John F. Kennedy once said that “leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” As a member of the ACC’s Board of Trustees, and President of this great organization, I could not agree more. We learn from our fellow leaders. We learn from our 47,000 members around the globe. We learn from our rapidly changing health care environment. We are better leaders because we continue to learn, and we are better health care practitioners for that very same reason.

As I’ve said in a previous President’s Page column in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, one of my primary goals of my presidency is working with members and staff to encourage the identification and development of new leaders. Specifically, leaders who embody “emotional intelligence” and recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and their effect on others. My hope is that we are continuously working and providing programs and opportunities to create leaders that are trustworthy, open to change, have a strong drive to achieve, are optimistic in the face of failure, and have an unwavering commitment to an organization, their profession, and/or an issue at hand.

The College is calling for nominations for several of its leadership positions: Vice President, President-Elect, and Trustees. The Vice President will serve a one-year term and traditionally advances to the office of President-Elect. Each Trustee will serve a five-year term. These ACC leaders help set the course of the College and ensure our activities and initiatives meet our goals and objectives related to the new Strategic Plan – and always tie back to our mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. If you have someone in mind that is a great leader and embodies these values – or you yourself are interested in the role – be sure to submit a nomination by the July 31 deadline.

Leadership is not easy. Yet, the results of good leadership are unquantifiable. All you need to do is look back over the last 65 years of ACC’s accomplishments to see just how far we have come and just how far we can go!

For more information and to submit a nomination, visit CardioSource.org.

< Back to Listings