CEO of the Year - Jim Tally, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Matt Bolch
January 1, 2008
For any organization to be successful, you need a buy-in from every person – up and down the
corporate ladder. James Tally knows this better than anyone, which only is one reason why he is the
2008
Business to Business CEO of the Year.
In 1998, following the merger of Egleston Children's Health Care System and Scottish Rite
Children's Medical Center, Tally was charged with bringing the two corporate cultures together. In
the decade since the merger, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) has become a model of health
care excellence.
As CHOA's first CEO in 1998, Tally rallied the company's 6,800-plus employees with his
collegial, team-building, value-based management style. A few months shy of his 65th birthday last
year, Tally, the former chief administrator and CEO at Scottish Rite from 1984 to 1997, announced
his retirement. The board of trustees recently tabbed COO Donna Hyland as his replacement after a
national search that yielded more than four dozen candidates. Her selection is seen as board
endorsement of the organization Tally created over the past decade and the strong management team
he's assembled.
"We got lucky [with the selection of Hyland], but not really because Jim groomed her for the
role," says Joe Rogers Jr., chairman of CHOA's board of trustees. "The organization is at an
important crossroads, and the board needed to reassure itself [with the national search] that we
got the best candidate possible to lead Children's into its second decade." Rogers, CEO of Waffle
House, says when the search firm ranked the top candidates, Hyland was rated strongest across the
board. At that point, the choice became clear.
While Tally didn't have a role in the selection process, attending only the final meeting of
the search committee, he's ecstatic the board chose Hyland, whose office is next door to his at
CHOA's corporate campus. "We've spent 20 years working together, and during the last several, I've
given her more opportunities to prepare her for this role, to make her a stronger candidate,
although there were no guarantees she'd get the job," Tally says.
When meeting Tally for the first time, one is struck by how personable he is, and how that
sense of caring permeates Children's. A visitor in Tally's well-apportioned yet unassuming office
refers to him as "Dr. Tally," acknowledging his doctorate in higher education administration from
Southern Illinois. Tally quickly says, "Call me Jim," as he takes a sip from a Diet Coke.
The team player
Tally is a consensus-builder, not dictating policy and direction but involving
others in the process so they have an ownership stake in whatever decision is made. When asked to
outline his greatest accomplishments during his decade leading CHOA, Tally talks about the common
values, passion and love employees have for the children they serve; the strong culture of the
organization; and the dedication of CHOA's board to do the right thing every time. He doesn't
mention building a three-hospital, $3 billion in assets children's health care organization or
CHOA's $265 million, five-year capital funds campaign that's close to conclusion.
His leadership style is derived partly from the teachings of his Roman Catholic faith; firmly
grounded in the pronouncements of his late father; and shaped by an enthusiastic reading of
leadership books and close friendships with Rogers and the Rev. Darrell Elligan, whom Tally met
during the 2006 ribbon-cutting ceremony when CHOA took over management of Hughes Spalding
Children's Medical Center from Grady Health System. Tally's office proudly features a framed
certificate pronouncing Jim and Carol Tally as members of True Faith Baptist Church, where Elligan
is pastor.
Faith in leadership
Tally began his values- and faith-based education early, learning from his father Roy Earl
Tally, whom Tally calls his first mentor. While the elder Tally passed away two years ago at 88,
his son says his mind was sharp and he remained active until the end. "He taught me the importance
of ethics, honesty, loyalty and always doing the right thing for the right reason," Tally says. "It
was the foundation of the basic, fundamental values I recognize in myself even today, the core of
who I am and who I try to be."
From his faith, Tally extracts love and respect for everyone, especially for his co-workers.
"I try to incorporate what my faith teaches into my leadership," Tally says. "Leadership starts
from within. One school of thought proposes a great leader needs to be filled with character, and
those beliefs lead me to do what I do."
His second mentor is Rogers, a former Egleston Children's Health Care System board member
prior to the merger and who currently is completing a five-year term as chairman of CHOA's board.
Rogers will hand over leadership of the board next month to Douglas J. Hertz, president of United
Distributors Inc.
"I've learned many things from Joe," Tally says. "The most important is understanding that
first you decide on a vision and where you want to be, and then you get there. Joe dreams big and
wants to do big things, but he doesn't just dream them – he achieves them. If you believe in your
dreams, you can summon strength you and your team didn't even know you had."
Rogers says he can't think of a nicer person than Tally, crediting him for the culture and
growth of Children's over the past decade. In addition to three pediatric hospitals, CHOA is
responsible for 17 satellite locations, including five immediate care centers and two primary care
centers. In 2006, the system had 22,700 hospital admissions; 35,500 inpatient and outpatient
surgical procedures; 170,980 emergency department visits; and 120,140 immediate care visits. The
system also is responsible for three out of every five pediatric inpatient Medicaid patients in the
Atlanta area. In 2006, CHOA provided more than $81 million in unreimbursed care.
Tally's management style is collegial, and his relationship with the unpaid board of trustees
is informal and practical, Rogers says. "There's not a lot of pretense or formality. It's not ‘Mr.'
and ‘Mrs.'"
Rogers divides Tally's tenure into two five-year halves. During the first half, Tally built a
sound, high-quality hospital system where workers are valued. CHOA has been ranked by Child
magazine as one of the top three children's hospitals in the nation and was the only pediatric
hospital to be listed by Fortune as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work for."
During the past five years, Tally has assumed new roles, raising the stature of the CEO
position to reach out into the community to raise funds, raise awareness of CHOA's impact on Metro
Atlanta and Georgia and successfully negotiating the management agreement that brought Hughes
Spalding into the CHOA fold. "The negotiation with Grady was a six-month process, and Jim did most
of that work," Rogers says.
Rogers emphasizes Tally's dedication to the organization will continue to pay dividends
during Hyland's tenure as CEO. The addition of Hughes Spalding raised CHOA's perception in the
community, and the proposed expansions the capital funds campaign will help pay for will raise its
stature even more.
"Children's is Atlanta's most precious civic asset, and with the planned expansion, it may
become the most precious asset in the state," Rogers says. "If that happens, Jim and his staff did
all of the work and will get the credit."
Tally first met Elligan, who also is president of Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan
Atlanta Inc., when the reverend said a prayer at the ribbon-cutting at Hughes Spalding. "His prayer
was so meaningful, I talked about it in my comments," Tally recalls. "If we lived the words of his
prayer, we certainly would succeed at Hughes Spalding, and I asked in front of the crowd for them
to continue to pray for us."
The two met for lunch shortly after and have been meeting monthly ever since, with Tally
gaining valuable insight about working in inner-city Atlanta. Eighty percent of Hughes Spalding
patients are on Medicaid, compared to about 56 percent of patients at Egleston and 45 percent at
Scottish Rite. Hughes Spalding represents a different working environment than the suburban
hospitals, and Tally wants to make sure Children's effectively addresses the needs of this patient
population. Elligan serves as a great sounding board for Tally.
Other mentors Tally mentions are Paul Manners, former chairman of Scottish Rite's board of
trustees in the 1980s; and Richard Hiller, Jr., who chaired Scottish Rite's board during the '90s
and was its chair during the merger. Manners taught Tally about concern and passion for the
community, while Hiller helped him expand his talents in business acumen.
Good to great
Although he's the CEO, Tally doesn't dictate policy or bully the board of trustees to adopt
his ideas. He believes in the tenets set forth in Jim Collins' book "Good to Great." Tally strives
to be a Level 5 leader – one who recognizes leadership isn't about the individual but about "the
mission and a passionate commitment to achieve goals, a recognition it takes a lot of people
working together to achieve success."
Working in tandem with a board that shares similar values, Tally relies on the employees to
help him and the board focus on issues that are important to employees. Those issues, internal
surveys have shown, include a culture of respect; an investment in learning; work/life balance; and
rewards and recognition.
"When I walk the halls, if I don't get six e-mails after with comments and suggestions, I'm
not doing my job," Tally says. "I want the opportunity to connect with people, remembering their
kids' names and where they went on vacation. We involve employees in setting the strategic plan and
mission statement."
Children's hires people who are competent in their jobs but who also will fit into the
organization's mission and values. "It costs $20,000-$30,000 to place an employee, so it's better
to spend a little more and hire the right people already dedicated to the value set."
Tally will spend a few additional months helping transition leadership to Hyland, who will
lead the organization into its second decade. The most pressing issue is transferring Hyland's
current job duties before she can take the top spot. But Tally will leave CHOA knowing the
organization is in good hands.
"I have 25 years of my life invested in building this with many other people," Tally says.
"It's a precious baton I've been holding and I'm getting ready to hand off to someone else. It's
important to know the person coming into the business has the same attributes my father hammered
into me."
Photography by Lance Davies.