About this episode

Erica DeBoer discusses effective leadership in healthcare and the importance of clarity and stewardship in decision-making.

What does effective leadership look like when every decision can affect a patient’s life? In this episode, Erica DeBoer, Chief Nursing Officer at Sanford Health, joins Jennifer Colosimo to share how she leads 11,000 nurses and 55,000 team members across one of the nation’s largest rural health systems. Erica describes her philosophy of stewardship, why leadership is less about having all the answers and more about creating the conditions for great decisions, and how she keeps “brilliance at the bedside” at the center of every choice. She explains why clarity matters more than certainty, how Sanford’s high-reliability journey and SAFE (Sanford Accountability for Excellence) framework guide communication, and practical ways she equips frontline teams to speak up, solve problems, and focus on what matters most. Along the way, she highlights simple practices—like huddles, repeated messaging, and visible presence—that build trust, strengthen engagement, and improve both the employee and patient experience. Rethinking the High-Turnover Hospital: https://resources.franklincovey.com/c/tlg-rethinking-the-high-turnover-hospital?x=j4G37p&lb-mode=overlay As a global leadership and…

People in this episode

Host: Jennifer Colosimo

Guest: Erica DeBoer

Topics covered

• leadership
• healthcare
• nursing
• decision making
• employee engagement
• patient experience

Keywords

• leadership
• nursing
• healthcare
• decision making
• employee engagement
• patient care
• stewardship

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sanford Health, FranklinCovey

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