Insights from Head of Coaching

Dear Students,
 

Just how much like business is basketball? To Gail Koziara Boudreaux, they actually have a lot in common. The 6’2″ (1.88 meter) former athlete put it this way in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine: “Leadership requires authenticity. I love to set strategies and lead on culture. I tell my team to embrace failure. In business, as in basketball, it’s an opportunity to reset, to do things differently.”  The hoops champion who grew up in Massachusetts, and who still holds school basketball records, has more recently also held several spots on Forbes’ annual List of “100 Most Powerful Women.”

As President and CEO of $172B Elevance Health (originally Athem) since 2017, Boudreaux has built her career in healthcare through challenging yet rewarding leadership roles at major industry “players” including Blue Cross/Blue Shield and United Healthcare, as well as her own boutique healthcare strategy and business consulting firm, GKB. Yet before getting an MBA from Columbia, Boudreaux chose to major in Psychology while at Dartmouth, perhaps eventually contributing to both her interpersonal sensitivity, analytical and critical thinking and ultimately leadership skills.
 

Besides a passion for healthcare, Boudreaux is truly committed to building other leaders, exhibiting an abundance mindset and a dedication to using her platform and position to develop rising professionals, especially females. In this spirit, the mother of two is also quoted as sharing that “I’d like my professional legacy to be building a great generation of leaders, giving other women a step up, being a mentor to as many of them as I can. It would be an honor to help make healthcare better in this country.”

And who could argue that leadership, like healthcare, isn’t about giving back? As @Carrie Waley put it so well in a meeting today, “Leadership is about understanding others.” And Boudreaux is clearly leveraging her understanding and experience to uplift both the healthcare sector and aspiring talent, including ambitious international students like you!