Full Episode

 About this episode

In this week’s episode, Chris speaks with HR extraordinaire Mary LaFrancois, Division VP of Human Resources for Ardent Health Services, on ways leaders can help employees grow and achieve their full potential. As a leader, Mary and Chris believe that it’s better to “train people and have them leave you than not train them and have them stay.”

Mary’s approach to leadership emphasizes making the employees “want” to come to work by making them feel validated and contributing a tangible difference in their work. Drawing from her own experience, Mary encouraged people to let their bosses know when they are ready for the next step in their careers so they can continue to challenge themselves and grow as an employee and leader. According to Mary, the key to encouraging workers to invest in their career ambitions and “feel good” about their career is to take an individualized approach to each person, set up reasonable deadlines and workloads, and find a balance between pushing too hard and not pushing hard enough.

As leaders, it is our responsibility to create a positive and healthy environment and allow employees to fully exploit their passion and ambition.

Additional Bio:
Mary LaFrancois is a seasoned executive coach focusing on transformational leadership development with an eye on the rapidly changing environments. In her coaching, Mary has a sincere, straightforward approach and sees herself as the client’s thinking partner, helping to create new awareness around blind spots which impact their effectiveness as a leader. By coaching the person, instead of the problem, Mary aims to create an ideal environment for clients to experience breakthroughs and obtain massive traction on their most important work. Mary also firmly believes clients can create more desired results and positive energy focusing on the future, rather than the past. She finds a balance between challenging growth and supporting goals, while also customizing the coaching experience to meet each client’s needs.

From 2002 to 2015, Mary worked as Vice President of Human Resources at CHRISTUS Spohn Health System, the largest hospital system in South Texas, with 6 hospital campuses and 7 family health centers. She engaged the leadership team, delivered strategic and operational human resources leadership, and directed 8 direct reports and 70 indirect reports. She also administered a $7 million budget/annual recruitment budget of $1.2 million and oversaw HR functions, including employee education, employee health, staffing resources, childcare, medical library, and patient experience.
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/marylafrancois/

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