On October 9th, Angela will serve on the panel “Key Issues for Payers in 2019” at Becker’s Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference. As part of an ongoing series, Becker’s is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place October 9-12, 2019 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Angela’s session, click here.
Question: What is the No. 1 principle you uphold and practice to effectively lead a team?
Angela Breton: Humility- One of the most important traits is knowing what you don’t know. Great leaders enable their teams to perform by challenging the status quo, allowing them to think through their execution and strategy. The further up in leadership you go, the further you get away from the action and need to adapt the ability to see the forest for the trees. Listening to those folks who live in the trees and helping them pull puzzle pieces together, enabling things to “click” and “surface” is an underestimated skill. The best leaders I’ve worked with in the past and present are masters at recognizing strengths and weaknesses not only for their team but themselves. They build dynamic environments and teams.
Q: As a leader, how do you stay connected to the actual work that is being done – and not just by watching others execute, but by executing yourself? If so, how do you balance between leading and executing personally?
AB: I like to think of it like a teeter totter…there needs to be professional give and take. You don’t want to forget where you came from, but you don’t want to forget why you’re in the position you’re in. We all can use reminders from time to time.
Q: What contributes to better conversations between a health system’s financial and clinical leaders?
AB: The leaders need to level set why they’re there in the first place, determine a common mission. If a common mission is shared across the team, engagement and commitment will be front and center, leading to creativity with prudence, which hopefully results in well thought out risks and rewards, focused on a positive patient outcome. With a positive patient outcome, the other pieces have an opportunity to fall into place.
At Becker's 4th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, taking place November 2–5 in Chicago, more than 1,500 hospital and health system executives tackle decisions that determine whether organizations thrive or merely survive: protecting margins under cost pressure, choosing where to grow, renegotiating payer relationships, stabilizing the workforce and proving real ROI on technology. This is where leaders work through them together, face-to-face. Apply for complimentary registration now.
