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The Lean Post / Articles / How to Lead with Values

How to Lead with Values

Executive Leadership

How to Lead with Values

By Dr. Jeff Thompson

September 5, 2018

A former health system CEO says it’s “strategically sound” for leaders to define a set of values that they and their organizations will live by because values ultimately help organizations grow. Here's how:

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Values-based leadership not only sounds like a noble effort but it’s practical too, according to Jeff Thompson, MD, executive advisor and CEO emeritus at Gundersen Health System, a network of hospitals and medical facilities in Wisconsin.

Thompson says it’s “strategically sound” for leaders to define a set of values that they and their organizations will live by because values give an organization the ability to recruit, retain, and inspire staff to find waste and solve problems, which, in turn, helps the organization grow.

“Developing a plan based on values, not on a financial target will result in tremendous financial success as well as serving the mission of the organization,” he says.

So when developing strategic plans at Gundersen, Thompson and his team stated that the organization’s purpose was to “bring health and well-being to our patients and communities, not to beat a competitor or hit a margin.

People are more inspired when the goal is to lower the cost of care for the community than by “moving our margin from 2.5% to 2.73%,” noted Thompson, author of Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your People, Inspire Your Community.

Listen as he explains value-based leadership and what he did as CEO when vice presidents didn’t have time to visit frontline staff to better understand their work.

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Written by:

Dr. Jeff Thompson

About Dr. Jeff Thompson

Dr. Jeff Thompson is CEO Emeritus at Gundersen Health System, pediatrician, and author of Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your People, Inspire Your Community.

Jeff’s success in leadership, teaching, and speaking is far-reaching. Most recently, he was CEO of Gundersen Health System for 14 years, responsible for improving quality, lowering costs, and rapidly advancing technology. He served a staff of 7,000, hundreds of thousands of patients, and yearly tried to carefully spend a billion dollars of the community’s money. In a city of 55,000 Gundersen would receive 25,000 applications for positions.

During Dr. Thompson’s tenure, Gundersen Health System and his diverse leadership group were repeatedly recognized nationally for excellence in better care, lower cost, great workplace, and connecting with the community. It has earned Healthgrades highest honors: America’s 50 Best Award for 2012 through 2016 and Dr. Thompson was recognized with the White House Champions of Change award in 2013. He spoke in the Blue Zone on behalf of the U.S. State Department during the climate talks. He has spoken at Stanford University, the Harvard School of Economics, the Aspen Institute Spotlight Strategy Group, Santa Fe Institute, Sao Paulo Brazil, Helsinki University, Oxford England, and many others. More information and postings are on jeffthompsonmd.com.

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