Public Health Leadership 6: Job Transitions and Learning from Experience

Columns

As leaders progress through their careers, job transitions represent a mix of challenge and opportunity. In this section, we reflect on the process of effective transitioning drawing on research and collective experience. Also, we offer perspectives on the essential need for succession planning in public health organizations which is often given inadequate attention. Imbedded in these columns is the theme of learning from experience in ways which transfer knowledge and wisdom gained from one job and apply past learning into a new position.

1. Succession Planning and Management in Public Health Practice (2013)
2. The First 6 Months: Transitioning Into a New Position (2013)
3. A Systematic Approach to Job Transitions (2020)

Interview: Dr. Stephanie Bailey

Dr. Stephanie Bailey, a native of Denton, Maryland, served as Director of the Nashville Davidson County TN Metropolitan Public Health Department. During that time, she was called to serve at the national level as President of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and then later on to CDC as the Chief of Public Health Practice. She now serves as Senior Associate Dean of Public Health Practice at Meharry Medical College, and as a coach and consultant in public health practice. In this interview, conducted at CDC in 2008, she describes her own leadership journey as she moved between local and national leadership in public health practice.

In this interview, Dr. Bailey describes:

1. Core values and the influences that have shaped her leadership philosophy
2. Leading Organizational Change
3. The Desired Attributes of a Leadership Team
4. Working in the Community to Promote Health
5. Work Life Balance and Renewal

We invite you to listen in and to reflect on Dr. Bailey’s words of wisdom. We know you will enjoy the experience and be enriched by it.