Accounting alum, longtime HCA CEO Whitehorn publishes book of leadership advice
Logan Butts |
After nearly 30 years in the healthcare industry, 25 of which came as a hospital CEO at HCA Healthcare, Jeff Whitehorn (’84) was looking for his next project.
After taking some time off, Whitehorn began a coaching and consulting company where used the knowledge he had accumulated over the years to help teach business executives, directors, and managers how to “improve their leadership skills and achieve their wildest goals.” But once the pandemic began, companies had to cut costs, which included Whitehorn’s services. Being a longtime CEO himself, he understood. He suddenly found himself with more time on his hands.
“So I looked at my wife Jennifer and said I think I'm going to have to do that book.”
But how can you distill 25 years of experience down into book form, especially when attention spans are seemingly at an all-time low? You break that knowledge down into bite-sized chunks of information - one piece of advice for each year he was a CEO, an idea his wife Jennifer had.
“I really felt that when I was trying to learn how to become a better leader, I learned the most from people who had the experience. If that could be able to be passed along to somebody, why not? That's really was the impetus of the book.”
Thus, his Whitehorn’s first book, Leadership Treasure: 25 Bits of Gold Discovered From 25 Years as a CEO, was born. Released in late November, Whitehorn structured the book as a fast-paced, easy-to-read breakdown of the lessons he learned as a CEO.
“I think brevity is a virtue. Every chapter is four or five pages. It's 127 pages total because nobody wants to read a novel anymore. It's a quick read, but all of the chapters have something I think can help you. I think it's incumbent upon a leader to pass that along. And our jobs as leaders is to train leaders and make other leaders, so why not share?”
Whitehorn graduated from Lipscomb with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting before earning an MBA at the University of Alabama. And although the stellar reputation of the Accounting program influenced his decision to attend, it was far from the only thing that solidified his choice. He was involved with the student government, serving as SFA president as a senior, and was a member of the Tau Phi social club.
As for the academic experience, Whitehorn was greatly impacted by a class from Professor of Accounting Charles Frasier (’66).
“I think Charles is outstanding. He was certainly one of my mentors and has influenced me.”
Despite all the experience in his field, tackling an entire book was challenging for the first-time author. It pushed Whitehorn to tap into different skill sets.
‘It was extremely humbling. You have to use the other side of your brain, especially from somebody like me who comes from an accounting background. You really have to pull from an area that is probably not your best, and mine would be that creative side of the brain. But I found that to be fun.”
According to Whitehorn, the most important takeaway from his time at Lipscomb was the understanding that your beliefs and your career have to exist together.
“I don't think you can really tell the story of your career without Christianity coming in. In the book, there is a whole chapter based on Joshua 1: ‘Be strong and courageous.’ I had a boss tell me that when was I was going through a really tough situation. It made all the difference in the world knowing he was behind me. And that was one of the things I wanted to pass on.”