Thought Leadership

Written By: Kirsten Thorne, Lead Advisor, Corporate Affairs | Empactful Advisors In today’s operating environment, strategy development is no longer a purely internal exercise. Markets move faster, scrutiny is higher, and the distance between a strategic decision and its real-world consequences has collapsed. Leaders are expected to execute while navigating regulatory uncertainty, stakeholder expectations, reputational risk, and geopolitical volatility – all at once. Yet man

Written By: Jimmy Leppert, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Empactful Advisors The latest data from Kaufman Hall reflects what many hospital leaders are feeling in real time: operational performance improved in 2025, but beneath the surface, structural pressures are building. Margins stabilized, volumes rebounded, and efficiency metrics improved – all welcome signs after several turbulent years. But improving averages can obscure growing fragmentation between systems that a

Written By: Justin Wasserman The best leaders don’t come in with answers. Often, they come in asking the right questions. Stepping into hospital leadership (or any leadership role) – whether you’re a new CEO, COO, CNO, or system-level executive – is less about declaring bold plans and more about understanding what you're walking into. What’s working, what’s hiding, what’s under-leveraged, and most importantly on what’s possible? The highest-performing leaders I’ve worked with