My first 100 days as CEO of Transform SSO

On August 18, I completed my first 100 days as the CEO of TransForm. It’s been an amazing time – full of new challenges and pressures – some real and some self-imposed. So, what have I learned in the last 100 days?

1. It’s important to have your set of trusted advisors, and it’s more important that you use them. There are issues and decisions that need another person just to review them with … and its good to have that “phone a friend” hotline. To my friend hotline – you know who you are – thank you! You have helped me more than you know.
2. Things will not happen as fast as you want them to and at the same time, some things will happen faster. What does that mean? Essentially, you need to be flexible but at the same time impose control in the parts of your schedule and your life that you can. It’s a tough balance but finding that balance actually gives you more time to get things done when your schedule gets filled with “must have meetings”.
3. Schedule time to do work, and not just 1 hour. My assistant has been putting blocks in my calendar of time to get things done, such as reviewing documents, contracts, etc. It forces me to dedicate the time I need to get this work done during business hours versus during my personal time – which was a bad habit I needed to break. Its also good behaviour to model for your staff.
4. Respect your own personal time. Just because you need to be available for emergencies, and you have work that needs to get done, does not mean that it needs to consume 100% of your time. You deserve personal time – for yourself and your family. Taking time to recharge gives you the capacity to keep giving at work.
5. Last but not least, recognize while the first 100 days are important, they will not define you as a leader. I went into the first 100 days thinking I needed to do something huge, to make my mark. But I recognize the first 100 days are about learning and finding my rhythm. It’s about what I establish and consistency in my actions going forward that will define what type of leader that I am.

It has been a terrific 100 days, with more positives than challenges, but then again, it was the summer. I look forward to continuing and learning on this journey.

TransForm Shared Service Organization is a not-for-profit, shared service organization founded by the five hospitals in Erie St. Clair to manage their hospital IT and supply chain needs. Notably, TransForm has earned several awards for its work, including GHX Canadian Provider of the Year for its supply chain operations, Digital Health Canada’s Leader of the Year and Clinical Innovator of the Year (2022), and CIO of the year in the non-profit sector by IT World Canada. Through the implementation of an end-to-end hospital information system servicing the patient journey in multiple care settings, TransForm helped its participating member hospitals achieve HIMSS Level 6 in just one year. Earlier this year, Noralyn Baluyot was promoted from CIO to CEO of the organization.