What Skills Distinguish The More Successful People Working In Healthcare From People Working In Other Sectors?

IN RECENT YEARS, THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPANIES DOING SOCIAL GOOD HAS BECOME MORE VISIBLE. Across all industry sectors, social good is now clearly the fifth success dimension — the other four being shareholders, customers, employees, and partners. People working in healthcare always have had a special responsibility to work toward social good. Societal demands grow every year and can be highly unpredictable. Having one’s ear to the ground about emerging societal trends becomes more and more important every year among “rising star” healthcare executives. Earning trust through competent, empathetic, and consistently trustworthy behavior is a signature skill for rising stars in healthcare. As we move into the post-Covid era, the importance of human skills among healthcare professionals will only grow.

FRED HASSAN is a managing director and partner at Warburg Pincus. As former chairman of Bausch & Lomb and former chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough, he has served on numerous corporate boards, including Amgen, Avon, Pharmacia, Prometheus Biosciences, and Time Warner.