I have never thought of myself as a leader. I went back to school for a master’s degree in health care administration and I noticed that the program in school focuses heavily on leadership. So, I started the journey of discovering my role in becoming a leader. A position opened on my current team and my manager encouraged me to take the lead. Then, one day, I saw on our job site that they were taking applications for the Emerging Business Leaders program. I talked with my manager, and she said: “Felicia, you must do this. You are a leader and I can see you growing into an outstanding leader.” So, I applied and went through the process of the interview. When I was selected for the program, I was so excited.
Since I started the program, I have been incredibly pleased with the speakers and places we have been. I have even registered back into school for my doctoral degree in health care administration which I start this summer.
One of the sessions really stood out to me: the third session with Honeywell. During this session, I learned what polarities were. Learning about polarity made me think about myself and my overall thought process. We face hard decisions and dilemmas in our lives and work. Understanding the difference in situations can lead to success. We cannot solve every difficult situation we come across, but we can deal with them by seeing both perspectives clearly and at the same time. I have been practicing taking notice of situations and using polarities to help me make better decisions at home and at work.
As I am wrapping up this wonderful opportunity, I would say, if your leader is providing you an opportunity to be in this program, JOIN! This experience has really taught me more than I can imagine about leadership, and I am so happy that Atrium provides this opportunity for us as employees. The experience in this program not only helps you understand yourself but others around you and how your decisions affect your team. I have really met a group of amazing emerging leaders while in this cohort. I am so proud to be part of EBL Class 11.
Felicia Knox works for Atrium Health as a senior clinical research financial analyst, reviewing research protocols for coverage analysis, and performing audits on active clinical trial studies. You can connect with Felicia on LinkedIn.
