Empowering Leadership: The Key to Succession Planning and Team Success (Sponsor Letter)

David Argueta, President, Mercy Southwest Communities

If you’re reading this and you’re a leader at your company, you have likely been asked, “what do you worry about most? What keeps you up at night?”

That is the question we will dive into in issue No. 2 in the 2024 Economic Growth Series. I’m blessed to serve along an amazing team that makes things easier, but every once in a while, there are issues that can keep me up.

I think about our industry’s work force pipeline, our caregivers, our future, our sustainability, our patient’s needs and how patients experience us with every interaction... the list goes on. But to be honest, the thing that really keeps me up at night is pretty simple.  It’s the people I serve, specifically how I am providing my team what they need and am I giving them enough autonomy to be their best for those they serve.

I served as president of Mercy Springfield Communities for about two years before being promoted to president of Mercy Southwest Missouri. My time as community president was short, but we made several leadership changes during my tenure, which meant our team collaborated on almost every decision. We were and still are a very close-knit group that values each other’s opinions, expertise and concerns.

When I stepped into my new role as regional president, I knew our new community president John Myers was the perfect fit for the role, and I knew he had the best team in place to support him. It is important to give space to John and the team so they can come together and thrive.

I didn’t want to step back so abruptly and set my team up for failure, and I also want to continue to be part of the conversation in Springfield. So as a leader, I’ve had to figure out how to support my team and be plugged in enough to know what the community needs while stepping back enough that our leaders and co-workers turn to John and the leadership team when making decisions.  This is how our team functions normally, so it has proven to be a smooth transition and one where we keep empowering our leaders to lead.

What really keeps me up is succession planning. Doing it right, and doing it well. It’s crucial to any company’s long-term success. Leadership should be a shared mission. As someone who strongly believes that together a team is more powerful than any of us individually, where my primary role is to serve the leaders who report up to me, my goal now is to make sure I’m giving them the space and support to make their own decisions without feeling like they have to turn to me first. They should trust they will be supported and have the space to bring their best.

Leadership is a deep privilege, especially when you have the opportunity to serve among extremely gifted people who all care about who and how we serve. If you foster collaboration and lead from within instead of from above, your team will embrace their own leadership strengths and quickly realize that the possibilities are endless.

—David Argueta, President, Mercy Southwest Communities