Leadership Behaviors to Guide Effective Change

How Leaders Shape Culture, Learning, and Sustainable Improvement

Change initiatives don’t fail because of a lack of tools or strategy.
They fail when leadership behaviors don’t support learning, trust, and follow-through.

In this on-demand webinar, Ritu Ward, a senior leader at Mercy Health, explores how personal leadership behaviors directly influence an organization’s ability to change, improve, and sustain results.

Rather than focusing on abstract leadership theory, this session offers a deeply practical and reflective look at how leaders can intentionally design their own “leadership system”—one built on self-awareness, discipline, resilience, and consistent action.

This webinar challenges leaders to move beyond positional authority and instead become the change they want to see.

View all previous KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinars

Why Leadership Behavior Matters More Than Ever

Most leaders understand the mechanics of change management.
Fewer recognize that their daily behaviors—how they listen, respond, ask questions, and follow through—either enable or block real improvement.

In this session, Ritu shares real stories from her leadership journey and draws on Lean thinking, humble inquiry, and personal reflection to show how leaders can:

• Create environments where people feel safe to learn and speak up

• Align actions with values rather than reacting under pressure

• Build consistency and trust through disciplined behaviors

• Move from managing change to modeling change

What You’ll Learn

• Why leadership is fundamentally about behavior, not position

• How self-awareness becomes the foundation for effective change

• The role of discipline, resilience, and follow-through in improvement

• How humble inquiry strengthens learning and trust

• Why leaders must design their own behavioral “standard work”

• Practical ways to model the culture you want others to adopt

Key Insights

Sustainable change doesn’t start with asking others to do something differently—it starts with leaders examining their own habits, reactions, and assumptions.

Ritu reframes leadership as a personal system that must be intentionally designed, tested, and improved—much like any operational process. She emphasizes that inconsistency in behavior creates confusion, while consistency builds psychological safety and trust.

The session also highlights a powerful paradox: the most effective leaders stop trying to copy others and instead operate from their own values, using reflection and discipline to align intent with action.

Ultimately, leadership growth is not a one-time transformation—it’s a continuous practice of learning, adjusting, and recommitting.

Who This Webinar Is For

This webinar is especially valuable for:

• Executives and senior leaders driving organizational change

• Continuous improvement and operational excellence leaders

• Healthcare leaders navigating complex systems and cultures

• Managers responsible for coaching and developing others

• Leaders seeking to align personal behavior with improvement goals

Whether you’re leading a formal transformation or influencing change from within, this session offers insight you can apply immediately.

About the Presenter:

Ritu Ward is the Regional Vice President for Mercy Labs in the West Region. She is an accomplished and talented executive leader in healthcare operations and system designs.

Ward has held multiple leadership positions in large healthcare systems. Her expertise includes developing and maintaining client relations, strategy development, regulatory compliance and process improvements through technology tools and developing future leaders. She has spoken at both local and national conferences about service as the key driver for delivering healthcare. Over the past 15 years she has informally mentored young adults entering into the profession and mid level leaders advancing their careers in healthcare.

Ward received her Bachelor in Medical Technology from George Washington University, a Bachelor in Biology from Howard University and a Masters in Organizational Management from University of Phoenix. She is a Medical Technologist, a Six Sigma Black Belt, Certified A3 Problem Solver and a Fellow with American College of Healthcare Executives. She is a member of Clinical Laboratory Management Association, National Association of Female Executives, serves as chair of Mercy Women in Leadership for the education committee and vice chair on mentorship committee for Greater Charlotte Health Care Executives Group.