Inner resources help CEO keep in the swim

What makes your day at work?


Knowing I've done everything I can to support our doctors and staff so they can deliver the best possible care for our patients and their families. It's a great feeling.

How did you get where you are today?


Resourcefulness, a strong commitment to social values and healthcare, and a bit of luck.

I have always found it challenging to keep the focus of quality healthcare on the patient and on healing, whether I was managing an outpatient clinic in Zambia during the Rhodesian War or hospitals in Ghana and Benin or Australia. Life was tough in Africa and the inner resources I developed there continue to sustain me - I think I have a certain amount of confidence based on experience.

What's the most important lesson you learnt on the way up?

That leadership starts with understanding and respecting the culture of the organisation I have joined. This means developing leadership qualities throughout the organisation.

How have you dealt with any pitfalls in your career?


Like I said, I have learnt that leadership is not restricted to the CEO. When I was at business school, our notion of leadership was very much that the CEO was a "hero leader", and I don't believe that's the case today. At Mercy, we're trying to nurture staff as leaders right through the organisation.

What advice would you give to a young person starting out in business today?


Managers, particularly in service organisations, should learn about the business from bottom to top. One of my first jobs was as a student nurse and that experience still helps me today to be an effective manager.

I understand what it was like to be powerless in an organisation and my raison d'etre since has been to make all staff feel valued.

What's the biggest challenge for your organisation? For the economy today?


For a not-for-profit hospital to maintain its industry leadership we need good proactive strategies, experienced people, a strong partnership with our doctors, and strategic alliances which are aligned with our values.

The future of a private hospital such as Mercy is not "splendid isolation". Also, there are many committed healthcare professionals in New Zealand in all hospitals, but we have a special focus as a Christian institutional witness to gospel values in healthcare - and part of that is our commitment to the poor.

We try to stand for health as a service rather than as a commodity.

If there were one thing you could have done differently, what would it have been?


Perhaps taken more time to relax. Work has taken a disproportionate amount of my time as I seem to have found myself in management situations which have necessitated radical change.

What other ambitions do you have?


I have had a long-standing ambition since my time in Zambia to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. [Also] to participate in a management programme that will challenge me and upgrade my skills. Effective executive leadership is particularly challenging today because of the combination of significant change and massive external pressure.

How do you relax?


I like to swim before I go home after work - it clears my mind and helps creative thinking. It helps me to leave the day behind.


* Tony Duncan spoke to Dita De Boni.