Name: Rola Hammoud

Title: President

Organisation: American College of Healthcare Executives, MENA

Dr. Hammoud brings over 30 years of experience in Anesthesiology and 20 years of experience in healthcare management, leadership and consultancy on governance, strategy and quality service delivery. She Holds a Masters in Hospital Management from ESA business school and University Paris VII (France) and is certified from the Harvard Business School in the “Management of Health Care Delivery for Executives.

She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves as the President of the MENA Chapter. In addition, she is an academic Lecturer, a regional speaker on Patient Safety and Risk Management, a reviewer for anesthesia, quality journals and a member of the HBR advisory council. She is a great advocate for total quality management and patient safety.

She is committed to ensuring high quality care is delivered to patients across the globe. She serves as a consultant on the Global Patient Safety Call for action initiative by WHO and is currently an ISQua Expert. Dr Hammoud founded the “Lebanese Society for Quality & Safety in Healthcare” in 2012 and was elected twice as its President. During her tenure, the Society was able to collaborate with WHO on establishing a national “Patient Safety Goals” project. She also served as subject matter expert on the Ministry of Public Health’s national committee for the development of the Lebanese accreditation standards.

She continues to be a training faculty for the Lebanese Surveyors of the hospital accreditation program. On top of her clinical duties, her career was full of achievements in the field of healthcare management, total quality management and medical administration management through the different administrative roles she held in various systems in Lebanon and in the UAE.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Rola's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

Have the right vision in this rapidly changing world

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

During my childhood, I used to lead my sister & brothers by role modeling as I was the eldest. Then in class, I was repetitively assigned the class team leader. I lead my 3 children through their academic paths to study at IVY league universities and become employed by top companies like JP Morgan Bank and Amazone. During my career path as anesthesiologist, I was always the leader in the operating rooms leading the surgical teams to successful surgical outcomes and Safe processes.

I then grew to build the Quality culture ( as chief quality officer) at the hospital and recruit talent to execute the vision of patient service excellence . After reaching the C Suite level, I again transitioned into Chief Medical Officer of a 100 bed hospital in Dubai that was commissioned in the middle of COVID 19 crisis. Becoming a leader required from me lots of commitment, further studies ( Diploma from Harvard Business School, American Board certification in Healthcare Management), hardwork and perseverance.

Today I am learning to move from good to great leader by leading myself, controlling my reactions, setting a purpose and boundaries , respecting values, reaching my personal stretch goals and being grateful. I am learning to let go of many behaviors and moments that so not serve my current purpose and movevforward towards success.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

1. Morning coffee

2. 10 min Meditation

3. 30 min Exercise

4. Start work

5. Frequent breaks ( lunch, coffee)

6. Back home : Journaling & checking on myself

7. Contact friends & family ( include Linkedin)

8. DINNER 9. Reading

10. Prayers before going to bed

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

To be a Great leader, we should start by learning to lead ourselves first.

Learn how to win friends and build teams.

Positive vibes lead to positive lives.

Let ho of perfectionism

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

Good vibes, good life

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Work hard consistently, gain all the needed knowledge and the sky is your limit.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

Dare to leave a toxic place . Everything happens for our best. I found a better place to work at.