Healthcare Leadership Excellence

Karl Pister
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The Healthcare Leadership Excellence podcast was created to share valuable insights around leadership, communication, emotional intelligence and conflict resolution. Karl Pister, with over 30 years of coaching experience, is a passionate advocate of excellent and influential leadership. In each episode, Karl discusses real-life leadership challenges through the lenses of outstanding healthcare professionals. He is committed to empowering every healthcare leader lead with integrity, excellence, and inspiration.

  1. 13H AGO

    Episode 187: Seeing the Person, Not Just the Performance with Susan Inouye

    In this episode, I sit down with Susan Inouye, a leadership coach who has worked with over 600 companies across 40 industries. Susan brings a unique perspective shaped by her early career in film and her focus on helping people become the best version of themselves. We begin with a challenge many leaders face today: working effectively across generations. Susan explains that while younger employees may seem different, their core needs are not. People want to feel heard, use their gifts, and be part of something meaningful. The issue is not the generation, it’s how we lead. From there, we discuss her Sawubona approach, meaning “I see you,” and the shift it requires from leaders. She walks through key changes, including moving from control to connection and from conformity to truly seeing individuals. Instead of forcing performance, she challenges leaders to understand what each person naturally does well and build from there. We also explore practical examples, including a leader ready to fire a high-performing employee who wasn’t meeting traditional metrics. By stepping back and recognizing his strengths, the organization improved both retention and overall performance. The takeaway is simple: leadership today is less about directing people and more about understanding them. When leaders take the time to truly see their people, performance and engagement follow. Get in touch with Susan: https://susaninouye.com/ 👉  Download The Leader’s Ultimate Guide to Difficult Conversations, a practical framework for entering difficult conversations with clarity, discipline, and influence. 👉 Who is Karl Pister? 👉 Follow us on LinkedIn. 👉 Have access to leadership materials that will level up your game. 👉 Contact us on our website. 👉 Subscribe to Karl's YouTube channel. Ready to level up your leadership skills? Sign up for The Coaching Group's leadership courses.

    43 min

  2. 4D AGO

    Episode 186: Leading a Multi-Generational Workforce with Dr. Katherine Meese

    In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Katherine Meese, bestselling author of Gen Fluence: How to Lead a Multi-Generational Workforce. With a background in organizational behavior, healthcare research, and leadership development, Dr. Meese brings both research and practical insight to one of the biggest challenges facing leaders today: how to lead well across generations. We talk about the reality of today’s workforce, especially in healthcare, where four generations are now working side by side and a fifth is on the way. Dr. Meese explains why so much of the current tension gets pinned on Gen Z, and she helps separate myth from reality. Some of what leaders are feeling is real, but her reframe is powerful: instead of seeing younger workers as fragile, perhaps we should see them as brave. We also discuss what leaders can do to better support younger employees without lowering standards. Dr. Meese shares practical ideas around feedback, communication, work design, and expectation setting. She explains why many younger employees need more frequent encouragement, clearer training, and stronger support systems, especially in high-pressure environments like healthcare. One of the strongest moments in the conversation is her insight on conflict and communication. She talks about the importance of helping people carry their own message instead of always passing concerns up the chain. She also introduces the idea of “sailing rules,” a helpful framework for understanding why direct communication in urgent situations is not always personal, but often necessary. The larger takeaway is this: leading a multi-generational workforce is not about stereotypes or frustration. It is about understanding the world people are coming from, adjusting where needed, and creating the kind of culture where trust, hope, accountability, and growth can actually take root. 👉  Download The Leader’s Ultimate Guide to Difficult Conversations, a practical framework for entering difficult conversations with clarity, discipline, and influence. 👉 Who is Karl Pister? 👉 Follow us on LinkedIn. 👉 Have access to leadership materials that will level up your game. 👉 Contact us on our website. 👉 Subscribe to Karl's YouTube channel. Ready to level up your leadership skills? Sign up for The Coaching Group's leadership courses.

    43 min

  3. MAR 19

    Episode 185: The Hidden Math Behind Physician Burnout with Dr. Sarah Smith

    In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Sarah Smith, a physician from Australia and The Charting Coach for Physicians and Clinicians. Dr. Smith has practiced medicine in both Australia and Canada and has experienced firsthand the growing administrative burden that many physicians face. After years of long evenings and weekends spent finishing charts, Dr. Smith began asking a simple but powerful question: Is this sustainable? That question led her to rethink how clinical days are structured and eventually develop practical strategies that help physicians complete their documentation during the workday instead of hours later. We talk about the reality of modern clinical practice, seeing large numbers of patients while managing charting, inbox messages, results, and administrative demands. Dr. Smith explains why the math of the clinical day often doesn’t work and how small adjustments in workflow, teamwork, and mindset can begin to close the gap. One of her core ideas is simple but challenging: see the patient and close the chart. While that may sound impossible at first, she explains how incremental changes and better questions can gradually make it achievable. The larger takeaway is this: while the system may be imperfect, physicians still have choices in how they approach their day. Sometimes the first step toward sustainability is simply asking, What small change could make today better?  Subscribe to Karl’s Leadership Writing. 👉 Who is Karl Pister? 👉 Follow us on LinkedIn. 👉 Have access to leadership materials that will level up your game. 👉 Contact us on our website. 👉 Subscribe to Karl's YouTube channel. Ready to level up your leadership skills? Sign up for The Coaching Group's leadership courses.

    37 min

  4. MAR 16

    Episode 184: What Leaders Get Wrong About Hiring with Cary Sparrow

    In this episode, I sit down with Cary Sparrow, Founder and CEO of WageScape and a former nuclear submarine officer. Cary brings a unique blend of technical thinking, leadership experience, and insight into today’s labor market. We begin with a challenge many organizations face: hiring people who actually stay. Cary explains that leaders often focus heavily on technical experience in interviews while overlooking something just as important—understanding their own culture. When the reality of the workplace doesn’t match what candidates expect, employee churn is almost inevitable. From there, we discuss what drives retention today. Cary highlights the importance of both culture and competitive pay, noting that leaders must understand their environment and the real labor market if they want to attract and keep strong people. We also explore leadership lessons from Cary’s time in the Navy and in business. He emphasizes humility, self-awareness, and the willingness to admit when you’re wrong. In fast-moving environments, he says, the biggest risk is often not moving fast enough. The takeaway is simple: strong leadership requires knowing your organization, making decisions with imperfect information, and building an environment where people can succeed. Subscribe to Karl’s Leadership Writing. 👉 Who is Karl Pister? 👉 Follow us on LinkedIn. 👉 Have access to leadership materials that will level up your game. 👉 Contact us on our website. 👉 Subscribe to Karl's YouTube channel. Ready to level up your leadership skills? Sign up for The Coaching Group's leadership courses.

    41 min

  5. MAR 12

    Episode 183: Leadership Is Messy: How Great Clinicians Become Great Leaders with President Cameron Martin

    In this episode, I sit down with President Cameron Martin of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. We first connected at a healthcare leadership conference at Brigham Young University, and after one conversation I knew I wanted him on the show. President Martin shares the story behind Rocky Mountain University and the vision that built it. We talk about the difference between training great clinicians and developing strong leaders, and why that gap matters so much in healthcare. A major theme in this conversation is his leadership philosophy of loving and lifting those in need. He explains that leadership starts with seeing people, meeting them where they are, and listening well. Those principles matter not only in patient care, but also in how leaders treat colleagues, teams, and staff. We also spend time on the difficult transition from strong individual contributor to leader. President Martin offers practical insight for those stepping into new roles, especially people who suddenly find that relationships shift, feedback feels harder, and confidence gets tested. His counsel is clear: know your strengths, stay teachable, welcome perspective, and address the problem rather than attacking the person. We close with a simple but important reminder: leadership is messy. But if you are willing to face conflict early, lead with authenticity, and keep people at the center, that mess can become a place of growth, trust, and real impact. If you want, I can make it one more step shorter so it matches the style of your recent episode summaries even more closely. Subscribe to Karl’s Leadership Writing. 👉 Who is Karl Pister? 👉 Follow us on LinkedIn. 👉 Have access to leadership materials that will level up your game. 👉 Contact us on our website. 👉 Subscribe to Karl's YouTube channel. Ready to level up your leadership skills? Sign up for The Coaching Group's leadership courses.

    41 min

  6. MAR 9

    Episode 182: When the System Isn’t Working with Dr. Jason Kuhl

    In this episode, I sit down again with Dr. Kuhl, Chief Medical Officer at Providence Medford and a returning guest on the podcast. Every time we talk, the conversation leads to thoughtful insights about leadership and the realities of healthcare. We begin with a story from Dr. Kuhl’s early neuroscience research—what he calls “life in the rat lab.” After months of failed experiments, the breakthrough came when he stepped back and changed the approach, quite literally “flipping the rat.” That moment becomes the metaphor for our conversation. From there, we discuss a challenge many healthcare organizations face: complaint and event-reporting systems that sometimes replace direct communication. Dr. Kuhl shares how creating buffers and encouraging conversation before formal reports are filed can improve culture and trust. The takeaway is simple but powerful: when a system isn’t working, it may be time to rethink the approach. Sometimes leadership requires us to step back, ask better questions, and look at the problem from a completely different angle. Subscribe to Karl’s Leadership Writing. 👉 Who is Karl Pister? 👉 Follow us on LinkedIn. 👉 Have access to leadership materials that will level up your game. 👉 Contact us on our website. 👉 Subscribe to Karl's YouTube channel. Ready to level up your leadership skills? Sign up for The Coaching Group's leadership courses.

    30 min

  7. MAR 5

    Episode 181: Puzzle Thinking and Radical Product Leadership with Radhika Dutt

    In this episode, I talk with Radhika Dutt, MIT-educated engineer, startup founder, and author of Radical Product Thinking, about how leaders solve complex problems by changing the way they think, not just the way they act. She shares lessons from her early startup years and the “product diseases” that trap teams into chasing big logos, funding, and metrics instead of meaningful outcomes. Radhika reframes a product as a mechanism for creating change, which applies just as much to healthcare as it does to tech. We walk through how leaders can clarify the problem, challenge the status quo, define the end state, and then design workflows and processes that actually move the system forward. We also dig into her newer idea of puzzle thinking, replacing goal-and-target obsession with better questions and real understanding. We close with practical ways to build psychological safety without settling for fake harmony, and a simple loop for improving any process: How well did it work? What did we learn? What will we try next? This is crucial learning for all leaders regarding an area that is often overlooked. We look forward to having you join our audience of listeners. Subscribe to Karl’s Leadership Writing. 👉 Who is Karl Pister? 👉 Follow us on LinkedIn. 👉 Have access to leadership materials that will level up your game. 👉 Contact us on our website. 👉 Subscribe to Karl's YouTube channel. Ready to level up your leadership skills? Sign up for The Coaching Group's leadership courses.

    48 min

  8. MAR 2

    Episode 180: Questions That Shape Leaders with Rick Burris

    In this episode, I sit down with someone I genuinely admire, Rick Burris, founder of Leaders Fuel and author of Leaders Fuel Daily. Rick and I go back several years, and every time we talk, I walk away sharper. This conversation centers around something deceptively simple: questions. Rick shares how reflective questions became the foundation of his work. Not as clever prompts, but as tools for clarity, alignment, and growth. We talk about how leaders can move from gathering more information to developing deeper insight. We unpack the difference between perception and perspective and why your “map” is never the territory. We also tackle a timely topic: AI. Rick introduces his practical “30-40-30” approach: you lead with 30% context, let AI assist with 40%, and then you refine the final 30%. The message is clear: AI is a tool, not an oracle. Leaders must stay in charge of their thinking. One of the strongest moments in this episode is Rick’s challenge around success and peace: "Where have you been building success at the expense of peace? What would shift if peace became part of your strategy not just your reward?" For leaders in healthcare, especially those who are driven, accomplished, and action-biased, this question lands. We close with a reminder that excellence is not a destination. It’s a continuous journey. Lifelong learning matters. Listening matters. And peace matters just as much as performance. This episode is one you may want to revisit, preferably with pen and paper. Get in touch with Rick: https://www.leadersfuel.com/contact Subscribe to Karl’s Leadership Writing. 👉 Who is Karl Pister? 👉 Follow us on LinkedIn. 👉 Have access to leadership materials that will level up your game. 👉 Contact us on our website. 👉 Subscribe to Karl's YouTube channel. Ready to level up your leadership skills? Sign up for The Coaching Group's leadership courses.

    45 min
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About

The Healthcare Leadership Excellence podcast was created to share valuable insights around leadership, communication, emotional intelligence and conflict resolution. Karl Pister, with over 30 years of coaching experience, is a passionate advocate of excellent and influential leadership. In each episode, Karl discusses real-life leadership challenges through the lenses of outstanding healthcare professionals. He is committed to empowering every healthcare leader lead with integrity, excellence, and inspiration.

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