Live Mentoring Monday Session – Watch Now
Lisa-Jean Clifford, COO and Chief Strategy Officer at Gestalt Diagnostics discussion with Mark Tuthill, MD, Pathology, Clinical Informatics, Pathology Senior Staff at Henry Ford Health
Discussion Highlights:
“It’s important to have good mentoring with people with good project management skills. We look to our vendor partners because this is what they specialize in. Although the technical side might not be as deep, the ways in which they can bring people together is a skill to learn. When people are managing the project, beware; if they are managing people, take note. Pay attention to how successful project managers manage their teams by drawing on individual skills and working to bring people together to execute large collaborative tasks.”
Q: How do you balance short-term pressures with long-term vision? As an individual and as your organization?
A: Walk before you run – short term wins lead to long-term success, with long-term success in mind. If you want to build a mulit-million dollar program – start small, get people involved, demonstrate results and develop relationships with people in C-suite because that will all bear fruit. It takes a community to bring all of this together and you need a cohort that has your back.
Q: How do you suggest development of many of the ‘soft skills’ e.g. personnel management, knowing how and when to integrate different players, integrating stakeholders, etc.?
A: It’s about communication, developing people and their skills, always looking to grow them up. I go back to the “Seven Habits of Highly successful People” (Steven Covey) and “Leading Change” (John Kotter) should be mentioned here as well.
Q: What’s the most unconventional leadership advice you’ve received and how has it impacted your leadership style?
A: Never do what you don’t love. Keep your mouth shut – haha. Listening and watching are the most important skills you have and if you have a point, make sure you make it from a considered fashion. Don’t be a lark if you’re an owl; don’t be an owl if you’re a lark.
