Rising Stars of the Profession 2021: Esther Kumi Ocrah

As a high-impact leader of GE's Command Centre team, Esther pushes herself every day to make our people, our business and our clients better in every way. Her peers describe Esther as strategic, supportive, unflappable and tireless. Her clients describe her as one of their own. Her peers described her as a leader in every sense.

Team Leader: Esther serves as a mentor for the Command Centre team. Her experience and clarity of thought draw in colleagues seeking guidance or help solving a problem. She always makes the time.

Client Leader: Esther prioritizes her clients above all else and possesses the rare ability to truly put herself in their shoes. Her client-first mentality has led to long-standing relationships and has made her a sought-after advisor to many.

Program Leader: In recent years, Esther has led two major hospital transformation projects that are making a meaningful impact on patients and staff.

Commercial Leader: Esther's commercial, technical and delivery acumen have led her to be pulled into commercial activity long before most consultants would be expected to do so. She plays a pivotal role in commercial conversations and is responsible for more than $1M in sales over the last 18 months.

Esther describes her proudest achievement to date as the successful deployment and activation of real-time digital applications to help numerous hospitals manage their COVID-19 patient flow during the peak of the pandemic. "During the various lockdown periods, we successfully designed an application that allowed hospitals to keep track of critical assets such as ventilators and beds, as well as monitor their COVID-19 patients and predict the number of incoming cases. I supported and led the deployment of these tools in hospitals in the NHS(UK) and the Netherlands."

As far as advice she has received that has impacted her, Esther states, "To focus on servant leadership by always looking to empower and serve my team. As a leader, this particular advice has reinforced my personal ethos and my natural approach to working with others and developing a team. I believe that equipping others with the tools they need and decentralizing decision-making by trusting them with responsibility whilst supporting them have been key to ensuring that colleagues bring their best and authentic selves to work."

What would you say has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

"Hard work and resilience are values that have been a part of my life from a young age. My mother, as a young widow, displayed these immense qualities as she worked very long hours as a nurse to provide the best for my siblings and me. Through her, I developed a passion for contributing to the healthcare industry and making a real difference in how care is delivered. This exposure has helped shape my professional values. I strongly believe in working hard, being passionate about what I do, and persevering to deliver value and make a difference. I am incredibly fortunate to work with some inspirational leaders and multifunctional teams in forward-thinking organizations. We have learned to collaborate more and adapt to every situation by encouraging innovation. As a result, we have built a product for which I am extremely proud. My work continues to focus on elevating this product. These have been the biggest factors in my success."