In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Carla Fowler, MD PhD, a performance coach with a medical and research background, to break leadership into four practical buckets: strategy, execution, mindset, and biology. We talk about ten-minute strategy, why dialogue beats top-down directives, how capability, visibility, and influence drive execution, and why biology sets the floor for performance. We also get into how great leaders think: when to trust ...
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In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Carla Fowler, MD PhD, a performance coach with a medical and research background, to break leadership into four practical buckets: strategy, execution, mindset, and biology. We talk about ten-minute strategy, why dialogue beats top-down directives, how capability, visibility, and influence drive execution, and why biology sets the floor for performance. We also get into how great leaders think: when to trust ...
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Emma Jones, author of The Phoenix Blueprint and a triple-boarded hospice and palliative care physician in Boston. She brings clear, road-tested practices that work for clinicians in the trenches. Dr. Jones shares her story of hitting burnout a dozen years into practice and how she builds her way back without gurus or gimmicks. We unpack a core distinction: intention vs. attachment. Set a clear aim, hold the plan with an open palm, and pivot when Flight 27...
In this episode, I sit down with my longtime colleague and EOS Implementer Mike Urness for a practical walk-through of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)—a framework that helps leaders run their organizations with clarity and consistency. We unpack the six key components of EOS, focusing on the Vision section and its eight questions: core values, core focus, long-term target, marketing strategy, 3-year picture, 1-year plan, 90-day rocks, and issues. Mike explains how to identify true...
In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I’m joined by Oli Johnson, founder of PrescribeLife.AI and a technologist dedicated to preventing burnout and building resilience through innovation and culture. Drawing from his own leadership journey, Oli shares how AI, data, and organizational design can work together to help leaders create healthier, more sustainable teams. He discusses how technology, when developed with empathy, can reduce the hidden workload behind burno...
In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Mickey Lebowitz, a board-certified endocrinologist with 40 years of clinical practice and author of The EQ Prescription. Dr. Lebowitz shares how emotional intelligence, often dismissed as a “soft skill,” is actually grounded in science and vital for preventing burnout, strengthening resilience, and improving patient care. He presents his framework called the “EQ Zone,” which combines emotional intelligence wit...
In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I’m joined by Ghazenfer Mansoor, Founder and CEO of Technology River, a healthcare software development firm specializing in HIPAA-compliant applications and AI integration. Ghazenfer shares what it means to build solutions at the intersection of compliance, innovation, and clinical usability, and why trust, not just encryption, is the true core of HIPAA. He talks about the burden physicians face with electronic medical records...
In this episode, Julio Martinez-Clark joins me to talk about how love, forgiveness, and unity can shape leadership especially when the work is hard. As CEO, author, and healthcare entrepreneur, Julio brings both global experience in telecom and a deep perspective from building his own company in healthcare. We start with his journey from Colombia to the U.S., his engineering and MBA background, and how mentors and books like Power vs. Force and A Course in Miracles reshaped how he thinks abo...
In this episode, I sit down with Ursula Taylor, former commercial litigator and founder of Conflict Reimagined, to unpack why most of us avoid tough conversations and how to handle them with clarity, courage, and control. Ursula draws a straight line from results to human emotion: every dispute sits on top of fear, pride, scarcity, or insecurity. The work starts inside (observing yourself, noticing the physical cues (tight jaw, hunched shoulders), and releasing the charge) so you can show up ...
In this episode, I sit down with Professor Linda Macomber, a pioneer at the crossroads of healthcare and technology. From her early days as an ICU nurse to becoming a HIMSS Life Fellow and professor, she’s spent four decades showing what’s possible when curiosity meets preparation. For Linda, AI isn’t a threat. It’s a renaissance. We talk about why she built the Renaissance Health Resource, a living library of tools, case studies, and digital health innovations designed to help students and p...
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Kamaljit Kaur, a physician who decided the system wasn’t working for her or for her patients and had the courage to build something different. Instead of accepting the limitations, she opened a membership-based practice where prevention and relationship come first. We talk about the reality of “swimming without floaties”, what it takes to step out on your own, the financial risks, and the grit required to keep going when the pressure is heavy. Dr. Kaur sh...
In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I’m joined by James Dismond, President and CEO of MiraSol Health. James shares what it is like to step into executive leadership at a young age and lead an organization that grew from serving 40 patients a day to more than 200. He talks about the challenge of guiding a five-generation workforce and why leadership begins with active listening. James explains the difference between checking in and checking up and how leaders must ...
In this episode, Ernesto Gómez joins me to talk about unlocking the untapped potential in your team and why most leaders leave 40% of it unused. As former CHRO for a $9 billion company with 83,000 employees, Ernesto brings decades of experience leading across the Americas. We start with the story that connected us: the book Endurance and Ernest Shackleton’s legendary ability to pivot when the plan no longer worked. That same adaptability, Ernesto says, is essential for leaders today. We cov...
In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I’m joined by two seasoned pros, Neil Marshall and Kurt Mosley, who have spent decades interviewing and placing thousands of healthcare executives across the country. What they’ve uncovered is this: the first 90 days of leadership matter. A lot more than we often realize. Now, you might be thinking, “Karl, I’ve been in my role for five years, this doesn’t apply to me.” But here’s the challenge I’d offer: what if your next 90 day...
In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I welcome back Dr. Chika Oriuwa, physician, poet, keynote speaker, and author of Unlike the Rest: A Doctor’s Story. She joined us just a few months ago, and we knew right away we’d need to bring her back. This conversation gets to the core of something many leaders quietly struggle with: why soft skills feel so hard and why they matter more than ever. Chika walks us through what she calls “the hard science behind the soft skil...
In this episode, I speak with Artuğ Acar, a mechanical engineer, startup advisor, and former executive at Amazon Robotics, RightHand Robotics, and Mercury. Artuğ was named one of Business Insider’s top 10 leaders transforming North America, and after this conversation, it’s easy to see why. Artuğ shares how leadership and problem-solving intersect and why your ability to build trust will always matter more than technical brilliance. He explains that the best leaders don’t need to be the smar...
In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I sit down with Micah Remley, CEO of Robin, for a conversation that hits right at the heart of what so many leaders are wrestling with: the workplace. Not just the policies. The experience. Micah leads the country’s top workplace management platform, and he brings a mix of data, practicality, and lived leadership that makes this episode one of the most relevant we’ve had this year. We talk about: Why “hybrid” is still a fuzzy te...
In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, Shandy Welch returns to unpack one of the most powerful and personal leadership ideas we’ve explored yet: Shedding is not optional for growth. It’s essential for survival. Shandy shares what it really means to let go, not just in theory, but in practice. From releasing a 25-year professional identity as a nurse practitioner to navigating institutional resistance to change, this conversation is both deeply personal and strategic...
In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Ann Hirsch, physician, coach, peer review chair, and a leader I’ve worked alongside in some high-stakes settings. With over three decades of clinical experience, Ann brings a powerful combination of bedside wisdom and real-world leadership insight. We talk about what it means to lead under pressure—when the stakes are high and the tone in the room matters more than the title. Ann shares why “you’re never not...
In this episode, Dr. Judy Wright joins us with a perspective that’s both practical and powerful. As a practicing family physician and trusted consultant on physician wellness and leadership, she speaks from lived experience, not just theory. We get into the heart of what makes teams stay or walk away. Dr. Wright explains how emotional intelligence directly impacts retention, safety, and trust, and why leaders who treat it as optional often find themselves out of touch and out of time. She p...
In this episode, I sit down with Tom Lawry, author of Hacking Healthcare and the just-released Healthcare Nation: The Future Is Calling. Tom brings decades of global leadership experience, from senior roles at GE and Microsoft to his current work advising healthcare leaders worldwide. But what sets Tom apart is how clearly and courageously he challenges us to think differently. We cover everything from AI’s real-world promise (and hype) to the unsettling truth that a citizen in Mississippi ma...
What does a 2,700-mile bike race across the Continental Divide teach us about leadership? In this powerful episode, I sit down with Dr. Ty Hopkins, chair of the Department of Exercise Science at Brigham Young University, elite endurance athlete, and someone who knows firsthand what it means to push past limits. After reading his article in the BYU alumni magazine about racing the Tour Divide (a grueling ultra-distance bike race from Canada to Mexico with nearly 200,000 feet of elevation gain...
In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Carla Fowler, MD PhD, a performance coach with a medical and research background, to break leadership into four practical buckets: strategy, execution, mindset, and biology. We talk about ten-minute strategy, why dialogue beats top-down directives, how capability, visibility, and influence drive execution, and why biology sets the floor for performance. We also get into how great leaders think: when to trust ...
