A Leader of Leaders.
Laurie K. Baedke, MHA, FACHE, FACMPE, is a well-regarded speaker at international healthcare and continuing medical education conferences, and the host of a weekly leadership podcast, The Growth Edge.
Laurie recently served as the founding Program Director of the Executive MBA in Healthcare Management and Assistant Dean of Physician Leadership Education at Creighton University. She holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration and is a board-certified fellow of both the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American College of Medical Practice Executives.
An accomplished author, Laurie has written two editions of a book, The Emerging Healthcare Leader: A Field Guide. In 2017, Ms. Baedke contributed a chapter titled “The Clinician Entrepreneur” to a book published by Oxford Press titled The Handbook of Private Practice. Her most recent book, Mentor Coach Lead to Peak Professional Performance was released in February, 2023.
Laurie lives just outside of Omaha, Nebraska with her husband in their recently emptied nest.
Work With Laurie
A seasoned thought leader sought out by the best
"When high achieving professionals seek counsel it’s not a sign of weakness, it’s actually a sign of strength."
Laurie Baedke
A Timeline of My Career
1998
Finished undergrad in three years and headed off to start my professional career and grad school.
1999
Married my high school sweetheart and best friend, Wes. We have two young adult children, currently both in college, and are adjusting to an empty nest.
2000
Became a VP of a hospital at age 22, one of the biggest opportunities and greatest challenges of my career, and I’m eternally grateful for the mentorship, trust, and support of an amazing leader, Bob Omer, for taking a chance on me.
2002
Followed my entrepreneurial inclinations and started a management consultancy to help physicians start and manage their private practices.
2004
Became the youngest individual to achieve board certification as a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a fun fact that I was proud to claim until 2021 when a brilliant young mentee of mine unseated me. Congrats, Emily Sheboy-Scarcello, FACHE!
2005
Launched my professional speaking career, brazenly promoting and holding one-day leadership development seminars in five cities throughout the nation. When I look back at the tri-fold marketing brochure and power point deck and handouts today I cringe! But as Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn famously said, “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” I’m equally grateful for both my gumption to start, and my relentless commitment to growing and improving every day since.
2006
Started my coaching journey, becoming one of the first five individuals globally to hold certification from Gallup as a Strengths Performance Coach.
2008
Joined the faculty of the American College of Healthcare Executives and taught at the Annual Congress on Healthcare Leadership for the first time. What started as a brief encounter with my long-time co-faculty, two-time co-author, and dear friend, Natalie Lamberton at the ACHE Executive Program in Phoenix became a 17-year (and counting) collaboration that’s a priceless gift blessing in my life.
2012
Was recruited by a long time business colleague, a bank president, John Sorrell, to join his team as Chief Brand Officer. During my time on his team we acquired another bank, launched a new brand, and established a unique and extraordinary culture at Core Bank.
2015
Co-authored and published my first book, The Emerging Healthcare Leader: A Field Guide.
2016
Was recruited by the Dean of the Heider College of Business at Creighton University, Dr. Tony Hendrickson, to join his faculty and build new degree and non-degree programs for healthcare professionals. During my eight-and-a-half years in the institution, we built an Executive MBA in Healthcare Management and its sibling, non-degree program, an Executive Fellowship in Healthcare Management. The EMBA was launched in 2017 and achieved dual-accreditation by both AACSB and CAHME in 2021. Early in its existence, it achieved a perfect 100 Net Promotor Score.
2018
Published a second edition of The Emerging Healthcare Leader: A Field Guide.
Launched a podcast, The Growth Edge Leadership Podcast, to share my passion for personal and professional growth and development and the insightful conversations I’m blessed to have with amazing thought leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs on performance, flourishing, success, and more.
2024
I transitioned away from Creighton to dedicate the last leg of my career journey exclusively to speaking, coaching, podcasting, writing, and contributing to the growth and flourishing of high achieving professionals across the globe.
3 Things You Should Know About Me
I'm a builder
Throughout my career, I’ve built businesses; my own and as an advisor to hundreds of entrepreneurs, I’ve built buildings, programs, conferences, curriculums, teams, and more. I love embracing a problem or challenge, creating a vision, and then implementing a solution.
I'm not for everyone
I’m bold, I’m a challenger (of norms, of mediocrity, of injustices, of complacency), and I have a strong bias toward action. I do, I learn, I grow, I level up, and then I rinse and repeat.
I exist to encourage and equip leaders
This is my mission. I am a seasoned healthcare executive and experienced entrepreneur. I spent the first nine years of my career in operational leadership roles and building a management consultancy, but when my clarity arrived that my true purpose was in speaking, teaching, and coaching, I made the intentional shift to aim myself squarely at that work, and haven’t looked back.
Laurie's Leadership Library
Books Written by Laurie
Mentor, Coach, Lead:
To Peak Professional Performance
This book emphasizes the significance of mentoring, coaching, and leadership for peak professional performance. It highlights the importance of being mentored, seeking coaching, and providing the same support to others. Addressing succession planning and performance enhancement, the book offers practical tools based on current literature to nurture effective engagement as mentors, coaches, and leaders, while also benefiting from such guidance in return.
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The Emerging Healthcare Leader
In the book, my co-author Natalie and I offer practical suggestions and share anecdotes, personal stories, and valuable lessons learned from professional experiences over the past decade.
This is not your father’s (no offense, dad) management book. It’s a back pocket resource, a phone a friend lifeline, a candid glimpse into healthcare administration and leading young, and a read it and re-read it type of book!
Purchase on Amazon