Dear Friends of Allison Rimm and Associates,

I've been busy teaching about the importance of finding your passions and talents and pursuing them in your work and life.  Well, I'm heeding my own advice and am excited to announce that I've decided to devote my efforts full time to expanding my coaching and stragegy consulting practice as well as writing my book.

Bungee Jumping

Change isn't always easy, especially when we are comfortable and in a well-worn groove.  But for many of us, there is a purpose we need to serve and a growing sense of urgency to heed the call and follow a new path.  No doubt about it, making a big shift takes commitment, determination, and a serious dose of courage.  But personal and professional growth demands that we step outside our comfort zone to try something new.  As a strategic planner, I create a vision of what I want to achieve and look at what's necessary to achieve it.  Sometimes that means taking big risks to pursue our calling.  And sometimes the best we can do is to take every precaution possible to make the leap as safe as we can.  Despite how tightly we secure our ankle straps and helmets, jumping off the platform attached to nothing but a bungee cord can be as terrifying as it is exhilarating.  And yet, the prospect of letting life pass without realizing our dreams seems even more frightening.  I certainly feel determined not to die with my song still inside me.

Gratitude

As the calendar turns to 2012, I'm reminded of how much encouragement, inspiration and support you have provided to me over the years.  For that, I am grateful.  To my clients, it has been such an honor to work with you and to play some small part in your successes.  You have my deep admiration.  To my colleagues, friends and family, you bring so much joy to this journey.  I couldn't do it without you and wouldn't want to.

High Class Problems

I'm so fortunate that my consulting and coaching practice was busy right out of the gate.   Needing to meet the demanding deadlines of these early engagements means I'm just now able to send out this announcement and prepare the business for increased activity.   It's a little embarrassing that I'm just getting to this now because this is already old news to many of you. These are high class problems to have. This phase of my career began in September and these first few months have been an incredible learning experience.  Over the coming months, I will be revising the company's offerings, setting up a blog, updating the website, and finishing my book proposal.  Thanks to some expert assistance, I am now on Twitter and Facebook.  Please take a moment to go onto http://allisonrimm.com and connect with me.

Leaving Mass General after so many years was not easy, so I am delighted that I am there frequently to consult, coach and lead programs and courses. It's great to be able to stay connected to my treasured friends and colleagues there.  For those of you who are interested and haven't seen it, the letter that MGH president, Peter Slavin, sent out to the hospital community to announce my departure is attached to the end of this newsletter.  

Go Ahead - Take a Risk

As you face the year ahead, take some time to focus on your passions and priorities.  Is there something you've always wanted to do, but have been holding back for whatever the reason?  Often, it feels like there is no good time to take the leap.  There will always be reasons not to do so.  But we never know how much time we will have to fulfill our dreams.  So, why wait?  What can you do in the next few days to pursue a cherished goal?  Whether you take a tiny step forward or hold your nose and jump, just do it.  Do not postpone joy.

In the coming year, I wish you all peace, good health, laughter, and of course, measureless joy.

 

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Dear Colleagues,

For the past 16 years, Allison Rimm has skillfully served MGH in various leadership capacities, most recently as senior vice president for Strategic Planning and Information Management. Beyond her ongoing executive management responsibilities, however, she has also been a teacher and coach to many professionals here and elsewhere, helping them improve their effectiveness at work and find balance in their lives. It is this latter coaching role that Allison has found particularly fulfilling, and she recently let me know that she will be leaving her position at the MGH to focus on her executive/personal coaching and strategy consulting practice. Her plans also include writing a book based on the Business of Life course she has developed and taught to individuals and groups throughout the region, including many through the Center for Faculty Development and the MGH Leadership Academy.

Those of us who have had the privilege of working closely with Allison have experienced firsthand her commitment to the mission and values of this hospital. Her current position has involved executive oversight of a range of departments including Information Systems, Health Information Management, Telecommunications and the Multicultural Affairs Office. Among her many achievements, Allison established and chaired the IS Steering Committee which, for the first time, brought together a multidisciplinary group of clinicians and managers from the MGH and MGPO to set IT priorities and advise on key initiatives. Also under her leadership, Health Information Services has become nationally recognized in electronic health records. In addition, she recently has been focused on guiding the hospital through its ongoing efforts to ensure the safety, privacy and integrity of patient information.

Personally, I have relied quite heavily on Allison through the years to oversee and manage the activities of the MGH Board of Trustees – and she has done this superbly. She also is a management barometer of sorts, helping assess whether our hospital management team is aware of, informed about and sufficiently focused on the most pressing issues. Allison has always brought great enthusiasm, spirit and optimism to every bit of work she has undertaken – from the most challenging and complex long-term initiative to her ongoing operational and management responsibilities.

Allison came to the MGH in 1995 to help organize and coordinate some vital management efforts in the early years of Partners HealthCare. She then served in a chief-of-staff-type role during Jim Mongan’s tenure as president of the MGH. In 2003 and 2004, Allison was a leading force pushing forward the development of an ambitious clinical strategic plan. This process involved organizing and motivating hundreds of people who were charged with developing a roadmap for the hospital. Out of this sweeping effort came such successes as a revised mission statement, along with new credo and boundary statements; a group of thematic clinical centers of excellence; and the Edward P. Lawrence Center for Quality and Patient Safety.

In all her roles, Allison has relied on her background in strategic planning to achieve whatever the goal might be. And in recent years, she began considering how such a strategic planning framework could serve as a guide to achieving personal as well as professional goals. She began to teach and coach others using this innovative strategy, and she managed to turn her avocation into a consulting business, Allison Rimm and Associates, which has grown quickly and has been demanding more of her time.  While it is very difficult for her to leave the MGH, she does so to pursue her business – and her dream.  I am very pleased that she will continue to offer her programs, coaching and consulting services to all of us through her expanding business.

I want to take this opportunity to wish Allison the very best as she moves into a new and exciting chapter in her professional life.  On behalf of a grateful institution, I extend to her our heartfelt thanks for the many contributions she has made to the hospital as well as the kindness, warmth and wit that she has shared with so many of us for many years.

Peter L. Slavin, MD