Leadership That Leaps Also Runs Deep: Why Purpose Is the Key to Navigating a World of Exponential Change

Back-to-back black swan events during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic downturn hastened the rate of change in healthcare. Hospitals and healthcare organizations of all sizes and configurations are facing difficult decisions with greater consequences than ever before-for patients, communities, employees, and the delivery of quality care. It can feel like a leap into the unknown. It takes a different kind of leader to navigate this exponentially changing healthcare environment-and a different kind of training to ensure that those leaders develop the skills and mental models to advance systemic organizational change. Healthcare needs transformational leaders who have skills that go beyond subject matter expertise and business sense. We need leaders who emphasize people and purpose and who are willing to take risks to improve sustainability, access to care, and health equity and to build organizations that prioritize mission to the community and support those who choose healthcare as their calling.