I have recently raised a $130M healthcare venture fund and have changed my career focus away from traditional hospital adminstration, most recently retired as CEO of Ascension Health in 2004. So strategic planning for the venture fund has included strategy around rasing the fund and executing the roll out, defining our target investment profile and expanding our deal flow. This has been a 24 month process for fundraising and 12-18months on executing the roll out.
Over the last 30 years, I have found the greatest challenge to effective strategic planning is to define and end point that excites the entire organization so all will pull in the same direction. The role of the CEO is of paramount importance. This cannot be delegated to others in the organization. Ongoing communication, reinforcement, reward systems, tracking results, modifying direction based on new information are just some of the keys to success.
At Ascension, I led a process of 150 leaders across 20 states to develop a strategic plan for the next 5 years. This was an incredible 6 months of planning, gathering data, surveying constituents, organizing facilitation, ensuring representation of all the key groups, and was held during a three day intensive retreat. The outcome was defined by 3 key phrases. " We strive to create Healthcare that Works, Healthcare that is Safe, and Healthcare that Leaves No One Behind.