Faith-based health systems are in the middle of a wave of leadership transitions, with new CEOs and CHROs stepping into roles across the country over the past year. Each of these moments is an opportunity, and also a risk. Leading a faith-based healthcare organization is a demanding and complicated endeavor. One must not only be an effective healthcare administrator and people manager, but must also work from a perspective that is aligned with the organization’s mission and values. Finding that pairing is crucial to helping the organization grow and meet its goals. But what exactly does it take to be an outstanding leader in faith-based healthcare today? More importantly, what should you be looking for as you seek potential leaders?
“Finding leaders who intertwine faith, financial acumen and clinical quality without compromising any of the three is a top priority for our healthcare clients.” That’s been true throughout my career leading faith-based health systems, including as President of AdventHealth Shawnee Mission and in faith and health innovation leadership at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Here’s what that pairing has actually looked like in practice.
It starts with how a leader thinks about financial performance. Financial performance is mission. Our “shareholders,” the community we serve, are counting on a return on their investment. When we grow revenue and strengthen our services, we’re being faithful stewards of what’s been entrusted to us. We’re not just hitting a number. We’re making sure the ministry has the resources to keep showing up for the people who need it.
That stewardship mindset only holds up if it’s felt across the organization, not just stated by the person at the top. Great leadership shows up in how a team feels about its work, not just in what the scorecard says. We don’t pursue quality to earn a high rating. We deliver high quality because of our why, our mission. Too often, leaders lead with metrics and numbers, which can feel disconnected from what actually connects us as humans. When team members understand that the mission is driving everything we do, not the other way around, it becomes engaging.
Which is really a matter of translation. That translation of mission into action is the real work of leadership. It’s not enough to believe in the mission. You have to carry it into every decision, every program, every interaction, until it reaches every person we serve and every team member who serves them. Whether you’re leading one department or a system of thousands, the mission only matters if it shows up at the bedside and within the team that stands beside it.
To find this unique candidate, the partners at FaithSearch ask questions like these that get to the heart of what faith-based healthcare organizations are looking for today:
- What have you done in the last year to advance your organization’s mission of ministry? What have you done in the last year to mentor a colleague around your faith-based mission?
- Fully describe why you want this role and how it fits with your professional or personal spiritual goals.
- How will you balance strategy around mission with the need for good operational performance?
Faith-based healthcare organizations need both strategic, innovative leadership and the vision to integrate the organization’s mission into its decisions. Asking the right questions, the ones that get past a polished answer and into how a leader actually thinks, is how organizations find that pairing. The search may be challenging, but the result is a healthcare organization positively impacting its community in ways unique to leadership teams with a faith-based perspective. As more faith-based systems navigate this kind of transition in the years ahead, the organizations that get this pairing right will be the ones shaping the next decade of faith-based healthcare.
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Founded in 2007, FaithSearch Partners is a premier executive search firm in the U.S. focusing exclusively on serving faith-based educational institutions, healthcare organizations, nonprofits, ministries, and faith-oriented businesses. Based in Dallas with locations in Houston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham, Kansas City, Sacramento, Fort Wayne, Durango, Redding, and Rochester, FaithSearch is able to serve faith-based clients in all regions.
