August 9, 2017 | (37) Comments

“Leadership applies to everyone.”

No matter what your title or position is at Texas Children’s, every employee makes an impact in the way we fulfill our mission. Simply put – everyone is a leader, which is the principle of my second Maxim of Leadership.

Texas Children’s employees and staff often go above and beyond to ensure our patients and their families have a positive experience, from the moment they walk through our doors to the moment they leave any of our health care locations. This past year, two of our Emergency Center (EC) nurses showed us that leadership is a quality, not a title. When our patients were constantly enduring long wait times in the EC, Kimberly Almon and Marianne Oldroyd were determined to figure out what the barriers were and what processes could be removed or changed to provide an overall better and safer patient experience.

Historically, there was a multi-step, check-in process for patients and their families before being placed in a room and getting to see a physician. While this process made sense from a staff perspective, Kimberly and Marianne realized that the process added an extra layer of anxiety to an already stressful situation for families. They put themselves in their patients’ shoes and asked, “Do families want to fill out multiple forms? Do they want to keep repeating possibly sensitive information? Do they want to be led around the entire first floor of the building before arriving at their own room?”

Thanks to these two nurses asking questions and then responding with simpler, streamlined processes, we’ve created a more patient-centered experience in the EC. Reducing the time patients and their families spend prior to seeing a physician has improved the overall patient experience at Texas Children’s. In fact, as a result of Kimberly and Marianne’s assertiveness, this process change has contributed to the highest patient experience scores the EC has ever seen.

Due to the success at Texas Children’s medical center campus, the West Campus EC staff has also implemented the new patient flow process, and The Woodlands hospital recently began its implementation of the process. And in addition to being recognized by their peers for these truly impactful efforts, Kimberly and Marianne’s work was recently accepted for a podium presentation at the Nursing Professional Development Conference.

Kimberly and Marianne spearheaded a process change and worked with their colleagues and leaders to improve the overall patient experience in the EC. Their actions remind us that leadership applies to everyone. I’m so grateful that they are part of Texas Children’s One Amazing Team.

I’d like to hear from you … how do you embrace your power to lead and make a difference every day?

 

Take the leadership challenge, and score a spot at a Houston Texans event!

Over the next four weeks, Mark Wallace’s blog will highlight employees who demonstrate his Maxims of Leadership. Each blog post will pose a leadership question that you may respond to in the comments section of the blog post. 

In September, the Corporate Communications team will collect all of your comments and draw the names of 100 commenters to attend a private event with the Houston Texans, including a behind-the-scenes tour of NRG Stadium, an autograph session with two Houston Texans football players and photos with the Texans cheerleaders.

So make sure you respond to the question at the end of

Mr. Wallace’s blog post to be entered to win!

Click here to watch a video about how Texas Children’s and the Houston Texans are leading in patient care and on the football field every single day.

August 1, 2017 | (98) Comments

“Leadership always influences or determines outcomes, not some of the time, but all of the time.”

If you have worked at Texas Children’s for even a few short weeks, you have likely heard or read this. It’s my first maxim in a list of 10 Maxims of Leadership that I began sharing with employees years ago. These maxims represent the philosophy by which I have led for many years, and they continue to guide me daily.

Over the years, these maxims have become more than my personal philosophy – they have become the core of our leadership culture at Texas Children’s. And nearly every day, I see some way in which these maxims are brought to life by employees who embrace leadership boldly and deliberately.

These employees, whether leaders by formal title or not, seek and find ways to make Texas Children’s better every day. They take personal accountability for making sure our patients and their families have the best possible care, as well as an exceptional experience. When they see a problem, they come to the table with a thoughtful solution. And in many moments of innovation, employees often come to the table with an idea that counters a challenge before it even happens.

These employees are the leaders who have made Texas Children’s successful for decades. They are the reason why we have and will continue to thrive and find ways to provide the high quality care our patients need, when and where they need it for decades to come.

And regardless of who we are and what we’re contributing to the organization, it’s always a good idea to share stories of exceptional leadership. So for the next few weeks, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I want to share just a few of the countless stories of shining leadership at Texas Children’s. We all play a vital role in the care of our patients and their families, and we all have an opportunity to do something every day that could change a person’s experience or outcome at Texas Children’s.

I’d like to hear from you … how has good leadership influenced the way you work?

 

Take the leadership challenge, and score a spot at a Houston Texans event!

Over the next four weeks, Mark Wallace’s blog will highlight employees who demonstrate his Maxims of Leadership. Each blog post will pose a leadership question that you may respond to in the comments section of the blog post. And yes, it starts today with the question above!

In September, the Corporate Communications team will collect all of your comments and draw the names of 100 commenters to attend a private event with the Houston Texans, including a behind-the-scenes tour of NRG Stadium, an autograph session with two Houston Texans football players and photos with the Texans cheerleaders.

The autograph session and tour are a great way to bring the awesome players of two winning teams together. At Texas Children’s Hospital, everyone is a leader, and we are looking forward to hearing from leaders across the entire organization over the next few weeks.

This opportunity is one of the benefits of the Texas Children’s Hospital partnership with the Houston Texans football team. Since our launch in 2015, we have reached thousands of children in our local communities through fun, educational camps, school programs, special hospital visits and appearances with the Texans players, cheerleaders and TORO. Together, Texas Children’s and the Houston Texans are inspiring children in our community to lead healthier, more active lives.

Click here to watch a video about how Texas Children’s and the Houston Texans are leading in patient care and on the football field every single day.

June 28, 2017 | (8) Comments

Our U.S. News & World Report rankings were released yesterday, and I’m proud to say that Texas Children’s again made an impressive showing in this annual survey. Eight of our pediatric subspecialities are ranked in the top 10, and the other two are very close and steadily climbing. Most exciting, however, is that we have again had another specialty rise to the very top spot – Texas Children’s is now ranked No. 1 in the nation in cardiology and heart surgery.

This is pretty amazing, and I’m thrilled to celebrate this tremendous accomplishment with the entire leadership team, staff and employees at Texas Children’s Heart Center. The Heart Center has held the No. 2 spot on the U.S .News list for the past two years and had consistently been ranked among the top pediatric heart programs since the pediatric subspecialty rankings began in 2008. This year, the Heart Center steps into the No. 1 spot, surpassing Boston Children’s Hospital, which had held the top ranking in this subspeciality for the past 19 years.

The Heart Center’s accomplishment is built on a rich history of expert and innovative pediatric heart care, exceptional leadership, partnership and focus on doing what’s best for our patients. Led by the late Drs. Denton Cooley and Dan McNamara, Texas Children’s Hospital started performing heart surgery on children in 1956. Dr. Cooley, a pioneer heart surgeon, and Dr. McNamara, a patriarch of pediatric cardiology, were among the first to demonstrate that small children could safely undergo heart surgery.

Since then, the Heart Center has continued to grow, push the envelope and pave the way to become a highly sought and respected center of excellence. Much as it was in the beginning, the Heart Center today is led and staffed by world-renowned pediatric cardiologists and surgeons: Surgeon-In-Chief and Chief of Congenital Heart Surgery Dr. Charles Fraser Jr., Chief of Cardiology Dr. Daniel Penny, Chief of Cardiovascular Anesthesia Dr. Emad Mossad, Chief of Critical Care Dr. Lara Shekerdemian and Anesthesiologist-In-Chief Dr. Dean Andropoulos. It is because of their leadership that the entire Heart Center team remains dedicated to developing innovative cardiac interventions and surgical treatment options to treat the tens of thousands of children with heart defects who seek our care annually.

Our U.S. News rankings are a testament to the amazing leadership we have here at Texas Children’s. This recognition is not just about any one person being exceptional. This is about each and every member of the team operating at a level that is second to none. You know one of my maxims is “Leadership applies to everyone.” Everyone is a leader at Texas Children’s. This recognition is about the leadership that is demonstrated by everyone from the frontline to the executive team every single day. I know that a big part of our success is due to our culture of exellence, which challenges each of us to be our best, to think creatively and, most importantly, to consistently exceed our patients’ expectations.

Congratulations Texas Children’s Heart Center. We are beyond proud of your accomplishments.

Watch this video to see and hear people’s reactions when they learned about Texas Children’s No. 1 ranking in cardiology and heart surgery.

June 16, 2017 | (88) Comments

In honor of Father’s Day this Sunday, I thought I’d share one of my favorite blog posts from a couple years ago about two incredible people I adore – my children. I’m grateful for the lessons they taught me and for the honor of being their father. 

About 23 years ago, I became a single dad to my two young children, Emily and Ben. Emily was 11 and Ben was 9, and I was just 38.

I sat them down, and I said, “Look, guys, let’s do this. We’re going to be a family, and we’re going to be a great family unit. I will do everything I can to be the best dad and mom for you that I can possibly be. It’s going to be just the three of us together, and we’re going to make this work.”

And with that, I made them a promise. I promised that I was not going to remarry until they were out of high school. With all they were already experiencing at the time, I didn’t want them to be concerned about a new person joining our family.

They said, “Dad, that’s awesome. That sounds like a good plan.”

Well, Emily graduated from high school, and she went off to Stanford. A couple years later, Ben graduated and headed off to the University of Oklahoma. And the day I took him to college, after I had gotten him all moved in and was about to leave, he turned to me and said, “Dad, you’ve done what you promised Emily and me. Now, we want you to find someone for you.” And fortunately I did, and Shannon and I were married in 2003.

It was really quite touching. As a young adult, Ben assumed that it might have been a sacrifice to make such a promise to him and Emily so many years before. But what they may not have fully realized was that working hard to be the very best dad I could be for them also helped me to be a better man and a better leader.

When I became a single parent all those years ago, I had recently joined Texas Children’s as the CEO. It was an incredible learning and formation period for me as a leader. And having such a significant transition in my personal life could have potentially impacted me and my leadership positively or negatively. It was really up to me.

You know that one of my maxims of leadership is “We lead in our professional lives and our personal lives.” I was getting a firsthand lesson on that through my children, because in my efforts to be a successful parent and to help maximize my children’s success as young people, I, too was growing.

One of the most important things I learned from them was how to listen. Taking on the role of both mom and dad meant that I had to really refine my listening skills. They were smart, ambitious children who were curious about life and asked lots of questions. Tuning in to their individual needs and feelings and really learning how to listen to them helped me become a better leader by becoming a better listener.

Through my personal experience, I learned how to listen to the organization. Having the ability and willingness to listen to the organization is critical to being an effective leader. It means I must make sure I’m approachable and accessible for all of you so I’m aware of the big issues, as well as the subtle nuances. My children taught me that.

I believe if you have children, there’s not a more important leadership role for a man than being a father. Applying my leadership skills to being the best dad I could be to Ben and Emily helped me in return. And I’m so grateful to them for the lessons and experiences of fatherhood.

Whether you are a dad – or a mom who’s wearing both hats – Happy Father’s Day to you. There’s no greater responsibility or reward than growing and learning with your children and leading your families.