Henry Ford Health System Pride Leadership Team: Secretary Maeve Quinn, President Todd Roark, Former Henry Ford CEO Nancy Schlichting, Treasurer John Zervos and Vice President Andrew Bossick. Photo courtesy of Henry Ford.
Now that she is retired, former Henry Ford Health System CEO Nancy Schlichting said she wonders if anybody ever wants to hear her speak again. Considering the roomful of people in attendance during the Henry Ford Pride Employee Resource Group Spring Event on April 26, people are eager to listen.
"I am very grateful at the number of people who showed up. It's an honor to be back," said Schlichting to the 50 or so people who gathered in the Henry Ford Gilmour Center at 1 Ford Place in Detroit.
Schlichting was there to talk about her book, "Unconventional Leadership: What Henry Ford and Detroit Taught Me About Reinvention and Diversity." It reveals insights about her personal and professional life.
"I am really pleased to talk about my journey in life. I hope it's useful," said Schlichting, who was named for the fifth time as one of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine, and for the eighth time as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare by the same publication.
Although she is no longer working for the company, Schlichting has made herself available to help the PRIDE leadership team. For that reason, among others, the Henry Ford PRIDE leadership team presented Schlichting with the Diversity Champion Award during the event.
Schlichting went on to explain her view of the value of ERGs, which is "sort of three-fold."
One is to bring people together.
"I would say that I've always felt that the LGBT community is by nature diverse, which makes Henry Ford a comfortable place for people to work and create new relationships. This is incredibly important," she said.
By embracing diversity, Schlichting told attendees they help make Henry Ford a better health system.
"You have the opportunity to make your patients in the LGBT community feel that this is the place to come for care, and that they'll be treated with great dignity and respect. Their family members will also be included in ways that haven't always been the case in healthcare," she said.
And third, Schlichting said, is the ERGs ability to attract the best people in healthcare who might be members of the LGBT community, to come and work there.
"You are business-focused first, but also have an opportunity for greater networking and inclusion in everything that you do."
PRIDE was the first Employee Network Group to be established in 2004. In 2010, with approval of the council, PRIDE became the first newly created ERG doing things on a broader basis. The purpose of the ERG is to serve as advocates for Henry Ford LGBT employees and to provide support for one another. PRIDE is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and diverse culture for their patients, employees, business partners and the communities they serve.
