This transcription is provided by artificial intelligence. We believe in technology but understand that even the smartest robots can sometimes get speech recognition wrong.

Today on Town Hall

the reason I kept getting tapped was because she knew I had someone that I was growing that would easily be able to step in.

It was a win for me to allow me some opportunities, but it was also a win for my team member to be able to step into a growth opportunity.

My name is Bill Russell. I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system and creator of This Week Health.

Where we are dedicated to transforming healthcare, one connection at a time. Our town hall show is designed to bring insights from practitioners and leaders. on the front lines of healthcare.

Today's episode is sponsored by Meditech and Doctor First .

Alright, let's jump right into today's episode.

  Welcome to our This Week Health Town Hall episode, live from Atlanta, where we kicked off the third year of SOAR in partnership with Bluebird Leaders and This Week Health. Today is absolutely incredible. We really got to hear from so many luminaries in our industry, and really specifically about the journeys And the relationships that it takes to get where you are in your career.

And what was most notable throughout today is knowing that, while it can be lonely on the journey, especially lonely at the top, when you surround yourself with friends and people who want to sponsor you and mentor you and be a part of your life every single day, You literally get the embodiment of what you're seeing right now in front of you, which is the five of us who have spent the greater part of our careers and lives together over the last decade plus, and I'm just grateful to be here with all of them.

So I'd love to start with you, Erica. Introduce yourself and also share some of your thoughts from today.

Sure, my name is Erica Williams. I am a regional technology officer for Ascension in Texas and have been in health care my entire 25 ish year career. That number's only getting bigger. But what I got from today is we, several of the speakers spoke about where they and how they got to where they are.

And it's not a smooth journey all the time. Well, it's never a smooth journey. I know personally there's been a lot of green lights, a lot of red lights, and it has taken a village and, in order to help me get through it. And I think it's important for people to know and to be reminded that what we see at the top of the iceberg is just kind of the pretty picture of all of the really hard work and difficult trials and tribulations that it takes to get where you are at that moment.

That's

a great point. Carla, you shared some thoughts earlier as well, especially from the first speaker this morning. What's been top of mind for you? Yeah.

Oh so she talked about who was your first role model. And because we'll all have role models in our lives that impact us and impacted us at the beginning of our career.

And it wasn't necessarily us. It was like, I mean, for me, it was my mom and my aunt and my grandma. then from there, what do you take from them and you continue to build upon? And so, that's something that I always remember. It's like, who are you? Who was your, the first impression that you had from whom that you wanted to be, like or follow or continue the legacy?

That was one thing. The other thing that I learned is there's a bunch of women that are extremely successful And it's not really about the title that they have, it's about the being a leader without necessarily being a, like I'm a CIO or a CEO or whatever.

Or no, it doesn't matter what title you have, it's mostly about when you have the opportunity to step up to the play and be a leader, whether it's with your friends or with your colleagues or at work community church. You just have to do that. And also, extremely important to know that you don't have to be the leader all the time.

Sometimes you have to let somebody else lead you. Just need to be aware on when a leader is needed, and then just take on those moments and make sure that you, again, that you step up to the plate and help your friends or whoever needs you. Yeah, a lot of content.

I loved the points that were made of, I'm Erica, I'm not, my title.

So I get to know who I am versus what my title says I

am. Now Gretchen, you have really done so much work on your career and your life. You've had so many fascinating roles. And you consistently reinvent yourself. And when Erica's talking about, hey, I'm my name, I'm not my name. I'm not my brand all of the time.

What are some of the experiences you've had? Every time you go to reInvent, what have been some of the guiding principles for you?

That's a great question, and one that I'll share a story first, and then I'll get back to this, but when I first walked into the social event we had last night to kick off this event, one of the things I recognized most was I looked around This beautiful setting, this group of women, this amazing group of women that we're here with.

And I realized that I know women here, and I've known a lot of you for a long time, from so many different aspects and phases and eras of my career. From professional organizations to different organizations where I've served in a leadership role to just, different organizations and activities we've done together.

And I think it was just a moment that I had to stand back and say, wow, you know, this is, this is an amazing group that's now come together. And that's the power of what Rebecca has brought to Bluebird leaders and the SOAR conference. So I wanted to definitely share that. But one thing that is related and it rings true for all of the different roles that I've played from being on the provider side to being the vendor partner side to associations is I've always had this group of women and men, we have our men partners here too to lean on and to talk about this is a move I'm looking to make.

What do you think? This is what I'm thinking as far as enriching my career and my professional path. Let me bounce an idea off of you. I think this would be a great thing for us to collaborate on. And that is something that has just been a constant throughout my entire career.

And it's been a staple that you continue to share forward with us, too.

Every time I talk to you, I'm like, I walk away inspired. Now, Kendall, we became friends in one of the toughest scenarios I will have ever faced in my entire career. And meeting you literally probably saved my career and my life in that moment. And that was over a decade ago. And we've been together ever since.

And that's so powerful. What has stood out for you today?

I would not be where I am today without my support system, whether it be a woman or a man. Mentors, advocates, coaches, it's instrumental into your career. You can't be fearless without support. And I very early in my career, I was a beta for a mentee mentor program.

Sheila Smith was my mentor and also putting your neck out on the line and asking for help when you need help. And I asked Sheila, I need friends in my industry. And I was very young in my career. She introduced me to Sheree McFarland. She introduced me to you because you needed. Some services that I was selling at the time.

So, everything aligned at the right time. But I wouldn't be here at this event if it wasn't for Gretchen. And having a support system is vital. I have recently started a mentor mentee program through my local chapter of HEMS. And we are now on the third year of offering it and it is my passion to make sure that sustains.

We are about to kick off the third year program. And it's 25 pairs of mentors and mentees from C level to students. And hearing the accolades that come back to you is better than any commission check or any monetary award that I have ever been given. And knowing that is your legacy and knowing that is what you're paying forward and leaving behind means more to you than any, anything else.

And It is really humbling to hear. And that's what it's all about. It's not always what you know, it's who you know.

  📍 📍

  📍 📍 📍 📍 📍 📍 Hey everyone, Drex DeFord here, and we have an exciting webinar on October 22nd at 1 p. m. Eastern. It's sponsored by CrowdStrike and AWS. 📍 We're diving into building a resilient healthcare system, cloud security strategies for today. With cloud 📍 breaches up 75 percent over the last year, healthcare systems can't afford to rely on outdated defenses.

So join us as industry experts share practical strategies to strengthen your cloud security posture and adopt zero trust and boost operational resilience. Don't miss it. Register now at thisweekhelp. com slash cloud security. That's thisweekhelp. com slash cloud dash security.

  📍 📍

  📍 Another key theme has been about having sponsors and succession plans. And we've been talking about that through mentorship programs, et cetera. What's a great story that you can share about that in your career?

I'll share a conversation that I had last night. I was talking with another former CIO, and the topic of planning for your successors, I brought up that I believe it is Our duty to do that. I wanna be able to, it's been my philosophy that I wanna be able to have a team around me who, if I were to step outta that role, they can easily pick it up.

There's not gonna be panic, there's not going to be a lot of worry that these people are gonna be prepared to step into that role. So I, I believe it's our. Our responsibility to build those leaders up.

Yeah, it's your duty as a part of being a leader and accepting that presidential role of whatever to immediately start looking for someone to backfill you.

Otherwise You

know, something that Erika and I were talking earlier, it was about you always want to bring your team, and you know, somebody that will, that will take over your role once you decide to do something different. And I was just sharing with her that, and I listened to somebody that was in the room, and she was talking about somebody gave her the opportunity.

even though she has been overlooked many times, into taking to her next role. And it just made me think that in my current work environment or my current role, I've been looking for somebody that I can mentor and train. And I've been always thinking, you know, I want to bring that person from the outside that can help me.

It'll be a lot easier and faster. And we just can't do that at this point. And I started, poking and looking and there's this guy that has been working there for a while and he's super excited to learn and I'm like, oh my god, he'll be perfect. And so, I'm gonna do my best for him to, to learn and to, to provide him with an opportunity to, to grow and And so again, I guess the lesson is, like, we need to take a look into who's in there that has been overlooked, especially when we take into new roles, into a new organization, and give opportunities to people that have been there, that just for some reason haven't been given that opportunity.

Yeah, it's a win for both. and the person that you're bringing up. I, in one organization I was there for ten years, I had five different roles. And the reason I kept getting tapped was because it was easy for my leader to know she knew I had someone that I was grooming and growing that would easily be able to step in.

So it was not going to be hard for me to move into another role because there was no worry about, that being vacant, that it was obvious who would be a good fit to step in. So it was a win for me to allow me some opportunities, but it was also a win for my team member to be able to step into a growth opportunity.

And my mentor has always said that she's learning from me too, so it's a two week, it's a two way street. It's not just always teaching, it's your learning as part of that relationship too.

Every time we get to go to conferences, and this is the first time I've been to SOAR, and I feel so energized by it, because for all of the themes and stories and things you represent throughout our industry and our careers, this is the first time I've been with women in IT at this level of volume of people that are all just having such a good time, sharing real life stories, sharing conversations, and even to your point last night, Gretchen, you walk into this beautiful rooftop setting and you're like, And everyone's taking pictures and swapping phone numbers and thinking about how they can stay connected because the five of us don't live close together.

This may be one of the only one or two times we see each other this year. And so when you think about how you create community and how you stay in touch with the people that are important to you in your career, What are some of the best ways that you have found?

Well, sometimes you have to do it on your own.

I'm representing myself here today. My employer did not send me here. I'm using points and hard earned money to be here because it's an opportunity for professional development and investing in yourself is critical.

That's true. I also, while my, the organizations I've been with throughout my career have been, have different ways of professional development, these types of external opportunities were not ones that were funded.

So it is a, an investment in myself as well. So it's really important.

I think that's a great point of, and a theme that I'm hearing today throughout this first day of the conference is IRIS. The importance of investing in ourselves, whether it's coming to a conference on our own expenses, or investing in self care, or making time for ourselves, I think that, is bringing in a lot of the different sessions that I heard today, that we have to make time to invest in ourselves.

Because it's going to make us better leaders. It's going to make us, better in a position to inspire others.

And more authentic.

And more authentic. That's another key thing. Absolutely.

And it's our responsibility to look out for ourselves. Yes. And do what we can for ourselves.

I was going to say, you have to be intentional about looking for those opportunities.

So they're not always going to come to you. You have to look. Just Blast to have each other and pull each other into, opportunities, but, if you know of someone, it's like, hey, there's this event, you should join us because it'll benefit you.

So just pay it forward, spread the word and we'll just make it a bigger, better group.

And I think there's a lot of that happening here. I know I've reached out to several of you, like, Hey, are you going to this? Are you going to that? So, yeah, just checking in to see who's going to be there.

The powerful thing that kicked us off today with Paula was her saying that we always believe we have a little bit more left in the tank.

That if you're a wife or a mom or whatever your responsibilities are, you're probably the last one to eat, you're the last one to bed, and even if you are on your own, you're still always giving those pieces away to other people. How do you recharge? How do you know when it's time to take a pause? Give yourself some time to recharge and what are some of the ways that you like to do that?

Scuba diving for me. Go underwater and you can't deal with phones and people or talk. But yeah, it's therapeutic for me. But yeah, self care Sunday too. Facials, bathtub.

I think you have to make it part of your routine, like your daily life. Like self care it's not only your body but your mind, your soul.

You have to be healthy, you have to make sure that you I mean, it's not, resiliency is not about like a one day thing, it's just always checking in, making sure that What went right and what didn't, what went wrong and then acknowledging those things and moving on and accepting it and learning from those lessons.

If we're not learning, we're not progressing and we're not evolving. And so it's just like keeping track of all those things that happen in your life and just keeping You know, I just recently talked about that and just keep focused and visualize what you want and where you're going and just don't let those things bring you down because it's always going to happen.

And that's what's so important to have your friends and your family because you can lean on them. It's like, I'm having a very crappy day today and it's like, it's going to be fine. And you know, it's just a point in time. It will pass. You'll be fine. But, it's hard in the moment. So you really have to be conscious about keeping in mind, it's like, yeah, you know, this day was a crappy day, but tomorrow will be better.

It's just a point in time and, go and run or, I mean, you can't scuba dive every day, but I'm sure you have other ways of doing things. And so it's super important to, have a routine that knows it's going to get you out of that mindset.

I think it's important to have non negotiables as well.

That's what worked for me years ago. I wasn't always, It's the best at balance and learn some things over the years and definitely have some non negotiables like exercise has to happen. I'm not saying it's every day, but I don't let too much time go by. Even on days when I can't really go to the gym or do anything strenuous like that it's a walk.

It's walking my dog more. It's gentle yoga in the office between meetings. So that's one way that I've done it. It's just It's non negotiable.

It's okay to invest in yourself and it's required. I think there's a lot of guilt there from spending time, especially with young kids and having a family and work and everything else to take the time and make the time to invest in yourself because you need to be healthy in order to care for others.

I think that's an important part. And today there was also a quote, decide the decide. And how you need to make sure that you're keeping promises to yourself. I'm going to do this, and do it. Know your wants.

Yeah,

that was something

else that I spoke to today.

The last thing I want to ask you all about is, we've got one more day at the conference, but then we all just disperse. We all go all of our own ways. How do you want to stay in touch with the new people that you've met? What are some relationships? Because people will walk up to you because they see you as confident and successful.

And there's a lot of young careerists here. How can you continue to stay connected to them and that person who reached out to you? Make sure that you're making a difference in their lives also.

That's the hard part, right? And having to be intentional about it. And honestly, for me, better about it.

I during COVID when you couldn't be face to face and have interactions with one another we were self reliant on and phone calls, right?

So I started Coffee with Kindles, and they started trending, and they're still happening. But you have to make time to reconnect with your family, your peers, your network, your mentors. If not those relationships will slightly dissolve. Which is another reason why I'm investing in me being here physically for this event.

A lot of my peers and advocates are here. So, it's important to keep those relationships vital.

I believe that you know, there's a bunch of people that we're going to meet, but if you can just pick five people and say, I'm going to stay connected with those five, it makes it easier. And so that's what I'm doing.

I'm like, I'm literally. Picking their number and sending them, a text. Also, some of them I feel like will be a perfect fit for our town halls. And so that makes it easier. So I'm like, Ooh, I would love to interview for a town hall. And that's always a great opportunity to connect with me and get to know me for people a little better.

And so it's a good excuse for me. And I just, Just, you know, just love to learn, but I guess just pick five people versus the whole room, or three, or two, or one. then just be intentional about keeping that relationship. And one at a time, your circle continues to grow, so.

And I would say even simple group text messages after some of these events help to keep everybody connected.

I went on the Aruba trip this past year, and several of us, I think all but one are here, so even last night we took a group photo and we dug up the group text, which we have used, at different points. That was in April, so we have reached out to each other and stayed in touch with each other, so I know that's A little less personal, but it's easy for everybody to stay in touch that way.

Never debate on the power of a group text. Because you can have that crummy day that Carla was talking about, and then something just hilarious pops up. You're like, that is so necessary right now in my life. And especially when we're feeling our best, we've given ourselves the opportunity To recharge, to invest in our own time, to feel good.

In those moments, I'll always try to reach out to a couple of people and say, How are you? I haven't seen you in a while. I haven't heard from you. Or if you know you have friends going through something tough, and there's a couple of my very close friends here who've had family events recently, and I'm like, Are you okay?

Because they're taking care of spouses and parents, and that's where we get squeezed in the middle as well. And so, just say, How are you? Are you okay today? Microsoft It makes all the difference in somebody's world. So, thank you so much for being at SOAR, for supporting Rebecca and Bluebird Leaders for being a part of this week's health.

We are grateful for all of our community to continue to build. Also grateful for all of your friendships. Super lucky and I think this time even together tonight, we go out to the evening event and you think of all the just camaraderie and joy and connectedness we will spread throughout that room tonight.

Okay? Thanks for listening. That's all for now.

  📍 📍 📍 Thanks for listening to this week's Town Hall. A big thanks to our hosts and content creators. We really couldn't do it without them. We hope that you're going to share this podcast with a peer or a friend. It's a great chance to discuss and even establish a mentoring relationship along the way.

One way you can support the show is to subscribe and leave us a rating. That would be really appreciated.

Special Thanks to today's episode sponsors Meditech and Doctor First

Check them out at thisweekhealth. com slash partners. Thanks for listening. That's all for now..