Defining key qualities for transformational leadership: Inspires others

Article three of five 

Three years ago – to further drive our Bold. Forward. strategy for healthcare transformation by developing the workforce of the future – we revamped our traditional, incremental approach to leadership development and prioritized five core competencies that are critical for successful leadership at Mayo Clinic.  

Competency 3: Inspires others 

Our third leadership competency is “inspires others,” which means creating a vision of the future and helping others see how they can help achieve it. At Mayo, this involves advancing our Bold. Forward. strategic plan to Cure, Connect, and Transform healthcare.  

Cheryl Willman, M.D. , executive director of Mayo Clinic Cancer Programs and Director of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, demonstrates what it means to inspire and mobilize others toward a common vision through her efforts to revolutionize cancer care for patients at Mayo Clinic and around the world.   

Cheryl Willman, M.D. has led the development of a strategy, aligned with Mayo Clinic’s 2030 Bold. Forward. Strategy, to drive innovative cancer research that will uncover new diagnostics and therapeutics and to transform cancer care to make it more personalized and accessible, at any place and any time. Under her leadership, many individuals have been inspired to join Mayo Clinic and the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center to develop new research programs focused on cancer risk assessment, early detection, and interception to detect and treat very early cancers and pre-cancers when they are most curable, and to focus on the development of highly innovative treatments and treatment modalities for advanced and complex cancers.

To achieve this vision and accelerate our Bold. Forward. strategy, Dr. Willman and the team are prioritizing the need for tools, such as genomic sequencing, genetic and cellular engineering, spatial cancer cell and tissue analysis, data science and predictive modeling, and AI and automation. In collaboration with Mayo Clinic Platform and Mayo’s Generative AI Program, Willman and colleagues are developing longitudinal patient cohorts and data sets to develop multi-modal AI algorithms and LLMs to detect cancer earlier and deliver appropriately timed interventions, help physicians and scientists develop more personalized treatment options for patients, and guide patients to specific clinical trials testing promising new therapies. 

The Cancer Center has used Mayo Clinic Platform to develop the revolutionary Cancer Care Beyond Walls program to bring cancer treatments to patients in their homes and community settings, significantly improving access to care and also improving health equity. By inspiring others to excel, under Dr. Willman’s leadership, the program has delivered more than 200 chemotherapy infusions to patients in their homes in its first year of operation, reducing the financial and emotional burden for patients with cancer who may otherwise have to travel long distances for care. Working with our research teams, the Cancer Center is also using digital tools and platforms to decentralize research and conduct clinical trials in patient homes and community settings in the Clinical Trials Beyond Walls Program. Today, more than 340 of Mayo’s cancer clinical trials are using these tools to enhance patient access and participation in clinical trials. 

Throughout her career, Dr. Willman has championed access to quality healthcare and participation in research for underrepresented and underserved communities. In addition to pioneering new initiatives at Mayo, she leads one of the nation’s 5 National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Genome Sequencing Centers focused on ensuring access to cancer genome sequencing and cancer care for understudied and underrepresented populations, with her work focused on Indigenous American Indians impacted by cancer.