Forging Giants: The Leader's Compass, Toolkit & Library

A Blueprint for Modern Leadership Welcome to the Leadership Lens Podcast! I'm your host, Tammy Tiller-Hewitt, and today we have a very special returning guest who’s been on an incredible career trajectory – Matt Fry, President and CEO of Freeman Health System. Now, if you're imagining a healthcare executive reading dry business books, think again. Matt's current reading list includes the latest Stephen King novel - he’s read King’s entire library, the epic The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by Wm Shirer, and he’s absolutely captivated by historian Nathaniel Philbrick. Why does this matter? Because Matt finds leadership lessons in the most unexpected places, including Philbrick's three-book series on the Revolutionary War, but he highlights Philbrick's incredible book “The Heart of the Sea," the harrowing account of the whaleship Essex, which was the real-life inspiration for Moby Dick. This is a leader who believes that understanding human resilience – whether in founding a nation or surviving a catastrophic disaster at sea – directly informs how he leads a 5,300-employee health system through today's toughest challenges. We dive into his unique leadership philosophy on why he works for his team in what he calls an "inverted triangle," his sacred responsibility to develop others, his commitment to data-driven decisions, and the "heavy crown" of being a healthcare CEO today. So if you're ready to explore how lessons from revolutionary wars, white whales, and real-life shipwrecks can make you a better leader, then stay right here. My conversation with Matt Fry starts right now.