Secrets to Sustaining Leadership Success: Dr. Jean Ann Larson

Dr. Jean Ann Larson has a difficult job: helping already high-achieving people to be even better than they are. As Chief Leadership Development Officer at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System and Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Development at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine, Dr. Larson works daily with some of the institution's most accomplished leaders, from deans to chiefs to chairs to health system C-suite leaders. In lieu of "improving" or "fixing" these individuals, she sees her role as helping them understand that learning and growth should never really stop. "No matter where you are on your journey, you have to develop new skills," she says.

Dr. Larson's emphasis in her work is on sustaining leadership success, building upon leaders' past accomplishments to help them address new and unique challenges. In turn, this fosters sustained leadership excellence across an organization like UAB, excellence that persists even when individual leaders come and go. 

In this Impactful Leaders Podcast, Dr. Larson reflects with WittKieffer's Vinny Gossain upon how she arrived in her current role, the secret sauce to leadership development, and the lessons that can be applied within other organizations.