104: Critical Thinking Skills for Healthcare Executives

About this episode

Dr. Linda Henman discusses critical thinking skills for healthcare executives and shares insights from her new book and real-world scenarios.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Linda Henman, trusted advisor to senior leaders and nationally recognized expert in strategy, decision making, and organizational effectiveness. Linda joins the Leadership Jam Session to discuss her new book, Healthy Decisions: Critical Thinking Skills for Healthcare Executives , and shares timely insights drawn from real-world healthcare scenarios, including how leaders at systems like Mercy and the Cleveland Clinic navigated unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Linda and I dive deep into the essential role of critical thinking for healthcare leaders, particularly when navigating unexpected and unwelcome change. She breaks down how organizational culture is shaped by leaders’ decisions, and why tolerating toxic behavior is a long-term threat to team performance and reputation. Linda also shares powerful stories from her consulting work—both in healthcare and other industries—highlighting the importance of making tough calls, even when short-term results tempt leaders to look the other way. We tackle common traps such as over-analysis, reckless decision-making, and the limitations of coaching narcissistic leaders. Linda…

People in this episode

Host: Rob Fonte

Guest: Dr. Linda Henman

Topics covered

• critical thinking
• healthcare leadership
• decision making
• organizational culture
• COVID-19 challenges

Keywords

• critical thinking
• healthcare executives
• leadership
• decision making
• organizational effectiveness
• COVID-19
• toxic behavior

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mercy, Cleveland Clinic

Books & works: Healthy Decisions: Critical Thinking Skills for Healthcare Executives

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