The Complexity of Leadership

Healthcare confronts a daunting array of threats and opportunities, particularly in four areas highlighted in the 2023 B.E. Smith Leadership Trends Report (hereafter BES Trends Report) (Figure 1). Each area requires balancing dual imperatives of cost containment and investment for growth.

Surveys of leaders consistently name specific top priorities within these areas: revenue growth, staff recruitment and retention, cost control, patient experience and safety, virtual care, and technology infrastructure.1,2 The list is diverse and complex, as is the set of financial improvement and growth initiatives being pursued (Figures 2 and 3).

3 ,4 1 Sage Growth Partners, The New Healthcare C-Suite Agenda 2024-2025, January 22, 2024. 2 Huron Consulting Group, “Leaders Innovate to Tackle Top Challenges,” 2024. 3 Ibid. 4 VMG Health, Health System Leader Expectations for 2024, January 2024.