Hiring Motivated People and Inspiring Them

I found this great leadership quote on LinkedIn that was shared by Shanthi Iyer:

This is some really great advice to hospital CIOs as they approach hiring at their hospital or health system. Hiring motivated people and inspiring them is a great way to lead an organization. You’d think that inspiring people in healthcare wouldn’t be hard. However, it’s amazing how quickly people can become disillusioned with what’s happening in healthcare IT. Government regulations aren’t usually inspiring.

With that said, all of us in healthcare should be inspired by the possibility that we can save lives. I know that many doctors scoff at the idea that a technology person could have that kind of impact, but we absolutely can. No, we don’t get our hands bloody as we stitch up a patient after surgery. However, we can create systems that make the doctors better and prevent mistakes that would happen otherwise.

Of course, if we’re going to take on the opportunity to save lives we have to also take on the responsibility that if we do our job poorly we can actually damage lives. Both sides of the coin are equally important. Certainly that’s inspiration enough for everyone in healthcare. However, a great leader finds ways to casually remind staff of this vision. That’s the challenge a healthcare CIO faces. Luckily, if you hire motivated people and inspire them, you’ll be amazed by the results.