Chip Minemyer: Hospital chief offers leadership lessons from lifetime of learning, teaching

Feb. 14—When he was 11 or 12 years old, Rodney Reider wrote out nine pages of goals.

"I was always goal-oriented," he said.

Now market president for Conemaugh Health System and CEO of Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, Reider has brought his goal-oriented leadership style to the Johnstown region.

Guiding the local health system is the latest rung on Reider's ladder of success, which has seen him earn numerous degrees — in disciplines as diverse as business management and classical literature.

He has managed large health organizations and worked with venture-capital projects across the industry — in far-flung locations around the globe.

Reider's 2021 book — "Grabbing The Next Rung: The Heart of Leadership" — offers advice for budding leaders and a peek inside his own influences and philosophies, gleaned from people he has encountered along his professional journey.

They include those above and below on organizational charts, both health care professionals and patients in the medical arena, and people as seemingly dissimilar as football legend Vince Lombardi and entertainment mogul Walt Disney.

"It was fascinating for me to have the different experts stepping in and sharing how they see the world," he said.

Reider said he studied health care systems in Australia, and actually finished his book — which is available at amazon.com — while working in Belarus.

"I initially thought I would be a physician," he said, "but I decided maybe I could help more people on the business side."

He said he didn't see himself writing a book — until he had collected a lifetime of material that just flowed together.

"I was writing articles, was what I was doing," he said, "and they became a book."

The eight chapters in "Grabbing The Next Rung" build upon each other — like climbing a ladder — from "Impact for Others" to the relatable "Is there Ever Enough Time?" and "You Often Feel Tired."

He explores the challenges of creating a culture of innovation, navigating career setbacks, making commitment a performance strategy and a way to inspire others, and using strategic planning for personal and organizational growth.

The book is structured to serve as a teaching and development tool — with each chapter including a few questions to consider and discuss, designed to help make the lessons meaningful regardless of a reader's profession.

"People are busy," Reider said. "I wanted to give them a chance to read it. The chapters are short. They are very easy to read, and they should provide a point of discussion."

Reider was named Conemaugh's top administrator a year ago this month, and has already faced several difficult decisions and celebrated some important milestones with the region's top employer and leading health care institution.

On Thursday, Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center will host a ribbon-cutting for the hospital's new cardiovascular and surgical care pavilion.

Steve Nunez, president of Pennsylvania Highlands Community College and a member of the Conemaugh Health System Board of Trustees, sees Reider living his own lessons — in the increasingly challenging field of hospital management.

"I think it is an underappreciated trait of a good leader to seem unflustered even during the most stressful of moments," Nunez said. "Rodney exudes that calm confidence that permeates and lowers the temperature of the room.

"Whether this is a purposeful tactic or just the nature of Rodney, I'm not sure, but I've seen his relaxed, positive manner help the team focus on solving the problem and create a collective feeling of 'we've got this' within the team."

In the book's foreword, author Jason Barry calls Reider "a career executive with a knack for developing innovative new leaders."

Reider said in completing his book, he learned a lot about revising and self-editing.

"You don't write a book. You rewrite a book," he said. "I did the write-out, then would come back and refine and refine."

His mantra is "Positive. Powerful. Presence." His approach is guided by experience and faith.

"You want to help others succeed," Reider said.

And: "You need people with good values in charge."

In the end, Reider says he is both teacher and student.

"It's not just, 'Apple's doing this,' " he said. "It's, 'Am I doing what Apple's doing in my own situation?'

" 'What I'm recommend- ing in there, am I living it myself? Am I being that kind of leader, a positive influence in my own life?' "

Chip Minemyer is the publisher of The Tribune-Democrat and The Times-News of Cumberland, Md. He can be reached at 814-532-5111. Follow him on Twitter @MinemyerChip.