I recently had the privilege of interviewing Maynard Oliverius, President and CEO of Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka, Kansas. Oliverius, who is set to retire in June 2012, has been with Stormont-Vail for 43 years! He has been President and CEO for 16 years. This highly respected healthcare leader’s success and passion is reflected by his long tenure with Stormont-Vail, as well as in his own description of his career:
“I’ve had the career of careers. There is no greater responsibility than caring for those who place their lives in your trust, and no greater reward than working with a team of people who honor that trust with skill, compassion and care. I have been privileged to have that career.”
At my request, Oliverius shared some key factors that he attributes to his successful leadership and tenure:
- “Maintain integrity and trust
- Maintain a strong partnership with the board
- Maintain high visibility and involvement with the medical staff and community
- Be a good listener
- Deliver on commitments”
Notice that all five attributes mentioned by Oliverius are directly related to building and maintaining excellent relationships. Relationships are the key to any leader’s success. Lack of excellent relationships, or relationships gone bad, are the top reasons for poor leadership and leadership failure.
In my opinion, Oliverius could not have chosen five more important attributes, characteristics or intentional habits that together, form a solid foundation for leadership excellence and a roadmap for success for any leader in any industry!
Any leader who is willing to learn from, and follow the example of Maynard Oliverius will be highly successful and enjoy long-term personal, professional and organizational success!
Now is the right time, the best time for you to perform a personal and professional life-changing self-examination. This self-examination requires full honesty and transparency.
- Do you maintain integrity and trust in all your relationships?
- Do you maintain a strong partnership with the board and all with whom you work?
- Do you maintain high visibility and involvement with the medical staff, community and other key constituents?
- Are you a good listener?
- Do you deliver on commitments?
Maynard Oliverius is one of America’s Healthcare Leaders. Each and every person reading this article (including yours truly) can improve in each of the critical areas mentioned by Oliverius. For those people and those leaders who invest the time and energy to consistently improve in the critical areas listed above… The Sky Is Truly The Limit!
To read more about Maynard Oliverius, please click here.
