My aunt and I attended the same graduate program in health care administration, abeit 20 years apart.  She has been asked to address this year's class at their graduation luncheon, and asked for my thoughts, which are below.  What would to say to "inspire and motivate" (the purpose of the luncheon address) these new graduates?

What I suggested:

I think the leadership idea is a good one.  I read a book recently, “The One Thing You Need to Know” by Marcus Buckingham, that said that the primary quality of a successful leader is the ability to inspire a vision of a better future, consistently, constantly.  You don’t need to be the CEO to be a good leader, but you do need to be able to inspire others with your vision.  This is different than being a good manager (Buckingham has good managers as those who are able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of those working for them, and apply their strengths appropriately to achieve success for the individual and the organization.)  I would also strongly recommend/urge the new grads to find a mentor, whether from healthcare or outside.  When I first got out of school, I had a couple people who were very interested in helping me succeed.  Unfortunately, both departed (including the CEO) within a couple months of my arrival, and didn’t have much time to spend with/on me after that.  I think my career might have been very different (though I don’t really have any regrets) if I had someone to help me figure out what I was doing, and should have been doing!

For my own thoughts, if I were to write this address, I think I would talk about characteristics of leadership, including the thoughts above, but also COURAGE and CREATIVITY.  I believe that the next five to ten years are going to see more change in the structure of the healthcare delivery system than at any time since perhaps the introduction of Medicare.  We’ve seen the rise, emergence, and perhaps stagnation of HMO’s and large mega-systems.  The current structure of delivery and payment of care simply cannot sustain itself.  Fact: Starbucks will spend more money this year on health insurance than on coffee beans.  Providing excellent care to the community is going to be (as it should) the responsibility of the community hospital/health system.  I do not believe that government organizations can improve the quality of care as it is delivered in the community.  I also have no doubt that government organizations will have enormous, if not primary, influence on who and how care is paid for.

What does this have to do with courage and creativity?  We (society) cannot continue to do things (provide care) the way that we have done it previously.  Hospital based care (where most of the graduates will likely be going) may be the least effective modality of treatment for the majority of health care issues.  It will take creativity to develop and implement new methods to efficiently deliver effective (efficacious?) care to the community.  It will take courage to stand up to the naysayers and detractors of these new delivery and payment models.  The graduates of today will be the Sr. VPs and CEOs of ten years from now, and their vision and inspiration for a better future will be vital to their success, as well as the success of their organizations, in meeting the health and health care needs of the communities they serve.