Transformation Requires That You Stay True To And Evolve Who You Are

Leadership Strategy Transformation Requires That You Stay True To And Evolve Who You Are Glenn Llopis Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Leadership in the Age of Personalization Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Sep 24, 2022, 09:26am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin There is no profit in curing the body if in the process we destroy the soul City of Hope National Medical Center “True transformation requires an intentional and unrelenting focus on the vision for the future and forging the path to deliver.

” Debra Fields, City of Hope Chief Transformation Officer You can have a bold mission: say, to transform the future of cancer care. You can reach milestones that make progress toward that mission: research that leads to treatments that save lives. Yet you can still come to the realization that even if you continued to be successful on this path, you will only ever transform the future for perhaps 20% of the population.

Which isn’t really transforming the future. This sounds like a theoretical thought experiment, but it’s not. It was the actual thought process that prompted massive transformation for City of Hope, one of only 53 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States.

The NCI designation recognizes excellence in treatment, research and expertise to address the many faces of the disease, whether in early or late stage, and for common or rare types of cancer. “As a group, NCI-Designated Cancer Centers are tremendous organizations leading incredible discovery and innovation,” said Robert Stone, CEO of City of Hope. “But the aha moment for me was realizing that 80% of people in this country who have a cancer diagnosis don’t have access to an NCI center, either because their insurance or their geography won’t allow it.

So, at some point it doesn’t matter how well we’re doing our job in our historic campuses. If we can’t figure out a way to reach people in the communities in which they live, then we’re not fulfilling our mission to the greatest extent possible. ” So, Stone and the team at City of Hope evolved their strategic vision to help democratize cancer care and change the way they do business.

Over the past decade they’ve been making moves to pursue that vision and help change the lives of more cancer patients in more communities. Recommended For You 1 5 Cognitive Biases Blocking Your Success More stories like this Fewer stories like this 2 Preparing To Go Public: An Overview Of The IPO Process More stories like this Fewer stories like this 3 Immigrants Hope Registry Saves Immigration Bill More stories like this Fewer stories like this They expanded with the new City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center : the most advanced comprehensive cancer center in Orange County, Calif. In fact, it’s the only hospital in Orange County solely dedicated to cancer.

Read this interview with City of Hope Orange County president Annette Walker . They introduced a new way for employers to give employees access to leading cancer care with AccessHope – a subsidiary focused on partnering with employers, local oncologists, and other leading NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers with the goal of having more cancer patients benefit from the latest cancer care knowledge, no matter where they live. They acquired Cancer Treatment Centers of America – building out City of Hope’s national footprint in order to deliver world-class cancer research and care to more people.

In my experience working with organizations across many industries, this kind of business model transformation is rare. Some leaders are not flexible enough to rethink their approach to the mission, often because it feels threatening or would require them to give up some control. Others have been able to update their priorities but not their infrastructure or culture – and then wonder why their employees are still doing things the old way.

City of Hope has transformed from a regional, one-location hospital into a national cancer research and treatment system. What can we learn from them? To explore this topic, I had a conversation with City of Hope President and CEO Robert Stone and City of Hope Chief Transformation Officer Debra Fields. One of the main lessons I took away from that conversation is that successful transformation involves both being true to who you are and changing who you are.

But both of those require first being grounded in reality. City of Hope’s efforts toward the democratization of cancer care reflect an awareness of what’s happening today in the broader world – the growing personalization and consumerism of healthcare . To examine how they’ve been able to make big changes, let’s identify what transformation is, why you have to be true to who you are and also willing to evolve.

What is Transformation? “Transformation is about changing the fundamentals of an organization to enable that organization’s vision,” said Fields. “My role as chief transformation officer is to make sure that our organization is always prepared not just to do what we’re doing today, but for the next big, aspirational contribution we want to make to cancer treatment and care. ” That means being open to rethinking just about everything.

“The only thing that isn’t a variable is our purpose and our mission to eliminate cancer and diabetes,” said Fields. “Almost everything else about the way we achieve that can change. Whether it’s our size, our geographic footprint, our culture, the design of our organization, our strategic initiatives – all of those things, we have to constantly be willing to re-examine, to position us for both our aspirations and the changes that are happening around us.

” Where a strategy officer will determine how to achieve the vision, “a transformation officer focuses on creating the foundational ability and muscle within the organization to be able to do those things. ” Her use of the word muscle is fitting. Change is a heavy lift.

It comes with uncertainty, failure and discomfort. But our ability to tolerate discomfort and keep moving forward is something that we can build over time in ourselves and in those we lead – especially when leaders know who they are as individuals and know who the organization is. True to Who You Are Who you are is not just a matter of knowing your vision and mission.

It also involves knowing yourself (your organization, your people) well enough to understand what obstacles-to-change accompany that identity. According to Stone, the essence of healthcare itself creates one of the industry’s biggest obstacles to change, because the stakes are so high: people’s lives. “In healthcare, our day-to-day work is saving people’s lives and making their lives better,” said Stone.

“So, there’s a risk that people feel when taking transformative leaps. If you’re getting it right 100% of the time, then you’re probably not transforming. You must be willing to try new things.

And that’s hard in an environment where people’s lives depend on you. ” He said leaders must understand the difference between managing the known world – the business of today – and transforming to the future. The known world requires incremental improvement, while the future requires something new.

“Incremental improvement is necessary, but not sufficient,” said Stone. “At the same time that you’re focused on incremental improvement, you have to look at how to do things completely differently and not be afraid to break up the status quo. ” Evolving Who You Are To evolve, you must see change as an opportunity rather than a threat.

“The biggest threat to transformational leaps is the unknown, and the fact that people can’t always see where their value is going to come from going forward,” said Stone. “People want to make a difference. As the organization changes, how will they continue to contribute, make a difference and be valued? This is key for an organization at any stage, but especially when you’re leading people through change.

If you haven’t shown them they have the ability to contribute to the mission, and that their contribution is valued, why should they trust you now? Change would be a threat. On the flip side, if they have learned through experience that they will be given room to influence the success of the mission through their own individuality, then they’ll be able to see change as an opportunity to reach even higher. When that’s your perspective, it’s easier (though still not easy) to take leaps and take risks.

“You have to give something up when you change dramatically,” said Stone. “When people are so proud of what you’ve done together, there is a nostalgia that comes with that. That’s when change can be viewed as a threat.

” He gave an example. “For years and years, City of Hope was a relatively small organization. Ten years ago, we had just over 3,000 employees.

Now, collectively, we’re just over 11,000 employees. We doubled in size in the last five years by almost any measure. When I joined City of Hope almost 26 years ago, everybody knew everybody else.

” But now, as they’ve expanded into different communities and different states, “you don’t see the same people every day. So, the threat is you’re going to become corporate. You’re going to lose that special sauce.

As leaders, we have to be proactive in acknowledging that threat, and then be intentional about how we’re going to counteract it. ” I asked Robert why he didn’t feel threatened. In my experience, it’s the leaders themselves who often feel most threatened by change.

They feel the need to hang onto the vision or the methods that worked for them. If those change, where does that leave them? That attitude is all too common among leaders who care more about securing their own sense of relevance rather than building future legacies for the organization. But Stone has embraced and pursued change.

How has he managed to see it as opportunity rather than threat? “I feel blessed,” he said. “I joined City of Hope 26 years ago with an idea that maybe I could make a difference. And at every stage I’ve been able to find a way that makes me feel that I’m making a difference.

It’s all rooted in the pursuit of our mission: how can we best help cancer patients and their families fight the disease? So, I’m convinced that all of the change that we’ve gone through positively impacts the mission of City of Hope. And because of that, I truly see great opportunity for all of our people to continue making a difference in the lives of people we serve. In fact, City of Hope just announced a new systemwide president .

Before that hire, Stone himself had been systemwide president and CEO for 10 years. “We just asked, ‘what’s the best way to help cancer patients and what’s the best system and structure to do it?’ And it was an obvious answer that somebody else should become president. ” They had that same openness with employer cancer care benefits offering AccessHope: “We started it with just City of Hope, but quickly realized that we could make an even larger difference in patients’ lives if we invited others in,” said Stone.

“Dana Farber joined us, Emory University joined us, Northwestern joined us. And there’s more to come. ” How to Get Your Organization Ready for Transformation “My role is to create an environment that is ready to do the new things that our vision is inviting us to do,” said Fields.

“I think of it kind of as a garden. It’s my team’s role to make that ground fertile, to grow the things that we are planting to make sure that we yield an incredible crop. And for us that’s about accelerating groundbreaking discoveries and democratizing cancer care.

But for another organization that would be something completely different. ” This is not easy work. It’s hard.

It requires the right mindsets, attitudes, behaviors and the willingness to participate. And so many people have been burned over the years by promises of transformation that didn’t go anywhere, or from a new change every year just for the sake of change. Leaders tend to expect that people will just buy in and figure out a way to adapt.

But most people have been through multiple such transformations with no obvious outcome to prove it was worth it. Leaders fail to appreciate and anticipate the levels of fatigue and mistrust they have created. Fields offers these non-negotiable steps: Have a clear vision Be able to articulate why that vision matters Demonstrate sponsorship – leaders who are on board and cheerleading Communicate in a way that engages people and partners inside and outside the organization Hire and retain the right talent to be able to drive real transformation “It is really important for the chief transformation officer, the transformation team and, frankly, all of our leaders to buy in and bring energy,” said Fields.

“That means maintaining excitement and continuing to go back to the why , rather than focusing on just the what and the how, which is where a lot of us spend our time. You have to really champion that future. ” Transformation can be an opportunity for individuals not just to support the mission of the organization, but to expand their own capacities and possibilities.

Again, this requires an environment in which you know it’s safe to put yourself out there. So, if you’re a leader who’s frustrated that people won’t get on-board with your change, first look at yourself and the way you’ve led the team or the organization in the past. If people don’t see opportunity, it’s not because they’re not looking for it.

“This is an opportunity really to ‘blue sky,’” said Fields. “How can we deliver on democratizing cancer care and what capabilities do we need? What technology do we need? What talent do we need? What new processes do we put in place? And all of that creates opportunities for people to think about the future, to open up things in their career that they may not have otherwise thought of. ” Fields said she’s been at City of Hope for 23 years and in this role for six years.

“One of the most important things I’ve learned is that leading through transformation is also personally transformational. I found myself able to step into leadership when I was uncertain about what the role would be, what would be required, not always knowing what’s coming next – accepting uncertainty and continuing to move forward. I’ve found myself more able to do that than I might have anticipated six years ago when I took the role.

” That’s such a valuable lesson. With all of the changing dynamics in this world around us, we need to trust ourselves more. We need to not let the role define us, but allow our own personal growth within the transformation journey define the role.

“And that’s hard for someone who’s a lawyer,” said Fields, who went to Harvard Law School and practiced corporate international and government contracts law and served as in-house counsel at The George Washington University. “We like to know everything, but I think it’s been particularly exciting, even though there are moments for me that are sometimes filled with trepidation. ” So, where does transformation begin? With the individual who steps up into her full capacity or with the environment that gives that individual the freedom and safety to do just that? It may be both, one or the other, and the answer may change over time and circumstances.

But it’s an essential question that every leader must consider when assessing their own organization’s readiness for big change. Just think about what you’re keeping from the rest of us if you don’t seize your opportunity to transform what your organization can offer to the world. “Cancer patients spend their lives waiting,” said Stone.

“We no longer have decades to make change. You have to move now. We are in a wondrous era of innovation and discovery.

There really is cause for great hope in the fight against cancer. And I’ve never seen the country more ready for the concept of democratizing that care and making it available to all people, and all it takes is like-minded organizations who are willing to not make it about themselves. And we’re going to be able to change the world together.

” The only certainty is there will be more uncertainty to come. The ones who thrive will be the ones who get comfortable with it, know who they are and change who they are to create a better future. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn .

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