(E8) Laura Skaife-Knight: the first 100 days

Over the past few months, today’s guest has been charting and sharing her learning from her first days, weeks and months in post as a new CEO. After her first 100 days she published a report about all she’s learnt and how it’s shaping her priorities - I highly recommend you reading it if you want a masterclass on how to demonstrate engagement, get buy-in and land well in your new role.In this episode I’m talking with Laura Skaife-Knight, CEO of NHS Orkney. Laura has over 20 years’ of experience working in the NHS and is known for her work to improve patient and staff engagement. It may come as no surprise that Laura’s background is in communications - which is how we actually first met - and if you follow her online you’ll know she sees this as integral to her role as CEO.We talk about:how a sport's discipline shaped her career and approachthe path from journalist to communications director to CEOasking for feedback to understand and improve personal performanceoperating outside your comfort zonechanging leadership styles and stepping authentically into your rolelanding well in a new role and approaching the first 100 days in postnavigating working and living in the same communitygetting the basics right, sticking to the plan and avoiding priority overwhelmbuilding relationships with the Chair and Board to gain alignment creating an inclusive cultureworking and engaging people in a remote and rural settingimproving performance, engagement and moralesuccession planningthe realities of being chief execadvice for aspiring CEOsResources and helpful linksNHS Orkney Chief Executive 100-day reportLaura Skaife-Knight Laura joined NHS Orkney in April 2023, bringing 20 years’ experience in the NHS and 13 years of Board-level experience to the Health Board. She has experience and a reputation for improving patient and staff experience in a range of England’s largest acute teaching hospitals to smaller, yet crucial, Trusts central to the delivery of regional integrated care. Laura joined NHS Orkney from The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust (QEH) where she was Deputy CEO between 2019 and 2023. Prior to this she worked for 12 years at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, where she was Director of Communications and External Relations, and Derby Hospitals Foundation Trust and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust where she held senior communications and engagement roles. @laura_skaife on Twitter If you want to transform your leadership impact book a free consultation call with me About leaders with impactWant to know the secret of great leaders? In Leaders with impact we'll be exploring what makes an impactful leader; sharing stories of success and strategies that set them apart.If you are ambitious for your organisation but are struggling to identify what you can do differently as a leader to deliver the right improvements, then hit subscribe to learn how you can get clear on your strategy, implement some self-leadership and connect with those you serve.New episodes are released every fortnight. Get in touchIf you enjoyed the episode please leave a review on Apple podcasts (or your app of choice) and let me know what you thought on LinkedIn or instagram. I’ll be back with the next episode in two weeks so in the meantime remember to sign up to my newsletter to get notified of new episodes, guest appearances and further insights on how to lead with impact.