Show Notes
What if the key to leading change isn't having all the answers, but knowing how to listen?
In this episode, Sue Hassmiller, a nationally recognized nurse leader, leadership coach, and health care strategist, talks about the human side of leading teams through change and what it takes to build trust, psychological safety, and true ownership. She explains why deep listening and genuine relationships are more effective than simply telling people what to do. She also explores the difference between compliance and ownership, and how leaders can help teams take greater responsibility for improvement by connecting change to their values and giving them a voice. Finally, Sue shares how coaching, curiosity, and self-awareness can help leaders overcome judgment and better understand why teams may feel stuck, resistant, or exhausted.
Tune in to learn how leaders can listen differently, build stronger connections, and create the conditions for meaningful, lasting change in health care!
IHI Spotlight - Jesse McCall:
In this IHI Spotlight, Jesse McCall, Senior Director at IHI, explains that sustainable healthcare improvement depends as much on people and culture as it does on technical methods. He emphasizes connecting frontline staff to a shared purpose, creating psychologically safe environments where people can speak up and test new ideas, and ensuring leaders close feedback loops so employees become partners in change rather than recipients of it.
About Sue Hassmiller:
Sue Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, is an executive and leadership coach for nurse executives and health care leaders. Across a distinguished career spanning frontline public health, nursing academia, high-level government policy, and 25 years leading national initiatives at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, she has dedicated her life to transforming health care systems from the inside out.
An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, recipient of the Florence Nightingale Medal, and recognized as a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing, Sue combines multi-sector expertise with certified coaching to help health care leaders navigate complex relationships, drive health equity, and champion compassionate care. She is also the author of Resetting: An Unplanned Journey of Love, Loss, and Living Again, which explores healing and the vital human element in modern health care.
Things You’ll Learn:
Deep listening is essential for understanding how people experience and respond to change.
Leaders build ownership by listening to their teams, acknowledging their perspectives, and connecting change to shared values.
Psychological safety enables teams to contribute ideas, innovate, and perform at their best.
Effective behavior change requires leaders to change their own behaviors by becoming more curious, self-aware, and less judgmental.
Leaders can better support stuck or exhausted teams by asking questions and seeking to understand the underlying causes instead of making assumptions.
Resources:
Connect with and follow Sue Hassmiller on LinkedIn.
More from Turn on the Lights Podcast
What would it take for AI to make health care more accessible without making it less human?
What happens when false narratives about Latino communities become a public health threat?
What would change if healthcare listened more deeply to Black breast cancer survivors and built systems around their experiences, expertise, and lives?
What would change if health care truly organized itself around what matters most to older adults, patients, families, and caregivers?
Patient safety and workforce safety are not separate priorities. They are different, but deeply connected outcomes of the same health care system.