SpreadLove In Organizations - Healthcare Leadership

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

It is our responsibility as leaders to build fearless organizations. Organizations with low interpersonal fear for our people to be willing to speak-up their ideas, their beliefs, their thoughts, their experiments, their doubts, and team-up with one another for the greater good: it is not about me but about us. I had the immense pleasure to chat with Prof Amy Edmondson who pioneered work on psychological safety in organizations and its importance in leading successful teams. Enjoy the practical advice and words of wisdom in this special episode. "Love is an invisible force that keeps us going." MEET OUR GUEST Amy Edmondson, Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School. She teaches, writes, and "ruminates" (as she says) on organizational learning, psychological safety, leadership, and teaming. Edmondson is one of the most renowned thought leaders who won multiple awards and published the best book we've read. Her most recent book, "Fearless Organizations: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth" is a must - not only to read - but a must to learn and do in our organizations. Her prior books – Teaming: How organizations learn, innovate and compete in the knowledge economy, Teaming to Innovate, and Extreme Teaming – explore teamwork in dynamic organizational environments. In Building the future: Big teaming for audacious innovation, she examines the challenges and opportunities of teaming across industries to build smart cities. We will let you enjoy listening to this episode, and promise you to experience Edmondson's impact on many of us leaders trying to make the world we all inhabit a better place.

“Integrity is the highest value that I have” Panos Alexakos summarizes in these words the purest version of leadership. You are not meant to be perfect, do not be afraid to talk about where you come from, your journey…and always make sure to check on the fire within you. Panos experience and reflections on his journey are so powerful and humbling. Fear keeps us human, and it is ok to show our vulnerability… Building a speak-up culture is more than ever what we need for us to navigate through all the crossroads that we come across in life. "Never let your hands shame your face." MEET OUR GUEST Panos Alexakos, Head of Integrity & Compliance Novartis Pharmaceuticals European Region. Panos Alexakos was appointed Head of Integrity and Compliance, Region Europe, Pharmaceuticals, in July 2018. He was previously Head of Central and Eastern Europe. Panos has been with Novartis for over 20 years and has worked in senior leadership roles in Greece, Germany, the UK and in Switzerland. Panos brings with him experience from Oncology, Specialty and Primary Care and also the Consumer Health Division. In his role, Panos partners with the rest of the business to build the leading ethical pharmaceutical company in the world. Panos holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Media Communications and a Masters of Business Administration. Between receiving his MBA and joining Novartis, he served as an Officer in the Hellenic Military Air Force, and held Sales and Marketing positions with Johnson & Johnson Greece. Panos was born in Athens, Greece and currently resides in Basel, Switzerland. When not working and not spending time with his family Panos enjoys participating in endurance events.

Chatting with a leader whose passion and purpose is to develop innovative principled leaders has a special taste! This is what Johanna Hising DiFabio, Assistant Dean Sloan Fellows MBA and Executive MBA at MIT thrive for! Johanna's inspiring personal story moving from her home country Sweden, to growing up in different European countries, then coming to the US to pursue her education, her personal experience with healthcare, and her passion for people, bring a different cultural lens of how communities come together to learn, both from their similarities and differences. Johanna is an incredibly inspiring leader fostering this lens of diversity and her leadership beliefs through the programs she leads at MIT, impacting hundreds of leaders joining those programs every year striving to invent the future. "Have the courage to speak your opinion and truth." MEET OUR GUEST Johanna Hising DiFabio Assistant Dean, Sloan Fellows MBA & Executive MBA at MIT Sloan. Johanna leads all aspects of the Sloan Fellows MBA & Executive MBA programs at MIT Sloan by collaborating with faculty on the development of innovative curricula; co-working with global organizations on action learning labs to help them meet pressing strategic issues; and, with us, students to create a learning environment that is second-to-none in terms of the personal development and career enhancement. Johanna is passionate about leadership and leadership development and that is why she joined MIT a decade ago. There is no better place for that and it is reflected in MIT Sloan’s mission: “to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and to generate ideas that advance management practice.”

In this special episode, you'll hear from a serial entrepreneur who successfully sold one of his companies to Apple and is now dedicating his life to helping people achieve their own goals of imagination by "removing the dragons to human subjective progress". He is now co-founder and "dreamer" of Love & Magic Company working with leaders and organizations on "magic" to turn potential into reality, putting structure in their imagination, making electricity, and bringing potential to life. "Every uniqueness is a part of the human tapestry." MEET OUR GUEST Chinedu Echeruo a serial entrepreneur who has dared to invent the future. Chinedu believes that individuals, empowered by imagination and inspiration, can solve virtually any problem. He dared to invent the future starting in 2005, when he founded HopStop, the pioneering travel app that helped millions of users navigate public transportation in major metropolitan areas around the world that Apple acquired in 2013. Chinedu also founded Tripology, a lead-generation and referral business for the travel industry. Tripology was acquired by Rand McNally and now owned by USA Today. Chinedu cofounded "Love & Magic Company" to co-build beloved organizations with innovative partners. Prior to completing his MBA, Chinedu spent several years at J.P Morgan Chase where he was involved in a broad range of M&A, financing, and private equity transactions. Chinedu has been featured in multiple media, including and is committed to making the world a better, more cohesive place through the free flow of information.

From growing up in South Africa, in the apartheid era, to his early years in medical school, before moving to Canada and then the US, Barry Stein’s story and vision of the world is so humbling. Aware of the privilege he had in South Africa, Barry understood early on that you must develop a capacity of change management to change paradigm fixed in the mindset not only of a community but sometimes globally. In this episode we covered the aspects of innovation and entrepreneurship, being the catalyst and frameworks to solve problems in healthcare and accelerate new ideas for sustainable positive impact. When asked about change, Barry’s advice was to forget about interpersonal issues, surround yourself with people with talents, forget about the persona sitting around the table and focus on the mission and the vision that excites the group…. this is where the magic happens. "You feel loved when you feel heard" MEET OUR GUEST Dr Barry Stein, Chief Clinical Innovation Officer and Chief Medical Informatics Officer for Hartford HealthCare (HHC). Barry Stein, MD MBA FSIR FACR RPVI, is the Chief Clinical Innovation Officer and Chief Medical Informatics Officer for Hartford HealthCare (HHC) where he also practices as a Vascular and Interventional Radiologist and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He has held numerous leadership positions including Chief Imaging Informatics Officer at HHC, Vice Chair of Radiology, Chief of Cardiovascular MRI & CT, and Director of the Advanced Imaging and Quantitative Analysis Core Laboratory at Hartford Hospital. Barry graduated with his executive MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. He received his post graduate medical training at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, where he did his Radiology residency, served as Chief Resident, and completed fellowships in MRI and Vascular & Interventional Radiology. He received his medical degree from the University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa. Barry is board certified by the American Board of Radiology in Diagnostic Radiology and Vascular and Interventional Radiology and is a fellow of both the Society of Interventional Radiology and American College of Radiology. He is a recognized expert in cardiovascular MRI and CT and was one of the pioneers in Magnetic Resonance Angiography. Barry continues to remain engaged at MIT serving on the Sloan Alumni Board, participating as an invited lecturer in courses on Innovation as well as Quantitative and Qualitative approaches to leadership, is a mentor for LinQ programs in the MIT Institute for Medical Engineering & Science, a host to students from the MIT Initiative for Health Systems Innovation, as well as a co-principal investigator conducting clinical and operational heath systems analytics research in collaboration with Sloan faculty at HHC. Barry is currently focused on leveraging technology, and building a differentiated healthcare Innovation ecosystem at HHC, to accelerate clinical transformation.

In today's episode, we get to sit with Julie Rachline, CEO at LallianSe. We will deep dive into Julie's experience as an entrepreneur living by a very genuine motto: Be an opportunity for others! Taking us through her personal journey, and learnings on choosing people over projects, simply because good people lead to great projects and generate outstanding impact.  "Be an opportunity for others." MEET OUR GUEST Julie Rachline Founder and Chief Executive Officer at LallianSe since 2015. PhD in Neuropharmacology and ESCP Business School Alumni, Julie Rachline is a serial entrepreneur and former VC driven by passion for innovation and science. With more than a decade of experience as an early- stage and growth capital investor in France and Europe combined with two years as a head-hunter, she founded LallianSe in 2015 and is the Integrator’s CEO since. LallianSe integrator builds the foundations for better health by relying on the LallianSe community of Experts, which offers outsourced management of key responsibilities to steer operations towards success as well as hospital immersion, with coworking spaces combined with dedicated events for innovation in healthcare. Julie is also co-founder and CEO of Braintale, leader of Invest Health, the commercial affiliate of EIT Health , evaluator for the European Commission with EIC programs and independent board member of DTA Medical, Virdis and TechToMed.

"Be brave, and show your voice to the world." "All children are born artists" but how to remain artists as we grow up?  Do not put a ceiling on what you think, just like kids, do not be frightened to be wrong. Pause and focus on your inner WHY, What aspires you? What kind of footprint do you want to leave behind... Let's take 5min out of our busy schedules to pause and enjoy a mindful moment. Thank you Andrea for always reminding us what really matters!