Leadership Matters!

By David R. Fox, CRA, FAHRA

This was the theme of my acceptance speech at this year’s Annual Meeting in Washington DC. In the event you were not able to join us, I’d like to make that point here as well. Leadership does matter, and history has provided the backdrop for proving this to be true. Name any prominent event in history, and I can point to a leader who influenced an outcome one way or the other, whether they were appointed, elected, inherited, or just led by de facto. As the leader of that event, they got credit for the outcome, whether it was good or bad. Take a look into some historical events, and I believe you will agree.

There will be some excellent topics at the Fall Conference, including a few that specifically focus on leadership. Hopefully you will have the opportunity to join us in St. Louis from October 28-30 to spend some valuable time learning from your peers. If you would like to attend but cannot secure the funding, AHRA is offering its Osborn Scholarship. The recipient of the scholarship will receive free registration to the Fall Conference and up to $1200 to support travel related expenses. The deadline to apply is October 6, so don’t delay!

My hope is, as you read my articles this year, you take something away that makes either your work life or personal life better. This has been a calling card of mine as I travel the US meeting many of our members, recruiting new members, and discussing the inevitable changes impacting us all with regard to the healthcare industry and imaging in particular. I’ve observed the leadership provided by other people in many organizations and realized that if we are going to move an agenda forward, it takes the right leadership at the right time to accomplish a goal.

Speaking of leadership, the work which lies ahead for the AHRA Board of Directors this year is plenty. The board has appointed committee chairs to lead some of these initiatives. We have multiple committees working diligently to improve our association’s breadth of offerings for both education and advocacy. The board and I are also planning on improvements to who we are as an operating and governing board. We have begun drafting out an aggressive agenda for our fall board meeting to include team building, with an emphasis on leadership strengths as a group. I will write more about this in the coming months and hope you find it interesting.

By the way, if you have not yet read Paul Dubiel’s article in the July/August issue of Radiology Management, “A Reflection: Mistakes Leaders Make,” I highly recommend it. Paul writes about the top ten mistakes leaders occasionally make which can affect their ability to properly and fully lead. This article highlights opportunities for all of us to be more cognizant of potential pitfalls that can be a detriment to our leadership. My favorites for a variety of reasons were #’s 2, 3, and 9. The reasons were actually quite simple: they were about relationships, affirmation, and coaching, three of my favorite leadership traits.

After you read Paul’s article, let me hear from you which of his top ten were most applicable to you and why. And remember: leadership matters!

David R. Fox, CRA, FAHRA is president of the 2014-2015 AHRA Board of Directors. He is the president of Saint Vincent Health-North Hospital in Sherwood, AR and can be reached at Dfox@stvincenthealth.com.