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Hayley Burgess
November 12, 2014
HCM 4630-102
Healthcare Executive Interview
I chose to interview my internship preceptor, Marisa Farabaugh. Marisa is the director of
Resource Management at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. She has been in this role since
August 2011. Before working at Baptist, she was the Senior Management Engineer at Shands
Healthcare in Gainesville, Florida from 2008-2011. She also worked at The Hershey Company
as an Industrial Engineer from 2003-2008. She attended The University of Florida for her
bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering, and then Penn State for her MBA.
As a director at Baptist, she has an important leadership role where she manages many
departments, including Materials Management, Central Sterile Supply, Laundry and Linen,
Patient Transportation, Van Transportation Services, Mail Services, and Davie Medical Center
Resource Management. As an intern under Marisa, I got to experience first-hand her leadership
skills. I still wanted to interview her though to find out more about what she thinks about
leadership since I feel she would be a great healthcare executive to learn from. The questions I
asked her mainly related to why leadership skills are important and how she has used them in her
career.
Marisa believes that leadership skills are essential in any management or supervisory
position, including roles in the healthcare industry. Some leadership skills are leading by
example, communicating effectively, being able to delegate, being organized, honest, a good
listener, and able to take responsibility. She also said that being people-person makes being a
leader easier. Being approachable so others can come to you for suggestions, feedback, and any

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problems going on lets managers know what their departments need to improve on. Some of the
traits a leader have come natural. For example, she thinks that being a people-person usually
comes natural, while communicating in a clear, understanding manner can be learned and
developed over time.
I asked her questions about the aspects of leadership. Transformation to Marisa means
that the people you are leading have the ability to transform into something better. As a leader
you should have the skill to coach your team, employees, or coworkers by transforming them
into what they need to be in order to be successful. Transformation also relates to transforming
the organization as well by making improvements both financially and relating to quality.
She believes the execution aspect is the most important. Leaders have many meetings
with their subordinates about their goals that need to be accomplished. Even if there is great
communication within the team, and the planning stages go well, it means nothing if the plans
are not executed. How well you execute your plans could be a determinate of how well of a
leader you are.
The people aspect of leadership follows what she has stated previously, being a peopleperson makes it much easier to be a leader. Not everyone has to like you, you are not there to be
everyones friend, but that doesnt mean you cant be a nice, friendly, and caring leader while
still getting the job done. It is essential to have good relationships within your teams. As a leader,
you are a role model to others. Your subordinates should put trust in you, and you should also
have trust in them that they will carry out their jobs.
There are other aspects of being a leader that include human resource management,
interpersonal understanding, professionalism, team leadership, relationship building, selfconfidence, self-development, and talent development. I asked Marisa how someone could

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improve in those skills. To summarize, for human resource management, being consistent with
your employees is essential. She believes you shouldnt allow one employee to get by with
something, and then punish another for the same thing. Human resources are one part of
management Marisa does not like. It is especially hard to fire or write someone up, but it has to
be done and it is important to be consistent with everyone. Do not pick favorites or your
employees will not trust you. As with self-development and talent development, she thinks that
managers should always encourage their employees to further their careers and give them
opportunities for advancement. Hiring from within is huge in this aspect. It will give them hope
to move up in their careers, and encourage them to do their best while at work. Another way to
encourage your staff to do their best is rewards based from performance evaluations, like a raise.
If your staff is not constantly working to better themselves, it can be hard for your organization
to improve.
To conclude, Marisa touched on a lot of the leadership skills we discussed in class. She
believes that execution and communication are the most important parts of leadership. I can see
why she would say those skills are important because you need effective communication to
execute, and if you cant execute your plans, you cant accomplish your goals. I will use her
advice on my leadership improvement plan by focusing on the skills she thought were important
as a leader.

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Questions and Answers
1. Do you believe leadership is important in your healthcare career?
I believe that leadership is key in any management or supervisory position, including in the
healthcare industry. As a director of Resource Management, I am a leader over five managers
(materials management, central sterile supply, patient transportation, van transportation, mail
services, and Davie Medical Center resource management) at Wake Forest Baptist Medical
Center. All of those managers also have supervisors below them.
2. What is the hardest part about being a leader in your job?
The hardest part about being a leader in my job is that if something goes wrong, it is often
blamed your fault. I also believe that HR is a hard part of management.
3. The best part?
The best part is that I get to interact with so many departments and leaders. I really feel like I
make a contribution to the medical center as a director. When things go as planned or even
better, you feel very accomplished. I also enjoy seeing my coworkers do a great job in their
careers as well. When everyone is doing what they are supposed to and accomplishing goals, it
makes it feel like we are actually working as a team.
4. What skills do you believe are needed to be a successful leader?
Leading by example, communicating effectively, being able to delegate, being organized, honest,
a good listener, and able to take responsibility. You also need to be a people-person. You have to
be approachable so others can come to you for suggestions, feedback, problems, and success that
are going on in your workplace.
5. Do you believe leaders are naturally born that way, or it is a skill that can be learned?
I believe that some of the traits a leader have come natural. For example, being a people-person
usually comes natural, while communicating in a clear, understanding tone can be learned and
developed over time.
6. After learning about The National Center for Healthcare Leaderships Competencies, there are
3 main areas of leadership: Transformation, Execution, and People. Why do you think those
areas are important for a leader?
Transformation to me means that the people you are leading have the ability to transform into
something better. As a leader you should have the skill to coach your team/employees/coworkers
into transforming into what they need to in order to succeed and accomplish their goals.
Execution is very important as a leader as well. Leaders have many meetings with their
subordinates about their goals that need to be accomplished. Even if there is great

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communication within the team, and the planning stages go well, it means nothing if the plans
are not executed. This is a measure I believe of how good of a leader you are. You not only can
put together a plan, but have it carried out as well. The people part of leadership follows what I
have stated earlier, being a people-person makes it much easier to be a leader I believe. Not
everyone has to like you, you are not there to be everyones friend, but that doesnt mean you
cant be a nice, friendly, and caring leader while still getting the job done. It is essential to have
good relationships within your teams. As a leader, you are a role model to others. Your
subordinates should put trust in you, and you should also have trust in them that they will carry
out their jobs.
7. How do you believe and up-and-coming leader can improve their leadership skills in:
-HR management: Being consistent with your employees. Dont allow one employee to get by
with a certain rule, and punish another. Be consistent with all parts of HR like being on time,
sick/vacation days, benefits, FMLA, overtime, etc.
-Interpersonal understanding
-Professionalism: You are a role model if you are a leader. You should be as professional as
possible.
-Team leadership
-Relationship building
-Self confidence
-Self development: You should always encourage your subordinates to further their careers and
give them opportunities for advancement in their careers. Hiring from within is huge in this
aspect. It will give them hope to move up in their careers, and encourage them to do their best
while at work. Another way to encourage your staff to do their best is rewards based from
performance evaluations, like a raise. If your staff is not constantly working to better themselves,
it can be hard for your organization to improve.
-Talent development
9. What was your first leadership role in this organization?
This is the first position I have had at Baptist, and I have been here since August 2011. I was a
Senior Management Engineer at Shands Healthcare in Gainesville, FL. Before that, I was an
industrial engineer at The Hershey Company.