By John W. Bluford, III, MBA, FACHE
President, Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute
President Emeritus, Truman Medical Centers
On several occasions, I have presented a message of leadership incorporating the themes of “Love, Hope and Mission.” My message to various audiences across the country encompassed traditional attributes of integrity, judgement, capability and humility as key elements of good servant leadership.
The essence of the message was that love and hope tied to mission are critical elements of successful leadership — that following leadership is more emotional than rational. I think that each of these concepts ring true today and are critically important in our society as our leadership will define our country’s culture. In turn, these same elements will define how we treat each other and how effective we will be as we address the menacing challenges of a pandemic, health disparities, social injustice, domestic terrorism, economic equity, the educational divide, climate change and the political discord before us.
…”love and hope tied to mission are critical elements of successful leadership…”
The concept of hope is particularly important as it is inspirational in its core meaning. In general, people do not follow plans, they follow leaders, so a hopeful leader immersed in integrity that is committed to the input of a diverse audience with varying opinions and backgrounds is really the order of the day. It needs to be “one for all” and “all for one.” This scenario is where “hope” resides. Perhaps the only other element that exceeds hope is “The Truth”.
John W. Bluford, III, is President/Founder of the Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute (BHLI),a professional development program designed to cultivate undergraduate minority scholars for leadership roles in healthcare, www.blufordinstitute.org
