Our Services: An Ethic of Always Closing the Loop

Setting and Communicating Priorities

All too often, leadership development efforts are merely “nice to have.” Separate from the real work of the health system. Interesting, but not necessarily productive. The Advisory Board Academies’ difference starts with our targeted work not only with selected program participants but also with senior executives. Our staff works with a hospital’s executive team to determine what matters at their institution, understand specific leadership gaps that impede progress toward objectives, and ensure that classroom sessions and follow-on work prioritize local relevance and local imperatives.

Leadership Development Audits

Wide range of individual and aggregate assessment tools
360-degree evaluation, delivery, and action planning
National benchmarks

Annual Executive Summits

Aligning with institutional priorities
Tailoring expectations and infrastructure

Leadership Training and Skills Development

The Advisory Board Academies’ health care curriculum—based on 25+ years of Advisory Board Company best practice research—offers a distinct advantage in ensuring alignment between health system priorities and development efforts. Our approach is problem-focused, with courses constructed around those challenges health care organizations and managers face every day.

Implementation Tools and Executive-Level Support

The Advisory Board Academies’ leadership development efforts are focused on those skills and capabilities most crucial to health care and most likely to either hold us back or propel us forward. And most importantly, the curriculum is focused on action, with clear expectations, tools, and support for translating learning from the classroom onto the job.

Cascading Competency Model for Health Care

Common language and imperatives across the institution
Specific competencies and behaviors tailored to level and function

Application Exercises and Toolkits

Range of group and individual follow-up assignments
Pragmatic analytic tools
Supported coaching platforms

Creating a Culture of Accountability

Given the difficulty of measuring development progress across time, the Advisory Board Academies have built a proprietary online progress tracking system. Used in our broadest-based programs, this system allows at-a-glance monitoring of participants’ learning, activity, and organizational impact. In addition, best-in-class development includes rewards for participants’ efforts and improvement in performance—providing necessary motivation and recognition of significant milestones. While requirements and sequencing vary by program and constituent group, all Advisory Board Academies programs honor the achievement of participants by awarding certificates and joining sponsoring organizations’ celebration of accomplishment.

Progress Tracking Tools

Acquisition of new learning
Application of course concepts
Impact on specific outcomes
Development of leadership capabilities

Recognition and Certification

Associate Level Recognition: Strengthening Personal Leadership
Master's Level Recognition: Elevating Unit Performance
Laureate Level Recognition: Contributing to Organizational Excellence