Fifteen faculty and staff members from the first cohort of the Health Sciences Senior Leadership Academy (HSSLA) at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center got a lesson last week from two extraordinary individuals who know a thing or two about leadership.
At its first gathering January 13, the group was honored to welcome Randy Boyd, UT System president, and Rob Carter, recently retired from FedEx as the company’s global chief technology officer and chief information officer after a 25-plus-year career in service to the company.
The five-month HSSLA program is designed to enhance the knowledge, skills, and experiences of current senior leaders at UT Health Science Center.
In his inspirational talk, Boyd offered four key lessons he has learned over the course of his remarkable leadership journey in business, public service, government, and academia.
- “Create a mission that is inspiring and aspiring, so the team is excited,” he said. “A great mission lives between the probable and the impossible.”
- Create a plan or strategy to get there and have metrics to measure progress.
- Have a great team. “Hire smart, invest in yourself, invest in your people, and if it’s not the right fit, you have to let them go,” he said.
- “Create a culture that helps you achieve,” Boyd said. The culture should be based on values, he continued, citing the UT System’s Be One UT values as an example. Those values include Bold and impactful, Embrace diversity, Optimistic and visionary, Nimble and innovative, Excel in all we do, United and connected, Transparent and trusted.
Boyd said he sees leadership as service. “If you’re the leader, you’re the primary server for everybody,” he said. “Any other approach, and you’re probably going to be unsuccessful.”
He also told the group, made up of leaders from across academic and administrative units at the university, leadership does not always equal success. “I’ve failed and anyone I’ve ever met who has been successful, somewhere along the way has failed at something or another.”
“You learn more from your failures than you do from your successes,” he said.
Carter also had excellent and synergistic advice for the cohort, again emphasizing servant leadership. In a heartfelt introduction of Carter, UT Health Science Center Executive Vice Chancellor Raaj Kurapati described his friend as “someone who cares very deeply for Tennessee.”
Carter advised the group that “leadership is something you have to practice.”
“I have a mantra: Work hard, have balance in your life, and have an undying respect for people,” he said. “Bring people into the conversation.” Carter also discussed how leaders can be challenged from time to time to stretch their style beyond their comfort zone to achieve great outcomes.
Carter described his Q-cubed assessment process for leaders, indicating the importance of not only IQ (intelligence quotient) and EQ (emotional quotient), but also AQ (adaptability quotient) that is essential for leading change management. Reflecting the importance of AQ, Carter noted, “stubbornness is not a good leadership characteristic.”
A primary focus of the HSSLA is to increase institutional leadership capacity among senior leaders at UT Health Science Center and develop core skills required for leading in a complex and sophisticated statewide academic health sciences environment.
Participants are full-time faculty or staff leaders who have been in a leadership position for seven to 10 years. They were chosen by the campus Executive Leadership Team from applications submitted late last year based on criteria including a clear commitment to continuing in an academic career, a strong personal statement, a commitment to attending all sessions, and a letter of support from a cabinet leader.
Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD, described the members of the inaugural cohort as “trailblazers.” The members of the cohort are:
- Kenneth Ataga, MD, division chief of Hematology and vice chair for Faculty Development, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine
- Timothy Barton, MS, chief safety officer and director of Research Safety Affairs, Office of Research and Office of Finance and Administration
- Barry Dale, PhD, DPT, chair, Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health Professions
- Sara Day, PhD, RN, assistant dean for the Center for Community and Global Partnerships, College of Nursing
- Blake Dingman, MBA, assistant dean of Finance and Administration, College of Dentistry
- Risa Handman, EdD, MDH, interim associate dean of Academic Affairs, College of Dentistry
- Randy Johnson, PhD, RN, assistant dean for Undergraduate Programs, College of Nursing
- Louise LaFlora, MD, director, University Health Services
- Tom Laughner, PhD, director, Teaching and Learning Center
- Tara Lemoine, DO, executive director, Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation
- Dorothea Owens, MS, director of Financial Analysis and Planning, College of Medicine
- Brad Terhune, MS, assistant director of Technology Support, Information Technology Services
- Sarah Weatherspoon, MD, co-director of the Tuberous Sclerosis Center of Excellence at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and associate professor, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine
- Thomas Yohannan, MD, program director for Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship and associate professor, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine
- Anne Zachry, PhD, OTR/L, chair, Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Health Professions
Chancellor Buckley thanked Cindy Russell, PhD, RN, vice chancellor for Academic, Faculty, and Student Affairs, for her dedication in organizing this important program, which is a commitment and goal of the university’s 2023-2028 Strategic Plan.
He also expressed gratitude to Elizabeth Hall, PharmD, assistant vice chancellor for Academic, Faculty, and Student Affairs and associate professor in the College of Pharmacy, and Jennifer Tate, PhD, Regional Biocontainment Laboratory biosafety officer, for their outstanding work in attending to details and materials for the program.