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Dr. Sean Lansing: Hello. My name is Dr. Sean Lansing and I serve Trinity Health as the mission leader for Mount Carmel Health System. On our podcast today is Chrishonda Smith, the Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Mount Carmel Health System. Chrishonda, welcome to the podcast.

Chrishonda Smith: Happy to be here, Sean. Thanks for having me.

Dr. Sean Lansing: Absolutely. Before we dive in, would you mind sharing with our listeners a little bit about your professional journey and what brought you to Mount Carmel Health System?

Chrishonda Smith: That's a great question. So it's been a blessing the entire journey. I call myself the Boomerang colleague. Literally, I spent my career the first few years in operations doing auto, insurance, sort of fraud investigations, and really loved that space. And i have had in my career, great mentors, someone tapped me and said, "You know, you're in the wrong job. You're really good at people and teams. So figure out what that is." So I've been moved into a role in leadership training and development and loved that space. That's been my home base ever since.

I spent time working for financing a bank organization to do that same work around building leaders and culture and teams, and then moved into a role at Trinity Health way back in the day in Diversity and Inclusion, and got to really understand what it meant to be a leader in the space where mission matters and makes a difference. In that space, spent time in Diversity and Inclusion and also learning all about our regional health ministries.

I spent time as well in the talent management space. I left for a few years to really learn more around my sort of core HR knowledge and came back just may of last year to lead the HR team here at Mount Carmel. And it's been a blessing. I will say the thread for my career has been incredible mentors on my journey. And so my role is to pay it forward.

Dr. Sean Lansing: That's awesome. I think about our core values. I think about our culture. I think about our history and our legacy, all of those religious who have founded organizations that have become Trinity Healthcare. And you can see that leadership has been so essential in who we are from the very beginning. Our mission has been owned by every person who comes into the organization and really needs to be in order for us to be who it is that we say we're going to be.

Chrishonda Smith: It's about service, right.? You know, Sister Barbara Hall, who was here during my first journey with Trinity Health was just a remarkable leader and watching her live a life of service and being able to kind of pass the torch and have all of us lean into that legacy of service, it's been incredible. We are servant leaders and taking care of the community within which we live and work, that's a blessing. So this really is an honor to be here.

Dr. Sean Lansing: That's great. So speaking of, serving and serving within the legacy of, the sisters and certainly Sister Barbara Hall, who represented the Sisters of Holy Cross, who founded Mount Carmel, service has been the name of the game. And this last year, your few odd months have been an incredibly challenging time. We've had the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. We've also had a lot of civil unrest, whether through the politics, through all of the questions about race, the reckoning that people sometimes are calling it, that's gripped our country in good ways and in really hard ways. Can you share a story about your experience from the C-suite from where you're sitting at Mount Carmel Health System that really has had an impact on you from these last several months?

Chrishonda Smith: So this last year for me has been heavy is the word I use to describe the last year. In my role, I started in May in the middle of the pandemic, so the anxiety of not only being in a new role, but how do you support and serve in the middle of a pandemic where all of us were so frightened? I think about the news broadcast and they have the scary music that came on, COVID-19, dun dun dun... So it just kind of creates anxiety, even in the news.

But then watching our caregivers every day give themselves so freely, not knowing how they might be impacted personally or their families and showing up on units every single day. It was just for me, just a moment of awe, an entire year of awe. And so my anxiety around, "Can I be a CHR role leader, one of only African American leaders in this seat in Columbus? How do I show up and support? Am I good enough in the middle of all this?" I don't know what I'm doing. It's a pandemic

Couple that, within a few weeks later, the killing of George Floyd. And then, I think it brought me to my knees because I am from Detroit and so nothing about what I saw on the news was shocking. But that I wasn't shocked, that I was hurt and crushed, but not shocked. I knew I had to do something, but I had no clue what to do. I sit in this seat, in this role, I had no clue what to do.

And so I'll tell you, I pulled together a group of nine women, the only nine African-American women at Mount Carmel who are director and above. And we had the Safe Space Sister Circle, and we sat for a couple of hours, we cried, we talked. It felt like I could be myself and just let go for a minute. And I realize that in my seat, I could make a difference in some way. And so, I've been using that framework of I can use my voice, I can use the influence of this role for positive.

We sat outside and we did White Coats For Black Lives. And hundreds of us went outside and we knelt on the ground in silence for eight minutes and forty-two seconds to honor George Floyd. And that came because I sent an email to Mount Carmel to say, "We're going to honor White Coats For Black Lives." And wow. The power of that, of that moment, the tears that came, that my role is bigger than the leader of HR. My role is about how do I use influence? How do I bring Mount Carmel together to help us support our communities, our colleagues, our patients, our families.

And when one of us is not okay, we are all not okay. And so how do we help lean in to that? It was a defining moment in my career. I still think of that day, kneeling outside. It was hot by the way, that day,

It was hot. But just thinking about I can do this, it gave me the courage. And I've had so many people send me notes, messages that say, "You've got this, you can do this. We're so proud of you." But the reminder to myself is I can be that, in my head, that Detroit girl in Columbus, Giving back in ways that matter because people have poured into and given unto me. So I'm giving it back. I'm going to use the role for the influence or the power to do good.

Dr. Sean Lansing: Well, I appreciate you, from your leadership position, just sharing that story of even your own questioning. I call that in my own life when I've had the experience, that I've had what I call a sense of imposter syndrome. Like, "Oh my gosh. People are going to figure out I don't know what I'm doing."

Chrishonda Smith: That's it.

Dr. Sean Lansing: And I really appreciate you sharing that because it is something that we need to be around each other. But your story reminds me of a couple of things when we think about the culture that we're trying to create. and You and I, we've spoken about this before. If we're going to have integrity to who we are, we really need to start encountering each other in real ways.

And you mentioned two significant experiences, right? That first one where you brought together a group of nine women to just be together in a moment where you just needed to be together. And then the experience of that moment coming together for a symbolic ritual to show solidarity that brought all people together. Those are two moments of encounter and how those encounters can make a real difference in who we are and who we're trying to become.

Chrishonda Smith: I think you have to reach out to people and make connections. I think at the time last year we were also craving personal connection. We were all in our homes, on quarantine, had not seen people, had not hugged people. And so just to have connection, it means so much. It's freeing at times to have connection. And I've also learned that you got to be authentic because I can only be Chrishonda, right? I can't be Sean, although you're awesome, always. But I have to be authentic. And for me, connections are the way that I am authentic to get to know people and to be able to share space with them.

Dr. Sean Lansing: Yeah. And, to kind of go back, you know, the George Floyd murder really showed how and where we are with race and how much we haven't come together as communities to have the deep, important, crucial conversations we need to have. And I think that, you know, this idea that you're bringing forth about encounter and being together, authenticity, those are the real recipes for us to be the healthcare system that we say we are, right? We're a Catholic healthcare system. One of our core values is integrity. Well, that means that we, as we've said as an institution, Trinity-wide, we're going to take a stand against racism. Well, how do we do that? You know, education is important and communications are important and all of that's great. But, boy, when it comes to that encounter and our encounters are changed in who we are with each other, that's when our culture changes and we're really starting to have an impact on who we are.

Chrishonda Smith: That's right. And it can be uncomfortable. I think calling that out, it can be uncomfortable, particularly talking about, you know, how do we eliminate racism. That is oftentimes uncomfortable conversation. And I think what's easier is when you have with people authentic connections and you can ask questions and be open and honest to say, "I'm struggling. Can you help me understand?" But that comes from, you know, those connections. But that's who we are in Catholic healthcare. That's who we are in Trinity Health. It's about the importance of our relationships matter, the importance of connections really matter as well.

Dr. Sean Lansing: And hard is never a reason why we don't do something, so let's get to it, right?

Chrishonda Smith: That's right. Let's get to it.

Dr. Sean Lansing: Well, I really appreciate you sharing that story. Those are really powerful examples of, important ways that we can live out all of our core values. But especially that integrity really speaks to me in the conversation we're having right now.

So I have a second question for you. We're kind of at the point where we're kind of getting out of the pandemic haze. You know, everything isn't about the immediate impact the pandemic. And we were able to start thinking about the future again. What are some of the challenges that you think we will face as we move forward and especially like what are your hopes for the future?

Chrishonda Smith: So I have a five-year-old daughter and, for her, wearing a mask is normal. For her, mommy on WebEx as a way of working is normal. So I really hope that our future brings us back to relationships and connections that are personal. I really worry that we have become, you know, so insulated in our homes, so insulated from people and being able to have real conversations, outside of that static square and a camera, that's a skill that can be missed if we don't dock back into it.

So I think for us, it really is about being thoughtful on how we get back to those connections, but also to embrace innovation because we learned a lot in the last year that you can use technology to really move the needle and make a difference.

And so I think also being open to innovation in terms of patient care and experience and how we're treating patients on the colleague side, how we're working, where we're working, I think innovation will be critical for us moving forward.

I would say too, the last year has been really difficult from a mental health perspective. From an EAP, for example, so we've seen a lot of people who have used EAP, other types of therapy measures in this last year. It's really brought mental health to the forefront and in ways that I couldn't have even imagined.

And so I think taking away the stigma of needing some help will be really important for us moving forward and, in the future as well, keeping mental health at the front center of all that we do. We've got a beautiful colleague care team that's doing some really great work to honor and support our colleagues. I think doing more of that and keeping that notion of your emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental health matter will be imperative for us moving forward. This really has changed who we are as people, as well as organization. And so how we look back on this in five years will define how we look as well as an organization

Dr. Sean Lansing: Absolutely. How can we maintain the lessons that we learned in real and meaningful ways? And I think what you're speaking about is, you know, moving forward, embracing technology as a tool to bring us closer together, not to keep us in our own silos, but also to embrace vulnerability. We were all vulnerable when the pandemic started. We've all experienced ways we're going to continue to be vulnerable as individuals and as an institution. And how can we embrace that vulnerability in ways that ultimately makes us stronger and more unified.

Chrishonda Smith: And that can be a scary word, right? I love the work of Brené Brown. She talks about vulnerability and in that space of, you know, how do you lean in to talking about, not every one of your weaknesses, right? But just sharing your truth and sharing your story. That can be difficult to do and scary at times, but I think leaning into that will be really important for us also to move the dial as leaders in this organization.

Dr. Sean Lansing: Absolutely. Well, Chrishonda, I appreciate our time together. I really appreciate your stories and your perspective and all that you've not only brought to Mount Carmel, but that you bring to all of Trinity Health. So thanks for being with us today. I really appreciate that.

Chrishonda Smith: Thank you for this time. I've so enjoyed it. And again, I'm just blessed and honored to be here, Sean.

Dr. Sean Lansing: We're the ones who are blessed to have you. Well, thanks to all you listeners. I'm your host, Sean Lansing. And until next time, be well.