it. I'm excited in many, many ways. I have a life agenda with some chapters yet to be written. ere's my family, grandkids, wife — many things to look forward to. I do wonder what that first day will be like. For a moment, I will wake up and not know exactly where I'm supposed to be and when I'm supposed to be there. I also look forward to continu- ing to live my life to serve others in different ways. Q: May I ask what your first job was at 10? LD: Shoveling snow. I grew up in Michigan, and there were seven boys and two sisters, with my two sisters at the end. I was the sec- ond oldest. My dad was kind of an old-school, military type guy. He started telling all the boys at age 8, "Well, you'll be working soon." I thought he meant at school. No, he meant we'd be doing something to contribute to the family. At 10, I'd go to my neighbors and ask if I could shovel their snow. If I made $5 a week from shoveling snow, my dad got a third of it for rent and family expenses. At the time, I thought it was criminal. But it taught me about responsibility to family. It taught me nothing is free in life. It created a work ethic. At the time, I thought there's something wrong with my dad. But with nine kids and the income that he was able to make from the factory, which was not enough, it was more than just a philosophical thing. We all needed to contribute to the welfare of the family. At the time, these lessons … you know, I just thought it was so harsh. But once I understood the pressure of living in a three-bedroom home with 11 peo- ple, trying to feed them on a meager salary, working in a factory where he knew he would — and he did — end up with black lung disease. e pressure of that. I didn't connect the dots until I got older, but it is a great life lesson. Q: What would you say is the most fulfilling or proudest ac- complishment of your career? LD: I'm not trying to be trite in my answer, but being part of the creation of one of the largest health ministries in this country, CommonSpirit Health, is something I'll always cherish. Also, hav- ing the opportunity to work with four [presidential] administra- tions and be part of healthcare for all in this country. Third, being able to serve with some of the most dedicated and committed em- ployees and leaders in healthcare is one of the greatest gifts I've ever been given. Q: Tell me what you most want to see from the next gener- ation of healthcare leaders, who are reading this and may succeed you and many of your colleagues one day. LD: It's pretty simple. It's collaboration, imagination and inspiration. Focus on ensuring that people in our country but also around the world ... for them to live a fruitful life, they have to have access to healthcare. My hope is they will use their voice to carry that forward. I'm hopeful. ey may do it differently, or certainly with more inno- vation or resources than we currently have available to us. People will see this is a worthy calling. n "Short-term solutions for long- term issues are diametrically a plan for continued complex issues being in our face, day aer day aer day." Lloyd Dean, CommonSpirit Health