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My name is Erica Williams, an executive leader with a 25 year career in the healthcare industry. The last 15 of those years, I've led IT teams for large health systems and currently serve as a market CIO in Texas. I'm passionate about developing the next generation of leaders and leveraging technology to improve the clinician and patient experience.

Welcome to This Week Health, where we host channels and events dedicated to transforming healthcare. One connection at a time. Our town hall podcast series, Road to Flourish, explores the inspiring career journeys of executives in healthcare. Whether you're starting out, seeking growth, or feeling stuck, this podcast aims to empower you.

Let's jump right in to today's episode.

(main) Hi, my name is Erica Williams, and today I'm with Beth Lindsay Wood, who is the Senior Vice President of Chief Informatics and Technology Officer at Moffitt Cancer Center. Welcome.

I would love to hear about your current role at Moffitt and what you are most excited about in the upcoming year.

My role is oversight of the clinical health informatics area, the information technology and digital operations, and the cybersecurity group. I have all of those reporting in through me and many new leaders in those roles. So I'm looking forward over the next year continuing to advance our digital work through Cancer X, which is a digital ventures arm of the organization bringing in new patient and provider experience type.

So in addition to that, we are launching a new strategic plan And there's a very important accelerator to that, which is transformational technologies. So I spearhead that with my colleague, Dana Rawson, who is data officer. We're looking at a lot of AI, gen AI, and clinical outcomes around developing AI models.

So because we're research and clinical we're really looking at how we tie all that together and leveraging AI for that. So we're on the path to do a lot of exciting things over the next year.

Yeah. To say the least, those are significant transformational initiatives, the ERP, the Cancer X, did you call it?

Thank you for offering to be just a little vulnerable for our listeners today.

What was

your first big career breakthrough and how did that change or shape your journey?

I don't know if I'd call it exactly a breakthrough. It was a little bit circumstantial, but I started at a hospital in Tampa.

Responding to a job as a computer operator at a young age. And so they were on a county system and they were coming in house. So it was all new technology, all new systems that were being implemented. And so they needed people that would help run data center. So I came in expecting to learn that I had done some computer operations work prior, but that was my first step in.

And from there, just continued to grow into different roles but I started running computer operations, so it was a great way to get oriented to the basic work that many of us have to do in support of our customers.

With three days supervisor. Yeah, there's something to be said about. I think it's Stephen Covey that said that luck is when opportunity meets preparation.

And it sounds like that is exactly where you were. in a place where there was opportunity and preparation and, it would be perceived by some by luck, but it was just being the right place, the right time and being ready for it. I love that. Is there a moment in your career where you hit a red light?

, for me, it was a decision being a CIO of whether or not I would stay in those types of roles going forward or move into working for as a partner in a consulting firm, which was a great opportunity.

I had only really been in a long period of time at two healthcare systems. And with long tenure in both probably 13 years and 14 years total 27. So that was a big part of my career. And I was very interested at that point. My children were growing up that maybe I could begin to look at doing the consulting work.

And in some cases, interim CIO chief digital type services as well. So it was a great. Experience, but the decision was for me that I missed being part of the hospital. The, the provider side for me was really important and I wanted to be a part of that long term. So a pivot back into that space and I felt I missed it.

I really did. And it was great things that happened as a result of it, but ultimately that was big decision for me to move back. And to go back into where I was, I felt like I could be part of a team.

It's a win in that type of scenario to where you get out of your bubble and see, the broader of what everybody else is doing, but you're right, the connection to the mission is not as close, and I completely get you're coming from there.

Was there something in that opportunity that you brought back as you were working in that consulting type of role that you said, okay, this is something that when I'm back into the provider side, this is something I'm definitely going to implement. Is there anything that comes to mind?

But once you've seen it a few times in different organizations, you can get some different ideas on how to approach some problems that we all have

I love that example of a pivot that really in the end helps you to be better at what you really want to do and what you're drawn to.

So what advice would you give someone who feels like they've plateaued or they're currently facing a setback in their career. I'm seeing too many people who have been laid off recently on LinkedIn. And so I think that it would be really great to hear. From you and some thoughts around that situation and maybe your own experience of where you've had a plateau or you had to break through or a specific setback.

But sometimes there's These gaps are time for reflection on what it is that you really want to do. And I think when you're in a situation of layoff, as an example, it's one, get right back on your feet. and begin the process of looking at different opportunities. I can tell you as an example that I even looked, outside of industry.

I love health care and I wouldn't do it, but it gives you a little bit more perspective. I've looked in other countries at opportunities, but I think getting out there and looking around and thinking about what makes you passionate about the work that you do is really important. And I've got to say, Whether there's if there's involuntary termination or if there's a layoff, having a sense of your own self worth is critical because it can feel like, I'm not valued.

you keep moving forward. I think it's really hard sometimes to get up and dust yourself off and keep moving forward. But the end is usually a better place than where you came from. It's usually a great experience to move into a new role where you feel very valued and you know you can make a strong contribution.

And sometimes there's just a lot of other factors at work that make it difficult. Where you came from, and you have to leave that back. If there's lessons learned, that's great. But I think ultimately you keep moving forward. You gotta have some internal and intestinal fortitude to keep moving forward.

And you're going to end up somewhere where you're happier and on the path that in the end is better off. And that's been my experience. And it sounds like that has been yours as well.

Yeah, I think you have to look for the triggers, once you've learned and been through an experience as you're looking at new opportunities, you look for those triggers that you think might interfere with your success or the success of the relationship you would have with that organization.

And, take that seriously.

what they should maybe work on.

We're all in the business of sales in one form or another, whether it's trying to sell a budget or whatever it might be. But you have to do that for yourself too. And I think investing sometimes in, a career coach that can help you.

look at your LinkedIn, look at different ways that you can market yourself to companies that you may be interested in or that have opportunities open. That was something I've never done before, but I've done it recently just to, and I know other people that have done it, regardless of employment status, to really make sure that you have a brand, and that.

So it's a little bit of marketing in there, it's hard, sometimes it's really hard, but having that confidence in yourself. So that's something that I did that I thought was really interesting that I hadn't done before.

And I think it really helped me reflect on the good work that I think I have done, whether it be. Speaking engagements or any number of things, but what are the things as you reflect back that you've done that you need to be really proud of and remember that's important.

I think that's absolutely fabulous advice.

And I honestly did not do a great job of explaining all the things that I had done and to sell myself to your point. And that was a really big, painful aha moment in my career. That is exactly right is engaging someone to help you in the art of selling yourself and interviewing because it is an art, right?

And to your point, the network is also a game changer.

Look we both know, and there's a lot of people out there that are really good at this. even colleagues, that you can talk to and reach out to. We need to stick together, right? And I think it's important that as you look around, you build relationships with people that can even help you with some of that.

There are people that are very introverted. They are not comfortable, feeling like they're bragging, but it's not bragging, depending on how you do this. It's really just about, making sure that people see the best of you. When you're moving forward and you know you still have to be honest about what's happened in the past.

completely agree. So as you were looking for people in your staff and your leaders, what type of characteristics do you believe are most important helping someone in succeeding in their career?

I think, people are in various stages of development. So depending on the level that you're looking for, I think that, you have to first say what is it you need in that role?

Do you need a seasoned person that's going to hit the ground running and move things forward? Is it an opportunity for development? And I certainly do both. And so I think first looking at what do you need at that point in time so that it helps you look for the right fit. And I think that, from my perspective, there are several things anybody that works for me would say.

people around me that are passionate, number one, about the work that we do, because that overcomes a lot of challenges that we all face. So that passion for the work, passion to be part of a team, are really important to me. It's very difficult if somebody wants to be a single contributor in a leadership role.

You know that won't work, right? That's just not how at least in my world that we can operate successfully. So it's the team one kind of concept and being part of that team is really important to me. We all can have differences of opinion. We all come together and make what I think is the right decision.

But they know how to lead others and build relationships with customers. So again sitting on zoom calls in an empty office all day long, every day is not an expectation, right? And being part of the conversation, not just listening and reading emails sometimes, but whatever that might be.

Being, that's something they have to take over the conversation, but they need to contribute. You can't be in a room, in a meeting, or in a session, whatever it might be, and not contribute. Because That's why you're there. It's not there to listen, it's you're there to contribute to the conversation.

So those kinds of traits I really value. There's many others, but those are just examples of some of the things that are important to me.

So when you're in the interview process, how do you pluck those types of things out in determining that who you are hiring has those sorts of qualities?

I immediately know whether there's a connection for some, that I know that they're going to be good as part of the fit for the team because you need all kinds of, personalities to make that successful. So I'm looking for. I'm not going to call it personality, but just a little bit of presence, a little bit of, how they describe things.

So to me, my first round of interview is, you, is there a connection there? Do I think that this would be someone that can contribute? It's not always just about, you can have a long list of experience, about how you're going to fit into the group, because if you have great experience, but can't be part of a team, that's going to be a problem.

I think that's perfectly said. In my experience there's a want to just check a box, right? There's these things that I have to do to move to X position. And it's so much more than that. It's all the things, the soft skills, the behaviors, the traits that people have outside of the skills and, checking the box, so to speak.

So is there anything that comes to mind in the situation to where you helped to coach someone through that to where they had the skills, but they were lacking in one of those qualities that you mentioned and helping them to identify and to grow in a specific way?

Yeah, I've certainly had that.

For example, deliver, but you may be coming across as being very negative and or cynical, so let's talk through those scenarios and see if there's another way that you could communicate that without people thinking that you're being cynical because that will stop move forward.

Cynicism can do that. And we all have a little of that, but I think it's how we communicate it. So there's many examples of that for different things that I think you owe and I want to hear about myself. I'm very open to that either from my own team or from my leader or colleagues across the organization.

Agree. Having a leader who is. Open and honest and provides feedback and an appropriate way is really a blessing. And not everybody has that. And for those that don't, it goes back to your earlier point of finding mentors and coaches who can help you pull those things out and addressing those types of things that are harder to identify yourself and harder to fix and address.

I think for me, very early I learned when you have a lot of growth opportunities. So computer operator or managers or something, say establish yourself as a workhorse. What I mean by that is. stay very engaged, be there. Because when people, you know how it is, you have people and you always give it to one person, you know, you can count on them and they're going to get it done and they're going to work hard to do it.

That we want them to be the business operations manager for surgery, even if you were in IT, those are the people that have a lot of opportunity in their career to move in different directions. But, it means that you've established yourself as a strong person getting things done and it doesn't mean you have to tout your own horn all the time, but people notice.

I think those are the ones I know right now there are people that have been, within Moffitt that people have said this person is just a star, we need to make sure we take care of them and give them opportunities. That's the person I think you want to be when you're starting out.

at least from my perspective, there's no golden ticket, you know it's hard work and you know we've done this It's hard work in many cases and opportunities and knowing when they're here, whether they're in your current organization or a different one, sometimes you have to move to get that opportunity, but your career has to be a priority in terms of how you're planning for that.

Thank you for tuning in to this week's Town Hall. A special thank you to our incredible guests for sharing their insights. Our mission is to transform healthcare, one connection at a time. And these episodes are crafted to bring you perspective straight from the leaders who are reshaping the industry.

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