Here’s to My Friends…

I am sure I m not the only person, who after a long span of time, meets up with close friends from the past. Last weekend, I met up with five girlfriends from my younger days. We were confidants in those tumultuous teen years and now, some 40 years later, we remain steadfast in our devotion, love and caring for one another. When we were all gathered together, it felt like it was just yesterday that we were all sitting around talking a “mile a minute” and solving the day’s problems. How fortunate I am to have these incredible women in my life. They all share a special place in my heart and in my life’s memories. As the years have passed by, the things that defined and made us uniquely who we were, really hasn’t changed much, and this was so apparent when we were together last weekend. Our habits of years past are still alive and well…and in many ways, perfected. We are who we are from a very young age. I believe your friends “get” that or they move on.

How fun it was to look over our yearbooks and scrapbooks from junior high and high school as we reminisced about old boyfriends, teachers,proms and sporting events. The memories took us right back to those days from the past. All of the saved letters, memorabilia, pictures are l now yellow and tattered, however, were just as important tous all now as they were then. We took the opportunity to consider how our personal life choices have formed the who we are today, and yet, thru it all we have never forgotten how we each leaned and counted on each other to get us through those early, formative days.
Now that we are all getting closer to the next decade of our lives and know we will be looking at new changes and challenges brought on by the passing of time. It is exciting that have so many options in life and how different this is for us than our moms. We see a chance to experience and learn different and interesting things. In some cases, experience what we thought about so many years ago but never had the chance, all worth considering and we know that we can. The best part is that the same friends who were there at the beginning of my career are still with me today, each of us cheering the other on to go for it! What that says to me is that the power of friends, no matter our age, is so important. Friends are part of my essence and have served to form me into the person I am today. I think back to how I used humor, funny antics and personal stories to gain acceptance and trustworthiness from others…not unlike what I do today.

I believe my ability to connect on a personal level with others has so much to do with the lessons I learned early in my life and the willingness of so many friends to accept me for who I was. All of these women are leaders in their own right. We have all, in our own way, made differences in the lives of others.

As I sat listening and talking with my friends, it occurred to me that their caring natures and willingness to accept was key to my choices to take the turn in the road that I did so many years ago. I decided to take risks and luckily most of them have worked out. I learned from the decisions that didn’t work as well, and have used lessons learned later. I think leadership styles and how it is related to close friendships would be worth further studying. I know that nurturing friendships does impact our overall happiness and contentment ratios. We know that those attributes have shown to impact how we interact with others and care about them, too. To this end, I make a toast to friends!! As I move closer to celebrating a new next decade, it will be made sweeter and somehow easier knowing I am sharing it with so many great friends!!!

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Harnessing the Power of Women Leaders

I attended the annual Women Leading Healthcare (WBL.org) conference recently and, as per usual, was energized by the sheer breadth and depth of the knowledge and experience of the women who attend.  The women come from diverse backgrounds from their educational training and work experience and how they have each leveraged these to make a difference in the delivery of health care for millions by the work they do each and every day.  That may sound farfetched, however, it is true.  The women leaders who attend include scientists, medical doctors, marketing wizards, operations experts, business gurus , financial experts, investment bankers, investors,  psychologists , business owners, manufacturing experts, human resource experts, professors, attorneys,  nurses, technology wizards, health plan executives,  inventors and more.  Their companies range from small to mega size in revenue and employees.  With all this brain power in a room for two days, it is no wonder that I came away realizing how women are making a significant difference in every aspect of health care.  It is also clear that the word “caring” is a common theme and what binds us together as leaders.  By and large, women in leadership roles in healthcare really care about the patients and families they serve.  Many realize that the reason for doing what they do each and every day is because they believe in making a difference in the lives of others in their own special way.  That to me is amazing!  For the same reason I started my blog, care2lead, I know women in healthcare do care about leading and have proven track records of leading well and right.  It is important to harness this special commitment by the thousands of women who make up the power behind this force we call “the WBL” by highlighting a focus on how board diversification is needed in every organization. Through our WBL network, we provide companies access to women leaders who are ready to serve, be accountable for making their voice heard, and provide the knowledge and experience that counts in all board rooms.  The WBL’s founding president, Lynn Shapiro Snyder, co-authored Answering the Call: Understanding the Duties, Risks, and Rewards of Corporate Governance with Robert D. Reif.  This insightful text dives deep into the duties, risks and rewards of corporate governance.  The book is in now in its fourth edition and has served as a great resource to many of us wanting to extend our reach into corporate board rooms.  Women leaders bring a rich perspective and need to have a seat at the corporate board table.  Women leaders possess the experience and motivation to make a positive difference in the companies they serve through a commitment and engagement of time and service.  My hope is that we see the needle move faster than it has in years past and the “lip service”of inclusion that has been given to many women will become a reality.  I believe this will be obvious by the percentage of women appointed to corporate boards within the next three years.  As leaders, who just happen to be women, it is time to see this goal realized.  It isn’t complicated or full of angst and agendas.  It is however, the right thing to do if corporations are looking to be all they can be.  Gender and race diversity on all boards has proven to deliver positive results.  I have come to recognize that women leaders have passion to be a part of something bigger than them and bring a special focus to make a difference in the lives of others.  Healthcare is a huge cost for every business and women leaders have a breadth of knowledge to willing takers.  I know we are leaders who care to do right things right.  And, YES, we are ready to serve.  Hopefully we get the opportunity to demonstrate these abilities sooner than later.  The time is now… and the time is RIGHT!!

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Driven to make a difference…

I was inspired recently by the words and actions of a man who, through life circumstances and his personal journey, will change for the better how we care for those suffering with chronic diseases.  The idea that was eventually created all started because his brother was diagnosed in his late 20’s with ALS, a disease that has no cure and, over a period of time, sucks the life out of its victims.  You could see how this could not only change one’s perspective, but how it changed him was a gift not only to his brother and his family but to thousands of others.  How did he do this?  He took action and made a difference not only while his brother was alive but also after his death.  His brother and family, like so many others suffering with chronic illnesses, were frustrated by the lack of coordinated care being provided.  Three highly educated men, all graduates from the Engineering School at MIT decided to do something positive to change this.  As they went about the business of living day to day with the realities of a debilitating disease, he and his brothers found innovative ways to improve the quality of life for the brother with ALS and his family.  They rebuilt wheelchairs , improved the mechanisms he used to communicate and found ways to have fun and live life as it was, each and every day until his death.  He left behind two beautiful children and a young wife.  During his journey, the family decided to do something more.  They produced a documentary of his life to show others suffering with debilitating diseases how they could live with dignity.  With no holds barred, they covered everything from traveling, driving, bathing, eating, communicating and playing with his children to being intimate with his wife.  Then they shared what worked and didn’t, including the drugs that did and didn’t help.  What a gift to so many.  After his death, his brother Jamie Heywood, decided to develop a way to share the knowledge they accumulated with others.  With an engineer’s mindset and a compassion and love for his brother, he created a website called www.patientslikeme.com.  With this launch, he has begun to change the way many think about caring for patients.  The website offers to patients and families a way to match what they are experiencing with others just like them.  This site, in my humble opinion, has the opportunity to change the world …REALLY!!  Those who care for others who suffer with life threatening chronic disease can now actively participate in finding ways to improve their quality of life…in all ways, physically, psychologically, functionally and financially.  I say this because the site provides one the opportunity to share every aspect of their care needs, anything that touches them and how they manage day to day.  How many times have we seen patients put on drugs that didn’t work or didn’t know if they did or not, but continued to take out of fear more than knowledge? The website has algorithms imbedded behind the scenes that will graph and trend out many different items that impact one’s life daily.  Anyone who suffers with a chronic disease knows all too well the cycle of drug trials…not just prescription, but over the counter medications, too.  How cool is it that they are using the information provided by others to offer real experience data that provides options someone just like you has found to be effective and maybe less costly, too.  Obviously there are some in “the establishment” who aren’t as excited about this website.  They see it as a threat that could potentially impact their bottom lines if this takes off and more patients and families hear of this and realize its value.  I love that this idea sprung from a response to a need that is more than individual but global.  It is creative and innovative.  It has potential to change the way we care for those in need and most importantly it can change the life of a patient and their family.  How great is that?  I hope anyone who reads my blog will pay this forward and tell as many others as you can to visit this site.  In my mind this is a perfect way to lead.  Care2Lead is all about taking the time to do just that.  We all can make a difference in the world some just do it in a bigger way.  I applaud that Jamie made lemonade out of a lemon situation and that his brother and brave family were willing to share the intimacies of their lives in order to help others.  What better gift is there than that of unconditional generosity in the name of care!

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