Michael Mayo, president and CEO of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Baptist Health, shared his advice for people trying to grow as healthcare leaders during a recent episode of the Becker's Healthcare podcast.
Mr. Mayo brings more than three decades of healthcare executive experience to his current role. He previously served as interim president and CEO of Baptist Health and president of Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville. He also held positions including CEO of Orange Park (Fla.) Medical Center, CEO of Frankfort (Ky.) Regional Medical Center, COO of Memorial Hospital Jacksonville, and president of Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
Here is an excerpt from the podcast. Click here to download the full episode.
Editor's note: This response was lightly edited for length and clarity.
Michael Mayo: Always be a lifetime learner. It's never too late to continue that process, not only for your own benefit, but for ensuring that you're able to pass that information along to the teams that you're building. In fact, I most recently went back to school three years ago and completed my doctorate degree in health administration at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. So lifelong learning is very, very important. And I think that emerging young leaders should always keep that at the forefront.
I'd also say that it's important that you hone your communication skills, and obviously in this work, being able to articulate your position, your thoughts, and communicate the message to teams, physicians and all people you're working with is so important. But the most important part of communication — and I stress this to young leaders — is the ability to listen. I always laugh and say, follow the adage: God gave you one mouth and two ears. So proportionally use them.
The other thing I would recommend is find, at whatever place you are, a good mentor, a coach or a confidant, someone who can provide you an opportunity to share thoughts in a safe environment and give you true and realistic and honest feedback around both your communication and your presence as a leader. Then, lastly, be mindful of staying healthy. This work is demanding, and if you are not conscious about maintaining your good health and building your resiliency, you're not going to be a successful leader. And you're also setting an example for those around you.