Intro: The following SHSMD Podcast is a production of DoctorPodcasting.com.

Bill Klaproth (Host): On this edition of the SHSMD Podcast, let me ask you this: are you the CEO of your own life, of your own career? Stop and think about it. Do you really know where you're going? Have you put the steps in place to get where you want to go? Are you really managing every day to the fullest? Well, if the answer is, "Nah, not really," then you want to come to the session called Becoming the CEO of Your Life at SHSMD Connections 2024 this October in Denver, Colorado. Jennifer Horton, you know her, you love her, she is going to be speaking on this topic. It's going to be a great session. If you're looking for career development, life development, let's say it, come to this session, Becoming the CEO of Your Life. Let's talk to Jennifer about this session right now.

This is the SHSMD podcast, Rapid Insights for healthcare strategy professionals in planning, business development, marketing, communications, and public relations. I'm your host, Bill Klaproth. In this episode, we talk with Jennifer Horton, the one, the only. She is the Chief Strategy Officer at Level Ten Healthcare Advisors. Jennifer, welcome to the SHSMD Podcast.

Jennifer Horton: Hey, Bill. It's great to talk to you again.

Host: It's always great to talk with you, Jennifer. Love it when you're on the SHSMD podcast, Rapid Insights, and excited to talk to you about your session at SHSMD Connections 2024. So, let me ask you this, Jennifer, how did you come about this topic? How did you get into this?

Jennifer Horton: You bet. Great question. So, after about 20 years of working in healthcare marketing, I made the switch and went over to the consulting side about eight years ago. But what I remember most about my years in marketing and working inside of healthcare was kind of the chaos and the struggle of actually being there, the, you know, eight meetings a day and all the things that you're chasing after. And so, when I finally had the time on the consulting side to think and to go deep, what I realized was that my purpose in life was helping people reduce the chaos, so they could have a better quality of work. And so, over the last year, two years, that's really moved into the space of development, leadership development, professional development. And the session really grew out of that, the need to share some ideas and some ways that people can take back control, honestly, so that they don't have the chaotic life that I had at the end of my career inside of healthcare of chasing all the thousands of things we do.

Host: That is really interesting. And it sounds like something that will resonate with a lot of people. So then, tell me about the session. What can we expect? What are you going to take us through?

Jennifer Horton: You bet. So, I think the first thing that we're going to do is really talk about what you need to do to own your own career. So, becoming the CEO of your life is really about owning your career development, owning your future, and taking positive, active steps to get there. And so, during this session, we're going to do a fast but deep dive into taking back control of your career and not abdicating it to others, and figuring out your why and your purpose, and thinking about what your superpower is. And finally, the last piece of it is really digging into why you need to develop your own professional growth plan and why that's so important to you and your organization and really your family.

Host: I think this session really is going to resonate with a lot of people. I love that you're doing this. So, let me ask you this then, what are the signs that someone's life or career is spinning out of control, that someone hasn't figured out their own superpower? What are the signs that, "Nah, you might need some help with your career professional development"?

Jennifer Horton: You bet. So, I think it's that feeling that you come in every day and maybe you had a task list or you had a schedule and you're like, "It's Monday morning. These are the three big things I want to get to." And by the time Monday five o'clock shows up, you really haven't completed any of those things. In fact, you've just added more to the list. So, it's that sense of chaos and the everyday is not your own. And that you get more tasks added to your list, and you're just kind of in this keeping up, not getting ahead mindset.

Host: Yeah. Keeping up, falling behind, not getting to what I want to get to. And I would imagine that leads to frustration then, and unhappiness, and those types of things. Is that right?

Jennifer Horton: Absolutely. When we feel like we're not accomplishing things, I think that's where we start feeling that burnout, we start losing our resilience. And so, when you have day after day after day that your big projects just kind of stay on the back burner and, especially in marketing and communication, you're constantly putting out fires for other people, you're getting the calls from the clinics and leadership and other people with these quick urgent things, but you're not getting the big things done.

Host: All right. So, for someone that is feeling that, Jennifer, approaching burnout, less job satisfaction, falling behind, I'm not able to get through my list, in fact, it's longer at the end of the day and my priority items are still sitting there, that feeling of overwhelm, can you just share with us a few steps that someone can take to take control of their life?

Jennifer Horton: You bet. From that perspective, I think some of the most important things is taking a step back and taking the time to actually think, to think about the role that you're playing in the organization and kind of thinking about both sides of the coin. The one side is, "Where is it that you want to go?" So, maybe you're a social media manager, but you want to grow into becoming a manager. So, you've got that side of, "Okay, what am I going to do? What are the things that I can do over the next month that are growing my skill set, helping me show up in that space that's more of a manager space than just social media?" On the other side of the coin is thinking about the role where you're at and what's the most important things I can be doing as a social media manager? What are the outcomes that I should be driving? And making a list of those things and especially that second part of, in the role you're at, where you're at, what are the most important things? And making sure that you take the time in your week to do those things. We're really all guilty of just taking everything as it comes along. So, I get another email, I handle another email. I get a phone call, I handle another phone call. The most successful people find time, schedule time, block it out, and take time to focus on those things. So, they're moving their most important roles forward. And I think that's one of the most important things that we can do as a first step.

Host: So, take a step back, understand what your role is, what is most important in your role. understand exactly what you're driving in the company, and then also figure out where do I want to go from here. So, those are some great first steps. And I know you're really going to go in depth on all of this in your session. You mentioned why, Jennifer, and we hear that a lot in marketing. You got to know your why, or a business needs to know their why. What is that to you, and what should we know about finding your why?

Jennifer Horton: Again, it's an intentional step. It's thinking about it. And as I said, with my own story, I was so busy. I didn't take the time to find my why. What am I about? What is I call it my superpower? What's my greatest strength? What's important to me? And oftentimes, you can look at it that your why is singular. You don't have a work why, and a home why, and a parent why, and a friend why. It's something that's core to you. So, as I mentioned, part of my why is helping people reduce the chaos. I do that at home. I do that at work. It's just what brings me joy.

And just as a sneak peek for the audience, one of the things that you can do, even if you don't go to the session, if you go online and search for Working Genius, there's a amazing survey that can help you find out what's your core superpower, what is it that is your driving strength that fills your reservoirs with energy and enthusiasm? That's a really powerful place to start to have that perspective of, "Am I an innovator? Am I somebody that is enabling other people? Am I all about tenacity and checking things off the list?" That's a really good, quick test to take that will help you.

Host: Okay. Writing this down, Working Genius, let me get that. Okay. I love how you say you've found your why, helping people reduce the chaos in their life. And you said that also is in your personal life as well. So, I could see where if you try to live by that every day. And then, at the end of the day you can go, "You know what? I did that today," and feel good about it and have that satisfaction. I think that is really important. I know that you also want to talk about how we should align our actions with our values and aspirations. So, can you talk about that briefly?

Jennifer Horton: You bet. Again, a little bit of reflection. In the height of the last hospital position I had, I was talking to another director who was in charge of our employee assistance program when we were talking about your values. And he's like, "What's your values?" And I stopped for a minute and went, "Wait, what are my values?" And it stumped me for a while. And so, I think we have to think through that, what do we value? And again, it's the CEO of your life, not your work. And so, what are the things you value? And maybe you value family and connection, or maybe you value innovation and trying new things. And so aligning your work to what you value and making sure that you know, "These are my values. This is what's important to me." And you use that as a filter in your decision making of like, "As I think about another role, is that going to resonate with me? Is that going to support the values that I have?" That's a really important thing to do. Also, it helps to know your values. You know, there's been times in my careers where major chaos was happening in an organization, and things I wasn't really sure, there wasn't a playbook that said, "Jennifer, when, you know, a vote of no confidence happens, this is exactly what you do, one, two, and three." And so, it helps to know your values and what's important to you in those situations where you're not going to have the playbook where there isn't a step by step, and especially as marketers, PR experts, crisis communicators, digging into knowing what our values are really is an important step to kind of help align our compass as we have to make these once-in-a-lifetime decisions that we often get faced with.

Host: And as I'm hearing you talk, I'm thinking this takes a pretty good amount of self-reflection. And I think generally, in our lives, everything is so hectic, and we're so busy. And there's so many things to do that we never really take a step back to self-reflect. And I think this is a big part of this. Is that right?

Jennifer Horton: Absolutely. I would love to tell you that the people will come to the conference and attend my session and they'll walk away with everything they need to know to take this on. But it really is a piece of self-reflection and it's a huge investment that you need to make in yourself of not just coming to this session, but, you know, on a monthly basis, taking time out of your schedule, whether it's a Sunday afternoon, or maybe it's something you do at work to think about how is everything going and where am I going and what's your plan. And I'm going to say to that end, one of the things that I'm really, really passionate about, and because it came as an intersection of, in working with my clients that I coach personally, they were like, "I need to grow. I want to develop." And so, they wanted this, "Where do I go? Where do I grow? Where do I develop?" In the organizations that I work with clients, and they're talking about, How do we get our employees more engaged? How do we get our employees to take advantage of the development opportunities?" And so, one of the big things that we can take time to focus on is every one of us should have a professional growth plan. What are you trying to grow? Where are you going?

And as I reflect on this, it's an interesting thing if you think about it, when we get done with college and our higher education and we get into the workforce, we stop investing in ourselves. So then, we just kind of do what comes along. Maybe we take a couple of the leadership development classes at our work, or we're just taking our HIPAA training. But we stop investing in ourselves and we really abdicate to the organization. So, if my organization doesn't send me to SHSMD, doesn't pay for my price of admission for that, I'm not going to go. Well, that's kind of crazy. As we grow in our career, as we grow as professionals, we should be actively investing in ourself. You know, as we think about, we invest in our vacations to build our resiliency, and we invest in different things around our house. Well, I was just looking up before our call and looking at Harvard Business School. Great example. For $1,800, you can invest in taking a class on digital marketing through the Harvard Business School. One, it's going to be great education. But two, it's going to look amazing on your LinkedIn profile. Now, you have your university you went to, but you're also able to put Harvard Business School on your resume for $1,800. That's a great investment. SHSMD has amazing webinars and education. And so, one thing that I think strongly that we all need to take time about is managing our professional growth and don't stop learning just because you got the degree.

Host: Again, very well said. And another thing, being on the SHSMD podcast, great investment. Great investment, I will say. Yes. But that really makes sense. For $1,800, you could have that, like you say, in your LinkedIn profile; when you email out, your signature block. I mean, that's really important stuff. And for people to think, "I don't have the money for this," I mean, $1,800, like you say, you need to invest in yourself. Think of what that investment can do for you, not only for your education and how you'll be more proficient at your job, but if you're trying to grow into other areas, like you say, Jennifer, this can help. This could be a nice little stepping stone to get you to where you want to go. Is that right?

Jennifer Horton: Absolutely. And some of the people I coach, one of the ways I think about it is saying, "Yeah, $1,800, it's a good amount," you know, trying to pull that out of your budget somewhere is hard. But if you maybe map out your growth path over, let's say, a five-year plan, then you can go, "You know what? Every three years, I'm going to invest in something like this." So, every year you set aside $500. And so, at the end of that three-year cycle, "Okay, this year, I'm going to do the digital marketing. And this next three years from now, I'm going to dive into this thing." If you budget for it and set it aside kind of on a yearly basis and just, even if you're able to do something once every three years, but at least you're not growing stagnant and just, "Okay, I've got my master's degree or I got my bachelor's degree," that's enough. Knowing that you're going to constantly make an investment in your education every three years is not a high expense, but has a great

return.

Host: Great return. And you were mentioning that your why when you self reflect and you figure out where you want to go, what you want to do, you said your why is helping people reduce the chaos in their lives, it sounds like this session is doing exactly that. You're there to help people that come to this reduce the chaos in their lives and find clarity in their current position and where they want to go in the future. Is that right?

Jennifer Horton: A hundred percent. This is my love language over the past three years. I started out doing a lot of educational content around marketing and strategy, and really moving into that leadership, professional growth and development, because it's such an unmet need. People need it, people want to be there. And so, this class really is taking my why of helping people reduce the chaos and applying it to their life, helping them understand that they don't have to be passive and accept kind of that Monday morning, all these tasks are happening, all these phone calls. Just because somebody puts a meeting on your schedule on Thursday at 2 p.m. doesn't mean that that's the best use of your time if you have a major project due. Now, I'm not naive to think that you can say no to a lot, because we don't allow that to happen in organizations. But you can start carving out time, I call it block scheduling, blocking some time, knowing where that space is so that you can spend time developing yourself, spend time focusing on the top of your license work. RNs, we want them to work top of license as marketing, communication, strategy, professionals. We need to find time on our schedule where we're working at the top of our license too.

Host: This session is going to deliver you a lot of great information and tips and could potentially change your life in the course of your career. Even if you think you've got it together, I would say, and a lot of people probably do and are doing a lot of these things, I would say this session probably is still beneficial to come to because you might pick up one, two, or three things that you haven't been doing or didn't know about and go, "Ah, you know what, I can use that too." So, I think this is really going to be a really great session. Jennifer, I want to thank you so much for your time. Before we wrap up, any final thoughts?

Jennifer Horton: I think the final thought is really taking that time and being proactive, owning your career, owning your life, it is like a business. And so, what is the business of your life? How are you investing it? What are you getting the greatest return? Thinking about that, it's just so easy to go to work and come home and do all the things and just live your life reacting to the environment. It's so much more powerful if you get proactive on your environment. Block the time and give yourself time to think about your future and where you're going.

Host: Wow, what a powerful statement. Stop living your life reactively. Instead, be proactively, because life is better when you're more proactive, when you're actually driving it. As you said, when you own your own career, owning your own life, those things become so much better. And Jennifer, you're going to help us get there. So, thank you for your time, thank you for coming to SHSMD 2024 in October in Denver. This is going to be a great session. Jennifer, always a pleasure to talk with you. Thank you so much for your time.

Jennifer Horton: Thank you, Bill. I enjoyed talking with you as well.

Host: And once again, that's Jennifer Horton. She will be speaking at this year's 2024 ShishMed Connections Conference in Denver. Make sure you get registered right now at shsmd.org. That's shsmd.org/education/annualconference. Take a moment, register right now. You're going to be glad that you did. Great networking opportunities, great educational opportunities. It's wonderful. Make sure you sign up right now. And if you found this podcast helpful, also wonderful education opportunities, good networking opportunities, just stop by and say hi when you see us there, please share this podcast on your social media, and please hit the subscribe or follow button to get every episode.

And to access our full podcast library, chock full of goodness, people, chock full of goodness, go to shsmd.org/podcasts. This has been a production of Doctor Podcasting. I'm Bill Klaproth. See you in Denver. See ya!