What's important to me…
positive leadership

We live in a time of great change and many challenges – particularly in the area of health care.

It is a time when essential human values-- such as compassion, caring, sincerity, understanding, integrity and positive leadership – are threatened by the clamor and conflict of polarized voices in a fractious health care system.

Of these essential values, perhaps none is more urgently needed to match the challenges of our time than positive leadership.

The difference between positive leaders and negative leaders in times of change and challenge is starkly clear.

Negative leaders embrace fear, using it as a currency to mobilize and organize populations and achieve short-term, regressive goals. In contrast, positive leaders are explorers, who use compelling, value-centered vision as currency, and through role modeling and the strength of new ideas draw people in as they work together to shape the environment to be consistent with their vision.

Negative leaders retrench and divide; positive leaders connect across the divide. Negative leaders segregate; positive leaders aggregate. Negative leaders build walls; positive leaders build "islands of common stewardship."

On these islands, one consistently finds qualities such as openness, inclusiveness, cultural sensitivity, justice, equal opportunity, goodness and fairness.

On these islands, people speak a common language grounded in shared values and a unified vision for the future. They share, as well, common tools, including lifelong learning, new technologies, curiosity, introspection and an active social conscience. On these islands there is a rich supply of renewable capital – human, financial and social.

It is in the spirit of creating an "island of common stewardship" and a model for positive leadership that Health Politics is offered. Our long term goal is to serve as a fair-minded clearinghouse of new ideas, constructive debate, well-reasoned opinion and trustworthy information.

Due to its profound impact on the future of individuals, families, communities and societies, health and health care deserve broad debate, active public participation, and focused scholarly pursuit. Health Politics offers the forum to help these elements come together in an enlightened, centrist environment.

Our health care system's challenges demand nothing less of us.

Mike Magee