I have a confession to make.
When my client and friend, Sophia Kim, Chief Growth Officer at Heartbeat Health, first invited me to join Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation (WBL), my honest reaction was hesitation. Who really has time for another group?
But I took the leap. And after returning from the 2026 WBL Summit, where more than 330 CURAgeous women gathered in Orlando, I left with four leadership lessons that apply no matter your industry or role.
1. Start a #HopeScroll
Our emcee, Priya Bathija, founder of Nyoo Health, introduced a simple but powerful practice: a #HopeScroll is a running list of wins, big and small, shared throughout the summit.
Why focus on good news? Research shows it:
- Reduces stress
- Boosts resilience
- Inspires solution-focused thinking
- Fosters gratitude and kindness
Things we could all use more of.
During one break, she read a submission that made me smile:
“Anne Woodbury is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of her company, CURA Strategies!” (See more in Priya’s latest LinkedIn post).
Takeaway: Create a regular win-sharing ritual with your team, big or small. We have our own #HopeScroll in our biweekly CURA all-team meetings. It takes five minutes and changes the energy of the room.
2. Trade “Know-It-All” for “Learn-It-All”
Martha Wafford, President and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, shared a perspective shift that stuck with me: great leaders are shifting from a “know-it-all” mindset to a “learn-it-all” mindset.
In an AI-driven world, access to information is no longer the differentiator. What matters is how you learn, adapt and lead through change.
Takeaway: Combine curiosity with credentials. Offer agility with authority. Ask more questions; assume you don’t have all the answers. Your team, and your strategy, will be better for it.
3. Engage Hearts Before Minds
Harriet Booker, President of Unified OBGYN at Unified Women’s Healthcare, put it simply:
“To unleash the full potential of a team, you have to engage their hearts and their minds. If I don’t have your heart, I’ll never have your mind.”
That resonated deeply. At CURA, our team consistently tells us that what excites them most is the meaning behind the work. We’re not just creating content — we’re advancing ideas and solutions that improve people’s lives. The more effectively we do that, the greater our impact.
Takeaway: Purpose drives performance. Connect the nitty-gritty daily tasks to mission-level impact. When your team knows why their work matters, they’ll bring their best thinking to getting the work done.
4. Own Your Personal Power
Julie Zuraw, CEO of Invest Ahead, drew a distinction between positional power and personal power — and made it clear that personal power always wins.
Know your worth. Act like you know your worth and never give up your personal power. You can do that while still leading with humility and collaboration.
I’ve been rewatching Mad Men lately, a fictional show about the rise of advertising agencies in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The show’s portrayal of women in the workplace — often sidelined, degraded, dismissed or diminished — is a stark reminder of how far we’ve come and who paved the way. Without their courage and their willingness to claim their personal power, there would be no CURA.
So, here’s my challenge to all the women working in health care: Lean in. Invest in yourself and others. Find your community. Stay curious. Share your wins. Use your voice. And own your personal power.
Because when we support each other, incredible things happen. And the ripple effect doesn’t just transform careers, it transforms entire industries.
Anne Woodbury
CEO & Founder