Every day is a second chance.Value Based Leadership author Jeff Thompson, MD, executive advisor & CEO of Gundersen Health Systems

Summary: VALUES BASED LEADERSHIP: How a True Leader Puts People, Organization, and Community First.<br><br>Today, on the show we have JEFF THOMPSON, MD, who is an executive advisor and chief executive officer emeritus at Gundersen Health System, pediatrician, author, and speaker on values-based leadership.<br><br>Jeff’s experience in leadership is far-reaching, having led diverse teams, projects, and divisions, before holding multiple senior executive roles, including fourteen years as a CEO responsible for a staff of seven thousand, hundreds of thousands of patients, and a billion dollars of the community’s money within the Gundersen Health System. His long experience as intensive care pediatrician and senior executive has shown him over and over again how leading from one’s values has the power to affect long-term meaningful change.<br><br>During Dr. Thompson’s tenure, Gundersen Health System has been recognized across the country by independent healthcare ratings organizations for high-quality patient care. It has also earned the highest honors of Healthgrades America’s 50 Best AwardTM for 2012 through 2016 and the White House Champions of Change award in 2013.<br><br>Dr. Thompson is a founding member and past board chair of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality and the La Crosse Medical Health Science Consortium. He also serves on boards for the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, the Wisconsin Statewide Value Committee, About Health (chair), and Practice Greenhealth.<br><br>Dr. Thompson has authored and been featured in many articles, book chapters and abstracts on healthcare, leadership and sustainability topics. He is the author of Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your People, Inspire Your Community, (Forbes Books, March 2017).<br><br>Dr. Thompson is board certified in Pediatric Critical Care, Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine, and Pediatrics. He has been caring for patients for over thirty-five years. He earned his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship at SUNY Upstate Medical University.<br><br>He resides in La Crosse, Wisconsin with his wife and in near proximity to his three grown children.<br><br>Gundersen Health System<br>Gundersen Health System is a non-profit, comprehensive, and integrated healthcare network headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Gundersen employs over 6,000 people, serves 19 counties in western Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, and northeastern Iowa. This extensive and advanced medical network boasts one of the nation’s largest multi-specialty group medical practices, teaching hospital, regional community clinics, behavioral health services, vision centers, and air and ground ambulances, as well as many other services available for patients’ convenience and health. In 2015, Gundersen received Healthgrade America’s 50 Best AwardTM. Consistently ranked in the top five percent of hospitals in the country for clinical quality care by independent healthcare ratings organizations, Gundersen relentlessly pursues improved health for patients, their families, and the communities it serves.<br><br><br>VALUES BASED LEADERSHIP<br>How a True Leader Puts People, Organization, and Community First<br>We all face countless decisions throughout our careers. The specific circumstances that call us to lead will be different, but the core dilemmas and ethical challenges are very similar. Faced with these challenges, each of us must decide if we will follow our ego-centered inclinations or lead for the good of everyone whose lives we touch? Will we endanger or impair those around us to satisfy our own self-interest, or will we lead in a manner that is true to our values?<br><br>In his inspiring book Lead True, Jeff Thompson, MD, has masterfully compiled stories from the business, healthcare, and education fields, illustrating how a diverse group of leaders has employed value-based...