Growth Edge Leadership Podcast

Christine Spadafor is with us again. This is part two, so if you missed part one last week, make sure you listen to that episode too. This week Christine and I dig into one of her topics of expertise -- gender issues in the workplace. Christine gives us an overview of where gender parity currently stands in the US compared to our European counterparts. We discuss the various systemic, cultural, an...

Christine's career path has taken her from bedside nurse to law school to consultant to the boardroom.  She helps businesses and institutions navigate and prepare for change, no matter the source of the disruption -- social, technological, economic, environmental, or political. Today's episode focuses on the role of the leader during times of change. Change is hard. Adaptive leaders recognize that...

Dr. Nii Darko, son of Ghanian immigrants, was inspired to pursue a medical career by TV shows like Doogie Howser and Trapper John, M.D.  But his life as a physician felt lacking in comparison to the Hollywood version. He found himself chasing degrees and feeling disappointed by the lack of autonomy and sense of fulfillment that he had hoped for. To get out of a rut, he did locum tenens work, which...

When Dr. Joe Safdieh was interviewing for his medical residency, he knew he wanted to teach, and he was surprised that when he disclosed his aspirations, interviewers would "look at me like I had three heads." After all, didn't all doctors want to focus on research or clinical work?  Historically, medical education has been viewed as the "leftovers" -- the job that nobody wants. And that mentality...

By now, most of us know that the research is conclusive -- organizations and institutions are better all around when they're diverse, all the way up to the C-suite. Women and minorities are good for the bottom line, for creativity, and for healthier, happier work environments. But how can we encourage men to mentor women in a post #MeToo world? Many men feel that mentoring a junior woman is just t...

Dr. Gunisha Kaur works with people who are in vulnerable places. She works as an anesthesiologist, attending patients in the OR during surgical procedures. She also works with forcibly displaced individuals -- refugees, migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers. She doesn't remember being a refugee herself, but her family fled ethnic and political violence in her native India when she was young. So...

At a time when physicians and medical clinicians are burdened with higher patient loads, technological changes, increased regulation, and always-on schedules, who has the time and energy for adding empathetic interactions into the mix? Dr. Helen Riess, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical and cofounder of Empathetics, Inc., argues that both physicians and patients will get...

You probably don't know many physicians who were once high-school dropouts, but today you'll get to know one. Dr. Kane Pryor's path into medicine is a beautiful, inspiring tale of mentorship done right. Today, the Australian native is an associate professor and the vice chair of academic affairs in the Department of Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine.  Dr. Pryor has a heart for mentorship. H...

A native of Ireland, Dr. Geraldine McGinty is a practicing physician and the Chief Strategy and Contracting Officer for the Weill Cornell Physician Organization. She's also the first woman chair of the board of American College of Radiologists. In today's episode, Dr. McGinty and I discuss her varied career path -- private practice, academic medicine, community medicine, public policy -- and how s...

Dr. Stephanie Lahr is board certified in internal medicine and clinical informatics, and her career path led her to the intersection of medicine and technology. Today she's the CIO of Regional Health in South Dakota. Her career path wasn't strategic but was impacted by a hurricane, an interview, personal goals, and a genuine interest in seeing healthcare advance technologically. It's a story you d...

We're about to welcome a new year, a new decade, and many of us are making plans and setting goals. Which is great. But what happens when life derails those plans?  At age 33, with children aged 2, 4, and 6, Ashli was diagnosed with cancer. In today's episode, Ashli shares how she dealt with her fears and how she managed to embrace the hand life dealt her while squeezing happiness out of everyday...

As "Leader Leader" of Greater Omaha Chamber, Lynda has been tasked with creating and guiding all of the chamber's leadership development offerings. Essentially, she's been leading leaders for years, and she shares some of her wisdom with us today. Lynda is a skilled relationship builder and connector. Today we cover important topics like diversity and inclusion, avoiding echo chambers (check your...

Tiny town Nebraska natives unite! Yes, my guest today, like your host, is from a no-stop-light tiny Nebraska town. We have a lot in common, beyond our similar roots.  Cara is the vice president of Employee Benefits Division at SilverStone Group, the founder of Ignite! Women in Insurance, one of the most ambitious people I know, yet she religiously carves out time for herself and her family.  But s...

Carrie Koh — Transforming Toxic Environments   Carrie Koh, a former Mayo Clinic healthcare executive, changed career paths after working through a family tragedy. During the healing process, priorities came into focus, and today she has a coaching and consulting business dedicated primarily to physicians and healthcare executives. Her expertise is in leadership, performance, and transforming toxic...

The brain is a power center of our very beings. We want it to be as healthy as possible to support us, not only today, but for years and decades to come. Dr. Mary Rensel, neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic, reminds us why time matters and why the time to be concerned about brain health is now -- for us and for our children. You probably knew that nutrition, exercise, sleep, and our emotional stat...

Internist Dr. Dana Corriel discovered her creative side when she took some time off after the birth of her third child. And when she looked to social media for an outlet, she found what she needed...and so much more. She remembers how foreign and intimidating social media seemed before she made the plunge. Like many physicians, she was leery that social media could deliver any real benefits, but s...

In 2017 Dr. Caprice Greeberg's Academic Surgical Congress address about the gender gap in medicine, "Sticky Floors and Glass Ceilings," went viral. Her address at the 2019 WIM Summit, "Stop Fixing Women," continued the discussion. In today's episode you'll hear highlights from this year's talk. It was full of data that should give even the biggest skeptic pause. There is indeed a gap. The discrepa...

Recorded at the 2019 Women in Medicine Summit, Dr. Shikha Jain, course cofounder and codirector, gives us an overview of the Summit, why it exists, why it matters, and what it means for Monday morning when you're back at the office.  Dr. Jain shares a review of the first day of the summit, the speakers, and the key takeaways of their messages. Dr. Jain also introduces us to the Gender Moonshot cam...

Today Carol is the northern region CEO for OSF HealthCare in Illinois. She started out in -- wait for it -- finance. Carol's career path is an atypical and varied one, and she got where she is today by seizing opportunities that were both obvious and not so obvious. Some of her most valuable experience came from her time serving in professional organizations.  In today's episode, Carol makes a str...

Why would anyone leave a position at Mayo Clinic to do something new? Does that actually happen in real life? That's exactly what Dr. Jagi Gill did when he joined Boston Scientific and later launched and sold a sports medicine company. Today he's part of the leadership team of Acumed and is improving patients' lives by combining medicine, business, and technology.     In today's episode, you get t...

Dr. Kelly Cawcutt was a guest on the Growth Edge a few weeks ago, and -- lucky us -- she's back for an encore interview. This time we're discussing imposter syndrome.  Let's set the scene. Kelly had been invited to give a speech in her area of expertise. As she was being introduced prior to the speech, she didn't recognize the list of credentials and accomplishments of the upcoming speaker as her...

Brave -- it's not a quality we often hear in business and leadership, but it's the quality that Nicole Bianchi, founder of Bravium Human Development, believes is most lacking in today's leaders. In a culture that's enamored by the myth of perfectionism, we shouldn't be surprised that most of us, while we know in theory that failure is an integral part of growth, tend to only give lip service to th...

We all know there's a gender gap. You may have already taken steps to make sure there's a woman on your committee, that there's a woman or person of color candidate for the new job, that there's a woman on you executive team. You may be wondering, "What else can I do?" Well, there is something. There's one step we can all take to better level the playing field. Dr. Sasha Shillcutt, anesthesiologis...

Today we're speaking with Josh White for the third installment of the Coach's Corner. Today we cover what coaching is, what it isn't, and why so many companies have seen that it pays to provide employees with coaching. The bottom line is companies get better performance, better teamwork, and increased accountability when coaching is involved. Having someone in your life who is dedicated to giving...

As an attorney to healthcare  professionals, Stephanie, among other things, advises professionals on the art of negotiation. While the term "negotiation" sounds scary and intimidating to many, Stephanie argues that, whether we realize it or not, we negotiate in our daily lives when we're in meetings, when we're arguing a point, when we're submitting a proposal.  Of course, we also negotiate when i...