From Competition to Collaboration

Book excerpt: "The role that leaders play in aligning organizations toward the common goal of keeping the population healthy is at the center of this book. Because such a focus is critical in dealing with the various forces that have the potential to push things in the wrong direction, we are seeking to actively encourage connections and dialogue across sectors and among stakeholders. We will espouse an ecosystem view and demonstrate that, done well, it can help make some very significant differences in overall population health--in the right direction. In this book, we offer an introduction to and explanation of our framework--our health ecosystem leadership model (HELM). This model has been developed over the past few years and is based on what we have learned from our work with health industry leaders who have been the pioneers of an ecosystem approach. It is their hard-won successes that have driven our learning. These leaders foster what we refer to as an ecosystem mind-set--an understanding of the importance of bringing together traditionally disparate organizations from the different health sectors to create shared, innovative health solutions. Throughout the book, you will see quotes from participants of personal interviews we conducted with leaders who provide great examples of ecosystem leadership in action. They collectively demonstrate how they have sought to implement the solutions we advocate and help demonstrate our model"--