What continues to emerge across these conversations is how difficult it has become for healthcare leaders to determine what deserves their attention now, what can wait, and what needs to be left behind.
Below are selected insights from my conversation with Jeff McDonald, Chief Executive Officer at Kythera Labs, a data technology company specializing in organizing, standardizing, and analyzing complex healthcare data.
On the importance of focus and sequencing
“With the rate of change, it’s focus. And focus specifically on this concept of sequencing really matters.”
Jeff believes one of the biggest challenges for healthcare executives is staying present while constantly thinking about what comes next.
With the digital world accelerating the pace of change, leaders are being asked to manage competing demands across multiple time horizons. For Jeff, sequencing helps create the discipline to determine what needs attention now, what comes later, and how to keep moving without losing focus.
On creating a culture where people can be honest
“We started with the core principle around a healthy culture.”
Jeff connects resilience directly to organizational culture. At Kythera Labs, that means creating a safe environment where people can be transparent, vulnerable, and willing to ask for help when they need it.
He also emphasizes the importance of understanding what energizes people and what drains them. Knowing when to push forward and when to pause can make a meaningful difference in sustaining performance.
On trust, disagreement, and making mistakes
“The ability to weigh in and buy in leads to people committing.”
Jeff believes high-performing teams need more than complementary skills. They need trust and the ability to have healthy, sometimes vigorous, debate.
That trust becomes particularly important when teams have to move quickly. People will disagree, mistakes will happen, and not every decision will be perfect. What matters is creating an environment where people can challenge ideas, commit to decisions, and keep moving without falling into blame.
“It’s essential to make mistakes, and that’s often difficult for people. They think it’s got to be perfect. It’s not possible.”
On innovation without running people into the ground
“When someone voices a concern about going too fast, it means that we’re on the ragged edge of a burnout or a wreck.”
Jeff describes innovation as a constant balancing act between speed and sustainability.
He uses the analogy of a yellow light. Some people want to slow down and others want to accelerate through it. The leadership challenge is being able to hear both perspectives and recognize when the team needs to pause.
Sometimes that means giving people another week to finish what they are already working on rather than immediately moving into the next sprint.
For Jeff, creating space to finish and feel good about the work is part of maintaining a healthy organization.
On leading through the rise of AI
“High EQ leaders are going to really succeed well in this time of high AI IQ.”
Jeff expects healthcare leaders to experience more change in the coming years and believes leaders will need to become practitioners themselves, particularly when it comes to AI.
But adapting to new technology is not simply about learning the technology. Leaders also have to bring their teams along, recognize when people need support, and know when it is time to teach.
As technology changes the way organizations work, emotional intelligence becomes an increasingly important part of leadership.
On humility and reinvention
“I don’t think there’s anything off limits to reinvention, ethically.”
Jeff believes healthcare leaders need to remain open to questioning established models and rethinking how healthcare is delivered.
Healthcare operates within a complicated system of regulations, incentives, and entrenched practices. That makes reinvention difficult, but he sees it as necessary.
His broader message is straightforward: leaders cannot remain attached to the way things have always been done simply because it is familiar.
What stayed with me from my conversation with Jeff McDonald was the connection between focus and culture. It is easy to think of focus as simply deciding what to work on. But for Jeff, sequencing also gives people room to concentrate on what matters now, while trust gives them the ability to speak up when something is not working. That combination matters in an environment where healthcare continues to change. Leaders need to know when to push, when to pause, and when to reconsider the way things have always been done. To me, that is what makes a healthy organization resilient: the ability to keep moving while still making room to listen, learn, and reinvent.
Originally published as part of my Healthcare Leadership Operating System interview series.