Hiring for Agility in the Healthcare C-Suite
There’s no doubt about it: when it comes to healthcare hiring, structure is important. A clear list of qualifications allows you to narrow down to candidates who have the experience, training, and expertise required to lead your team.
But once you get to the interview stage, a checklist will only get you so far. During a one-on-one conversation, you’re not just looking for qualifications – you’re looking for the leadership qualities that will inspire your team members to keep moving forward, even in the face of setbacks or challenges.
One leadership quality that is especially important in today’s C-Suite? Agility. The ability to be resourceful, adaptable, and open to change is crucial in the unpredictable environment of modern healthcare. The best healthcare leaders will be able to take in the shifting landscape and chart a new path forward, even as the ground underneath them is moving.
Okay, you know you need to hire for agility – but how?
The first step is identifying the qualities that mark an agile leader. The second step is asking the right questions to assess those qualities. Read on for the qualities and interview questions that will help you hire an agile, adaptable leader for your organization.
Five Qualities of an Agile Leader
- Curious – Leaders who are agile are interested in new ideas and perspectives. While all good leaders have a strong foundation of professional expertise, they also acknowledge that they don’t have all the answers. An agile leader demonstrates curiosity by engaging with peers, experts, and subordinates, listening well, and asking good questions.
- Continual Learner – Leaders who are agile are aware of the latest trends, technologies and approaches that are available to them, and are open to incorporating new methods if it’s a good fit for the organization. Look for signs that the leader you’re speaking with is aware of new research and open to exploring new ways of work.
- Flexible – “It’s my way or the highway” could be considered the anti-slogan of agile leaders. Attention to process is incredibly important in healthcare, but it should also be balanced by a healthy amount of flexibility. If a leader shows signs that they can acknowledge their mistakes and learn from them, it’s a good sign that they have a healthy amount of flexibility and openness.
- Resourceful – Agile leaders are able to brainstorm solutions to problems they’ve only learned about moments ago. While this can be a difficult skill to assess, it’s increasingly important that healthcare leaders possess a certain amount of ingenuity, creativity, and solutions-focused thinking.
- Experience or Comfort with Change – In the dynamic world of healthcare, change is a constant. If a leader has had prior experience with major organizational changes or shake-ups, it might be a sign that they will face future changes and challenges with confidence. Ask a leader about their prior experiences with change, or about the first steps they would take if faced with a big change in the future.
Your Cheat Sheet: 10 Questions to Ask to Measure Agility
- When was the last time you learned something new from a team member at work?
- What new idea in healthcare are you most excited about?
- How do you stay up to date on industry trends and news?
- Tell me about a time you tested out a new approach at work. How did it go?
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work. What did you learn from it?
- Imagine a key member of your team unexpectedly resigns. How would you respond?
- Tell me about a time you experienced a major change at work. How did you respond?
- Tell me about a time your expectations were proven wrong at work. What did you learn?
- During your first 90 days, what’s one new approach you’d like to share with your team?
- Imagine an entry level employee comes to you with an idea for better patient care. How would you respond?
These 10 questions are just a starting point — our hope is that they catalyze a dynamic, meaningful conversation with your candidate so that you can get a true measure of the leadership qualities that you’re looking for.
Need more support during your C-Suite / Executive Healthcare Search? Reach out and schedule a 30-minute call with our team! We’re happy to learn more about your situation and share our expertise with you.
Lauren Bencekovich is the founder and Managing Director of Lauren Recruiting Group, a boutique healthcare recruiting firm that matches healthcare executive candidates with hospitals and health organizations. Looking for an outstanding C-Suite candidate? Visit our contact page to schedule a 30-minute intro call with one of our team members. We look forward to connecting and matching you with a top-tier candidate!