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Carl Maronich (Host): Welcome to the Healthcare Executive Podcast, providing you with insightful commentary and developments in Healthcare leadership. I'm your host, Carl Moronich, and with me today is Nike Onifade. Nike is a Senior Vice President of Advocate Healthcare.

Also joining us and returning to the podcast is Natalie D. Lamberton. Natalie is leading principal with NDL Holdings, and today we're going to be talking about the benefit of cohort learning. Welcome to both of you.

Nike Onifade, FACHE: Thanks so much, Carl.

Natalie D. Lamberton, FACHE: Thank you.

Host: Today we're going to be discussing the benefits of cohort learning and to learn more, you can visit ache.org. And let's start maybe by asking each of you to talk about your path in healthcare management.

Natalie D. Lamberton, FACHE: This is Natalie. Actually I started out wanting to be a physician and I worked in a lab in high school and I graduated with a undergraduate degree in molecular biology. However, I was a D1 athlete on a full ride scholarship and that commitment was fairly large. It was about four hours a day, six days a week.

And when I graduated I wanted to take some time and didn't want to go straight into medical school. But I knew I wanted to further my education in the meantime, so I went to the local college at the University of Colorado, Denver and asked about an MBA program and they actually said, why don't you get an MBA in healthcare administration?

And to be honest, the business side of healthcare wasn't even on my radar. I'd always been clinical. So I entered the program and I got the degree and I've never looked back. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. For my part, I've discovered that I can make a greater impact on healthcare and the community on the management side. And so that's kind of where it started.

Host: And Nike?

Nike Onifade, FACHE: Similar approach as Natalie, so where I come from originally, kind of back in the day, if you weren't a doctor, a lawyer or like an engineer, you're basically like a non-entity. So when my two older sisters were on track to become, guess what, an attorney and an aerospace engineer, I was like, all right, I guess I'll be a doctor.

And so starting that journey while in college, I think I quickly realized that direct patient care was not really my passion. I still wanted to be within the healthcare space, but I felt that I could make really a bigger impact in the world, by managing change, like across systems rather than by one patient at a time.

So again, similar story as Natalie. And so after attending grad school for healthcare policy and management, really right around the time that the Affordable Care Act was being legislated; I started my career really drawn to academic medicine and complex healthcare organizations, which is really a function of around where I went to grad school in Pittsburgh. So I actually started off as an administrative resident and then an administrative fellow at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, UPMC. And that program was really transformative for me as an upcoming healthcare leader. Because in your first year, you're essentially serving as like a project manager working with senior executives on projects that really expose you to those high level initiatives happening across the care delivery continuum. Then in your second year, they literally put you in a leadership position with real live direct reports and actual P and L. And so I started off right at a fellowship with a director level position where I was leading a service line at one of the top children's hospitals in the nation. And that really kind of described my trajectory into really where I am today.

Host: Oh, interesting. Ongoing learning and professional development can be an important part of any leader's career journey, certainly. What has that meant for each of you? And maybe we'll start with Natalie.

Natalie D. Lamberton, FACHE: Professional development has been paramount to my success. I was remiss in mentioning earlier that after grad school I did a Postgraduate fellowship with the Pooter Valley Health system was their first, fellow. And, I too learned so much during that fellowship and the access that a fellow has is phenomenal.

And so I learned so much, from my preceptor Rulin Stacy and, did various projects and was able to sit in on Malcolm Baldridge, surveys and joint commission surveys and the like. And typically in your early years, we have jobs that test our competency in the technical realm.

Finance, operations, quality and things like that. But when you become a leader, that learning kind of shifts and it's more geared toward leading teams and individuals, building trust and influence and, often leading in times of ambiguity, especially in healthcare. And so, being a lifelong learner and that professional development, has really been paramount as it has, it really allowed me to kind of understand and know my blind spots and where it's important to bridge that gap. So lifelong learning has really helped mitigate those deficiencies.

Nike Onifade, FACHE: Yeah. So for me, I think as my career trajectory continued and, the bigger my roles became, the more I realized that experience alone wasn't really enough. We all know that changes in healthcare are constant. That's, again, that's the constant within healthcare. It's evolving fast where we've got agentic AI calling and, and triaging patient's on their symptoms.

We've got innovative solutions and treatment planning, that's happening so rapidly. And as we think about how we meet that demand as leaders; for us as leaders to really rely solely on what worked five or 10 years ago, it just isn't ideal. And so when we think about professional development, it's really been critical for me, in a few different ways.

Right? So thinking about how best to sharpen my strategic thinking as my scope kind of moved from, one service line or, one single site to really enterprise and national level work. Also really building your self-awareness as you think about how you show up to the public, how you show up to your teams, to patients, to physicians, other key stakeholders as a leader, and really just staying relevant in a really rapidly changing healthcare and in my area, really specific to cancer, in that landscape as well. And so I've intentionally sought out programs that really help me push beyond those technical skills and beyond my degrees, and experience that really focus on things like leadership judgment, influence, system thinking. And, ACHE has really been a consistent anchor in that journey.

Host: Now there's learning individually and then there's doing so in a collaborative group setting. What's the value of professional development as part of a cohort? And Natalie, you've done so well, leading us off we'll, we'll look to you.

Natalie D. Lamberton, FACHE: Yeah. A cohort is valuable for many reasons. During a cohort, one typically develops, long lasting relationships, that can really become your personal advisory board, if you will. That's so important, as a leader to have people in your circle that you can lean on, ask questions, and especially within your industry, to have a group of colleagues and friends that you can call upon when you need a different vantage point.

That have different skill sets, different knowledge bases, and diversity of thought. And so often that meaningful discussion and rich feedback are invaluable. We all know that being a leader can be difficult and often isolating. And, there is some reprieve in having that psychological safety within a cohort where you're able to share candidly and can be vulnerable about the everyday complexities and pressures of the job, especially in healthcare. I, I often say we don't make widgets. We take care of human lives on a grand scale, and that can be stressful at times. And to be able to have a cohort, to learn with, bounce ideas off of, get different perspectives and vantage points, is just a very valuable thing.

Host: Nike, Your thoughts on being part of a cohort.

Nike Onifade, FACHE: Yeah, no, Natalie, I couldn't agree with you more. From my perspective, when I think about the value of professional development within that cohort setting, I believe in, you know, having gone through the ACHE executive program a few years ago, I believe that cohort learning really accelerates leadership growth in a way that no individual program that's kind of focused on you solely could ever do. And I think when we think about the power of a cohort, it's like learning alongside leaders that are equally as accomplished, if not more, but facing different organizational realities. I think being exposed to multiple ways of thinking about the same problem is really a benefit of this approach.

And so in a cohort you really realize like you're not alone in these challenges. We are all facing healthcare head on and, working through the same challenges and there's no single right answer. But there are better questions and working closely with other accomplished leaders who are in these similar situations or even different situations, really help drive that.

But what I found was not just the benefit of the formal lectures in the ACHE executive program, which I did. Some of the most valuable moments were those sidebar conversations. The dinners out with the team, that peer feedback and, being able to get comfortable with each other where we're having candid and open and honest discussions about what didn't work and a different way to approach a problem.

And so when we think about those relationships, they don't really end when the program does. They kind of become part of your leadership bench or your personal board of advisors, and I think that's really one of the best benefits of that cohort setting.

Host: Natalie, you're the lead faculty for ACHE'S executive program, an immersive interactive education and networking opportunity. What would you say to a healthcare leader who's considering taking part in a cohort learning program like that?

Natalie D. Lamberton, FACHE: I just candidly say, don't hesitate. And I say that for several reasons. Firstly are the onsite visits of the world-class organizations, where the cohort gets the opportunity to glean the inner workings and the operations of various types of facilities and organizations. Participants get to learn best practices, cutting-edge innovations and the challenges experienced getting there by these organizations. Another significant advantage is the diverse composition of each cohort. There are leaders all over the country as well as global leaders that attend. They represent various sectors of healthcare and are from all types of disciplines and organizations. We have for-profit, not-for-profit, military, clinics, hospitals.

We have the disciplines. We have physicians, pharmacists, doctors of PT, nurse practitioners, payers, we've got all different walks of life and aspects of healthcare that attend. This representation is really important and brings real diversity of thought, and this makes for a rich and meaningful networking opportunity as well.

Additionally, during the program, participants have the ability to access the education sessions from ACHE's top faculty. And these education opportunities provide a common springboard for many participants to proceed through to advancement for their fellow status as well.

Host: Nike, you mentioned earlier having gone through the executive program, any other additional thoughts to your experience there?

Nike Onifade, FACHE: I think the cohort experience really prepares you for that ambiguity that comes in the roles as your roles expand and thinking about how do you get comfortable making decisions without really perfect information, how do you think beyond your particular circumstance, beyond your own organization continue to develop and expand on your, you know, not just presentation skills, but also your executive presence, reinforcing your readiness for C-suite level roles and enterprise wide roles and, how do you better lead through influence rather than control? I think that cohort setting really allows you to just flex a different muscle than you do in your typical work, in your typical kind of, you know, educational program or your individual program. It's really just a lot of benefits when you think about, how it helps you.

Host: We're all familiar with the saying healthcare is a team sport, but that can refer to the administrative side as well, certainly, and particularly for emerging leaders honing their skills and looking to take the next step in their careers. Would you both agree with that?

Natalie D. Lamberton, FACHE: Absolutely. No one really tells you that the group projects in graduate school are far from over. It's especially important that early careerists learn to work effectively within and in teams. We work hard not to operate in silos in healthcare, or that can get dangerous, as we take care of people.

And that's why it's so important that we have interdisciplinary teams that come together to cover every aspect of care and to provide a positive and comprehensive experience to our patients. Your success is largely leading through people when you become a leader, taking barriers and to care away and providing appropriate resources for your employees to do their jobs at their highest capacity.

So it's really important for emerging leaders to realize and understand that these interdisciplinary teams and teamwork and, the like, are very important to continue to hone in on those skills.

Nike Onifade, FACHE: Yeah, no. Similar idea. So my dyad partner now, and I say this a lot, that, healthcare or cancer is a team sport. And I completely resonate with that, right? They say, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. And when we talk about the ability to drive change and the ability to transform practices and hospitals and systems and large organizations, you have to have that teamwork.

And it's so important in clinical care. Administrative leaders and executives succeed through dyad partnerships like the ones I, I've had throughout my career and been blessed to have, that cross-functional collaboration and the ability to influence change and influence people and processes without having authority.

And that's critical in large organizations like UPMC, like Etiquette health, where you have lots of matrices to the folks that you are responsible for and the functions that you're responsible for. And I think as leaders advance in their careers, the work becomes less about like what you personally execute and more about like how do you align with other's?

How do you create clarity? How do you build trust? And I think for emerging leaders in particular, that cohort-based learning really helps normalize some of that uncertainty. And again, as I mentioned, build confidence and teach them how to lead through relationships and not sort of that direct authority. And I think, some of the best leadership lessons that I've learned have come from watching peers wrestle with the same issue, just sort of maybe from a different seat at the table.

Host: Great insight. Finally, we have two, and we're fortunate to have two ACHE fellows on the podcast today. And I'll ask each of you, how has the FACHE credential helped you in your careers? And Natalie, let's start with you.

Natalie D. Lamberton, FACHE: You. know, I can answer this one very succinctly. It is the most recognizable credential that demonstrates competence as a healthcare executive. It makes me appear to other respected leaders and it levels me up. The credits required to maintain the credential keeps me knowledgeable and on the cutting-edge of what's taking place in an industry that is always changing. It's always timely, relevant, and practical.

Nike Onifade, FACHE: Couldn't have said it better. Natalie. You know, the FACHE credential really represents credibility as a leader in healthcare, commitment to the field, and to the mission of what ACHE stands for, and community, right? How do we better serve our communities through our systems that we lead?

It's the lifelong learning aspect of it that I think is so essential. And obviously in senior leadership spaces, the credential really creates that kind of instant credibility, without even having met individuals, you sort of know what they're about, so to speak. And it kind of establishes the shared leadership language, just things that we think about as, fellows.

But more importantly, I think that it connects you to really a national community of leaders. And you feel this when you come to Congress. They have some special fellow events and things, but allow you to really share values. And again, you're facing similar challenges and you're all committed to improving healthcare. So I would say that it's not just a credential that you earn. It's really something that you live every day as a leader in Healthcare and, that kind of becomes part of your fabric, when you become a fellow.

Host: Very good. Well, you've both offered some great insights and, and thoughts on the advantage of cohort learning. Uh, thank you to both of you.

Nike Onifade, FACHE: Thanks so much, Carl.

Natalie D. Lamberton, FACHE: Thank you.

Carl Maronich (Host): ACHE's 2026, executive program will be held June 14th through October 20th. To learn more, go to ache.org/executive program. This has been the Healthcare Executive Podcast. Thanks for listening.