Leading and Learning

In September 2014, President Obama visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, where he also met with the doctors and nurses from Emory University Hospital who treated the nation’s first Ebola patients.

Vistage member and Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing Dean Linda McCauley said that despite public concern that the hospital was treating Ebola patients, seeing patients that other hospitals don’t is what her hospital is all about.  “Nursing students come to Emory to study because of where we are and our strong, rich history of educating nurses.   We talk about leadership from the first day the students arrive and encourage them to be bold and explore and to do new things,” McCauley said.

Linda’s Vistage Group Chair Larry Hart says that she is deeply committed to leadership and learning, not only for herself, but especially for those whom she offers such valuable guidance at Emory.  Hart said, “Linda’s perspective is informed by a worldview that extends far beyond her hospital or her local community, and her members benefit greatly from that.”  Looking ahead, Linda said, “There are 48 medical centers in the United States that have been designated as Ebola-ready.  What we learn will make us better prepared for the next big thing that happens. An epidemic in Africa is no longer just an epidemic in Africa.   As other disasters have taught us, it requires a global response.”

We salute Linda’s leadership and commitment to lifelong learning. Her story is another powerful example of what can happen when a group comes together to take on a shared challenge. We invite you to visit our Facebook page to tell us about how you joined together with like-minded peers to make a difference in your business or community. We will publish some of those stories over the next few months in this blog.

2706 views