{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Chief Influencer®","title":"How Maria Ghazal Builds Consensus Among Healthcare Industry Leaders","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/6469eb6e\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3293,"description":"Maria Ghazal, President and CEO of the Healthcare Leadership Council, has spent her career at the intersection of business, healthcare, and public policy, building consensus among leaders who don't always agree. At HLC, she brings together CEOs and C-suite leaders from hospitals, health plans, pharma, medical devices, and technology to find common ground on healthcare's biggest challenges. Before that, she led the Business Roundtable's work on its landmark Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, convincing 181 of America's most powerful CEOs to individually sign a document redefining the role of business in society.\n\nIn this conversation with Anthony, Maria reveals how influence is built through intentional design: narrowing HLC priorities to three strategic buckets instead of 27, keeping membership deliberately small to foster trust, mapping the hidden currents of influence in Washington, and creating convenings where leaders don't just listen but roll up their sleeves and commit to action. Her career offers a clear lesson: influence isn't about having the biggest platform or the longest list of priorities. It's about earning trust through process, building relationships before you need them, and translating conversation into consensus.\n\nTakeaways:\nIf everything's a priority, nothing is. Hone your focus to what you can actually drive consensus around.\nInfluence without action is not influence. Convenings must translate into public policy positions, comment letters, and Hill briefings, not just good conversations.\nKeep the room small enough for trust. HLC deliberately caps membership at 50-60 so leaders can build real relationships across competing sectors.\nMap the hidden currents of influence. Staff, think tank leaders, and behind-the-scenes experts often shape decisions more than the household names.\nStart with a listening tour. When joining HLC, Maria met every member individually before making a single strategic change, and that process built the trust she...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/HfVBNtixq_4TgzY7Ge8KG5vZT1oKQhj7IPXaclOjiR8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8wNDQ2/YmJkMWQ3ZTFiODg1/NTBmMjliYTE3MGRm/NTNlNi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}