Health care stands at the threshold of a new era—one that demands bold leadership and thoughtful introspection. Today’s leaders must navigate the complexities of multifaceted institutions, confront pressing workforce challenges, and actively champion the next generation of health care leadership. The road ahead is challenging, but leaders’ opportunity to have a transformational impact has never been greater.
At our 2025 Summit, cross-industry experts convened to share lessons on how to advance mission-critical goals amid external pressures and uncertainty. These thought-provoking discussions featured insights from:
- Charlie Baker, President, NCAA
- Theodore L. DeWeese, Dean of Medical Faculty & CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine
- Alexandra Drane, Co-Founder & CEO, ARCHANGELS
- Kim Keck, President & CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
- Stephanie Mercado, CEO, National Association for Healthcare Quality
- Rasu B. Shrestha, Enterprise EVP & Chief Innovation and Commercialization Officer, Advocate Health
- Ronald A. Williams, Chairman & CEO of RW2 Enterprises, LLC and former Charman & CEO, Aetna
- Martha Wofford, President & CEO, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island
- Kenneth Young, President & CEO, Medecision
Read on for practical insights on leading in the evolving health care landscape.
Health Care Meets Higher Ed: Lessons in Leading Complex Institutions
Leaders in health care and higher education are similarly tasked with overseeing large, complex organizations that have a profound impact on the populations they serve. Across both sectors, leaders face comparable challenges, including high fixed costs, a knowledge-based workforce, and intensifying political pressures.
In a conversation entitled “Health Care Meets Higher Ed: Lessons in Leading Complex Institutions,” moderator Drane spoke with Baker about three shared insights that can help leaders advance their organizations’ missions while navigating complex challenges.
1. Community input is essential.
According to Baker, intentional communication plays an integral role in understanding the needs of the communities your organization serves. Leaders should actively listen to their communities and make a sincere effort to understand their communities’ needs.
“It’s not so much about communicating, it’s really about listening,” Baker said.
When leaders reach out to communities and encourage open and honest communication about what is working and what is not, they are better equipped to implement impactful changes for the populations they serve.
“If you want to build an agenda, you’re much better off trying to find the places and spaces in which that agenda is going to align with what the people you’re representing or working with are interested in,” Baker said.
Creating space for people to be heard not only shapes agendas that drive meaningful change, it also builds the trust essential for lasting impact. There is “immeasurable importance in finding common ground,” Drane noted.
She added that when leaders create moments that feel personal and well timed—even through technology—people feel seen. “Automated caring is still caring,” she said. Designing systems that listen with warmth and respond with relevance reinforces the trust and connection leaders work to build.
2. Transparency builds trust.
Transparency also is essential to building trust and aligning stakeholders. Leaders should provide regular updates on what is happening across their organizations to foster a culture of trust with their employees, communities, and other stakeholders.
The more information leaders share, the more confident and comfortable people are with the organization’s direction and agenda—fostering stronger engagement and support.
“The biggest fear most people have is they don’t know. And if you can help give them a sense about when something’s going to happen or what you’re focused on or what the next big change is, they’re much more able to process that themselves and figure out where they fit in the grander scheme of what’s going on,” Baker said.
3. Collaboration drives transformation.
The basic administration of health plans and care delivery is overwhelmingly complex in the United States. “I’ve never understood why we don’t talk about the fact that we create a herculean task for ourselves around how to just administer the basics,” Baker said.
“I just think we don’t do a good job of understanding where the gaps and the opportunities are and where the chances and the possibilities to both simplify and inform are,” Baker continued. He added, “Some of those you can solve with technology, but some of those need to be solved with business process and real reform.”
Baker underscored the power of private, candid conversations among industry peers to drive transformation. These types of conversations often spark real change by offering a safe space for peers to share challenges and collaborate on solutions. For leaders, engaging in these peer-to-peer exchanges is not just valuable—it’s essential. “Private conversations actually are when people tell you what they really think,” Baker said.
Drane emphasized that meaningful change requires the courage of leaders like Baker—those willing to tackle challenges outside their current expertise and solve them at scale. She spotlighted leaders addressing caregiving as a workforce opportunity, recognizing that over 40% of adults are caring for friends, family, or neighbors—often at the expense of their own health and job success. For employers, supporting these unpaid caregivers is not just the right thing to do—it’s a clear path to stronger productivity and retention.
Creating space to solve these challenges—together—is leadership at its highest form.
Future-Proofing the Workforce: Protecting Access Amid Inevitable Demographic Pressures
During a conversation entitled “Future-Proofing the Workforce: Protecting Access Amid Inevitable Demographic Pressures,” moderator Mercado spoke with DeWeese, Shrestha, and Young about how leaders can shape a sustainable workforce capable of delivering more accessible, affordable, and consumer-centric care.
As long-term demographic trends continue to place pressure on an already strained workforce, leaders are grappling with how to effectively recruit, train, and retain the next generation of professionals.
Many leaders are relying on technology to help fill critical gaps. While technology can help address challenges, leaders should take a holistic approach to integrating AI and emerging technologies that solve challenges without creating new friction.
When introducing new technologies, leaders need to align teams around shared priorities and ensure staff are trained how to use the tools available to them. Successful implementation hinges on effective change management.
Young noted that the acceleration of new technologies entering today’s workforce has introduced a “fear factor” for many employees. To mitigate apprehension, leaders should be mindful of “the pace of introduction and the trust that comes along with that,” DeWeese said.
“If we do this incorrectly, we’re just going to replicate a much more complicated, disjointed workforce,” Young noted. “So, we have to do it in a way that is thoughtful and interconnected.”
Ultimately, however, technology alone cannot build a future-ready health care workforce—there also needs to be a strong pipeline of talent. “Hammers don’t build houses,” Mercado said. “People do, and I think it’s really, really important for us to understand that the key to the lock here is workforce—and we have a lot to gain in that regard.”
To strengthen the workforce, leaders must take ownership and confront the underlying issues that discourage people from entering—and staying—in the health care industry.
In addition to addressing these root causes, Shrestha said leaders need to engage with communities to educate the rising generation on the skills and competencies needed in health care and inspire them to enter the industry.
“I think it’s important for us to really focus upstream into generating a pipeline coming into the health care workforce,” Shrestha said, noting that all of the other solutions that could stem from “technology and AI and redesigning and transforming” can’t be done without people in the loop.
Confab Big Discussion: The Power of Sponsorship: Shaping the Future of Health Care Leadership
The senior-most executives within an organization have the opportunity to both guide their organizations and personally shape the future of health care leadership through active sponsorship. In our Confab Big Discussion, Williams, Keck, and Wofford reflected on their shared relationship and sponsorship journey. Their conversation centered on building the next generation of health care leadership through three components of sponsorship:
1. Identifying and cultivating talent
Identifying and developing talent begins with an organization’s most senior leaders. The discussion leaders noted that CEOs and senior leaders must act as chief talent officers. “It is your job to source, develop, and sponsor a diverse talent pool of high-performing individuals who can accomplish the business results that need to be accomplished,” Williams said.
It is important for executives to consider leaders with diverse backgrounds and expertise to build a leadership team who can run an organization comprehensively.
Senior leaders should also look for people “who are willing to do difficult things and to speak directly and plainly to executives and those they work with,” Williams said.
Wofford underscored the value of being in the room with executives who encourage candid feedback, reflecting on the culture Williams created. “It was a scaled way to coach and teach. You created a true meritocracy—where it was clear you wanted feedback from others—and you let people deliver results and earn more opportunities based on that.”
2. Scaling sponsorship for impact
Senior leaders play a critical role in preparing emerging talent by coaching them to step confidently into advanced roles. Executives must not only be transparent about the realities and challenges of senior leadership but also create meaningful opportunities for rising leaders to gain hands-on experience at the next level.
Williams said executives should encourage emerging leaders to step out of their comfort zone, with the goal of “broadening the lens to get a greater sense of their capabilities.”
While these shifts can be challenging, it is essential for executives to “identify high performers, place them on high-priority initiatives, and create pathways for strategic mobility,” Wofford said.
Keck echoed that giving emerging leaders intentional experience in different parts of an organization can be a powerful driver of talent development if they have support from a sponsor. Citing her own experience leading a P&L, heading strategy, and serving as chief of staff, she also commented on the value of taking on different roles.
“Inevitably the issue, the same exact issue, looked markedly different from the seat you were sitting in,” Keck said. “And I kept thinking, where you sit is where you stand. But for me, it gave me the opportunity to look at issues multi-dimensionally and underscored the importance of subordinating your own agenda for the agenda of the organization.”
3. Paying it forward
Sponsorship goes beyond simply placing an individual on a development track. When a leader is focused on sponsorship, they’re passing along their insights and experience to elevate others.
Active sponsorship involves setting clear expectations, enabling success through support, and equipping individuals to meet the demands of their current and future roles. “The expectations of leadership are just as important as the results you achieve,” Keck said. When leaders set and manage expectations, it “reinforces intentionality and sponsorship at scale,” Keck added.
Shaping the future of health care leadership requires a true investment in the identification and development of emerging leaders. Through scaled sponsorship, organizations can build a diverse, resilient leadership pipeline capable of adapting to change, driving innovation, and sustaining performance over time.
