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“To the caregivers, including staff, clinicians, advanced practitioners, and physicians who each day brought their energy to the calling of serving and loving those around them, including one another, our patients, and their families, and our community. I was (and am) in awe of you every single day.” – an excerpt from the dedication of my book, Lead with Imagination. I wrote those lines with a lump in my throat. Today that lump is even larger. Unsung Heroes In a crisis, some of those unsung heroes become noticeably more visible – doctors, advanced practitioners, public health workers and of course,...

In this article, author Marcel Schwantes shares Bill Gates' thought-provoking question and Brian Paradis' belief in imagination and curiosity.

Read the full article here. 

The first thing is love. I can approach the world around me in one of two ways: based on fear or based on love. Most of our leadership is based on fear. I don't mean the fear of 'I'm going to create fear in you.' But I think most leaders are fearful on some level. Fearful of the future, fearful of failure. I was driven not to fail. That's a fear-based leadership model. Breaking out of that baggage we carry into our leadership roles is really really hard.Do you remember your favorite teacher? People always say: I loved that teacher. What that teacher brought to that relationship was love. We all have an intuitive sense that it's better. If that's true, why don't more leaders do it? It's hard. We have to face ourselves first. That brings us to curiosity. You can't be angry and curious at the same time. Humor is also a completely misunderstood and under-used tool. It's hard to be afraid or cast blame if everyone maintains a sense of humor — and powerful insights come from humor.

Imagination is the power to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Though often associated with childhood or relegated to those deemed as"creatives," Brian Paradis has spent his professional career experiencing the transformative effects of incorporating imagination into the workplace.

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brian Paradis, former president of Florida Hospital's (now Advent Health) Central Region, a $4 billion company with more than 25,000 employees. The facility was ranked the #1 hospital in the nation three years in a row by US News and World Report under Brian's leadership, but it took a lot of imagination to solve the organization's challenges to get to that point. Brian has recently authored a book, Lead with Imagination, about what he believes is an essential quality for a  difference-maker in the increasingly complex world of business: imagination. 4 ways to...