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EWLA Provides Person-Centered Leadership Development

November 21, 2024
Najee Ellerbe

With a career dedicated to advancing patient care and community health, Andrea Turner, JD, MBA, CEO of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, in Los Angeles, exemplifies a commitment to innovation and equity. A 2021 alumna of the Essential Women’s Leadership Academy (EWLA), she has used her program experience to champion initiatives that enhance organizational performance and patient outcomes. 

I was nominated by my CEO. She informed me that the program brings out the best within the person. It grounds you into service, and it exposes your character as a team player that listens intentionally, [identifies] the strengths in others, and [fosters] a culture that excels. My hope was to become a better leader and team player. 

EWLA’s program differed from other leadership programs in that the curriculum was centered on the person and not on a predetermined exercise to fill time. It was designed to get to know each of us and to encourage each person to identify and face their weaknesses, as well as to be present with confidence to walk into their strength.   

What made EWLA unique was the level and caliber of the facilitators. They were women executives [who] shared both struggles and rewards, [along with] their beliefs, intuition, and dedication to the mission of health care. 

One specific example of a project was to develop a recruitment plan to mitigate staffing shortages. My class started in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were unaware that the challenge would be so integral to our staffing needs for years to come. The challenge prepared me and propelled me to the operations chief of the City and County of San Francisco that oversaw the response to COVID-19. I leveraged my ability to do a staffing model that accounted for the ratios needed to respond to every district and the classification of the professional that was necessary.  

I am still in contact with my EWLA mentor, and I am friends with several of my colleagues. This network has been invaluable. My colleagues have been very supportive of my growth, and I have of theirs. We encourage each other, and we leverage lessons learned along the way from our respective organizations and life. 

Being a CEO requires the ability to influence others to give their best consistently to accomplish the mission; therefore, intentional listening, curiosity, and comprehension are key. Understanding the difference between character and blind ambition is also important. Someone with character is consistent; they have the ability to drive toward the desired outcome by improving the culture that fosters teamwork through partnership and collaboration. In contrast, blind ambition is inconsistent and is relatively singular with focus on self-interest. Because EWLA is focused on helping to build mission-driven leaders, I choose leaders who are curious, intentional listeners and lead by example. As a lean organization, we measure, project-manage, rapid-cycle test, and foster psychological safety that enables each person to ask questions through respectful dialogue. 

EWLA gave me the skills to improve access and throughput in our [emergency department]. We were able to reduce wait times for visits with scores of 4 and 5 on the emergency severity index from five hours to 90 minutes. Another tangible example is reducing our dependence on registry by 60 percent. 

Allowing me the space to be vulnerable while reminding me that I am worthy and can penetrate the ceiling that so many women leaders encounter was a pivotal moment. I am a better leader today than I was prior to EWLA. The leaders of EWLA are purposeful in defining the leaders of today and tomorrow’s health care. We must stay curious, support one another, deliver on the care we want for ourselves and loved ones, and understand that our “True North” is the people/human bodies we take care of in and of the community we serve. 

I nominated two of our bright and upcoming leaders to attend the 2025 class. I told them that the program offers an intrinsic challenge. EWLA challenges your core as to what type of leader you are and what you can become. It gives you a space to learn from others and to listen intently to confidently walk in a space and know you belong, while disengaging your arrogance. Conversely, if you are timid, it reminds you of your abilities and gives you valuable lessons on how to leverage your intellect. Additionally, your access to others (to include your mentor) is invaluable. 

I have always mentored others; however, EWLA gave me additional tools to improve my approach. I continue to pay it forward by sending other women through the EWLA program and mentoring women leaders across my health system and the country. In essence, I was able to juxtapose my abilities with what I learned from the program to be a more effective mentor. I am also interested in becoming a mentor for the EWLA program. 

Applications for the 2025 EWLA class are open through Nov. 29. To learn more about participating or serving as a mentor, EWLA page.

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