From Leadership to Legacy: Investing in the Leaders of Tomorrow–The Vision Behind the Dr. Jian Zhang Leadership Fund

By: Dr. Jian Zhang

There comes a point in every leader’s journey when the question begins to change. Early in our careers, we ask: How can I become a better leader? As our responsibilities grow, the question becomes: How can I build a stronger team and organization? And eventually, another question emerges: Who will lead after us?

I have come to believe that the greatest legacy of leadership is not simply what we accomplish during our own time, but the leaders we develop to carry the work forward.

That belief is at the heart of the Dr. Jian Zhang Leadership Fund and the reason it is especially meaningful to see its vision beginning to take shape through the Chinese Hospital Leadership Development Institute.

On September 30, 2026, we launched the first session of the Institute’s Healthcare Leadership Foundations Certificate Program—an eight-session executive education program designed to develop current and emerging healthcare leaders. For me, this was more than the beginning of a training program. It was the beginning of turning a vision into action.

Why Invest in Leadership?

“An organization’s greatest asset is not its capital, technology, or brand—it is its people. And

it is leadership that shapes, inspires, and empowers them to transform vision into enduring

success.”

Healthcare organizations today operate in an extraordinarily complex environment. Leaders must navigate workforce challenges, financial pressures, patient expectations, quality and safety demands, regulation, new models of care, digital transformation, and emerging technologies—all while remaining grounded in the human mission of healthcare.

Technical expertise is essential, but it is not enough. We need leaders who can build trust, develop people, make difficult decisions, communicate across boundaries, manage uncertainty, lead change, and keep organizations focused on their mission. Those capabilities do not develop automatically when someone receives a new title. We have to intentionally develop them. That is why I see leadership development not as an expense, but as one of the most important long-term investments an organization can make.

The Vision Behind the Leadership Fund

The Dr. Jian Zhang Leadership Fund was created to support leadership development in four areas: Board Development, Physician Leadership, Hospital Leadership, and Community Leadership.

The vision is broader than providing occasional classes or conferences. It is about creating a culture and infrastructure in which leadership development becomes continuous—from emerging leaders to executives, physicians, board members, and community leaders.

I am deeply grateful to our founding partners, Mr. Keith Tsu & Mrs. Carmelita Ko, Mr. Burton Siu and other donors, whose generosity and belief in leadership development helped launch the Fund. Their support also creates a responsibility. When people invest in a vision, we should be able to show them how that investment is being translated into action and, ultimately, impact. The launch of the Healthcare Leadership Foundations Certificate Program is an important first step.

Developing Leaders, Not Simply Teaching Leadership

When we designed the program, I did not want to create another series of lectures where participants listen for two hours, collect a certificate, and return to work unchanged.

The goal is development, not simply education.

Each session therefore follows a consistent model: Executive Leadership Lecture → CHA Case Study & Discussion → Action Planning & Applied Project.

Participants learn contemporary leadership concepts, examine real or adapted Chinese Hospital challenges, discuss how they would respond as leaders, and then apply what they have learned to their own responsibilities.

Chinese Hospital itself becomes a learning laboratory.

Knowledge + Experience + Reflection + Action

Knowledge becomes much more powerful when leaders have the opportunity to reflect on it, test it against real experience, and translate it into action.

Leadership Begins With Ourselves

It was intentional that our first session began with “Leadership Identity & Mindset: Leading Yourself Before Leading Others.”

Before we can lead other people effectively, we must understand ourselves—our values, strengths, blind spots, emotional responses, purpose, and the principles that guide our decisions.

During the first session, we explored contemporary healthcare leadership competencies alongside the wisdom of 《大学》 The Great Learning.

Written more than two thousand years ago, The Great Learning offers a leadership roadmap that remains remarkably relevant: leadership begins with self-cultivation and gradually expands outward into relationships, institutions, and society.

Its Three Aims can be translated into three fundamental questions for today’s leaders: Values—What principles guide my decisions? Mission—Who do I serve, and why? Vision—What future am I working to create?

Modern leadership science gives us important competencies and tools. Ancient wisdom reminds us that the person using those tools matters just as much. We need both.

Five Pillars of Leadership

I also introduced a framework that has emerged from my own leadership experience—the Five Pillars of Leadership:

1. Character — Who am I?

2. Competence — What can I do?

3. Compassion — Who do I serve?

4. Courage — How do I lead under pressure?

5. Continuous Growth — How do I keep becoming better?

Leadership requires all five. Character gives us our foundation. Competence allows us to deliver results. Compassion reminds us whom we serve. Courage enables us to act when leadership becomes difficult. And continuous growth keeps us learning as the world around us changes. No leader ever finishes this journey.

Measuring the Impact

Because this program is an investment, we also want to understand whether it works.

Participants will complete pre- and post-program assessments, leadership development plans, case discussions, and applied projects. We want to look beyond satisfaction and ask more meaningful questions: Did participants become more confident leaders? Did their thinking and behavior change? Did they apply what they learned to real organizational challenges? Did those changes make a difference for their teams and the organization?

What we learn from this inaugural cohort will help us continuously improve the program and guide future leadership development initiatives.

The Multiplier Effect of Leadership

The first session is only the beginning.

We cannot know today which participant will become a future executive, mentor an emerging leader, lead an important transformation, improve patient care, or help Chinese Hospital navigate its next major challenge.

But that uncertainty is exactly why leadership development matters.

When we develop one leader, that person can influence a team. A stronger team can influence an organization. And a stronger organization can have a profound impact on the patients, families, and communities it serves.

Leadership has a multiplier effect.

To everyone who has supported the Dr. Jian Zhang Leadership Fund, thank you. Your support is not simply funding a leadership program. It is helping us invest in people, develop future leaders, strengthen institutions, and serve our community for generations to come.

Lead Yourself → Lead Others → Lead Organizations → Lead the Future

Lead the Future → Leave a Legacy

Because ultimately, our greatest leadership legacy may not be what we accomplish ourselves. It may be the leaders we leave behind.