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In this episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff explores a simple but powerful truth: leadership is hard — but the experience of that “hard” can look very different depending on how leaders connect to their work.

Inspired by watching the intensity and passion of NHL playoff hockey, Sue draws a compelling parallel between athletes who embrace the difficulty of the game because they love it — and leaders who either thrive or burn out based on their connection to purpose and meaning.

Sue contrasts transactional leadership (“I have to”) with transformational leadership (“I get to”), highlighting how the same responsibilities can feel either draining or energizing depending on mindset and connection to purpose.

This episode is a powerful reminder that leadership isn’t just about what you do — it’s about how you experience the work and the energy you bring to it.

If leadership in your organization feels heavy instead of meaningful, Capstone can help. Start with a conversation about how to re-energize your leadership team and strengthen your culture: CapstoneLeadership.net/Contact-Us

[FREE Webinar] A 5-Step Approach to Achieving Nursing Excellence in Rural Hospitals:  Aug 11 at Noon ET

Many rural hospitals need a proven approach for creating and sustaining nursing excellence. Join Capstone for a special 1-hour webinar where we will overview our proven 5-step approach for achieving nursing care improvements that take hold and last.

Register here: https://capstoneleadership-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/gCRrqIc2QeK7mj-1gzIJsg

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

2. Subscribe to our Email Newsletter
Get practical tips, frameworks, and leadership tools delivered right to your inbox—plus exclusive content you won’t find on the podcast.
📩 Subscribe here

3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at [email protected] and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.

Send us a Message

In this episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff sits down with Chelsea Hoffrichter, registered nurse, nurse manager, and service excellence team leader at MyMichigan-Sault, to discuss how employee-driven teams are helping improve the patient experience in their rural healthcare organization.

Chelsea shares the journey of transforming their service excellence work from a leader-driven approach to an employee-driven team structure - and the powerful impact it has had on engagement, creativity, ownership, and patient satisfaction scores.

Is your healthcare organization needing a well-tested, proven and practical approach to strengthening employee engagement and improving the patient experience? Capstone has a couple options that might be just right for where you are and what you need. Connect with us to explore more: CapstoneLeadership.net/Contact-Us

[FREE Webinar] A 5-Step Approach to Achieving Nursing Excellence in Rural Hospitals:  Aug 11 at Noon ET

Many rural hospitals need a proven approach for creating and sustaining nursing excellence. Join Capstone for a special 1-hour webinar where we will overview our proven 5-step approach for achieving nursing care improvements that take hold and last.

Register here: https://capstoneleadership-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/gCRrqIc2QeK7mj-1gzIJsg

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

2. Subscribe to our Email Newsletter
Get practical tips, frameworks, and leadership tools delivered right to your inbox—plus exclusive content you won’t find on the podcast.
📩 Subscribe here

3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at [email protected] and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.

Send us a Message

Pursuing RHT opportunities that are not in strategic alignment can create “strategy creep” or “strategy swap” scenarios that likely won’t play out well in the short or long term

In this episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff explores a critical strategy challenge facing rural healthcare organizations today: how to navigate the massive Rural Health Transformation (RHT) opportunity without losing strategic focus.

With $50 billion in funding, multi-organization collaboratives, and increasing pressure to participate, healthcare leaders are being presented with more opportunities than ever before. But as Sue shares from her decades of experience as a healthcare strategist, not every opportunity is strategic.

This episode introduces two key risks organizations must guard against:

• Strategy Creep — layering new initiatives on top of existing priorities, stretching teams thin and reducing execution quality
• Strategy Swap — replacing carefully developed strategic priorities with externally funded initiatives that may not align with the organization’s true needs

Sue emphasizes that while funding can accelerate strategy, it should never define it. Instead, organizations must stay grounded in their mission, their community’s needs, and their clearly defined strategic priorities.

She also shares practical decision filters to help leaders evaluate which opportunities to pursue — and which to pass on — so they can maintain focus, protect their teams, and achieve meaningful, lasting results:

1. Does this directly advance one of our top strategic priorities on our plan?
2. What are we going to need to stop or de-prioritize to make room for this?
3. Do we have the execution systems and capacity to do all of this well?
4. Are we leading our strategy or letting available funding lead us? 

Navigating RHT decisions and want a strategic sounding board? Reach out to schedule a call with Sue or Doug at Capstone Leadership Solutions - [email protected]

[FREE Webinar] A 5-Step Approach to Achieving Nursing Excellence in Rural Hospitals:  Aug 11 at Noon ET

Many rural hospitals need a proven approach for creating and sustaining nursing excellence. Join Capstone for a special 1-hour webinar where we will overview our proven 5-step approach for achieving nursing care improvements that take hold and last.

Register here: https://capstoneleadership-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/gCRrqIc2QeK7mj-1gzIJsg

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

2. Subscribe to our Email Newsletter
Get practical tips, frameworks, and leadership tools delivered right to your inbox—plus exclusive content you won’t find on the podcast.
📩 Subscribe here

3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at [email protected] and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.

Send us a Message

In this episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff is joined by Capstone’s Chief Transformation Officer, Courtney Kloehn, to explore what it really means to build a data-driven culture in healthcare organizations. While many organizations collect and report data, far fewer use it effectively to guide decisions, align teams, and drive meaningful improvement. Sue and Courtney discuss how organizations can move beyond simply reviewing data to using it as a tool for action, ownership, and continuous advancement.

Courtney also shares a practical data-driven initiatives worksheet designed to help teams identify opportunities, align with organizational priorities, and create more impactful action plans.

Here is the link to the “Data Driven Initiatives Worksheet” referenced in this episode.

Past episodes with Capstone’s Chief Transformation Officer, Courtney Kloehn:

• Better Behaviors, Better Workplaces
• Time Well Spent: The Power of the 5P Model
• Feedback:  Fuel for Further Growth
• From Event to Execution: Making Leadership Learning Count
• Common Senior Team Dysfunctions

[FREE Webinar] A 5-Step Approach to Achieving Nursing Excellence in Rural Hospitals:  Aug 11 at Noon ET

Many rural hospitals need a proven approach for creating and sustaining nursing excellence. Join Capstone for a special 1-hour webinar where we will overview our proven 5-step approach for achieving nursing care improvements that take hold and last.

Register here: https://capstoneleadership-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/gCRrqIc2QeK7mj-1gzIJsg

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

2. Subscribe to our Email Newsletter
Get practical tips, frameworks, and leadership tools delivered right to your inbox—plus exclusive content you won’t find on the podcast.
📩 Subscribe here

3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at [email protected] and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.

Send us a Message

In this episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff discusses the importance of foundational strength in rural healthcare organizations. She emphasizes how strengthening people, service, and quality creates organizational vitality, magnetism for talent and patients, and sustainable growth.

Ready to strengthen your organization’s foundation and become a magnet for talent and growth?

Schedule a complimentary discovery call series with the Capstone team:

CapstoneLeadership.net/Contact-Us

[FREE Webinar] A 5-Step Approach to Achieving Nursing Excellence in Rural Hospitals:  Aug 11 at Noon ET

Many rural hospitals need a proven approach for creating and sustaining nursing excellence. Join Capstone for a special 1-hour webinar where we will overview our proven 5-step approach for achieving nursing care improvements that take hold and last.

Register here: https://capstoneleadership-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/gCRrqIc2QeK7mj-1gzIJsg

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

2. Subscribe to our Email Newsletter
Get practical tips, frameworks, and leadership tools delivered right to your inbox—plus exclusive content you won’t find on the podcast.
📩 Subscribe here

3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at [email protected] and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.

Send us a Message

In this episode of Culture Change RX, host Sue Tetzlaff and guest Christy Pretzinger delve into the concept of BETTER Quotient™ (BQ) and its significance in leadership. Christy shares her journey of understanding the importance of continuous improvement and vulnerability in leadership roles. They discuss the relationship between BQ and growth mindset, the necessity of self-awareness, and the value of soft skills in the workplace. Christy introduces a three-step process for applying BQ in daily interactions, emphasizing the importance of pausing, anchoring, and choosing better actions. The conversation highlights the privilege and responsibility of leadership, encouraging listeners to embrace personal development as a pathway to organizational growth.

• Soft skills are predictors of success in the workplace.
• The pause is a gift to avoid regrettable actions.
• Self-awareness is crucial for effective leadership.
• Leadership voice carries weight and responsibility.

Connect with Christy Pretzinger and WG Content
[email protected]
The Better Leader Project
christypretzinger.com
WGContent.com

[FREE Webinar] A 5-Step Approach to Achieving Nursing Excellence in Rural Hospitals:  Aug 11 at Noon ET

Many rural hospitals need a proven approach for creating and sustaining nursing excellence. Join Capstone for a special 1-hour webinar where we will overview our proven 5-step approach for achieving nursing care improvements that take hold and last.

Register here: https://capstoneleadership-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/gCRrqIc2QeK7mj-1gzIJsg

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

2. Subscribe to our Email Newsletter
Get practical tips, frameworks, and leadership tools delivered right to your inbox—plus exclusive content you won’t find on the podcast.
📩 Subscribe here

3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at [email protected] and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.

Send us a Message

In this episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff and Julie Coneset discuss the importance of meaningful celebrations, focusing on the 'why' behind recognition efforts, and share practical ideas and a comprehensive celebration guide to foster a culture of celebration in healthcare settings.

How to get your guide to creating meaningful Hospital Week and other celebrations: Email [email protected] and request CELEBRATION GUIDE

[FREE Webinar] A 5-Step Approach to Achieving Nursing Excellence in Rural Hospitals:  Aug 11 at Noon ET

Many rural hospitals need a proven approach for creating and sustaining nursing excellence. Join Capstone for a special 1-hour webinar where we will overview our proven 5-step approach for achieving nursing care improvements that take hold and last.

Register here: https://capstoneleadership-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/gCRrqIc2QeK7mj-1gzIJsg

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

2. Subscribe to our Email Newsletter
Get practical tips, frameworks, and leadership tools delivered right to your inbox—plus exclusive content you won’t find on the podcast.
📩 Subscribe here

3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at [email protected] and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.

Send us a Message

In this episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff explores the nine essential 'ITs' of customer service excellence in healthcare. She emphasizes that building a multi-faceted systematic approach, rather than just providing training, is key to achieving sustainable service quality and patient satisfaction.

Quotes from the episode: 

• “Exceptional service is not created by training alone — it is created by systems.”
• “Organizations that excel in service don’t just focus on patients — they invest equally in their people.”
• “Service excellence is not the end goal — it is part of something bigger: organizational vitality.”
• “Leadership behavior sets the ceiling for the organization.”
• “We have to move from training for service… to building systems for service excellence.”
• “A strong employee experience enables a strong patient experience.”
• “Data should drive improvement — not overwhelm, punish, or confuse.”
• “Service excellence is not a service initiative — it is a people-plus-systems outcome.”

[FREE Webinar] A 5-Step Approach to Achieving Nursing Excellence in Rural Hospitals:  Aug 11 at Noon ET

Many rural hospitals need a proven approach for creating and sustaining nursing excellence. Join Capstone for a special 1-hour webinar where we will overview our proven 5-step approach for achieving nursing care improvements that take hold and last.

Register here: https://capstoneleadership-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/gCRrqIc2QeK7mj-1gzIJsg

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

2. Subscribe to our Email Newsletter
Get practical tips, frameworks, and leadership tools delivered right to your inbox—plus exclusive content you won’t find on the podcast.
📩 Subscribe here

3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at [email protected] and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.

Send us a Message

In this episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff sits down with healthcare security expert Tony York to explore the evolving role of safety and security in healthcare environments.

Tony shares insights from more than three decades in healthcare security, discussing how the challenges facing hospitals today are very different from those of the past. From workplace violence and behavioral health challenges to evolving technology and building design, healthcare organizations must now take a much more proactive and strategic approach to protecting their staff, patients, and visitors.

The conversation highlights why security should not simply be viewed as guards or enforcement, but as a system designed to support a therapeutic care environment where staff can focus on delivering care and patients can feel safe receiving it. Sue and Tony also discuss how leaders can begin building a culture of shared responsibility for maintaining safe healthcare environments.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Connect with Tony York on LinkedIn

Connect with PalAmerican Security (US) or Paladin Security (Canada)

Resources available at International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety  IAHSS.org

IAHSS Conference - New Orleans - April 12-14, 2026

Purchase the book Hospital & Healthcare Security, 7th Ed (also found on Amazon)

[FREE Webinar] A 5-Step Approach to Achieving Nursing Excellence in Rural Hospitals:  Aug 11 at Noon ET

Many rural hospitals need a proven approach for creating and sustaining nursing excellence. Join Capstone for a special 1-hour webinar where we will overview our proven 5-step approach for achieving nursing care improvements that take hold and last.

Register here: https://capstoneleadership-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/gCRrqIc2QeK7mj-1gzIJsg

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

2. Subscribe to our Email Newsletter
Get practical tips, frameworks, and leadership tools delivered right to your inbox—plus exclusive content you won’t find on the podcast.
📩 Subscribe here

3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at [email protected] and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.

Send us a Message

In this episode of Culture Change RX, Sue Tetzlaff, cofounder of Capstone Leadership Solutions, engages in conversation with Chris Benson from Juniper Advisory about the complexities of healthcare partnerships, particularly in the context of mergers and acquisitions. They discuss the cultural implications of these partnerships, the current trends in hospital consolidations, and navigating the decision-making processes. 

• Healthcare partnerships can take many forms.
• The decision to partner should be driven by community needs and organizational goals.
• Many hospitals are still independent, but consolidation is a growing trend.
• Understanding the motivations behind mergers can help boards make informed decisions.
• The process of exploring partnerships can take several months and requires careful planning.
• Engaging stakeholders early in the process is crucial for success.
• Maintaining a focus on quality care is essential for any partnership. 

If you would like to connect with Chris or learn more about Juniper Advisory, you can find them here:
🔗 https://juniperadvisory.com
🔗 Connect with Chris on LinkedIn 

[FREE Webinar] A 5-Step Approach to Achieving Nursing Excellence in Rural Hospitals:  Aug 11 at Noon ET

Many rural hospitals need a proven approach for creating and sustaining nursing excellence. Join Capstone for a special 1-hour webinar where we will overview our proven 5-step approach for achieving nursing care improvements that take hold and last.

Register here: https://capstoneleadership-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/gCRrqIc2QeK7mj-1gzIJsg

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

2. Subscribe to our Email Newsletter
Get practical tips, frameworks, and leadership tools delivered right to your inbox—plus exclusive content you won’t find on the podcast.
📩 Subscribe here

3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at [email protected] and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.