Culture Change RX

Send us a Message Hospital leaders want employees to speak up and share ideas. But when employees share a suggestion and never hear what happened, they may start asking, “Why bother?” In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff talks with Karin Hurt, founder and CEO of Let's Grow Leaders and co-author of Courageous Cultures , about psychological safety at work and why an open-door pol...

Send us a Message In this solo episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff explores two things nearly every hospital executive wants—but can't simply buy: strong employee morale and an outstanding community reputation. Sue examines the powerful connection between what employees experience inside the organization and what patients, families, and community members believe about it. She explains...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff is joined by Heather Mallette, founder of The Decision Line, for a practical conversation about executive decision-making in the age of artificial intelligence. Drawing on more than 20 years of human resources and leadership experience, Heather introduces the concept of the judgment gap and explores how healthcare executives can...

Send us a Message Your leaders care deeply and work hard but are their efforts producing the results your organization needs? In this episode, Sue Tetzlaff shares a replay recording from a recent national webinar that overviewed Capstone’s five-step approach to move from leadership by default to leadership by design, with clear practices, intentional development, and onboarding that sets new leade...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff is joined by Capstone Transformation Coach Julie Conissette for a practical conversation about getting more value from employee engagement surveys. Sue and Julie discuss how to improve participation, protect trust and confidentiality, identify the right priorities, involve leaders and employee-driven teams, and most importantly,...

Send us a Message In this solo Culture Byte episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff challenges healthcare executives to consider an uncomfortable question: When a capable person struggles in a management role, what responsibility does the organization have for that result? Because promoting a great employee doesn't automatically create a great leader. Leadership requires an entirely differ...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff is joined by Capstone Chief Transformation Officer Courtney Kloehn for a practical conversation about moving from strategic clarity to execution certainty. Drawing from content developed for Capstone's annual Healthcare Executive Forum, Courtney and Sue discuss the alignment, leadership ownership, and organizational systems...

Send us a Message In this solo Culture Byte episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff explores the power of praise and why intentional positive feedback is an essential leadership tool for elevating behavior, performance, relationships, and workplace culture. Through several real-life leadership stories, Sue demonstrates why praise shouldn't be reserved for exceptional performance—and why s...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff welcomes Rodney Johnson, DHA, founder and owner of The Practice Society, for a conversation about practical innovation in healthcare, and one creative solution designed to better align an organization's largest expense with the timing of its revenue. Rodney introduces Workforce Rx, an approach that combines payroll processi...

Send us a Message Most communication breakdowns aren't communication problems. They're system problems. In this Culture Byte episode, Sue Tetzlaff breaks down the difference between push and pull communication, and why so many teams stay stuck waiting for information instead of actively seeking it. She unpacks how a simple, predictable communication rhythm changes the experience for ever...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff is joined by Capstone Transformational Coach Julie Coneset to explore one of the most overlooked drivers of employee retention: the onboarding experience. Drawing on nearly three decades of rural healthcare HR leadership and firsthand experience leading organizational transformation, Julie shares why onboarding extends far beyond...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff welcomes Theresa Hollinger, Chief Nursing Officer at Grant Regional Health Center, to discuss how Grant has sustained nursing excellence through intentional refinement of its “nursing bundle.” Although the Nursing Bundle has been embedded in Grant's culture for years, Theresa explains why her team recently chose to pause, r...

Send us a Message In this solo Culture Byte episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff challenges the conventional narrative and shares why rural hospitals may actually have one of healthcare's greatest competitive advantages: the ability to become the preferred place to work. Drawing on more than 30 years in rural healthcare—including 14 years partnering with rural hospitals across the count...

Send us a Message In this short solo Culture Byte episode of Culture Change RX , Sue reveals the three patterns behind why so many healthcare organizations work incredibly hard to improve...yet still struggle to achieve consistent, award-winning excellence. After spending two decades as a healthcare executive and more than fourteen years partnering with dozens of rural hospitals across the country...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue welcomes Mark Allen, founder of Rural Health Engine, for a conversation about innovation, technology, and the future of rural healthcare. Mark shares how his journey—from growing up in rural Missouri, to serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, to helping innovative technology companies—ultimately led him to create Rural Health Engine, a nonprof...

Send us a Message In this solo Culture Byte episode of Culture Change RX , I share a strategy development insight from Capstone Leadership Solutions' recent Healthcare Executive Forum: Identifying and Unlocking Untapped Potential. Drawing from years as a rural healthcare executive and my work with hospitals across the country, I challenge leaders to stop asking, "What should we add next?...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue welcomes back Doug Morse, Principal of Strategic Planning at Capstone Leadership Solutions, for a conversation about a different approach to strategy. Rather than trying to be slightly better than the hospital down the road, Doug challenges organizations to ask a much bigger question: What unique value can only your organization provide?...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff explores why many healthcare organizations aren’t lacking effort — they’re lacking integration, sequencing, and coordinated systems. Sue shares why disconnected initiatives often create fragmented energy, initiative fatigue, and temporary improvements that fail to strengthen the organization as a whole. She explains how truly st...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff welcomes Greg Opseth, COO of Highland Medical Staffing, Executive Director of the Iowa Nurses Association, and a Capstone Transformational Expert, for a meaningful conversation about the importance of staying grounded in purpose as healthcare leaders. Drawing from insights gained at the Iowa Organization for Nursing Leadership (...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff explores one of the most common objections healthcare organizations face when considering transformational change: “We don’t have enough time or money.” Drawing from decades of experience leading and supporting transformation in small and rural healthcare organizations, Sue challenges the assumption that meaningful improvement a...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff welcomes Darrell Bodnar, Chief Information Officer for North Country Healthcare in New Hampshire, for a fascinating conversation on innovation, artificial intelligence, patient safety, and high reliability in rural healthcare. Darrell shares how North Country Healthcare — an independent rural healthcare system serving the northe...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff explores one of the most common - and costly - mistakes organizations make during change efforts: declaring victory too soon. Drawing from John Kotter’s work on organizational change, Sue explains why early improvement is not the same as long-term transformation and why organizations often regress when new behaviors and systems...

Send us a Message Most healthcare leaders think about retention as something that happens after someone is hired. But what if your hiring process itself is either building or quietly eroding your culture? In this episode, Sue Tetzlaff sits down with Capstone Transformational Expert Julie Coneset to talk about one of the most consequential — and often most stressful — responsibilities healthcare le...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff explores a simple but powerful truth: leadership is hard — but the experience of that “hard” can look very different depending on how leaders connect to their work. Inspired by watching the intensity and passion of NHL playoff hockey, Sue draws a compelling parallel between athletes who embrace the difficulty of the game because...

Send us a Message In this episode of Culture Change RX , Sue Tetzlaff sits down with Chelsea Hoffrichter, registered nurse, nurse manager, and service excellence team leader at MyMichigan-Sault, to discuss how employee-driven teams are helping improve the patient experience in their rural healthcare organization. Chelsea shares the journey of transforming their service excellence work from a leade...