Current and future leaders from across the Department of Radiology gathered at Johns Hopkins Hospital earlier this month to celebrate the graduates of the 2022 Future Leaders program.

Future Leaders was first established in 2006 as a way to identify and foster potential leaders within the department. Each year, managers nominate staff they believe will benefit from the program. A cohort of 20 to 25 participants spends the next seven months engaging in a variety of workshops and activities.

Session topics include navigating crucial conversations, enhancing facilitations skills, building presentation skills, setting goals and more.

This year’s program was coordinated by JHMI Greenspring Site Manager LaKiesha Brown, JHH MRI Clinical and Operations Manager Michelle Casler and Radiology Clinical Integration Manager Bina Patel. They were joined at the end-of-year celebration by a variety of department managers and leaders.

Radiology Operations Administrator Peg Cooper, herself a former facilitator of the program, sees Future Leaders as a key part of the culture of Johns Hopkins Radiology and Medical Imaging.
“It’s really all about who we are and what our culture is for building another career path for our staff,” Peg told attendees.

The event also included presentations by members of the 2022 cohort. Participants were divided into five teams. Each team was tasked with proposing three strategies for boosting morale and retaining staff.

The presentations proved a reflection of each team’s unique personalities – starting with creative team names like #GOALDiggers and S.H.I.E.L.D. (Staff Heading Into Engaged Leadership Development).

The fun didn’t stop there. The S.H.I.E.L.D. crew, embracing their Marvel-inspired theme, designed a PowerPoint presentation that included references to popular comic characters from Captain America to the Incredible Hulk. Meanwhile, a team called the Communicators punctuated their remarks with props, including an essential oil diffuser and speaker playing calming music.

Proposed retention strategies included additional employee health and wellness offerings, enhanced communication between managers and staff, greater flexibility for added work/life balance and more morale-boosting occasions like appreciation days and fun seasonal contests.

At the conclusion of their presentations, each participant shared what they had learned.

“I feel a lot more confident in myself today than I did day one of this program,” said Radiology Nurse Tierra.

Her fellow cohort member, Johns Hopkins Imaging Quality Coordinator Frankie, called the program an “extraordinarily positive and informative experience,” while his fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. team member, Nuclear Medicine Technologist Bob, noted, “I’ve been given many tools to add to my toolbox of leadership.”

For participants, the program provided a chance to learn about leadership as well as themselves. Most members of the 2022 group noted that they gained greater insight into their personality and how that informs their leadership style.

“This was like therapy to me,” MRI Technologist Emily said, to knowing laughter from her fellow future leaders. With the conclusion of the program, participants expressed excitement to share what they had learned with their area of the department.

“I really enjoyed the Future Leaders program,” Chelsea from White Marsh concluded, noting, “It was fun to experience this with different people, all of us doing this together for the first time.”