Post by Jason Radisson

Mary Brainerd wired one of the largest hospital groups in the country to be radically accountable and empathetic. As CEO of HealthPartners, she ran a $7B healthcare organization with 100+ hospitals, 26,000 employees, and a board elected by its patients. Diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of her tenure, Mary's leadership wasn't abstract. It was personal, lived, and built for scale. In our latest episode of CEO Tradecraft, Mary sat down with me and shared six repeatable pages from her playbook: ① View every employee as a customer touchpoint—because they are. Mary’s cancer changed her view: "It’s hugely emotional. It's not a disease you have alone. It reshaped how I saw every touchpoint." She created patient-interaction events so even back-office teams—billing, facilities, finance—felt their direct impact on patients. ② Lean is non-negotiable, it's what enables impact. Mary answered directly to a patient-elected board. Growth, community focus, services, even margins—patients shaped it all. "They looked at things differently," she said. "What's an appropriate amount to make? Your margin for error was not very big." ③ Walk through open doors—and leave them that way. Mary was one of few women leading a major system then. Her clarity came from growing up surrounded by women leaders: "Every leader in my school—from principal to board chair—was a woman. I never saw a closed door." ④ Use storytelling to overcome resistance to change. Facing skepticism during an EMR rollout, Mary and her team discovered, "People in finance might learn through data and reporting, but nurses reconnect with their purpose through storytelling." They staged a clinician-led and performed play to surface concerns and build buy-in. ⑤ Deploy AI and robotics so humans can do the work only humans can. Mary saw technology not as a future bet, but a necessity. With no realistic way to fill healthcare’s staffing gap, she argued AI and robotics must handle repetitive work—so humans can do the parts only humans can. "Technology solutions will help healthcare professionals do the most worthwhile parts of their work," she said. "Leave the others to automation." ⑥ CEOs have a civic duty to improve their communities. Mary co-founded Itasca, a civic alliance driving regional vitality. Results: major employers adopted opt-out 401(k)s years early; transit investment increased. Not all succeeded. "Our early racial disparities work was inadequate," she admits—work Mary began 15+ years before George Floyd’s murder. "But it changed how I led." Mary’s approach wasn’t just about running an organization—it helped redefine what leadership means in healthcare. Her methods—accountability to patients, empathy grounded in experience, and technology enabling human care—aren’t just admirable, they’re replicable. Hear Mary tell it in her own words in this week’s CEO Tradecraft: (Link in comments.) #Minneapolis #EmpatheticLeadership #HealthcareInnovation #HealthEquity