In a post-pandemic world, Boston-based Tufts Medicine CEO Michael Dandorph acknowledged that change is a hard, but important, part of growth.
To Mr. Dandorph, growth means not only working to get the health system in a financially healthier spot, but to invest in Tufts employees through active listening and engagement.
Becker's connected with Mr. Dandorph to learn more about his leadership style and lessons learned during his time in healthcare.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is something about you and your working style that people should know if they were to work closely with you?
Michael Dandorph: I try to be a very active listener. I don't pretend that I know it all. I really like to engage with the teams that are executing and hear from them.
I try to spend most of my time really trying to listen and learn from the experts in the industry. We just have a great team. People are attracted to healthcare with a deep passion. That's probably my primary focus.
Q: What personal standard do you hold yourself to, and how does it influence your daily decision-making and interactions with your team?
MD: For me, it always comes back to "why are we here." A lot of organizations talk about being patient centric. I've shifted that nomenclature to we're really here to treat the consumer.
We have the privilege of taking care of people during their most vulnerable times, but it's not just that individual. It's their family, it's the community that surrounds them. We can't ever lose sight of why we're here. It's what excites people. We underscore that at every moment we can.
Q: Can you share a leadership lesson that you only truly understood after experiencing it firsthand?
MD: The first thing that comes to mind is how hard change is for all of us. COVID showed that we can do things really quickly and break down bureaucracy, but post-COVID, change is hard. People carry a lot of things with them.
While we're trying to make the organization and the ecosystem better, it does require a lot of change, and that requires a lot of communication. So I think probably the hardest lesson is how hard change really is, even when it's positive change.