Hospital and health system leaders often face constant decision-making, and they must manage personal responsibilities. For women in C-suite roles, maintaining personal well-being amid these demands can be particularly challenging.
Becker's recently spoke with three female executives about their strategies for balancing work and life, and encouraging their teams to do the same. From setting PTO boundaries to investing in small daily habits, their insights reflect their experiences and previous advice.
Below are their responses, listed alphabetically.
Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for length and clarity.
Denise Brooks-Williams. Executive Vice President and COO of Henry Ford Health (Detroit): What I would say in my role, and what I try to offer and support and endorse — not only with my team but within our whole division — is that PTO or time off is planned for that purpose. Most organizations have been thoughtful about what it takes to renew and have the appropriate self-care.
I believe all of our team members work incredibly hard. Yes, we always look at the executives and say how busy it is, but we're all managing our families and our lives. Being able to take care of ourselves and renew is incredibly important.
So I do encourage, and I want people to take the time that they've earned to do what they would like. If that's travel, that's great. If that's just taking the time to be connected with your children, with activities and events — so I really do think it is important.
And as a leader, I think sometimes you have to both model and encourage people to do it, because we are all working incredibly hard. It certainly isn't limited to leaders. Everybody needs that encouragement because that time is there for them to be able to renew and refresh and reconnect, and we all need it.
I have a leader who said to me recently, "I'm going to be off on Friday and Monday," and I was up at 3:30 this morning looking at various emails. And guess who was emailing? That leader. And so I had to text and said, "Hey, I thought you were off today," because it's so easy. We're so connected.
They have their cell phone, they have their iPad. So the unplugging part — we certainly do talk about that, as well. That maybe is more a little bit of a leadership opportunity, to be OK to be away. So we do talk a lot about, "Hey, we've got this. If I'm here, I will cover whatever the issues or emergencies are that arise."
Because if you don't unplug, a couple of days off maybe isn't a big deal. But if you're actually taking vacation and the intent is to be away, I absolutely encourage people to be away. Turn off your devices, and allow yourself to be present with whatever it is that you're doing.
Kira Carter-Robertson. COO of University of Michigan Health – Sparrow (Lansing, Mich.): Sometimes you find mentors or individuals in your life that you don't even realize, at the time, how influential they will be. During my administrative fellowship assignment, I got to spend time with one of our pediatric physicians who ran our pediatric center at the hospital. He didn't just give me career advice; he shared a piece of himself — a vulnerability that I've carried with me ever since.
He said, "Kira, I'm not quite sure why they put you with me or what I'm supposed to teach you. You could probably teach me something." He continued, "But when I was little, I remember all these stories about my dad, whether it was fishing or all these things that we did together. And," he said, "as I've gotten older, I've reflected that my kids don't have those same stories with me in them. My wife has been instrumental in filling in the gaps in our home. But," he said, "one of the things that struck me — and I'm even more embarrassed as I reflect — is that if I could do something different, I don't know if I would, because I've enjoyed where my sacrifices have brought me.
"So," he said, "I'm wiser now and trying to make up for it. But I think my advice to you as you grow up in your career is: don't make the sacrifices early on. When you move up in your career, you'll already have developed a habit of putting family, putting personal well-being, putting those things that matter first. And," he said, "it doesn't mean that it won't come without some give or take. Sometimes it doesn't always balance out perfectly, but then you don't ever have to say the 'what if, could have, should have,' because you wouldn't have known life any other way."
As I have gotten older and reflected, I have learned that his message to me wasn't just about work-life balance; it was about living a life without regrets. I've learned that the concept of workplace balance doesn't exist — there's no perfect formula for balancing it all. Sometimes, family needs me more, and I have to put work on hold. Other times, a demanding project requires my full attention. It's about finding that rhythm — that dance between the two.
In addition, it's important to create small daily habits to impact your overall well-being. Maybe it's waking up a few minutes early just to have a little bit of quiet time or making sure you grab your gym bag to run to the gym after work. I think it's the little daily things we invest in ourselves that help create harmony and well-being overall.
Wendy Wilcox, MD. Chief Women's Health Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals (New York City): I find that connecting with team members is incredibly important, and a lot of times the lift that you need within a day. I have found that to try to recognize my own — I'm not very good at it, but I'm trying to be better at recognizing my own signs of fatigue and tiredness.
To show you how terrible I am, in June, I was headed to a board meeting for America's Essential Hospitals. I'd been feeling under the weather, but I knew it wasn't COVID and thought I was getting better. I got on the plane, arrived in San Diego, and realized I still wasn't feeling well.
I said, "I can either be sick here in this hotel room, or I can go home." I took the Red Eye, went home because I was supposed to stay for the conference, but I didn't. And then the next day, my partner said, "You're not really getting better. Maybe you should go in [to see the physician]." So, I went to my physician. She said, "Really happy you came in. You have walking pneumonia."
And so then I thought, "OK, I should never have gotten on that plane." So, I am trying to do better at reading my own biometric signs and then just saying, "stop." But I grew up in an era where that was not really the case, so we all are just starting to do better with that.