SpreadLove In Organizations - Healthcare Leadership

If you are looking for inspiration, straightforward and pragmatic advice, this episode is for you! Whether you are an entrepreneur looking to start and scale a business or a healthcare leader looking to have an impact, Monty's authentic perspective will help you see things clearer. His favorite sentence "What the heck do I know" shows his powerful humility as he mentors hundreds of startups. Monty shares insights and guidance on how to build teams as an entrepreneur and build the crucial capabilities of a leader. Hope you will enjoy this open and candid discussion. "Leadership has a moral obligation to help the team grow." MEET OUR GUEST Monty Sharma, serial entrepreneur, Managing Director of MassDiGI. Monty Sharma is a serial entrepreneur, a mentor in several start-up programs, and currently Managing Director of MassDiGI.  Prior to joining MassDiGI, Monty, a respected game industry and technology professional, was co-founder and general manager of Vivox, a voice chat service provider in the games industry with key relationships to EA, Sony, Ubisoft, Nexon, Bigpoint, and many others. Monty advises a number of game companies and is a veteran MassChallenge and MIT Sandbox mentor.

From Brazil to MIT Professor of Accounting awarded multiple times by his students with teaching awards, Rodrigo is more than an accounting expert and teacher, he is an incredible human leader who cares for his people and students. Listen to the best lessons of life learned in kindergarten, and many other inspiring reflections in this episode! "Legacy in life has to be the people... Those you touched." MEET OUR GUEST Rodrigo Verdi Professor of Accounting at MIT Sloan. Prof Rodrigo Verdi joined MIT in 2006 after receiving a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught financial accounting to undergraduate, MBA, EMBA, and PhD students over the last 15 years, and has received five teaching awards at MIT and Sloan. Rodrigo is Senior Editor at the Journal of Accounting Research, and has previously been Editor at The Accounting Review and Associate Editor at Management Science. His research has been published in the premier accounting and finance journals and has also received the Distinguished Contributions and Best Paper Award recognitions by the American Accounting Association. Outside MIT, Rodrigo has served as head of the Governance Committee on the board of the Cambridge Ellis School over the last three years and as Advisor to the Provost at Unisinos University, a Jesuit university in southern Brazil with more than 30 thousand students.

In 1972, an army doctor created the terminology “soft and hard” skills as he saw success resided not only in having people with strong machine operation skills but also in having individuals who could manage and supervise teams, along with other skills. Half a century later the world transformed enough for us as leaders to change the terms! In this episode, Prof Loredana Padurean shares her philosophy on the skills of the 21st century: SMART and SHARP! From "treating people like people", to "love with massive humility", Loredana, the Unapologetically Unconventional Professor, shares her incredible journey, great research stories, and her leadership beliefs, all with a very fresh perspective on the world of today. "The job is easy, the people are not." MEET OUR GUEST Pr. Loredana Padurean Associate Dean at the all-new Asia School of Business. Prof Loredana Padurean Associate Dean at the all-new Asia School of Business, a collaboration between the Central Bank of Malaysia, MIT Sloan, and an International Faculty Fellow at MIT Sloan. Loredana is the Faculty Director for Action Learning and Innovation and Entrepreneurship at ASB. She has been an energizing force behind the establishment of the school. Under her leadership, the Action Learning program at ASB was recognized repeatedly as one of the most innovative programs in the world.  She is an international keynote and TedX speaker. She has taught in various MIT Sloan executive programs, at IMD, as well as in major companies. Prof. Loredana has an MA in Communication and Economics and a PhD in Management from USI Switzerland. Find more about Smart x Sharp and the white paper here.

36 episodes later, we are closing the year and our first season with a unique episode. Going from the principle that everyone has a story worth telling, Jill Donahue hijacked the mic and turned the table... and the host became the guest. "Everyone has a story to tell." MEET OUR GUEST Naji Gehchan or your host for the past 35 episodes.

High capability with low ego is the crucial combination for leaders of the future. It enables putting customers, businesses, purpose, and most importantly the people and the next generation of leaders before oneself. Hear from Prof Elsbeth Johnson on leadership, transformation, and more about the powerful framework she has developed after years of research on how to lead strategic change, and published recently in her great book: Step up and Step Back: How to Really Deliver Strategic Change in Your Organization. "Great good ahead of benefit." MEET OUR GUEST Elsbeth Johnson Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan and expert in leadership, strategy, and change. Dr. Elsbeth Johnson is Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management and an expert on leadership, strategy, and change. The main focus of her research is on what leaders need to do to help their organizations execute strategy, or deliver long-term, strategic change, without the need for the leader’s ongoing, personal involvement. Prior to joining MIT, Elsbeth was taught leadership at London Business School and London School of Economics. Prior to academia, Dr. Johnson worked as an investment banker, a sell-side equity analyst, and a corporate strategist. She also spent three years as a special adviser to the first Blair Government in the UK. As a consultant and executive educator, Elsbeth has worked with a range of companies, helping them develop their strategy and the capabilities and culture that will deliver it.

For our 34th episode, we talked to Enrique Conterno about his remarkable journey. Enrique talks about the importance of taking chances and risks in careers. There is no formula when it comes to building a sustainable business with strong performing teams. It's all about centering and focusing on the common purpose and the key values. Enrique explains the importance of implementing a culture of empowerment in an organization, leading to more accountability, thus teams will genuinely contribute to the success of their organization. Enrique shares with us his vision on leading in moments of crisis - "It is critical to remain true to your value, stick to your north star, otherwise one can get lost". Crisis challenges us on many levels, but it's an opportunity itself if it is framed the right way. It's all a matter of refocusing the priority and staying grounded. When asked about work-life balance, Enrique stresses the importance of time and space to replenish and refresh.  "It's not about tough love, but rather true love." MEET OUR GUEST Enrique Conterno Chief Executive Officer at Fibrogen. A native of Peru, Enrique is a mechanical engineer with an MBA from Duke. He joined Eli Lilly in 1992 and spent the next two decades working in the U.S. and internationally across sales, marketing, finance, business development, and general management roles. Enrique became the President of Lilly Diabetes in 2009. In addition to those responsibilities, he took on the role of President of Lilly USA in January 2017 before retiring at the end of 2019 after 27 years of service with the company. Enrique is now the CEO of Fibrogen. Some great articles Enrique wrote in "Fortune" can be seen here.

Daena Giardella's background is quite unique, she has enjoyed dual careers in business organizational development and in the performing arts for over twenty-five years. She makes an analogy between art and leadership...Because both careers are all about making connections with people and telling the stories that need to be told. Daena gives us her perspective on fostering a safe culture while still being in the hybrid environment missing the human live connections. Today we are at an inflection point, with a strong generational awareness about the psychological dimension of life-work balance and most importantly what to expect from work. Daena's word of wisdom to all leaders out there is to stop and reflect so they can repair and inspire and keep building exceptional things around them. Hope you will enjoy this heartfelt discussion, happy listening! "Find a way to reflect so you can repair and inspire." MEET OUR GUEST Daena Giardella Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a Faculty Affiliate of the MIT Leadership Center. . Daena has been an organizational leadership, teams consultant, and executive coach as well as a media, communication, and presentation consultant for over twenty-five years. Before being a senior lecturer at MIT and teaching numerous amazing courses, Daena has enjoyed dual careers in business organizational development and in the performing arts. She combines these backgrounds to design innovative educational programs for numerous world-class companies, organizations, and academic institutions in the USA and abroad. A fact I learned recently, Daena is also a talented actor who received kudos in the USA and internationally, the Boston Globe has called her an "impressive talent" and she definitely is an impressive talent, an impressive leader, coach, and an amazing person.

From impact as a front-line emergency physician to Chief Impact Officer, Dr. Adam Brown could not stay siloed in a single service line. He always believed in visionary leadership, powered by the trust component to be seen as the trusted voice. Dr. Brown takes us back to the early days of the pandemic talking about the number of deaths that could have been prevented, only if there were more trusted voices out there! We all assume there is health literacy and health illiteracy, whereas there are different types of literacy. When asked about equity, Adam thinks that the concept is still misunderstood; equity is not about equality, because access doesn’t give you usage. To improve health, we need first to acknowledge the problem and identify the drivers of inequities, then start addressing all social determinants. Diversity alone is not the full answer to equality, neither is inclusion nor equity.; we need to have the 3 pieces of those parts to get to a sustainable solution. And this is only the beginning of a long journey! Thank you, Adam, for sharing your vision and genuine belief in the reality of humanity's kindness and altruism.  "Equity is not about equality [...] access does not mean usage." MEET OUR GUEST Dr. Adam Brown Chief Impact Officer at Envision Healthcare. Adam began as a front-line emergency physician with progressive clinical and administrative roles throughout the mid-Atlantic and Midwest, becoming the President of the nation's largest Emergency Medicine practice at Envision Healthcare. During the first waves of the COVID pandemic, he continued to serve as President of Emergency Medicine and was named Chair of the COVID Task Force for all specialties at Envision. That year, the CEO also appointed him to the role as an Executive Sponsor of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). In 2021, he assumed the role of a newly created position at Envision as the Chief Impact Officer and has continued in his roles in the pandemic response and DEI. As an emergency physician and healthcare executive, Adam has a driving passion to improve the lives of patients. Using the skills and influence he's gained as a healthcare business leader and physician, he is expanding his reach to improve the health of millions of lives. His abilities as an outstanding communicator, visionary leader, and strategist position him as a recognized thought leader in the industry and beyond. 

In every possible way, we are all made up of stories that we accept and acknowledge. These stories shape how we see and define ourselves. Growing up in an immigrant family of 8 adopted children, Gayle Grader was perceived as an outsider. This experience was foundational to who she is today and what she wants to achieve in life; “You can be the outsider and look in” Gayle says. By being the outsider girl, she learned the skill of observation and developed a curiosity in people and society.  In this episode, we discussed the common trait of leaders throughout history; answered complex questions, are we born or made leaders? Talked about optionality and how to mute the noise to find the signal and focus on the legacy we want to leave behind. How we arrange the plot points of our story into a narrative, can shape who we are; and to know Gayle’s story is to know her philosophy and life's ultimate purpose: Bringing impact and scale by helping talents unleash their authentic themselves to lead the organization. "Be fully engaged with who you are...accept the peak and valley of your journey." MEET OUR GUEST Gayle Grader Executive Coach and Director of Executive Career Development at MIT Sloan. Gayle Grader is an Executive Career Coach and the Director of Executive Career Development for MIT Sloan. She oversees the Executive Career Development Team and is responsible for setting the programming strategy, delivering career education workshops, and providing one-on-one executive coaching. Before joining Sloan in 2018, she spent 13 years as a strategy consultant and business coach working with wide-ranging companies from Fortune 500 to start-ups. In her early career, before she took a hiatus to start a family, Gayle worked in consulting, investment banking, asset management, and executive search. Gayle has a passion for understanding leadership and how great leaders become the people they are; she can be frequently found reading historical and contemporary biographies building up her perspective on what causes some to become those great leaders who go down in history books.

Reflecting on a personal unfortunate experience, led her to understand the missing piece of the puzzle she was always trying to figure out. Jill Donahue understood early on that articulating the “Why” will only connect you more to the difference you want to make in the world and eventually impact patient outcomes. Jill is an avid reader and will always refer to studies and research to support what she preaches. In this episode, she referred to Daniel Pink, Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose framework, being the key to exceptional performance. Today, we have a greater set of expectations of our leaders that goes beyond delivering bottom-line performance and increasing shareholders' value, because the ripple effect of spreading love and being purpose-driven is key to thriving in any organization. "When you connect with your purpose, things will change for you." MEET OUR GUEST Jill Donahue Author, Speaker, Co-founder Aurora Project, Associate Editor at HS&M Magazine, and Cofounder of Excellerate. Jill Donahue is on a mission to lift pharma! As a global thought leader in pharma, she won multiple awards for her work, author of 2 books (including the award-winning EngageRx: The 3 Keys to Patient-focused Growth), delivering talks at global conferences, publishing in industry journals, and serving pharma teams. When Jill was 35 her father died of an avoidable prescribing error. As a pharma person reflecting on her family’s loss, she pictured the closed door. She, since then, strives to lift Pharma by inspiring our people to be more purpose-driven and enabling them to be more engaged and engaging. She believes in a world where pharma professionals contribute to better patient outcomes and better business outcomes simultaneously. Where they feel proud and can make a difference for themselves, their companies, and most importantly to patients.  Jill is the co-founder and managing director of Excellerate, She also co-founded The Aurora Project; a global volunteer group of thought leaders trying to illuminate commercial pharma’s path to patient centricity. Here's a list of Jill's recommended readings with a summary of her take about each of them. Enjoy! The Infinite Game by Simon SinekThe Culture Code by Daniel CoyleMeaningful Work by Shawn AskinosieEverybody Matters by Bob Chapman and Raj SisodiaIntrinsic Motivation at Work by Kenneth ThomasSelling with a Noble Purpose by Lisa Earle McLeodLeaders Eat Last by Simon SinekGive and Take by Adam GrantTaking People with You by David NovakThe Purpose Economy by Aaron HurstThe Purpose Effect by Dan PontefractTurn this Ship Around by David MarquetGrow by Jim Stengel