Quoteworthy
it’s the human interaction—the relationships—that helps drive our organization to even greater heights.
Alison Flynn Gaffney

Most Recent
"We Are Surrounded By Genius" Leadership Beliefs from Rob Kistler

Beliefs are the emotional foundation for excellence and can shape organizational realities. Positive beliefs build energy, enthusiasm, caring and creativity and can increase resilience and influence bottom line results.* Rob Kistler leads nearly 1000 people as the senior director of University Hospital’s support services (nutrition care, environmental services, customer service, safety, and emergency management). Here’s what he believes about his team.

Four Ways Leaders Can Encourage Teams to Recover

Chief Wellness Officer Amy Locke shares practical strategies for leaders to address the real tension we’re feeling between the desire to take a break and the increasing workload.

Cultivating Organizational Culture: A New Approach

Director of Organizational Development Chris Fairbank introduces WE CARE—a model for leaders that focuses on what makes their teams unique so they can enhance and sustain a stronger organizational culture.

Lean On Existing Strengths to Thrive in Complexity

Crisis requires new ways of doing things, but those who know how to double down on existing strengths thrive in complexity. Case manager Todd Selmer shares two tactics for managing change brought on by the coronavirus that have always served him well.

Breaking Down the Compassion Wall

Hospitalist Ryan Murphy reflects on the care his dad received as one of Utah’s first hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The experience shaped how he communicates with patients—whether or not they have COVID—in spite of isolation, masks, and physical distancing.

Now More Than Ever, We Need Relational Leadership

Our moment calls for new ways of leading. Kyle Turner and Michelle Vo, relational leadership trainers, explain how this concept brings us to the task. While traditional leadership theories focus on the what and how, relational leadership asks us to place more emphasis on who.

Using Adversity & Teamwork to Transform Patients’ Experiences

Parkway medical director Brett Clayson leads one of the highest patient-rated clinics at U of U Health – but it wasn’t always that way. Here are the five leadership principles he used to transform his small, out-of-the-way clinic. Hint: Start with your strengths.

A Nurse Mentor-Leader Model for Professional Growth

For years, nurse manager Emily Baarz has mentored millennial nurses joining Neuro Critical Care (NCC). But new nurse graduates weren’t always prepared for the high-acuity setting. So Emily created the Axon/Dendrite program, a mentor-leader model to support her staff’s professional growth.

Leading Change: Frustration is the Mother of Improvement

In her five years at University of Utah Health as hospitalist, educator, and medical director of AIM-A and WP5, Karli Edholm led amazing amounts of impactful work. She trained future leaders and improved the safety, experience, and cost of an inpatient stay. Here she shares her lessons for leading and staying focused on improvement: start with your own frustration.

It's Not About the Brain - It's About the Heart

Charles Saltzman, chair of orthopaedics, believes that academic practice is about passion, not just intelligence. He tells Accelerate about what he’s learned while training and leading some of the most talented physicians in the country. There’s a common thread among the greats: They are drawn to academic work because they feel they can make a difference.

Sam Finlayson Interviews Best-Selling Author Greg McKeown

We jumped at the opportunity to interview best-selling author Greg McKeown when he visited U of U Health last November. We were even more excited when professor and chair of the department of surgery Sam Finlayson agreed to lead the conversation. Listen (or read) the interview to learn the why, how and what of Essentialism.

Digging In To The Outward Mindset

In the new series Book Club for Busy People, Accelerate shares highlights of books we’re hearing about from the community. First up: how thinking about others’ needs strengthens teams and increases civility in The Outward Mindset.