This week Modern Healthcare released its annual list of the top 100 most powerful people in healthcare. It’s populated with many people who most would agree are quite powerful –Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Gates, and the list goes on. Perhaps more interestingly, however, are the people who topped the 2008 list of healthcare’s power brokers – Steve Case (founder of AOL and Revolution Health), Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) and Hillary Rodham Clinton – who have dropped off of the list entirely. If they had such enormous power two years ago, why are they seemingly no longer even in the equation?
Webster’s dictionary defines power as “the possession of control or command over others; authority; ascendancy.” Power is fleeting. Exerting power may allow you to achieve your short-term goal, but it has a downside – it gets used up. If your only approach is to exert or impose your will to achieve your ends, there will always be another waiting to take your place.
Influence is another thing entirely. It is the capacity or power of persons to be a compelling force, to produce effects on the actions, behaviors or opinions of others. In short, to influence is to cause long-term, meaningful change.
For better or worse, we now have an outline for change to our healthcare system, but we have yet to see the type of long-term influential leadership needed to sustain and implement meaningful change. There are some new and creative ideas out there; some of which just might work, but unless we can identify consistent, passionate, and effective leadership in healthcare at the highest levels, the door will continue to spin.
