Matt Sause

 

Healthcare Executive: How would you describe your leadership style?

Sause: I consider the ability to listen to and learn from colleagues to be one of the most important leadership skills. I work to inspire others by shining a light on the good we can accomplish in this world. 

I’m passionate about improving healthcare—specifically, ensuring access to innovation for patients across the spectrum of need. My leadership style has been influenced by my experiences living in and learning about the healthcare systems in other countries, including Peru and Korea. These experiences taught me the importance of a sustained, systematic commitment to patient access to innovation. It also taught me the profound impact success in this area can have on society.

HE: What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned about leadership? 

Sause: The most important leadership lesson I’ve learned is the criticality of having a strong leadership team. A strong team is the most important factor in ensuring an organization’s success, especially during a crisis like the one we’ve been through. And it’s our role as leaders to make sure that the leadership team is high functioning and works well as a unit.

HE: As you think about 2022 and beyond, what challenges are you facing and what resources are you using to address them?

Sause: The top issues facing leadership as we head into 2022 are threefold: 1) understanding how our customer’s view of our industry has changed as a result of the pandemic, as well as understanding the customer’s voice to provide the best solutions; 2) knowing how we can best position ourselves to engage in a healthcare landscape that has changed, and knowing the type of innovation that will be most valued and rewarded in this new landscape; and 3) being intentional and forward-looking in learning how to structure our organization’s work environment and develop strong communication channels to enable our greatest asset, our employees, to succeed now and down the road.

HE: As you think about the future of healthcare, what do you believe should be top of mind for healthcare leaders, and what advice can you give?

Sause: Healthcare leaders need to be thinking about the impact of the pandemic on how care is delivered. In diagnostics, testing has moved closer to the patient and to the most appropriate care setting for the condition being diagnosed. 

As leaders, we will need to rethink the organization of our companies in a world in which traditional ways of working have been profoundly disrupted. That calls for a much more flexible approach to organizational strategy. 

Improving access to innovation also needs to be top of mind for healthcare leaders. Despite the advances in healthcare technology in the United States, tremendous discrepancies remain. The pandemic illuminated these discrepancies, and they will remain a major challenge for the sector moving forward.