Grow Further

Episode Intro

Chris: Welcome to the Grow Further podcast, the show that's all about helping you get from where you are now to where you want to be. I'm your host, Chris Munoz, and I'm passionate about unleashing potential, yours, mine and the world around us. Each episode will bring you actionable insights, inspiring stories, and expert advice to help you grow further, so grow further with us starting now.

Angela Patterson Intro

Chris: All right, everybody. We're so excited that you are here today because we are honored to welcome Angela Patterson to the show. Angela is a vice president and advanced practice registered nurse who serves as Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of CVS Health. As CNO, or Chief Nursing Officer, Angela provides strategic leadership to CVS Health’s thousands of nurses, championing the importance of nursing and fostering a culture of practice excellence through professional growth and wellbeing. She also serves as Chief Nurse Practitioner Officer of retail health for CVS Health, guiding care at MinuteClinic locations throughout the U.S. Yes, these are the very MinuteClinics that you likely have visited at one time or another when you've been sick, and virtual care venues, focusing on clinical quality, professional practice, and patient and colleague experience.

Angela is a nationally recognized nursing leader, awarded the 2018 American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Sharp Cutting Edge Award, and inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in 2019.

Under her leadership, MinuteClinic earned the prestigious Pathway to Excellence designation for Nursing Excellence. And with over 30 years of experience in clinical practice, education, and leadership, Angela holds degrees from Simmons College and the MGH Institute of Health Professions, where she was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Her dedication to advancing healthcare and nursing is truly inspiring. And just as she was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award, we're honored to have her with us today. So, let's go ahead and dive into our conversation with the Angela Patterson.

The Importance of Not Playing Small

Chris: Welcome Angela to the Great Further Podcast. We are so incredibly lucky and grateful that you have agreed to join us and that you have the time to join us. And I cannot wait to get to know you a little bit more. And there is a question for every guest that we ask. What's the best piece of advice you've received that you'd share with someone wanting to grow further in their careers or in life in general?

Angela: The best piece of advice I think I received when I was a very young nurse still in school, but I was a very introverted, sort of shy person.

Chris: Interesting.

Angela: Yes, I didn't like standing out being in the front. I always kind of hung back and I remember there was professor had said, you know, there's this opportunity for someone to lead this particular initiative and I'd like everyone to think about it and if you're interested, let me know.

And after class, this professor came to me, she tapped me on the shoulder and she said you haven't raised your hand to step into this initiative and that's not something I would have done. I didn't have that kind of confidence. I had confidence in being a nurse, but not like that. She told me that she had belief in me and wanted me to consider it. What she said to me is, “I don't want you to play small.”

And she told me to look up that quote from Nelson Mandela. And his quote is: “Our deepest fear is not that we're inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us you're playing small doesn't serve the world.”

But that line about you're playing small doesn't serve the world, that spoke to me when I saw and stayed with me throughout my career as I saw the struggles that people had and the families who I was so committed to and cared for beyond words. That my playing small didn't help them achieve health and wellbeing, didn't help my profession that I'm deeply committed to and love dearly advance and the advice was stop and think about the light that you could shine that you could bring forward and not be afraid but to really step forward and out of your comfort zone. And I really had to learn over the years to be comfortable talking and leading because honestly, my reflexes to kind of hang back and…

Chris: So you fight that consistently

Angela: I do.

Chris: That urge to hang back. You are intentionally out front. I mean you have in your career, you've gone from bedside nursing right to becoming the Chief Nursing Officer of CVS Health.

Angela: Amazing, right? I know.

Chris: It's amazing and whether those listening are nurses in healthcare or not, everyone can relate to that feeling of not like maybe being a little bit more introverted, not feeling compelled to speak because you're just afraid something's holding you back, but that don't play small.

Angela: Playing small does not serve the world.

Chris: Playing small does not serve the world. And you say that to yourself and it motivates you to speak even when you don't want to, and it motivates you to lead.

Angela: Exactly and today when I speak, what helps me to speak is that I know I'm not speaking on behalf of Angela Patterson. I'm speaking on behalf of nurses, the thousands of nurses across our enterprise, you know, hundreds of thousands of nurses across our country, and even more importantly, the patients and families across our country's communities who I, as a nurse and the nurses who I represent, know their stories And we need to bring voice not only to our stories as nurses but the stories of those who we care for.

Chris: I'm looking forward to learning from you as we continue to have this conversation about your leadership and about specific things that you do to not only help yourself feel more empowered and confident to overcome your tendency to be more introverted, because that is a belief, right? If you're more introverted, you have a tendency maybe that you're not going to be as good of a leader, or maybe you're going to struggle a little bit more? It's like not necessarily.

Angela: No, and when times are challenging when you're faced with challenge, or you know, discomfort, and as I think back even on the COVID-19 pandemic,

Chris: Yeah.

Angela: Your first reaction is to revert back to what you're more comfortable with. You know, during COVID-19, for example, it was a very, very challenging time on so many levels and for myself as a leader, there was no playbook. Like, how do you lead? How do you galvanize? How do you bring people together during this time? You know, personally, I went back into individual coaching just to again help sharpen my skills, make sure I was thinking clearly.

Chris: Oh interesting. So, you got a coach? Because I love the way you're talking about it, because you're really speaking to leading through challenge, and in your case, this was in a healthcare space, right? But for listeners out there, and you're leading and it's just being a leader can be anybody. I also believe that to be true. If somebody is looking to you for guidance or support, you can lead from anywhere. And what I'm hearing is that you have to lead yourself before you can lead others. And I don't know if you agree with that, Angela, or not, but you're talking about coaching. I'd love to explore, what did you do to lead yourself?

Angela: One of the first things that I did was really understand, you know, what leadership was. So, I read a lot of books. I've always taken lots of courses and done different things. And I selected for myself a framework that I believe helps me to fulfill and realize my role as a nursing leader, no matter, you know what position I was in at the time over the course of these many years.

But I also was intentional around looking at leadership styles where the evidence demonstrated that this type of leadership style is most effective for nurses. And for me, that leadership style turned out to be, it's called transformational leadership, also now being known as purposeful leadership. And basically, with transformational leadership, it's a leadership style where you purposefully seek to engage with people in a way that raises the others who you're on your team to higher levels of motivation and morality.

Like, for example, you know, have you ever been in a group situation where someone took control of the situation by conveying a clear vision of the group's goals and had a market passion for the work and an ability to make people feel recharged and energized? There are certain leaders who have that style: Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Mother Teresa. Those are leaders who demonstrate a transformational leadership style. They motivate people to go beyond their self interest for the goal of the group or the society or the practice and together, they all realize their full potential.

So it's like four pillars: influence, motivation, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation. And basically, what it is…

Chris: I love that framework. I love that.

Angela: You work with folks and your goal is to unlock the talents and skills of everyone on your team. Everyone has the opportunity to put their shoulder to the wheel. They become committed through a shared vision that we all share together. And for nurses, having that be very purposeful is essential. And that as a leader, you're listening, you're carefully listening, you're getting to know people and you are coaching, advising. You're not only talking the talk, you’re walking the walk. You encourage people to be creative, innovative and address challenges together.

So, it's a real purpose-driven leadership style. The goal is to help every member of your team reach their full potential because everyone brings a different set of talents and skills to the table. I you want to unlock the potential of everybody to bring it all forward and that your leadership presence cultivates focus creativity, compassion in the service of others, but in general, my goal is to ignite the spark in others. It helps support them in their professional journey and becoming successful in their role and contributing to the team in their unique ways.

Chris: Angela, I am so inspired by your leadership style, and I can only imagine those that have the opportunity to be led by you, how they feel each day, just knowing that this is your leadership philosophy. This is what you care about.

If you were to leave everyone with what's one action that you would challenge everybody, if you just don't know where to start and you're wanting to improve in your leadership style, and you want to have this culture that you're speaking to, Angela, what's like the first step somebody could try to take?

Angela: The first thing I would say is research and adopt a framework. When you have a framework, and it takes time, when you have a framework, it guides your work. And the other key thing is, not only to have a framework, but make it a leadership priority. It cannot be side of the desk work. Leadership and culture, cannot be at the bottom of your to do list or work that's done on the side of your desk. And as a leader, recognize that the work of leadership is lifelong. It's Lifelong and sometimes and you know, we need to press that through our lens make sure we're showing up as we hope to, and when times are challenging or not sure, that we re-engage in those things, you know, we read our books, we get a coach, we have a mentor, those, but we never stop challenging ourselves as leaders to do better in service of nurses.

Chris: I love the prescription to a framework mentality because it gives you a place to start. If you don't know where to start, pick a framework. You recommended one and never stop working on yourself and never stop thinking about how you show up impacts your team. Angela, this has been an extraordinary conversation, and I'm hoping that our listeners are walking away with getting to know you and your and your passion for health care in the nursing community and CVS Health is so lucky to have you as their Chief Nursing Officer, and we are so lucky at the Grow Further podcast to have had time with you today.

The next episode, everybody, we're going to talk about how important it is when you're caregiving for another person, whether it be in a nursing capacity, in a health care setting or maybe even caring for your parents and caring for your kids. You know, perhaps you're in that sandwich generation when you're so focused on caring for others it's so easy to lose the focus on yourself and the importance for caring for yourself. So, Angela, I look forward to learning more from you in how you create a culture of wellbeing for those that are in service of others and are caregiving for other people.

So, Angela, before we head out, what is the best way for our listeners to learn more about you to stay in touch with you?

Angela: I would say LinkedIn, please connect with me on LinkedIn.

Chris: Fantastic. Okay. Everybody find Angela Patterson on LinkedIn. And until next time, we hope that you grow just a little bit further between now and then. Thank you so much. And thank you, Angela. We'll see you back for part two in a couple weeks.

Episode Closing

Chris: Thanks for tuning in to the Grow Further podcast, a CVS Health production. Special thanks to our editor and producer, Jed Ackerman, and our digital support from Eva Charbonneau. Don't forget to subscribe, share and keep growing further. See you next time.

The End.