Developing Leaders from Within: A Strengths-Based System for Team Growth

Authored by Regina Story, highlighting the leadership development framework implemented during her tenure as Regional Manager, Southeast Region, LifeNet Health.

THE CHALLENGE

When I stepped into the role of Regional Manager for LifeNet Health, the Southeast Region was performing above national averages but lacked cohesion and strategic depth. The focus was primarily on transactional sales performance rather than scalable leadership or enterprise partnerships. My vision was to transform the region into a scalable growth system. One where individual excellence fueled collective success, and field execution aligned to LifeNet Health's commercial growth strategy.

THE GOAL

Transform the Southeast Region from a strong but fragmented sales team into a unified, leadership-driven growth engine. Establish a repeatable system that developed people through their strengths, improved morale and retention, and aligned regional execution with strategic national account development and enterprise-level partner engagement.

THE PLAN

✦ Build Strengths, Not Scripts

The first step was to shift from a traditional performance mindset to a strengths-based leadership model. I built individualized development plans for each Bio Implant Specialist, anchored in their intrinsic motivators and learning styles. Some thrived through relationship-building, others through analytical precision or process optimization.

By personalized coaching with individual strengths, I turned annual reviews into growth roadmaps. Over time, the culture evolved from independent achievement to shared leadership. Where collaboration, recognition, and trust replaced competition as the drivers of morale. The region's morale grew steadily as people began to feel not just managed, but developed.

✦ Structured Coaching and Leadership Rhythm

I established a consistent, holistic coaching rhythm designed to turn individual growth into collective, regional success.

This rhythm created transparency, ownership, and empowerment. Each team member began thinking like a business owner. Proactive, strategic, and deeply engaged in driving outcomes beyond their territory, aligned with the greater mission and growth initiatives.

From Potential to Leadership

One of the most powerful transformations came from at risk representative who began at the bottom of regional rankings and ultimately became one of the top performers nationally. By pairing consistent coaching with visibility in system-level partnerships, I helped him reframe his role from tactical seller to strategic influencer. Within two years, his territory became a benchmark for success. Leading high profile IDN initiatives and development, CE programs, hosting surgeon trainings, and mentoring new hires.

This was the first example of a broader shift across the team: every rep began operating as a strategic business manager, capable of managing complexity, influencing hospital decisions, and leading regional initiatives.

✦ The Leadership Ladder Framework

To sustain growth and culture, I formalized the region's developmental approach into a framework called the Leadership Ladder, built around five core behaviors:

✦ Strategic National Account Development

To complement field leadership, I led efforts to align our regional execution with national account strategy. Working closely with LifeNet Health's corporate team, I negotiated and managed partnerships with GPO and IDN networks, including Premier, HCA, and Vizient.

These collaborations opened pathways for broader biologic adoption, drove contract utilization, and positioned the Southeast Region as a proof of concept for how field leadership could directly influence national account performance.

This integration between field execution and strategic account development created a multi layer business system that connected territory performance with enterprise growth. Bridging the gap between local relationships and national scalability.

✦ Strategic Partner Engagement

A cornerstone of our regional success came from deepening partnerships with Arthrex and DePuy Synthes.

Arthrex Partnership

We restructured the relationship from a transactional model into an integrated partnership.

Together, we planned joint field blitzes, hosted cross-territory education labs, and aligned on system-level strategy to increase biologic adoption. Our coordinated presence within training programs and CE initiatives positioned LifeNet Health as a trusted extension of the Arthrex sales and education ecosystem.

DePuy Synthes Partnership

We advanced from product alignment to strategic national account collaboration.

Through formal quarterly business reviews and IDN/GPO planning sessions, we identified shared metrics that linked partner success with LifeNet Health's biologic utilization goals.

This approach expanded market access across Premier, HealthTrust, and Ascension systems and created a scalable model later adopted nationally.

These alliances elevated LifeNet Health's reputation as a strategic partner at the system level, strengthening supply chain engagement and increasing visibility within major IDNs and academic health systems.

THE RESULTS

WHAT I LEARNED

Developing leaders and building business are not separate objectives. They are the same process executed with different intentions.

When people are led through their strengths, developed with structure, and trusted to lead, the outcomes extend far beyond metrics.

What started as a strategy for coaching evolved into a system for scaling leadership, morale, and strategic national growth. Proving that when you build leaders, you build sustainable success.

By combining strengths-based leadership with structured coaching, strategic national account alignment, and deep partner integration, the award winning Southeast Region became a blueprint for scalable growth at LifeNet Health.