HOW A TRUE LEADER PUTS PEOPLE, ORGANIZATION, AND COMMUNITY FIRST
We all face countless decisions throughout our careers. The specific circumstances that call us to lead will be different, but the core dilemmas and ethical challenges are very similar. Faced with these challenges, each of us must decide if we will follow our ego-centered inclinations or lead for the good of everyone whose lives we touch? Will we endanger or impair those around us to satisfy our own self-interest, or will we lead in a manner that is true to our values?
In his inspiring book LEAD TRUE, Jeff Thompson, MD, has masterfully compiled stories from the business, healthcare, and education fields, illustrating how a diverse group of leaders has employed values-based leadership and succeeded. These case studies offer dynamic, living narratives that demonstrate ways in which a leader, fueled by personal values, can change people, organizations, and even entire industries.
What sets this book apart is the interweaving of the author’s personal leadership story in healthcare to the insights from start-ups, mid-career, and top-level leaders―people who have proven that values-driven leadership is not simply a noble idea but one that actually works in practice. The author artfully shows that the goal of leadership is not to move one individual ahead of all others. When you lead true, you can move everyone forward―people, organizations, and communities―finding the best route for all.
JEFF THOMPSON, MD, is executive advisor and chief executive officer emeritus at Gundersen Health System, pediatrician, author, and speaker on values-based leadership. Jeff’s experience in leadership is far-reaching, having led diverse teams, projects, and divisions, before holding multiple senior executive roles, including fourteen years as a CEO responsible for a staff of seven thousand, hundreds of thousands of patients, and a billion dollars of the community’s money within the Gundersen Health System. His long experience as intensive care pediatrician and senior executive has shown him over and over again how leading from one’s values has the power to affect long-term meaningful change. During Dr. Thompson’s tenure, Gundersen Health System has been recognized across the country by independent healthcare rating organizations for high-quality patient care. It has also earned the highest honors of Healthgrades America’s 50 Best AwardTM for 2012 through 2016 and the White House Champions of Change award in 2013. Dr. Thompson is a founding member and past board chair of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality and the La Crosse Medical Health Science Consortium. He also serves on boards for the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, the Wisconsin Statewide Value Committee, About Health (chair), and Practice Greenhealth. Dr. Thompson has authored and been featured in many articles, book chapters, and abstracts on healthcare, leadership and sustainability topics. He is the author of Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your People, Inspire Your Community, (Forbes Books, March 2017). Dr. Thompson is board certified in Pediatric Critical Care, Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine, and Pediatrics. He has been caring for patients for over thirty-five years. He earned his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He resides in Lacrosse, Wisconsin with his wife and in near proximity to his three grown children.
