Impact > Christina Zorn Leads Others Through Commitment to Mentorship

Christina Zorn Leads Others Through Commitment to Mentorship

Christina Zorn, Mayo Clinic’s chief administrative officer, leads others by developing talent and nurturing leaders to shape the future of healthcare.

By Gianrico Farrugia, M.D. Photography by Matt Meyer

Leading transformational change requires transformational leaders. At Mayo Clinic, we’re making a concerted effort to cultivate five core skills to help our leaders sustain performance, inspire and motivate staff, and build a workforce that drives patient-centered healthcare transformation from within.

Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., president and CEO, highlights Mayo Clinic leaders who exemplify these competencies with the hope that their stories will inspire others to come forward to lead healthcare transformation at this critical juncture.

The competency of “leads others” involves developing talent by mentoring, sponsoring and coaching people, using personalized guidance based on current circumstances and individual characteristics.

Leadership development and mentorship are critical to building the next generation of healthcare leaders. While we often think of formal leadership programs in this regard, I have found even a five-minute informal conversation — where honesty and transparency are prioritized — can instill critical knowledge and inspiration to shape the leaders of tomorrow.

At Mayo Clinic, one of the ways we’re prioritizing talent development is by actively regenerating our workforce. For example, we support career investment programs that offer staff relevant degree and certification programs that align with our Bold. Forward. strategy and current and future patient needs. We’re also investing in generative AI education and resources, creating an avenue for staff to learn about and apply AI as a routine and integrated part of healthcare and not fear it. In addition to these activities, we expect Mayo leaders to actively participate in the recruitment of new staff and to foster a welcoming environment that emphasizes collaboration, mentorship and shared growth from day one.

Mayo Clinic’s Christina Zorn, chief administrative officer, emulates “leads others” through her commitment to talent development and her focus on nurturing leaders who are equipped to shape the future of healthcare.

Defining Key Qualities for Transformational Leadership

Three years ago — to further drive our Bold. Forward. strategy for healthcare transformation by developing the workforce of the future — we revamped our traditional, incremental approach to leadership development. Our new leadership strategy continues to be built upon the foundations of the Mayo Clinic Model of Care and our values, but we have also prioritized five core competencies that are critical for successful leadership at Mayo Clinic.

Developed by our People and Culture Committee under the leadership of Charanjit (Chet) Rihal, M.D., in collaboration with Karen Mellum, Ph.D., SPHR, and Claire Reeve, PHR, SHRM-SCP, Mayo identified these five skills — Leads Self, Leads Others, Inspires Others, Forward Thinking and Engages Others (L-LIFE) — and solicited feedback, interviews and focus groups with various stakeholders and then validated them through another study involving more than 200 physicians and their administrative partners.

Each of the five identified leadership competencies differentiates successful leadership performance at Mayo Clinic and has been intentionally defined to guide and measure how our leaders work with and through others to accomplish patient-centered healthcare transformation.

Leadership and talent development within Mayo's administrative areas has been significantly strengthened under Christina’s leadership. She has played a vital role in preparing a qualified group of leaders for future administrative executive roles by establishing processes to thoroughly assess candidates’ readiness, skills, potential, strengths and areas for growth to support our Bold. Forward. strategy.

Appreciating the need to partner with the best clinicians and researchers in the world, Christina has committed to ensuring our administrative talent is in a category of one. For example, to ensure the future success of emerging leaders, she launched a yearlong mentoring program where each administrative leader sponsors an individual from their succession pool to be intentionally mentored by another administrative leader. After a successful initial cohort, the program has expanded to include additional cohorts of talented individuals from across the organization. What began as succession planning for executive roles within Mayo Clinic’s administrative team has evolved under Christina's leadership to drive authentic and transparent talent development conversations and succession planning deeper into the organization.

In another example of leading others, Christina routinely rounds in various departments and areas to gather direct and unfiltered feedback about how leaders can help local teams address areas for improvement. By spending time with our staff in their work areas to understand their needs, she is fostering a collaborative and supportive environment where leaders are actively invested in our staff’s success. She would be the first to tell you this is one of the activities she believes every leader should do — and how much she benefits and learns from frontline staff.

This article was originally published on LinkedIn.